Avenger (Outsider Series) Read online

  Caeden needed to believe that everything would be okay, so I’d give him that, because I loved him.

  My phone started ringing and I pulled away from Caeden. I reached for my back pocket and looked at the name flashing across the screen. My brows furrowed together in confusion. I felt Caeden’s curiosity as he stared at me. “It’s Evan,” I said. “I better take this.”

  I stood from the leather couch and walked across the office to gaze out the window for some semblance of privacy. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Sophie, it’s Evan,” he said in a lazy drawl. Hearing his voice made me realize how much I had missed my human soccer-playing friends. With everything going on I couldn’t remember the last time I saw them. I was a sucky friend.

  “I know,” I smiled, placing my palm against the window. “What do you need?”

  “Well, I was just talking to Brody and we’re sorry that we didn’t get to see you before we left for Virginia Tech. I know it’s a few months away, but do you think we can all get together over Thanksgiving break? I’ve already talked to all the other guys and we’re all coming home. It can be sort of like a reunion,” he rambled in typical Evan fashion.

  I laughed, looking over my shoulder at a smiling Caeden as he eavesdropped on my conversation. “I’m sure we can work something out. I miss you guys.”

  “We miss our she-wolf!” I heard Brody yell in the background. I shook my head despite the fact that they couldn’t see me.

  “I’m really sorry I didn’t see you guys before you left for college. I’m the suckiest friend ever,” I frowned, feeling sad.

  “You’re busy,” Evan replied. It sounded like something fell somewhere in their room. “Shit,” Evan cursed, “I have to go.”

  “Bye,” I said as he hung up.

  Caeden was snickering behind me. “Those guys are highly entertaining.”

  “I think you’re easily amused,” I smiled easily, wrapping my arms around his neck and pressing my body into his.

  “I lived with Bryce for too long, so yeah, I’m easily amused,” he chuckled, kissing the end of my nose sweetly.

  I was tall but I had to stand slightly on my tiptoes to kiss his lips. “I’m tired,” I yawned, covering my mouth with my hand. “I’m going to go lay down for a while.”

  Caeden frowned, studying my face. “I don’t like you being this tired, Soph.”

  I rolled my eyes at his worrisome nature. “I did lose a lot of sleep last night after spotting Travis. You should be sleepy too.”

  “I’m fine,” he stated, “and you got more sleep than I did. Remember? You went to bed early.”

  “Caeden,” I said his name in a scolding tone, “stop inventing stuff to worry about. I’ve been under a lot of stress. A nap won’t kill me.”

  He watched me like I was a specimen under a microscope he was trying to decipher. “Alright, fine,” he finally said, releasing his hold on me. I kissed his cheek and scurried out of the room before he decided to ask me a million questions about how I was feeling.

  After everything I’d been through in the last year I had a right to be exhausted. Didn’t I?

  I climbed into bed and the dogs joined me. My eyes felt so heavy and my limbs felt weak. What if Caeden was right? What if this wasn’t normal? Could something serious be wrong with me? Oh, God. I hoped not. Archie looked at me with wide brown eyes and they looked so sad. Did he know something to?

  I took a deep breath. I couldn’t let Caeden know his worrying was getting to me. After all, it was probably nothing.

  * * *

  When I woke from my nap I still felt tired. Like something was sucking all the energy out of me. I forced myself from beneath the warm covers. Maybe a nice hot shower would help. Yeah, that was it. That would ease the pulsing ache in my bones and make everything better.

  I turned the water on as hot as I could stand it and stripped off my clothes. The water warmed my skin and I let it wet my hair so I could lather it with shampoo. With the scent of my coconut shampoo lingering in the air, I began to feel dizzy. I leaned heavily against the glass shower door, my fingers gliding across the wet glass. Something wasn’t right.

  I fell to my knees, pain zinging up my legs. Being a shifter, something like this shouldn’t be happening in the first place, let alone hurting. My stomach heaved and I felt like I needed to throw up but nothing came out of my stomach. I curled into the fetal position, the water falling down on my naked body.

