Falling For My Rejected Mate

Chapter 7

Caden

“So this is the room that belongs to Caden Summers...” Carly says while scanning my wall that is filled with various football pokals and picture frames from when I was a kid. She picks one up and tries not to giggle. “You were such a cute kid.”

It feels a bit personal having her look at all my stuff, but I try to relax and tilt my head. “Aren’t I cute now?”

“No,” she doesn’t face me, but I can see that she is trying not to smile. “You’re a brute, and those aren’t cute.”

“Oh, come on,” I pout at her from my bed. “Aren’t I at least a little bit cute?”

Carly bursts out laughing, and I grin triumphantly while I’m hit with a surge of affection for her. It feels like an achievement to make her laugh, and I really like her. I’m not in love with her, f**k no. Caden doesn’t do love, but I like her as a person and I like her A LOT.

She might look a LITTLE bit nerdy, but she is sassy. I just want to grab her and press her up against the wall to taste her mouth. But I have a feeling she would bite me.

Carly is fierce.

But then again, would I really mind if she bit me?

As I’m lost in thought, Carly looks at me with a curious expression. “What are you thinking about?”

I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts. “Nothing, just...you know, stuff.”

She quirks an eyebrow. “Stuff? That’s pretty vague, Caden.”

I chuckle. “This thought is a secret.”

“I see...” Carly picks up another photograph. “So, you’re an Alpha who is also into football.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“And so what does that mean for the future?”

I shrug and feel a cheeky grin coming along. “There are many werewolves that are playing professional sports. We just aren’t allowed to use our inhuman strength in the games. There are supernaturals making sure of that.”

Carly nods thoughtfully, still studying the photograph in her hand. “Interesting. So, do you think you could make it to the pro level?”

I sit up, feeling excited at the prospect. “Definitely. I’ve been scouted a few times already. I just need to keep working hard and improving my skills.”

Carly looks up at me with a glint in her eye. “You truly are the golden boy of the Summers family, huh?”

There she goes making fun of me again. The sickest part is that the masochist in me kind of likes it when Carly is teasing me, hell I get a hard-on even when she is mean. Which is how I know I’m in deep s**t.

Everyone on campus knows that I, Caden Summers, only do s*x and no strings attached relationships, but Carly? She is a relationship kind of girl, and I should definitely stay away from her. It means trouble chasing after the mate who rejected you, yet I’m already daydreaming about having her legs wrapped around my back while I’m kissing her neck.

I would push my c**k into her cunt, and she would dig her nails into my shoulders while I swell inside of her. Then, I would whisper sweet little things to soothe the pain of taking me before thrusting into her heat.

I want her and f**k me, I’m so screwed if Carly looks over and noticed my c**k is harder than steel. When she glances at me again, I quickly pull the blanket over my legs.

“Are you cold?” Carly blinks at me.

“A little,” I’m a f*****g liar, and I know it. “Do you want to watch a movie or something?”

‘Since when do you watch movies with girls?’ Fenrir sounds amused. ‘I don’t think you’ve ever even been on a normal date. All you do is fuck.’

‘Shut up, Fenrir.’

“It’s kinda late,” Carly grimaces. “I was hoping you could give me a ride home.”

Disappointment fills my chest, but whatever. It’s not like Carly would let me anywhere close to her panties anyway. Winning her over will be a long game.

I plaster on a smile. “Sure, I will drive you home.”

Carly’s face brightens, and I feel a small pang of guilt. Whenever I’m around her, I just feel like I can’t get enough of her. What does this emotion mean?

I ponder on that as we make it to one of my cars, a white Audi this time. Carly sits down in the passenger seat, and when I notice her shuddering, I put on the seat warmer.

“Thank you.”

My lips quirk into a smile. “You’re welcome.”

We fall into a conversation about music taste as I drive. Carly is into pop music, like every other girl out there. I’m not criticizing her, though. I think it’s cute.

‘You think everything about her is cute, dude. When are you going to admit that you’re falling in love with this girl?’

‘This is not f*****g love!’

‘Uh-huh, sure. What is it then?’

I grow silent at that, and Fenrir chuckles inside my head. He knows he has won this round, even if I won’t acknowledge it. Not even to myself.

“Here it is,” Carly points at a small yellow house in the neighborhood, and I park the car outside.

My eyes scan the garden. “So this is where you live—” I trail off when a weird feeling settles over me. I can’t explain why but shivers race up my spine while something tells me not to enter the building.

Something has happened here.

