Beta: Cade (completed)

13

I showered, but it was much more difficult with Cade around. He only allowed so much of my attention to be away from him. His behavior was completely different from when I first met him, but I wasn't complaining. I liked that he wanted to be around me now. I liked that he wanted to constantly touch me. This side of him made me happy he didn't reject me. Now that we had been together I knew I couldn't let him go. It wasn't going to happen.

Cade and I drove to the restaurant my parents chose. I couldn't deny that I was nervous. Now that they had a few hours to process the information I was worried what they would think. I just hoped they hadn't looked too far into my history with the Order. They didn't need to know what happened to me there. They didn't need that on their consciences.

"Nervous?" Cade guessed as he squeezed my hand.

I glanced over at him in the dark car. He kept his eyes on the road, but I could tell I had his full attention.

"Yes," I admitted. "I shouldn't be though, should I?"

"I don't know. I've never dealt with something like this. I don't think there is an appropriate way to feel."

"Do they like you?"

"I don't think they care one way or the other with me. I've never given them a reason to dislike me."

"That's good. What about your pack in general?"

"We've always had a strong relationship with the royals. It'll be fine, Tessa."

"I've been thinking about something that happened when I met them."

"What happened?"

"When I told them you're my mate Eleanor looked like something was wrong."

"They're probably worried that you won't want to leave here."

"They said they wouldn't make me leave."

"Yeah, but they just found you. They want to spend time with you."

I nodded absently. "I don't know. It just felt like there was something else there."

He shrugged. "If it's important they would have told you."

"Maybe," I conceded absently.

"It's not like you would be leaving me," he commented.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not going to be mad if you want to spend some quality time with your family. If you wanna go stay with them for awhile it's fine. We'll make it work."

With Cade being a high ranking wolf I just assumed he would be possessive and domineering.

"That easy, huh?" I asked.

He shot me a pointed look before returning his eyes to the road. "I don't wanna control you, Tess. That's not what being mates is about."

"That's all I've ever seen it be about."

"Your parents are mates. My parents are mates. Do our mothers look controlled?"

I shrugged. "I guess not."

We pulled up to the restaurant and parked in front. The street was lined with cars, but this restaurant looked deserted. It was strange to see so many people out and about and have this one place be completely empty.