  I tried to get up, but I couldn’t get my limbs to move. I felt paralyzed.

  “Caeden!” I called, sobbing. “Caeden!”

  I heard Archie barking and scratching at the closed bathroom door.

  My body heaved again as my stomach tried to empty.

  The bathroom door burst open and through the steam fogging the shower door I saw Caeden’s form run towards me. He pulled the door open and reached inside to turn the water off. Soap still clung to my body.

  “Sophie,” his voice cracked in fear.

  “I can’t move,” my words were shaky as I shivered.

  He grabbed a towel, swiftly drying my body before wrapping it around me as he pulled me into his arms. He was trying to be strong for me, but I saw the worry shimmering in his blue eyes. Something was wrong with me.

  He carried me into the bedroom, laying me on the bed. He was frazzled and not thinking straight.

  “C-c-clothes,” my teeth chattered together as my whole body shook.

  “Right,” he ran over to the dresser and returned with underwear, sweatpants, and a long sleeved shirt, despite the fact that it was September and such clothes should be unacceptable.

  I was so weak that he was forced to dress me. I felt humiliated. No one wants to be unable to even dress themselves.

  Once I was dressed he sat me up in bed. “I’m worried about you,” he brushed my wet hair from eyes. I opened my mouth to reply, but he cut me off. “Don’t even think about telling me you’re fine,” he growled. “That,” he thrust a finger in the direction of the bathroom, “was not normal. Something’s going on with you.”

  “I wasn’t going to say that,” I whispered. “I was going to say that you were right. Something has to be wrong with me, Caeden. I’m so weak and the dizziness is getting worse.”

  He sat there, holding me in his arms, staring off into space as he thought. Suddenly, he stood, cradling me in his arms like a small child. He tucked me under the covers and propped the pillows up behind me so that I was sitting up. He turned the TV on and handed me the remote.

  “I’ll be right back,” he mumbled, leaving the room.

  As soon as he was gone, I raised my shirt up, looking at my still flat stomach. “Please be okay, baby. Please. Mommy loves you,” I begged as tears fell from my eyes. If something happened to my baby I’d never forgive myself.

  Caeden returned a few minutes later with a glass of orange juice and a plate with buttered toast on it. “This should help…some,” he handed the plate to me and set the glass on the table. He was pale and the worry still hadn’t left his eyes. “I called Lucinda,” he stated with his hands on his hips. He was looking around the room, avoiding my eyes.

  “And?” I prompted.

  “She’s on her way over. It will probably take her about an hour to get here,” his eyes finally landed on me and he studied my face carefully.

  “Sit with me, please,” I patted the empty space in the bed beside me.

  He hesitated for only a second before sitting down.

  “Will you hold me?” I asked hesitantly.

  Without saying anything, he enfolded me in his arms. I inhaled his woodsy scent with a slight citrus tang. It was the best smell in the world, because it reminded me of home. That’s what Caeden was to me—not just my husband and mate, but my home.

  I clung to his shirt with weak fingers. Neither of us said anything more, not wanting to spout false promises.

  When Gram arrived, Caeden left me to let her in the house. I chewed my lip nervously. I hoped Gram knew what was wrong w
ith me…but what if it was something really bad. Did I really want to know?

  Gram entered the bedroom and stopped in the doorway. She looked as worried as Caeden. “Hey, sweetie,” she said in a falsely sweet tone, trying to hide her worry. “How are you feeling?”

  “Tired and dizzy.” If I had to tell one more person that same thing I’d find a way to give them a swift kick in the knees.

  She strode forward and began looking over me like a doctor would their patient. She asked me a million and one questions, checked my pulse, looked down my throat, and a bunch of other things.

  Finally, she looked from me to Caeden. “I’ve never seen this before, but I’ve heard of it.”

  “What is it?” Caeden asked quickly. “Whatever it is we need to do to fix it, we will.”

  “There’s nothing you can do to fix this,” she shrugged and Caeden’s eyes threatened to bug out of his head at her words. “It’s the baby.”

  “The baby?” Caeden and I asked simultaneously.