“Yeah, thank you for the ride, Caden,” Carly opens the door and beams at me. “It has been a lovely evening. But don’t get me wrong, I still think you’re tricking me or pretending to be nice just because your ego is hurt, but—”

I grab her hand and interrupt her little speech. “Don’t enter the building. Something is wrong.”

“But this is my home.”

“I’m not joking, Carly,” I look deeply into her pale blue eyes. “I’m not trying to scare you. But this is not a joke. I’m serious. Don’t go into that house.”

Carly’s eyebrows are knit together, and she looks pissed off, to say the least. “Is this some kind of joke?”

If she were my girlfriend, I would have pulled her close by now and convinced her that I’m deadly serious. That we need to get out of here. But instead, I find myself at a loss for words.

How the heck am I supposed to keep her from walking inside her own home?

“Look, I don’t know what’s up with you, but I’m heading inside. Goodbye, Caden.”

Carly exits the car, and for her sake, I hope that the bad feeling in my gut is wrong.

But then again, how often do I feel like this?

Fuck, I’m probably right!

I jump out of the car as quickly as I can. The wind is howling, and my gaze locks on Carly, who is opening the door. She enters the building, and then she screams in pure terror.

Carly’s scream pierces through my heart like a dagger. I’m on the lawn, running towards her, but not even I, the Alpha, can help her at this moment.

In the hallway, someone has written, “Welcome home, Carly,” in blood, and further down the corridor, her parents are hanging upside down. Blood is dripping from their lifeless bodies, and the whole house smells like...werewolf? What the heck! Did our own kind do this? Why!

My head hurts trying to make sense of the situation, and while I’m completely frozen, Carly is wailing on the floor. Tears are running down her face, and I can sense her pain like a tsunami through the mate bond.

“Why! What kind of sick bastard did this?!” Carly stares at me while sobbing, her eyes fluttering like she might pass out. “Please tell me this is a bad nightmare, Caden.”

I don’t know what to tell her. Is there even anything you can say at a moment like this? I really don’t think so and step forward to take her into my arms. She doesn’t even fight me when I hug her and let her cover her face in my shirt.

“I should have come straight home...” she sobs. “I could have protected them. This is all my fault.”

“Shh, shh,” I whisper while holding her small, shaking form in my arms. It hurts my heart to listen to her cries, and I shut my eyes while brushing my fingers through her soft, brown hair. “This is not your fault, okay?”

Carly doesn’t respond, and I take a deep breath before mentally connecting to my dad and my Beta. The mind link isn’t a good way of communicating. We can let others feel our emotions, and right now, I’ve marked this place as danger and death; the rest I have to tell them in person.

“This must be a mistake...I don’t understand who would want to kill my parents. They were great werewolves!”

“Yes, they were,” the Andersson couple were brave and loyal werewolves, and my heart is breaking for Carly. My grip around her tightens. “Do you have anyone that you want to call right now? Another relative?”

Carly shakes her head. “No...I have grandparents in another pack, but I’m not sure if they would answer my call. I haven’t spoken to them in years.”

“You might have to do that now,” I stroke her hair. “I would hate for you to be alone.”

Carly’s eyes widen as she looks up at me. “I just found my parents dead in my house, and you’re leaving me?”

A shockwave of astonishment hits me straight in the chest. She wishes to stay with me? The person that she can’t normally stand? f**k, she must be really desperate, then.

“No, I’m not leaving you. I just assumed you wanted someone else other than me around.”

Carly doesn’t respond. She just shakes in my arms, and my heart sinks when her cries turn louder. I’ve never felt so useless in my entire life. Why am I so crap at this?

My mate is crying right now, and it’s killing me. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this sort of pain before. How will Carly ever come back from this? I’m such a bastard; Carly is hurting, and I don’t know how to make it better.

Am I a terrible mate?

Fenrir sighs. ‘No, you just have to be there for her. It’s the only thing you can do right now.’

‘Right...’

I look down at my mate, baffled by how small she is. When Carly messes with me, I often forget how vulnerable and fragile she is. But now, when she is in my arms, I realize she probably doesn’t even weigh half of what I do. It makes me want to protect her, and my arms wrap tighter around her.

“What am I supposed to do now...” Carly sobs. “I don’t ever want to see this terrible house again.”

“You won’t have to,” I whisper into her ear. “Because you’re coming home with me.”

“Thank you...” her weak voice trembles. “You’re a good friend, Caden.”

Even though being her friend wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, I can’t argue right now. Carly’s parents have been murdered, and if it’s a friend she needs, it’s a friend that I will be. I just wish that there was more that I could do for her...