*•CAINE's POV•*
I saw when the girls dragged Ara away. She looked to me for help but all I did was to wink at her and grin which made her shoot me a nasty look. If looks could kill...
Rodrick called for a meeting today. I made my way to his study and entered without knocking. It's not like any of us knock anyway. The others were already seated so I joined them.
"Sup bros." I greeted.
"Sup." They all greeted.
"You called for a meeting?"
"Yes, I did. Something has to be done about Moonlight Pack." Finally Rodrick spoke up. The three of us turned to look at Rodrick confusedly.
"Isn't that Cindy and Ara's former pack?" I asked to make sure.
"Yes it is." Darwin confirmed.
"Then what does that have to do with us?" Drake asked.
"The new alpha is a complete douchebag and his sister is a skank." I gave Rodrick a look telling him that I didn't know where this was going. He sighed.
"He contacted me yesterday, asking to take Ara back. He said she's his head cook and so he needs her back." Immediately he finished saying this, I stood up. Scar was itching for me to let him out.
["What does that bastard want with my mate? Let me out! I want—need to teach him a lesson!"
"He will pay if he sets foot here!"
"I will kill him if he touches my mate!"
"How dare he?!"
"I won't let him touch her!"]
"What did you say?" I growled out, not directly to Rodrick but his wolf still felt offended.
"Stand down Caine!" He growled out. I bowed my head in submission, apologizing.
"I didn't get to tell him that you are Ara's mate when the jerk hung up on me. He said he'd be here in a day or two." Oh hell no he's not! I was seeing red until someone shook me.
"Caine! Caine!! Snap out of it!" Drake was standing in front of me, shaking me.
"Are you good now man?" Darwin asked. I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
"Yeah, yeah I am." I looked at Rodrick and said,
"No one is taking my mate away. I hope you are not thinking about allowing it?"
"Not in a million years." He answered.
"Good. So what are we going to do about Alpha Jace?" Darwin asked.
"I don't know yet but if he decides to cause a ruckus, there will be consequences. Besides, his pack is surely doomed with someone like him as Alpha." We discussed pack business for a few hours before he brought up a different topic.
"Also, we have to prepare for Cindy and Ara's initiation into this pack. It's time the pack met their Luna and Beta Female." Darwin and Drake smiled cheekily at Rodrick and I.
"I don't see the mark yet Alpha and Beta sirs!" Drake, the Gamma said, wiggling his eyebrows at us. I rolled my eyes at him.
"Cindy hasn't really indicated anything yet. But it needs to happen soon cause Zeus won't shut up in my head." I've met Zeus—Rodrick's wolf—and he can be really annoying and whiny when he wants. I remember when we were kids, Zeus forcefully took control and curled up on the couch, not giving anyone else access. Only God stopped me from chasing him out with a broom.
"What about Ara?" Darwin—the head warrior—said.
"At the moment, she's not really happy with me."
"Brooo! What did you do?" Darwin teasingly inquired.
"Well she kinda walked in on me at five o'clock." Immediately I said this, all their expressions turned to one of sympathy.
"Bummer!"
"Yeah! And now she demands that I tell her what's going on."
"Ironically, she asked about our Beta the day we were coming back to the pack." Drake disclosed as though a light bulb went off in his head.
"She did?" Rodrick and I asked at the same time. I gave him a funny look and he grinned back.
"Yeah she did. Penny and Jessie told her about you but they didn't disclose much. They only told the reason why you don't like leaving pack boundaries. They also might have given her the impression that you're some dangerous person with a wild wolf because of what you did when you were younger." I was looking intrigued by the Drake finished the story. Suddenly, I remembered.
"That's why she looked so surprised and scared when I told her I'm the Beta!" I laughed. To be honest, I thought she was scared because of my position or something. I didn't think she'd be scared of me as a person or Scar. It's true, Scar is a wild wolf but ever since that day, I've never fully given him control—fighting or not. I won't blame her if she does get scared of Scar. Everyday of my life, I think and fear the outcome if I should ever let Scar have full control, especially around my shutdown hours. It would be disastrous.
"Penny and the girls are saying something about shopping. She said we should bring along cash or credit card. ASAP!" Darwin called out, smiling.