  She nodded. “This is rare…but it’s possible when both the father and mother come from a strong Alpha line…basically, the baby is very strong and growing stronger every day. It’s draining you, Sophie.”

  “Draining her?! Like a parasite!” Caeden exclaimed, backing away.

  “Our baby is not a parasite!” I yelled. “How dare you say that!” I seethed.

  He paled as my words hit him. “I didn’t mean it like that—”

  “This pregnancy is going to be hard on you, Sophie,” Gram continued like Caeden and I hadn’t just been bickering. “I’ve never seen this happen firsthand, but you’ll probably lose the ability to shift.”

  “What?! No!” I cried, trying to wriggle free of the covers. I felt like the blankets were suffocating me. “This can’t be happening! I need to shift! We have to kill Travis before the baby comes!” I couldn’t bear the thought of bringing my sweet innocent little baby into a world where a monster like Travis existed.

  Gram pushed my shoulders back so that I couldn’t get out of bed. “Shh,” she hushed me. “Don’t get yourself worked up, it isn’t good for you or the baby.”

  I immediately shut up. Despite the threat of Travis, the baby was the most important thing to me.

  “Good girl,” Gram smiled. Turning to Caeden, she said, “She’ll be bed ridden most of the pregnancy…if she’s this weak this early into the pregnancy it’s only going to get a lot worse. I hope you’re ready to play man nurse,” she patted Caeden’s cheek. She hugged me goodbye and said, “Take care of my girl,” to Caeden before she left.

  “I can’t believe she’s causing this,” Caeden frowned, stepping forward to place his hand on my stomach.

  I put my hand over his, marveling at the fact that my little family was right here. “She’s worth it,” I said, even though I wasn’t as convinced as Caeden was on the baby’s gender.

  “Everything will be okay,” he pressed his lips to my forehead. I closed my eyes, soaking in his words. I needed to hear them, but I knew he had said them more for his benefit than mine. “I’ll keep you safe.”

  Six.

  Day three of my purgatory or “bed rest” as most would call it, had me wanting to claw at my husband’s face.

  “Caeden,” I whined. “Please, let me do something! I can at least read one of those while I lay here!” I reached for one of the many books piled on the bed that he was leafing through.

  “No,” he smacked my hand away with a light swat.

  “I don’t think reading is going to make me pass out from exhaustion,” I pouted. “I need to do something or I’m going to go crazy trapped in this bed for nine months, which I’m not going to allow to begin with.”

  “Stop being dramatic, Soph,” he chuckled, flipping one of the ancient pages in the book he was reading. “Holy crap! This is it! This is what I’ve been looking for!” The bed bounced with his excitement. I leaned towards him curiously, trying to peer at the yellowed pages.

  “What is it?”

  With a finger, he pointed to the page and read aloud, “The abominations known as mutants can only be created by those who have relinquished their humanity. An army of these abominations would make the one who created them—”

  He paused and his eyes widened.

  “What? It would make them—?” I prompted.

  “Invincible.” He swallowed thickly. “It would make them nearly invincible.” He ran his fingers roughly through his wavy brown hair. “We don’t stand a chance, Sophie.”

  “Don’t say that,” I begged.

  “Don’t you see? Travis is making an army,” his arms fell to his sides. “I don’t care how strong of a pack we are. We don’t stand a chance against an army of mutants and Travis.”

  Dread filled my stomach. Had we always been doomed from the start to die?

  “Look at this,” he reached over and grabbed several newspapers off the bedside table, throwing them onto my lap. “Read the headlines.”

  I glanced at him before letting my gaze drop.

  Each headline was much the same.

  A human missing, presumed dead. Several mentioned decapitated bodies being found.

  The police believe these disappearances and murders are the work of a serial killer. They have no other information to release at this time.

  My hand came up to cover my open mouth.

  “Oh my God,” I gasped before leaning over and throwing up on the floor. I couldn’t stomach the thought of so many innocent humans dying or being turned into mutants because Travis—and maybe the elders—wanted us dead.

