AMELIA’S P.O.V

When Caleb came to pick me yesterday, I was worried. He took me straight to the office without a word and drove off. I waited for Kaden to arrive but his office remained empty and it didn’t matter who I asked, no one knew where he had gone. I tried to reach him via his mind link but his wall was firmly down and nothing I did would budge it.


When Caleb came to pick me up after, I had asked where Kaden was. His response was that Kaden was fine but it didn’t put me at ease. Even though Caleb didn’t say it verbally, I knew he also wasn’t aware of Kaden’s whereabouts. I had never worried for a person the way I worried for him and it was very obvious because I could barely eat my food.

“He is fine,” Clara tried to assure me when she saw me playingaround with my food. “Kaden is more than capable of looking after himself.”

“I know he is,” I said softly but that didn’t stop me from worrying.


Most of my worry was about him but there was a tiny part of me that couldn’t help but wonder if he was avoiding me and they were all covering up for him. I knew it was impossible considering how he had treated me but my insecuritieswere screaming at me and I couldn’t ignore them.

I found it hard to fall asleep. I tossed and turned in bed all night.I was just falling asleep when my alarm rang for training. It brought up another wave of anxiety because today was sparring and I was terrified. The people I was sparring with had been training since they were born and I had only trained for a few months.


Clara was awake by the time I was leaving and she gave me a small smile of encouragement that I couldn’t return because of the churning inside my stomach. When I got to the training field, I spent ten minutes in my car trying to build up my morale. I saw the teenagers walking in with excitement and in a flurry of whispers.

I managed to drag myself out just as the training was about to begin. The instructor split us into two groups and paired us up. He paired me with one of the more inexperienced students. We had both started around the same time and I couldn’t help but sigh in relief because I was scared of being paired with someone more experienced. She was about sixteen years old but she was tall and big.

“The rules are simple,” he announced as he took his place on the mat. “As of right now, you are all on level one. If you win your match then you advance to level two and that is how it goes for the next three weeks. Am I clear?”

There was a chorus of yes sir and he called up the first set.

Thankfully, I was the last person to get onto the mat. I had watched everyone prior match with rapt interest and attention. There were some fierce fighters here.

I had barely gotten into my stance before she attacked me. She knocked me off my feet immediately and I was barely able to push her off before she landed a punch right by my ear. I realized she was very aggressive and was trying to end the fight as quickly as possible but it also made her sloppy. My goal was to tire her out and then pin her once she lost her balance.

It was hard trying to dodge her moves and I could hear the instructor barking orders at me. I managed to zone him out when I saw an opening. She went in for a huge attack that left her side open and I delivered a swift punch to her ribs. She went down and I swept her legs out from under her and pinned her back to the ground. She tried to push me off but she was exhausted and ended up tapping out.

“Congratulations, Amelia,you advance to group 2,” the instructor said and it finally dawned on me that I had won. I helped the girl to her feet and she gave me a firmhandshake.

“That was good,” she said with an impressed nod. “You better watch out though, I’ll be coming for you later.”

I could tell she was joking so I smiled. “I’ll be waiting.”

I couldn’t believe that I had won. There was a permanent smile on my face as training ended and I drove home. I could not wait to find Kaden and tell him. I didn’t have classes so it meant I was going to spend my entire day at the office with him. I could only imagine the sense of pride on his face as I told him.

I was skipping when I got into the house and it caught everyone’s attention because when I left, I was a dark cloud threatening to storm over therooms. Clara watched with amusement as I sat by the table and devoured the breakfast that Pamela had set up.

“I take it to mean that training was good,” Clara teased and I couldn’t stop myself from telling her what happened. By the time I was done, she pulled me into a hug. “Congratulations, Amelia, I am so happy for you. If Kaden doesn’t take you out to celebrate then I will. That was amazing.”

“Is he back?” I asked and she shrugged.

“He has to be. Caleb says he managed to find him last night but he isn’t saying anything else. I’m sure you’ll find him at the office and he will have a perfectly good explanation as to why he disappeared.”

“I hope so.”

I got dressed in simple black pants that stuck to me like second skin and a white bodysuit. Clara winked at me when she saw it and I had to hide my blush. When I got to the office, I was relieved to hear that Kaden was inside but when I tried to go into his office, his secretary stopped me.

“He told me he didn’t want any visitors,” I opened my mouth to protest but she cut me off. “I know the nature of your relationship but he asked me to tell you to wait in your office and he would send for you when he was ready.”

To say that I was shocked would have been an understatement but I swallowed down my embarrassment and made my way over to my desk so I could start work. Every second, I would glance at Kaden’s closed door wondering what was happening inside but I couldn’t go in.

About an hour later, the phone at my desk rang and I jumped. I stared at it for a second before answering. “Hello?”

“Come to my office, Amelia,” he didn’t wait for me to respond before he hung up and I was left staring at the phone in shock and confusion.

As I made my way to the office, I couldn’t help but think back and wonder if I had done something to upset him. He could have easily mind linked me but he chose to call. I knocked on his door before slowly making my way in. He was staring at me and that was the look of an Alpha and not a mate.

He gestured for me to take a seat and I did. All my earlier excitement about seeing him had vanished and I didn’t know what to say or do. The air was tense and silent between us for a minute beforeI broke it.

“Where were you yesterday?” I asked and he shrugged. “I was looking for you.”

“I had work,” his tone was socurt and harsh that I couldn’t help but flinch.

“Did I do something to hurt you?” I asked unable to keep the pain out of my voice. “If I did then I am sorry. I was just worried that something had happened to me.”

He had the decency to look a little hurt. He reached out for my hand but I pulled it away from him. I could tell it hurt him but I wasn’t going to let him hold meuntil I was sure that he wasn’t angry with me.

“I had a long night,” he said finally as he stood to his feet and crossed the length of the room. He stopped in front of me. “Forget about me, tell me about you. How was your first day at work yesterday?”

There was something off about Kaden but I couldn’t put my finger on it. I looked him over trying to figure it out but I came up empty and he was still staring at me like he expected a response so I gave him one. I told him about sparring and how I won. He cheered me on and gave me a smile but I could tell that he wasn’t as enthusiastic as he normally would.

I had made up my mind to ask him about it when he got a call. He held up a hand to tell me to hold on and placed it by his ear. As he spoke to the person on the other line, I couldn’t help but run my eyes over his table and the papers scattered all over. I couldn’t stop myself from arranging them in a single pile and I was doing that when I noticed something that caught my eyes.

It was a file with my father’s pack name on it. I picked it up and showed it to Kaden. As soon as he saw it, he closed his eyes and muttered a curse before turning his attention backto the person on the phone.

“I will call you back,” he didn’t wait for a response before he hung up. “I can explain.”

I stayed quiet and waited for the explanation but it never came. He just stared at me with guilt on his face and I opened the file. “Why do you have this?”

“I needed to know about where you came from and if your father was going to be a problem.”

“Is he?”

“No,I got some news yesterday is enough to make me stop looking into himentirely.” He stopped for dramatic effect before continuing. “I heard things were not going too well at your father’s pack.”

“Really?” I asked not knowing where he was going with the conversation. “That’s sad, I guess.”

“Your father seems to be having some issues and I guess his new son-in-law isn’t helping.”

“Son-in-law? What do you mean?” I asked and Kaden muttered a small curse under his breath.

“I’m so sorry, Amelia, I completely forgot that you didn’t know,” he didn’t sound sorry at all.

“Didn’t know about what?”

“Your sister mated with Blake yesterday.”