Page 21 of Cage Me

“It’s temporary,” Spencer replies, avoiding eye contact and heading inside. “I had plans to build a home before we were all together again.”

My mate doesn’t say it, but she’s embarrassed. A fact that I want to do something about, but I don’t know her well enough to do so yet.

“I think it’s cool,” Peter announces, following his sister. “Your own hideout. I’ve always wanted one.”

“Right,” Spencer mutters, bending down and digging through her bag.

I glance back at the grey house behind me and peer at the windows, but I don’t sense anyone inside. “Who lives there?” I ask.

Spencer doesn’t answer me, and it’s the deepening frown on her mother’s face that keeps me from pressing for an answer and addressing Cara instead. “What’s wrong?”

She seems to snap out of whatever moment she’d been lost in as she smiles up at me. “Oh, nothing at all.”

Spencer finally turns back to the rest of us but talks directly to her mother. “I need you and Peter to stay in this shed. I’m going to place a cloaking spell around it once I shut the door, and then I need to go see someone. When I get back, we’re going to get out of here. If there’s anywhere you’ve ever wanted to go, think hard about it, because we need to move.”

“Why?” I demand, the annoyance that she doesn’t seem to also be speaking to me gets the better of me.

Spencer finally looks up at me and shakes her head. “Because this isn’t my home.”

She ushers her family into the shed with few words shared between them, then pours the cloaking spell around the exterior of the wooden structure.

When she tries to brush past me, I reach for her arm, halting her movements. “Where are you going?”

“I need to go see a witch about some trade items,” she tells me, and I don’t know why, but the moment she looks up at me, I can no longer control my actions.

Heat builds where my palm is wrapped around her forearm. From there, it spreads up my arm and toward my chest. The moment the energy begins to pulse through my veins, I lose all conscious thought.

I step forward, closing the space between the two of us, and my other hand reaches up to cup Spencer’s cheek. She flinches but doesn’t back away, and before I can think too hard about my actions, my lips are pressed against hers.

Her mouth is soft against mine, melding to me unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. The desire to taste her grows stronger by the lingering seconds, ones that seem to pass so slowly, it’s almost as if time stands still.

My tongue slips between the crease of her mouth, and an explosion of power ignites within me, burning at my chest until I’m certain that I might explode, but before that can happen, Spencer’s fist becomes well acquainted with my jaw.

“What the fuck?” she practically growls.

What the fuck, indeed.

I rub the tips of my fingers over my heart where my wolf is caged. The actual heat I feel there causes a crease to deepen between my brows.

Spencer’s voice lowers, and she steps closer to me, but this time I don’t dare touch her. “Don’t you ever fucking do that again.”

My mouth twitches as I fight a smile. Oh, I definitely will be, but next time, she’ll be desperate for my kiss.

“What’s wrong, Spencer?” I taunt, no longer holding back my grin. “Have I just reminded that cold heart of yours what it’s like to feel?”

“I feel plenty,” she spews, but loses some of her earlier venom as she adds, “Just not for you.”

My eyes openly move over her face, then quickly down her body before going back to her hardened stare. “You can keep lying to yourself, but we both know you could have stopped that kiss before I even touched your lips.”

She opens her mouth, but no words come out. Instead, she shoves me, and when I move to follow, she swivels back around, causing me to slam into her.

My hands instinctively grab her arms to stop her from falling over, and the sneer she sends my way has me shaking my head. “You’re the one that stopped abruptly.”

She pushes me back as she rights herself. “I was going to tell you that I’m… Never mind. I can’t do this right now. I have other things to worry about first.”

Spencer tries to walk away from me again, but this time I sidestep her and move into her path. “What were you going to say?”

Her piercing blue eyes bore into me, and my heart swells just from the single look, even if she’s still trying to hide her emotions from me.

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