  Caeden pulled my hair back into a ponytail and held it as I was violently sick. When I finished, he eased from the bed to clean up the mess.

  “I’ll get you some juice,” he said as he left the room.

  “And let me brush my teeth,” I pleaded, knowing he could hear me.

  Tears streamed out of my eyes as I silently cried for all the people Travis had killed. No one deserved to die like that, and the only reason he was doing this was because of us. If I had never come here, maybe none of this would’ve happened. True, I wouldn’t have Caeden or the friends I’d made, but I’d rather lose them then be responsible for so many innocent lives.

  There had to have been at least eight newspapers there, and who knew how many articles I had missed. I was eighteen, I didn’t read the newspaper, but Caeden obviously did.

  When he entered the room he had a glass of water and orange juice—I had been craving orange juice like crazy. Without saying anything he went to the bathroom and came back with my toothbrush and toothpaste. Using the glass of water, I brushed my teeth. When I finished I looked up at a bleary-eyed Caeden. “How many?”

  “Huh?” He asked, taking the glass of water and emptying in the bathroom.

  “How many deaths?” I clarified.

  He stopped at the end of the bed, his hands grasping the wrought iron in a white-knuckle grip. “Twenty six.”

  “And how many are still missing?” I let my eyes drop to the blanket covering me. I couldn’t look at him right now.

  “Soph—”

  “Tell me,” I hissed through gritted teeth. “I need to know.”

  “At least fifty, but Travis is crafty so I’m sure there are people missing that no one’s even realized is gone. That being said, I’d guess closer to eighty.”

  “Eighty,” I gasped, forcing the word out of my mouth. I felt like I was going to be sick again. My head fell forward into my hands. “No,” I said. “No, no, no,” I kept repeating the word, like as if by sheer will power I could change what he had said. “This has to stop,” I growled.

  “I agree,” Caeden spoke. “But like I’ve told you, I’m not going into this blind anymore…not that we did before, but you know what I mean. When we’re ready to attack, I don’t want there to be any chance that Travis gets away. I want his heart ripped out and his blood on my hands.”

  I looked up at Caeden. We’d both changed so much in the last year. Neither of us were n
aïve children anymore. We’d learned love and loss—two things that changes a person forever.

  Caeden straightened. “I have some things I need to do. Christian is coming over to sit with you.”

  “I don’t need a babysitter,” I rolled my eyes.

  “Yes, you do,” he forced a chuckle. “Besides, she misses you. Don’t you miss her?”

  “Of course,” I shrugged, evading a real answer. I did miss Chris. I considered her my best friend, but after what happened with Logan—her brother dying to save me—I didn’t quite know how to act around her. I knew it was wrong of me to avoid her, although, was it considered avoiding when you were trapped in bed?

  “Where are you going?” I asked him.

  “Out.”

  “That’s vague,” I glared at him. “You can tell me.”

  “It was meant to be vague,” he rubbed his stubbled jaw.

  “Ugh,” I groaned. I didn’t want to act like a fussy child, but I really thought we had gotten passed this whole ‘keep Sophie in the dark’ thing. I mean, really. “Come on, Caeden. Tell me.”

  “No,” he said sternly.

  “You need to tell me things,” I exclaimed. “You said you weren’t going to keep me in the dark anymore!”

  “Fine!” He yelled. “I’m going to my dad’s grave! With everything that’s been going on, I missed the anniversary of his death! Okay?!”

  “Oh.” I felt like a complete and total bitch. “I can go with you, if—”

  “No,” he cut me off. His eyes and voice softened and he released his hold on the bed. “This is something I need to do by myself. Besides, you’re not fit to get out of bed.”

  “I’m feeling stronger,” I frowned. “I do need to get up and move some. Sitting in bed all day every day isn’t good for me and the baby either.”

  “You showered today,” he grinned.

  “I don’t think it counts since you made me sit on the bench and you did the washing part.”

  “At least you’re clean,” he winked.

  It amazed me how one minute we could be arguing and the next we were cracking jokes. I guess that was the power of being mates.