Shattered

Chapter 5: Delight

Kaden's  POV:

"I had a strange feeling that fate had in store for me exquisite joys and exquisite sorrows." – Oscar Wilde

We were parked outside Violet's apartment, waiting. I fully intended to not follow her around, to not be like other people I'd heard about that just stalked their mate until it worked out. It was weird and creepy to do that, not to mention completely disrespectful to someone's boundaries, but there I was, sitting outside her apartment, trying to decide if I was just as bad or if I was justified because it was out of concern more than anything else.

I'd been on edge ever since that creep intentionally bumped into her at the party. There was clearly something between them that did not seem safe or friendly. I didn't know what she was up to but I had a feeling it wasn't good and for the first time possibly ever, I let my overprotectiveness get to me and decided to make sure whatever she was meeting him for, he wouldn't hurt her. I glanced at the clock, seeing it was one-fifteen in the morning. I couldn't stop my leg from bouncing constantly.

"It's all right," Tess assured, setting her hand on my shoulder. "We'll get to the bottom of it."

"It's not all right," I said, shaking my head. "This feels like someone's forcing something on her."

"We'll handle whatever it is," Xander said, patting my shoulder. "Relax, Kaden. It'll be all right."

"I don't like it," I sighed.

"That's natural. She's your mate. Not to mention uh... There have been some questionable incidents," she said, looking back at me and smiling sheepishly. "That knife thing sent you into hyper-protective mode, I'm sure."

"It sent me into hyper protective mode," Xander grumbled.

"Well, you're her Alpha and an overprotective shit, so," Tess shrugged, glancing out the window.

"This sucks," I muttered, glancing at the clock again. "I don't like being this guy. I don't ever want to tell her I stalked outside her apartment like a creep."

I didn't want that, I didn't want that at all. But the small amount of time I spent with her had me seriously questioning her self-preservation when meeting this guy. A guy that had something very off about him. I didn't trust him to be alone with her.

"Breathe, Kay," Tess said, looking over at me in concern. "The situation is delicate."

I took a deep breath and stiffened. Violet was coming down the stairs, alone. I glanced at the clock, finding it was one-twenty now. She reached the bottom steps and pulled her hood up, glancing around before crossing the street.

We waited until she was around a corner before getting out of the car and following after her. To her credit, she wouldn't have been so easily followed if it weren't for us being wolves. She was very careful, paused and looked around often, disappeared in the shadows often. I wondered why she was so good at this and wondering that only made the concern worse.

We walked for a while before she went down an alley that we waited to go down. I could smell the guy she bumped into- Chase- and had to remind myself not to growl. It wasn't like me, I just really didn't like the way he was with her.

"You're late," Chase said.

"Do you want my help or not?" She said.

We didn't hear much after that, they went through a door, or so it sounded.

"Help with what?" Tess murmured, frowning.

I shook my head and looked over at Xander who was already texting, probably texting Nick. We'd called him earlier and asked him to be on standby in case we needed something. Xander's eyes widened in surprise and he looked over at me.