Chapter 39 CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CAIUS
Our eyes meet and realization dawns on me. I kissed her. The potion probably started malfunctioning when she kissed me back. I fold my arms, lean back on the wall and smirk at her. Serves her right for wanting to block the bond. If I knew I could mess with it, I would have done it months ago.
“He kissed me.” She says with a scowl directed at me.
Raina looks at me wide eyed, with a smile that clearly says she wants the details of the kiss.
“You kissed me back.” I say, avoiding Raina’s eyes.
“Fuck you, Caius. I know you did this on purpose.”
I shrug and look away. Raina shakes her head and approaches Maeva who takes several steps back and glares. Raina raises her hands in surrender and stops.
“I think it would be better to bring in the witch who gave her the potion.”
“In case it wasn’t clear, I brought you here so I wouldn’t have to bring the witch.” I say dryly.
“We don’t have a choice here. No one who trained me has ever had this happen on their watch. I don’t know what to do.”
I cock my head back and I look at her in confusion. “Why didn’t you say that when I told you? Why are you even here?”
She smiles shyly and put her head down.
“I’m sorry Alpha; I wanted to see your mate.”
“You should have stayed home.” Maeva says, turning away from us.
Raina looks visibly hurt but smiles through it. Raina is the nicest person in this pack. She’s sweet with everyone and it always kills her when someone is not nice to her. I hate it but I’ve never let anyone walk over her and I’m not about to let Maeva do it.
“Apologize to her right now.”
Maeva’s eyes flashes fury and she growls at me. This situation is peculiar, I can’t even smell her anger. I can’t feel it. If I wasn’t looking directly at her, I wouldn’t even know she was angry.
“I don’t apologize to anyone. You know this.”
“It’s fine. There’s nothing to apologize for.” Raina says.
“Maeva you will apologize right now or we’ll all sit back and find out what else will happen to you.”
“You don’t mean that.” She says.
I don’t but I’m not letting her know that. She’s had too much leverage and it ends now.
“Try me.” I say, not giving anything away.
She glares at me then turns to look at Raina. “I’m sorry.” She grumbles.
“That’s not an apology. You have to say what you’re actually apologizing for.”
She folds her fists together and breathes through her nose.
“I’m sorry that I wasn’t very nice to you.” She grits out.
Raina’s smile is huge and she tries to pull Maeva in for a hug but I pull her back. It won’t do anyone any good for her to get that close.
“I’ll be back with the witch in an hour.” I say and turn away.
Raina walks out after me after saying goodbye to Maeva. I’ll drop her off at her house then find Clayton so he can get in contact with the witches.
“You didn’t need to do that, I’m fine. Now she has more reasons not to like you.” Raina says when we stop in front of her house.
“Maeva doesn’t need a reason not to like me. She’ll make up reasons by herself.”
She laughs. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that I couldn’t help. I just wanted to see what she was like.”
“Well, you’ve seen her. Hope you’re not too disappointed.”
“Disappointed? No way. She’s everything I thought she would be like. Thank you, Alpha.”
I clear my throat and turn away. Talking to Raina always makes me feel vulnerable. I mind link Clayton and find out where he is. I meet up with him at the pack house where he’s holding court with the endless line of she-wolves that worship him.
I walk past him into my office and he follows behind.
“Call Alpha Brent.” I say when he enters.
His brows lift. “Does this have anything to do with you taking the healer to your house this morning?”
“Are you spying now?”
He shrugs. “It’s my duty to know everything you’re doing. If you don’t tell me then I should find out for myself.”
“It does. Call him.”
He starts calling Alpha Brent and I relax on my seat. When Alpha Brent answers, he hands me the phone.
“Alpha Caius, to what do I owe this call?” Alpha Brent says.
“I need to get in contact with the witches right now.” I say.
I hear him sigh on the other line and I smile. “I hoped you were calling to say hello or to give me good news. Why do you want to speak to the witches?”
“It’s personal and I have a time constraint so I cannot go into their territory myself.”
He hums. “What do I tell them?” he asks.
“Tell them to tell her to come. They’ll know what it means. Tell them it’s urgent.”
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing? Dallying with witches never end well.”
“I know what I’m doing. And it’s about the rogues anyway.”
“You said it was personal.” He retorts.
“It’s a personal matter about the rogues.” I say, not missing a beat.
He ends the call and I hand the phone back to Clayton.
“What happened?” he asks.
I fill him in on what is happening and at the end, he shakes his head and sighs.
“Why do you insist on holding on to her? She obviously doesn’t want you and she’s doing everything she can not to be connected to you. I think you should think about rejecting her and moving on with your life. I don’t think any she-wolf should be worth this trouble.”
“Well, aren’t you the romantic.” The witch says as smoke fills the room.
She has a smug smile on her face, a dramatic yellow dress and her hands lifted in victory.
“You called.” She says slowly.
“My office is out of bounds for you or any other witch.” I say.
“Why are you acting so tough? You basically begged me to come here.”
“I didn’t beg. You came faster than I thought you would. Don’t tell me you were moping around the council waiting for something useful to do.”
She opens her mouth to say something but thinks better of it.
“You said it was urgent and I’m here.”
“I’m sure you can find my house. Meet me there when your crystal ball tells you that I’ve gotten home.”
“I could just take all of us and we’ll go together.”
I shake my head and stand up. “Meet me there.”
I walk out and Clayton drives us home. I don’t want to shift or run home. The second I open the door, smoke fills my living room and the witch appears. He turns to me with wide eyes.
“How is your mate here?” she says.
“I kidnapped her. Again.”