"Those girls are like a cash vacuum. What exactly do they buy? Dresses?" Drake complained which made all of us laugh.
"No. The latest thing now is pumps!" Darwin said.
"No not pumps. Jessie said pumps are 'so last year'." Drake mimicked in a high pitched imitation of Jessie's voice.
"Welcome to the shopping part of having a mate!" Drake places his hand on both Rodrick's and my shoulders dramatically.
"Let's go before Penny will have my head."
*•ARA POV•*
"You've already taken a shower right?" Penny asked for the thousandth time.
"Yesss!"
"Do you have any other clothes apart from black and white colored ones?" Jessie asked, looking through my stuff.
"No."
"You and Cindy need a change of clothes. Good thing I brought some of mine." Penny said. After scooping me away, they brought me to my room in this house. After inquiring about our clothes, they pushed Cindy to sit beside me as well. They kept on talking about how the omegas back in Moonlight Pack need to upgrade their clothes. 'These are hideous' she said. 'These are horrible' she also said. 'Nasty!'they both said.
"I don't mean to burst your bubble but I won't be able to fit in your clothes." I reminded Penny.
"I know silly. I brought a bigger pair for you. I brought this cute sundress for you Cindy. I have this really cute pair that is humongous on me. It would fit you well. Not that I'm calling you fat or anything." She added the last part nervously, thinking she was offending me.
"Don't worry about it. I'm used to it. Let's see the dress already." She pulled out a cute, blue sundress and gave it to Cindy. Then she pulled out a red, high waist skirt and a light blue top for me.
"These are perfect. Thanks." I reached over to give Penny a hug.
"And this sundress is so cute. Thank you." She joined in the hug.
"Hey! How come I'm not in the group hug?" Jessie pouted. I extended my hand, gesturing her to join in. She joined in the hug which felt just right.
"Oh I have to tell Darwin to tell the boys to get their cards and cash ready." Penny's eyes glazed over, indicating that she was talking to her mate, Darwin. In the mean time, I changed into the clothes I was given. The skirt fit me well and the top too. I went to the mirror and glanced myself over, having never worn such colorful clothing. All my life, I've been wearing the same black and white clothes but in different sizes. Cindy also changed into the sundress, and she looked stunning. The blue color of the dress made her red hair really stand out and catch attention.
"You look really pretty Ara." Cindy gushed.
"Have you seen yourself? You look stunning in that dress."
"Rodrick might not let you leave." Jessie teased which made Cindy blush. I nudged her, wiggling my brows at her.
"Stappp!" She joked. We all laughed.
"But girl on a more serious note, why haven't you been marked yet?"
"I honestly don't know. He hasn't made any move yet and I don't know what to do." She fessed.
"Men! They are so dumb sometimes. Even Darwin was like that, claiming I 'wasn't ready'. Like bruh it's my body! I know when I'm 'ready' or not! Sheesh!" Penny exclaimed incredulously.
"You need to take control then. Show him who's boss since he wants to NOT BE THE BOSS!" Jessie practically yelled the last part. For what reason, I don't know.
"What about you?" Cindy pointed to me.
"Hmm?"
"Where's your mark?" Penny explained as though I were dumb.
"My mark is not on my neck as you can see." I shrugged.
"And why is that?" Inquired Jessie.
"I don't know. The time isn't right I guess. I'm still trying to understand him and his whole shutdown thing." They all nodded in understanding except Cindy.
"What shutdown?"
"Well, apparently Caine goes all robotic at five-ish. He draws blood and stuff but I don't think he hurts people. He didn't hurt me." I explained.
"Hollup! You were there when that happened?" Jessie looked surprised.
"Yeah? Why?"
"Well he's never let anyone come close to him around that time after what happened. He always disappears and comes back next morning." She explained.
"Well he necessarily didn't let me come. He told me to stay away but I went for clothes to wear and saw him in that state. Obviously I couldn't leave him like that and walk away. So I stayed." They all nodded their head, not wanting to probe further.
"Drake says they are waiting for us. Let's go spend our mate's cash on monster heels. Pumps are so last year!" Jessie jumped up from her bed and pulled us along. I could help but think...
Oh dear! What did I get myself into?