Alpha - Forever #1 (Complete)

Chapter 10 - Part 2

Scarlett

And the aggressive asshole was back. I was already missing the easygoing and thoughtful Cade. I couldn't really blame him for being angry with me. He didn't understand why I didn't want him to touch me and he'd jumped to a conclusion that had made him angry.

Keeping my secret was going to be harder than I thought.

When I looked to the entrance of the apartment block, I noticed Blake standing with Gary.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" asked Gary as he stepped forward, oblivious to the strained tension between Cade and me. Blake picked up on it because his gaze flickered between the two of us.

"Better," I answered with a forced smile. I could feel the anger still radiating off Cade who was still standing beside me.

"Cade said he was going to go and check on you," Gary said, surprising me. So Cade had come to check on me. I snuck a side-glance at him as he walked to Blake.

"He offered to show me the compound," I told Gary.

"They really have a good setup here," Gary commented as he walked me inside the front door of the apartment block to where Blake and Cade were waiting for us.

Cade's jaw tightened when his eyes fell on me. He was still angry. I looked to Blake and he smiled at me, a knowing smile. Yeah, I bet he was enjoying this.

This whole werewolf thing was becoming more complicated by the day. Then another thought occurred to me. I wondered how Gary would feel about finding out Cade was my mate. He might not be blood related, but he considered me a surrogate daughter so I couldn't see him being happy about it. It would be another hurdle I'd have to overcome when the time came.

I spent the next hour getting shown around the compound. I had to agree with Gary's comment about it being a good setup because it was. There were various-sized apartments that ranged from one to three bedrooms and, although there was an eating area, each apartment had a small kitchen.

It was like a whole self-sufficient little community hidden on Cade's huge property. Most of the younger werewolves were still at school so it was only the older werewolves that were busy with their day-to-day tasks when we passed by.

The apartment building formed a U-shape that faced a set of iron gates leading directly into the thick forest at the back of the property. I studied the forest for a moment while the guys talked about what type of training the werewolves did.

I couldn't help feeling curious about how it would feel to be able to shift into a werewolf and to run free in the forest. I closed my eyes for a moment to imagine it. I'd have to be patient; I wasn't ready for sex yet, but I looked forward to being able to shift into a werewolf. I wondered if it hurt.

When Cade and Blake shifted, it didn't seem to hurt them. Maybe that was because they'd been shifting for a while already.

"Does it hurt to shift?" My question cut across the conversation.

"Only the first time and a couple of shifts afterward," Cade answered. His eyes met mine and I felt my butterflies flutter in response at his attention being on me. Damn those hormones! It was like when he looked at me, nothing around us existed.

"How bad does it hurt?" I carried on with my questioning and Cade kept his eyes on me.

"I'm not going to sugar-coat it. It hurts like a bitch," he told me. "Some of the older female werewolves compared their first shift to childbirth."

The first time I'd seen a TV program where the mother had screamed while she had given birth had traumatized me. It was the day I swore I'd never have kids. I wasn't the type of person to be scared of anything, but that scared me, just a little bit.