Chapter 11

BELLA

The small of my back meets Caeser's office table. It's been a week since our first kiss. Caeser's lips on mine feel insistent and I start to lean into him when his hand snakes up to my arms. Once his fingers brush my breast, I stiffen. I draw back like a shot, breaking our kiss.

Caeser stares at me, confusion stark in his gaze. He reads the disgust on my face and thinks it's directed at him. Hurt briefly flashes across his grey eyes before they turn stone cold. He takes one step back. "Leave."

"Caeser, I didn't m--"

"Now."

The air drops by several degrees. An almost palpable tension grips the air. I turn toward his oak door, rushing out. In the bright hall, I battle pain and confusion. Why couldn't I just live in the moment? I want to forget Dylan and all the cruelty he'd subjected me to. I don't want my past to continue to shape my present.

No one--

"Woah, there," someone says, snapping me to the present. I become aware his hands are settled on my shoulders. I'd almost run into him!

My face instantly heats. "Oh, my God! I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine, beautiful. Watch where you're going next time. Don't wa--my." He takes a closer look at my face. When recognition dawns, he laughs. "It's you."

My face heats self-consciously. The last time I'd seen him was the day Caeser had took me from my pack. He was one of the men that came to broker the deal with Dylan.

"How are you?' he asks in that upbeat tone.

"I'm fine." Something about him suddenly seems familiar.

I must've been staring too hard because his lips quirks and he says, "I'm Amber's twin brother, Lucas. Some might say I'm the better half."

I start to laugh but the sound dies when we hear, "Lucas!"

Awareness slams into me at the sound of Caeser's voice. I turn to see him approaching us, a scowl in place. Tension pushes into the air.

"Brother mine!" Lucas says. "Was wondering where you were all morning, but now, seeing this beautiful young--"

"Why aren't you on the training ground?"

Although Lucas is all smiles, I don't mistake the edge to his tone when he says, "Well, it wouldn't be a training ground without the Alpha now, would it?"

Silence stretches tight between the two brothers and it reminds me so much about the tension that existed between i and Dylan that I feel my heart start to bang in my chest. I wipe my clammy hands against my dress, wanting so much to be far away from this cloying reminder. I am saved when I feel Caeser's light touch on my elbow. "Come," he says.

I send a brief, parting smile to Lucas. When he doesn't return it but instead looks at his brother's hold on my arm with something dark, my stomach tightens. Am I to be pulled into a tussle between two brothers now?

We turn into a wide gallery. Omegas, pack warriors, and pack mates alike say words of greetings as we walk past. The urge to fix my eyes on the floor surfaces but I stifle it, aware that it might shame Caeser.

Shame him?

I shouldn't care about what he thinks! Not after he'd dismissed me so coldly. A stare burns the side of my face. Turning my head, I catch Caeser's gaze.

"What are you thinking?"

I am taken aback by the question, but I manage a shrug, saying nothing.

He looks like he wants to say more but, seeing the look on my face, he desists. The silence festers as we head up a flight of stairs, pouring into a round solar-like hall that contains the nobles of Black Moon. Some of the Elders sit around a large, decorative mantle, the fire stoked by omegas. On sighting us, they rise, bowing their greetings. This time I do train my eyes on the floor, if anything to escape their curious gazes.

We wind into our room and the door has just been closed shut when Caeser rounds into me. "I know you have a lot to say about...about this." He motions between us. "But I don't want it to be a burden on you. I understand everything is going too fast and you might have your reservations about it all. So I'm giving you the option to leave now... If you don't want me anymore."

The broken expression on his face has my heart squeezing. "Caeser..."

"When we had kissed earlier, you acted like you hated it. I would say you were disgusted, even."

"Caeser. That... Had nothing to do with you."

He pauses. "What do you mean?"

I lick my lips, the words suddenly hard to say. "I... You'd touched me... Here." I motion around my chest uselessly. "It... Dylan's men had gotten handsy a few times."

Rage razes through his entire face. "I will kill him!"

His eyes burn a terrifying yellow. When his canines start to lengthen, I draw away with a gasp. This seems to snap him out of his anger. He calms, taking a step towards me. "I'm sorry I'd frightened you.

"It's... It's okay." I wave a hand in his direction, toward his canines. "Your wolf?"

"Yes. His name is Kar." His tone gentles. "Maybe tomorrow you'll meet him."

I nod, wondering at the strange prospect. I'd be meeting someone else in the same body?

"What is your wolf named?" he asks suddenly.

A weight falls on me. "I never got to name her."

His jaw locks. "How old were you when he locked your wolf?"

"Nine. It was just after our parents died," I explain.

"Nine." His nostrils flare. "So young."

I swallow. "I heard the average werewolf shifts at twelve. It's then they get to meet their wolves. When he... When he took mine, it felt like my soul had split in two."

A heart-wrenching expression overshadows his face. "I'm sorry, Bella," he rasps.

A sob threatens to break free. "It's not your fault," I choke.

He swallows up the remaining distance between us with quick strides, wrapping me into a hug. I clutch him tight, grasping at the comfort he offered, wanting to take it deep into me, have it fill up the other half of me that I could never get back.