Page 24 of Pack Kasen, Part 3 (Caught #3)

KAT

A knock sounds on the schoolroom door.

I was already twisting around in my seat before the knock came.

I always know it’s Aren before I see him.

Not because of a scent or the sound of his footsteps. Some internal alarm flares to life in a way it never has for anyone else before. Maybe it's because we’re fated mates? I’m not sure, but it’s surprisingly comforting to know I’m no longer alone.

He aims a faint smile at the pups and focuses on me. “Can I talk to you, Kitty cat?”

“Sure.” I stand up and follow him outside.

“Why does he call her Kitty cat when she’s a wolf?” Leo is asking Gregor as I pull the door closed behind me.

“Because she is fierce, and she likes to play.” Aren kisses my knuckles and smiles at Leo. “Even though she tries to hide it.”

I glare at him. “That is absolutely not true.”

Aren laces his fingers with mine, guiding me away from the schoolroom, then halts near the bunkhouse to look down at me.

I take in his furrowed brow. “Something has happened.”

“Joy and Emilio picked up fresh tracks. They’re following them, but they believe it’s Cristofer. So do I.”

I study him. “Here for me?”

He nods once. “Probably. Which is why I need you to stay here, where it’s safe.”

“Okay.”

He blinks at my easy agreement. “ Okay ?”

My lip twitches. “You were expecting me to argue?”

“Yes.”

I glance at the schoolroom and lower my voice in case any of the pups are listening in. “This is important. Yes, I want to be the one who takes down Cristofer, but I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me. If you can rip his head off quickly, then I won’t turn down your offer.”

He cradles the nape of my neck with a large hand, staring down at me.

“Aren?” Finan calls out, stepping from the forest. “We have to go.”

“One minute,” Aren turns to say to him, and then refocuses on me. He leans in close, touching his lips to mine. “I’m leaving Wes and Marisa behind to watch the house. Troy is staying a wolf. He’ll be around. Marisa knows how to fight. She’ll protect.”

“I’ll stay with the pups.”

“And once I’ve ripped this asshole's head off, we’re going to talk.”

I tilt my head, curious. Aren isn’t the talking type. In the time I’ve known him, he’s more about acting first, then maybe talking after. “About?”

“A better way to deal with ferals.”

I blink at him, surprised. “Are you asking for my help , Wolf King?”

His eyes flare with heat, and it’s clear he likes the name. “I am. You don’t call me that often enough.”

“Don’t get excited. I like to ration those Wolf Kings. I know how much you like it.”

His grin is so gorgeous, I struggle to believe he’s my mate. “Stay safe. I’m not sure what I’d do without you.”

“You’ll manage just fine.”

His amusement fades. “No. I won’t.”

For one charged moment, we look at each other, and I see so much emotion in his eyes: heat, need, desire… and something more. Something that makes my heart squeeze.

Rising to my tiptoes, I touch my lips to his. “We’ll talk.”

He deepens the kiss, turning it into a passionate one that leaves me breathless, then releases me to step back. “And no going near the feral, okay?”

“I’m just watching the pups until you get back, that’s all.”

“Good.” He flashes me a grin and turns to walk away.

A surge of desperation floods my body.

What if Cristofer set this trap for him?

Cristofer killed every single guy I had any relationship with back in college. They were exes. But Aren isn’t an ex. I can’t lose Aren.

I grab the front of his shirt and yank him back. “Don’t let anything happen to you.”

I’m not sure my heart could take it.

His eyes soften. “Yes, ma’am.”

I let him go, and he walks toward the forest where Finan and the rest of his enforcers are probably waiting for him.

He strips as he walks, and I sigh at the sight of his strong, tanned, muscled back.

“You could have waited until you were in the forest to do that,” I call after him.

He throws his shirt onto the ground and turns to smile at me. I swear the guy does something to his pecs to impress me. “I could have, but you enjoy looking, and I like you to watch.”

He shifts faster than I’ve ever seen anyone change before. My wolf has always been a part of me, half of my soul. When Aren shifts, there is no blur between his two selves. He is both: wolf and man.

It’s beautiful. Fluid, fast, and incredible to watch, and a part of me is a little jealous of how seamless his shift is.

I wait until he’s disappeared into the forest, swallowing the dread in my belly and telling myself that whatever this is, is nothing. Just paranoia.

Before I walk back into the schoolroom, I spot Marisa standing on the main house's deck with Wesley. Both are scanning the surroundings, alert for any danger.

She nods when she sees me, and I nod back.

I’m not sure we’ll ever be friends after she hung me from that deck, wanting to get rid of me so I would stop getting in the way of her relationship with Aren, but I think we can be pack.

Maybe.

I return to the schoolroom, smiling apologetically at Gregor for disturbing his lesson.

“Are you staying?” Leo asks as I return to my seat.

Clearly, the kids were doing a whole heap of eavesdropping. From the interest in Gregor’s gaze, the kids aren’t the only curious ones.

I hesitate to answer, especially knowing the kids might not understand the complex relationship Aren and I share.

“Well…” I start, still not sure what to say, as I shift around a little to get comfortable in my wooden chair. “It’s hard to say.”

A girl with blond pigtails asks, “Don’t you like Aren?”

“Um…”

My mind flashes back to all the sex we’ve had over the last couple of days, and I hope I’m not blushing because there is no way to explain any of that to little kids.

“Because if you did, then that means you should stay, right?” Saskia, a little girl with bright red pigtails, asks me.

Innocent eyes peer up at me.

“It’s complicated.”

“Because he locked you in the cage?” a cute blond boy asks me.

I clear my throat. “Partly.”

“Couldn’t you lock him in the cage, then it would be even?” Saskia suggests.

I can’t help but smile at that. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that.”

“Why not?” Leo wrinkles his nose. “If someone pushes me over, I push them back, then we’re friends again.”

My eyes find Gregor to see what he’s making of all this.

“Pity all things can’t be resolved so easily,” he says dryly.

“Yeah.”

We get back to the lesson.

An hour later, Gregor is delving into more interesting shifter history when my wolf suddenly snarls, the sound echoing in my mind and catching me off guard.

Danger .

I shove myself to my feet.

“Wait here,” I order Gregor and the pups.

I’m at the door and stepping out of the schoolroom before Gregor can stop me. I pull it closed behind me and stand at the entrance.

Scanning my surroundings, I hunt out the thing that has my wolf snarling in my head, convinced that something is wrong.

There’s no sign of Wes or Marisa on the deck. They’re inside the house, or something else is happening elsewhere.

Movement captures my gaze.