Bull In a China Shop

A Century Later

Cayden burst into his brother’s room and hopped onto his bed. “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!” he shouted until he finally heard Kano groan. Kano sat up and glared at him and he laughed. “You are so cranky when you first wake up.” Watching his brother’s glare harden, he let out a smirk and threw up his hands. “Alright, alright! Let me just tell you what I need to tell you and then you can go back to sleep. Big brother; I’ve finally met my mate,” he said, excitedly.

Kano sighed and rolled his eyes, and Cayden shook his head. “No, I mean it this time! I know I use that line to get my way, but it’s different with Anastasia. We’ve imprinted.” Kano’s eyes widened, and Cayden jumped up and down. “I know! It happened so fast, and it’s quite funny now that I think about it. I’d never been to that club, but a very nice—and equally persistent—couple got me to agree to try it. Next thing you know, I’m there, and one moment I’m boozing and laughing, and then I see her at the bar. It was literally love at first sight. She stayed over, and I want you to meet her at breakfast.”

He heard Kano sigh as he placed his hands on his hips. “Nope, you promised if I found my mate she would live here, and you would come out of hiding long enough to meet her.” He spoke low. “You know, the world has changed so much in a century. People aren’t like they were, our pack isn’t like it was… and we deserve our true alpha.”

Kano turned away, and Cayden quickly stopped him. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry for pushing. Anyway, look presentable for breakfast. Maybe comb your hair so she can know she’s looking at a person, and not a sheepdog.” Rising from the bed, he walked towards the door. “Breakfast will be an hour late. We’re going to sleep in.” He winked at Kano, who rolled his eyes again at him.

Standing, Kano grumbled under his breath. “Fucking hell, I don’t want to meet his mate.” Stalking to the bathroom, he took a long shower to calm his nerves.

The years hadn’t been kind to Kano. Outside of his brother and the servants, he stayed out of sight. They built the fences high so that he could get sun and workout without being spotted, and he had eventually become a myth among the pack.

The stories changed over the years, but the narrative always stayed the same. They spoke of his brutality and told of him being a barbarian who was killed or placed into exile. Still, Kano felt at least if no one knew for sure, they couldn’t kill him and that was better than nothing. He dreaded the idea of meeting Anastasia, and the thought of meeting another person who might reveal that he was alive. He sighed and thought to himself. Do this for Cayden.

His brother had always been kind to him. He’d stepped up and taken the responsibility of alpha in stride. Though he often begged Kano to re-assume his rightful place, Cayden never pushed past his limit, and instead implemented the ideas and changes Kano suggested for the pack.

Exiting the shower, Kano quickly dressed, deciding he would go to breakfast early to distract himself. Walking through his wing, his eyes caught the sight of an open door. This shouldn’t be open, he surmised, peering inside it. On the enormous bed, he saw a lump under the sheets, and he huffed in instant irritation. Why would Cayden leave his leftovers on my side?! Either eat them in whole or don’t maul them at all! Wait… he shouldn’t be mauling anyone. I’m going to kill him!

He stormed into the room and gathered the sheets roughly. Wrapping the body up in them, he threw it over his shoulder. As he walked, he felt a kick against him and heard a shout.

“What the actual fuck?!”

He dropped the sheets, hearing a loud groan.

“Oww!”

The sheets sprang open, and Kano’s mouth fell at what had laid inside. The woman’s hair—as bright as the sun—sat in two long braids down her back. Her skin reminded him of his favorite toffee candy. Her lips were full from sleep, and he could see a few freckles that covered the bridge of her nose. Her big brown eyes glared at him. “What the hell is the matter with you?! You don’t just ball a person up in sheets!” she seethed.

Kano found himself stuck, his wolf begging to be let free. His eyes tinged gold, and he quickly closed them. Grabbing her by the arm, he attempted to drag her to Cayden’s side of the castle. She pulled her arm from his grasp. “Let go of me, creep!” He scowled at her and blew steam from his nose only to see her return the look. “Touch me again and I’m going to kick your ass,” she said low.

He laughed loudly, imagining such a small framed woman being able to hurt him. He saw her eyes cut deeper as she slid her feet across the carpet. He looked at her in confusion as she put her pointer fingers to her head like horns. Charging directly at him, she knocked him hard on his ass. He stared at her wildly, and she sneered. “Who the fuck is laughing now, hmmm?” In search of a weapon, her eyes locked with a basebat that laid on the floor, and she darted to it, picking it up. “Alright First 48, you might kill me, but you gonna get a hell of an ass whooping before I go,” she said. She tapped the bat against the floor, and Kano realized her eyes were locked between his legs.

“Batter up, buttercup!” she shouted, and Kano stood and ran out of the room. He heard her yell. “That’s what I thought! And where the hell is Anastasia?! I’m going to kill her for getting me into this mess!” Storming down the hall, Kano ran into his brother and who he assumed to be Anastasia. He took a moment to look at her and noted that she was his brother’s type.

She had green eyes that seemed to sparkle even though the nervous expression on her face told him she was just as unsure about him as he was about her. He looked at the slightly disheveled long red hair that flowed down her back, knowing that the color was yet another thing that his brother was fond of. Under other circumstances, he would have tried his hardest to be polite, yet after his previous encounter, he found himself too vexed to hide it.

Anastasia gave him an apologetic look. “I-I’m so sorry. We were pretty wasted, and I guess Essence made it to the wrong side of the house.”

Essence.

He liked her name, even if he didn’t particularly like her. Anastasia stuck out her hand. “Hello, Cayden has been talking about you all morning. I’m Anastasia, his mate—but uh, I guess you already know that.” Kano shook her hand, and nodded, and she looked past him, seeing a door swing open.

“You know Rain Man?!” Essence shouted, walking towards the group.

Anastasia’s face reddened. “This is Kano, Cayden’s older brother. He... um... he doesn’t talk.”

Essence’s eyes widened. “As in, he can’t?”

Cayden shook his head. “As in, he chooses not to.” Kano looked at the three having a conversation around him. His eyes landed on Essence, and he scowled, irritated at how beautiful she was.

She scoffed. “Oh, I’m not apologizing, Wolfman, if that’s what you’re getting at. You wrapped me in a damn sheet. Who the hell does that?!”

He tried his best to control his anger, knowing it could be volatile. The bitterness of being lonely and ostracized had hardened him into something that sometimes even scared him. Yet as he looked at the woman who’d somehow bested and embarrassed him, Kano felt his wolf coming to the surface. He let out a growl, much to his brother’s shock.

Essence cocked her head back at him. “Who the hell are you growling at? I might not be a wolf, but I’ll knock you on your ass again. You better learn some damn manners before you get them beat into you, Silent Bob.”

Kano’s eyes widened, and he looked at Cayden, who quickly teased him. “She’s a guest, big brother. Play nice.” The smirk on his face got under Kano’s skin, knowing Cayden had picked up on what had happened. Enjoying what he was seeing, Cayden turned to Essence. “There seems to be some miscommunication. It appears that, well… Kano has imprinted on you.”

Kano’s eyes grew bigger, and his fist clenched in his desire to punch Cayden in the face. Not wanting to look at Essence, he kept his eyes locked on Cayden, though he still felt her anger behind him. She spoke through clenched teeth. “I don’t know what that is, but I swear if you did something to me in my sleep, you piece of—”

He had had enough. She’d embarrassed him, he was being teased, and he couldn’t even defend himself. For the first time in a century, Kano let out a roar so loud it shook the castle. “I did nothing to you in your sleep, you maniac! It means you’re my mate!”