beings to fight for him or somehow recruited them and they went of their own free will. I don’t want to disregard him. He’s still a threat to us and other shifters. He proved that much.”
I hate this. Hate every second of knowing that somewhere out there is Caiden. He’s not with me, by my side as a brother should be. He’s trying to bring down and do away with all shifters. Carry on some ridiculous plan Andre and his mate had. I wish I could save Caid. Bring him to the pack and show him what it’s like to have a family again. But most of all, I wish he would be the brother I remember.
Aries continues, “Do you want us to look for him, Cam? I mean, outside of the online searches Carter and Cash have set up and the ears we have listening for any hint that he’s surfaced outside of what we’ve seen.”
“I don’t know,” I tell him honestly. “For a century, I’ve had this picture in my mind of what it would be like when I finally found him again. How he’d run into my arms and we’d be a family. Not that I think whatever he’s been through would go away, but I could get him the help he needs. That’s not the reality, though. Caiden isn’t the same anymore. And the things he’s done, I can’t let that slide. Whit read his mind and found that he didn’t kill anyone, though he ordered others to do so, and that’s just as bad in my mind.”
Aries lays a hand on my shoulder. “Whatever you decide, we’re here for you—the team and the pack. You’re who matters, not Caiden. Not after what he’s done. If you tell me you don’t want to search for him, we’ll stop. If you say you want only the team to, that’s fine as well. I can’t put our full efforts on it; however, we can continue to do like we have been. Investigate leads on our downtime. Whatever you want.”
“I think that’s what I’d like for now. Keep doing what we’ve been, both with Carter and Cash and the team. But I worry if we actively keep looking that he’ll show up and hurt one of us.”
Aries pauses for a moment to think. “What if we call off the internet side of things? Make it seem like we stopped trying to track him and just keep the team on him. Our eyes and ears in the field are well concealed.”
“I like that idea.”
“Then it’s settled.” Aries turns to Whit. “Are you okay with this?”
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“You were held hostage. He could have hurt or killed you.”
“I’m not worried about me. Maybe if I weren’t fae I would be. I’ll be sure to keep alert when we’re out. Plus, I think training with Cam and getting us in sync like we’ve discussed is a good idea.”
Aries nods as my mind goes through a thousand situations where Whit could be captured and hurt. I’ll train day and night with him and the team if it means keeping him safe.
20
Whitlock
It’s been two weeks since we had our talk with Aries about Caiden. The air has become colder now that we’re into December. Camden and I have not solidified our bond yet, which is okay with both of us. Cam doesn’t want to rush me into anything since I’ve never been with someone before. While I love how caring and considerate he is of me, I don’t want to always be looked at as the virgin either.
Cam and I have gone to the paintball course with and without the team when I’m not in class. We’ve fought against regular people out there to have fun, as well as our teammates. No one there is the wiser that we’re two paranormals secretly training for something more than a simple paintball game. The team could train in a more volatile situation, but Aries thinks we should infuse a little fun into what we’re doing so we’re not constantly under stress, which we have enough of when we go on missions. Thankfully, it’s only us when the full team is training.
There was a slight dusting of snow on the ground during our last session, which made things interesting. Sevan slid, landing sprawled out on his back. Des picked him off immediately when he saw Sevan was at a disadvantage. After Des took the shot, he stepped forward and slipped, too. We all got