He turned his head and yelled, “I don’t know who the fuck is outside my house, but you’d better leave. Because if I have to come out there you will NOT be happy. This is not an orgy in the street. You won’t watch me fuck my mate in our home!” I heard them running away for all they were worth.
I laughed telling him, “They’re gone.” Cayden raised an eyebrow, “You’d know who it was with your sense of smell.” I admitted, “I do know.” I kissed him and got up. I headed towards the shower before swinging my hips more than necessary. I called over my shoulder, “Are you coming?” before I popped into the shower. Cayden was behind me in a second pushing me up against the wall.
He turned on the water and inhaled at my neck, taking in my scent. He groaned, “Fuck Cass, I missed you so damn much.” I pushed myself flush against him. I whispered, “I really missed you too.” We didn’t make it out of the shower for hours. Eventually, we had no choice since we were very prune-y.
I snapped on some yoga pants and a tight t-shirt. I told him, “So, Max almost popped to Micah over his feelings. What happened?” Cayden sighed, “I want to tell you, but we talked about this when I took over. This is one of those times I have to ask you if you want to know because you’d have to keep it from your family. I know Max will choose not to know.”
I confidently stated, “I told you then, and I’ll tell you now. I’ll keep every confidence you ask me to. Max knows you have Micah’s back as his Commander. I’m the Commander of the Hackura Army’s mate. I need to know someone has your back and that’s me. What happened?” Cayden kissed me hard.
When he pulled back, he said, “I love you so damn much, My Duchess.” I replied, “I love you too, My Commander.” Cayden told me, “We have a new source.” I gasped, “Someone else has infiltrated the Hunter group we wanted to get in with?”
Cayden rubbed his face, “That’s a word for what happened. There’s a she wolf who lives in Black Path’s pack who saved Micah’s cover from being blown. I was under the impression you didn’t know any of them.” I frowned, “We don’t. Chase hates that pack. Hell, my dad does too. He says they are up to no good, he just can’t prove it.”
Cayden admitted, “If I could tell him about this then we’d prove it. They are sending their teenage pups and their wolf less pack members into the Hunters dens. Why? I don’t know. I do know our new source is DEFINITELY not doing what they want her to.”
I asked, “What’s her name?” Cayden answered, “Ashley Griffen. She’s fifteen and she saved the mission. They grew suspicious of Micah for some reason and wanted him to take off his shirt.” I paled, “They would’ve seen his mark.”
Cayden nodded, “Exactly. When I was about to charge in, Ashley did. She called him by name and touched his arm. She told the group he’d killed Wolves before and was cool.” I snorted, “That’s a hell of a bluff.”
Cayden shook his head, “That’s the thing, it wasn’t a bluff. She’s a bad liar, like sadly bad. The girl can’t stop talking. She wasn’t lying though. She knew Micah and she knew he’d killed Werewolves. Not like the Hunters though because she evaded it all. They didn’t ask if it was rogues, and she didn't say. I was convinced on the other end she was a Fairy until I met her. She’s a full blooded Werewolf, who knows A LOT about Fairies and us, for some reason.”
I offered, “I can talk to her.” Cayden snorted, “I wish. She’s easily spooked and we want her as a source. She even talked code with Micah. They geeked out about it and came up with some newfangled code or whatever.”
I asked, “Did Micah take off his shirt?” Cayden nodded, “Yes. I was yet again ready to storm in, but when Ashley had touched his arm, she’d put this patch on him. It matched his skin tone and hid his mark.” I gasped, “That’s not possible.”
Cayden dryly replied, “Not until now. I used it on myself, and it worked. Ashley agreed to help us from the inside. She has knowledge about the drug Rings too. The catch was she just wants to be an anonymous source outside the Hackura. She’s willing to give us these patches that would hide our marks while we are out in the field. We checked out the intel that she gave us, and it was solid.”
I raised an eyebrow, “Is she in the blue circle group EJ and Alexander are looking for?” Cayden winced, “I think she is. I don’t have enough trust established with her to get that answer yet. Nor do I have any proof. She’s one angry girl.” Rain whimpered in my head.
I questioned, “Why?” Cayden looked away, “Her family died, and she believes it was her fault. Her brother that’s still alive blamed her. Whatever Black Path thinks she’s doing, she’s not. She wants revenge and she thinks the Hunters can get her that. She’s willing to provide us intel. If I can get us in with the circle group, we have to take that option.”
I nodded, “I understand. If she’s a wolf though, why isn’t she running to the Werewolf Council? Why trust the Hackura instead?” Cayden raised an eyebrow, “I don’t know. From what Micah found, she’s never met a member of the council. But trust is not something she has to give. Maybe it’s because her pack betrayed her so she’s leery of Werewolves. I don’t know. I just feel if I can get her to trust us, we might solve this whole damn thing.” I kissed him, “If anyone could do it, it would be you.”
Cayden left for a meeting with Uncle Bjourn to tell him about our new source of information. I took out one of the packages Cayden left and studied the patch that could hide marks. My brain was nagging me. This was similar to the bracelets Melanie had created. My head started to hurt.
I shook myself. Melanie was living her dream in New York. The patch was out of the box thinking just like the jewelry Melanie had developed. Rain said, “That’s true.” Melanie had done that for my brother, and her family though. Hiding someone’s mark was helpful to the Hackura.
Rain offered, “Our brother goes on missions.” True. Why didn’t she give it to him then? Rain was right though, Alexander was also part Hackura. My head started to pound. I sighed telling my wolf, “Thiswas silly. Melanie and Ashley can’t be the same person. One is in Nashville and the other is in New York.”
Rain mused, “Dad had people on Melanie too.” I groaned, “That name though. Ashley Griffen. Why do I know it? Ashley Griffen, hmm.” Then it hit me. I called Alexander before I even processed what I was doing.
He answered, “Hey Cass, what’s up?” I blurted out, “I need information on that book series you read.” He asked, “Which one?” I answered, “The one about the horses. What are the main character’s names?” Alexander laughed, “It followed several characters.”
I groaned, “Just list off the main ones.” Alexander sighed, “Ashleigh Griffen, Samantha McLean, and Cindy Blake. Then there were daughters and nieces.” That was it! That’s what I’d heard the name. I sighed in relief, “Thanks. It was nagging me.” Alexander sounded confused, “Ok. Why?” I hung up on him.
Alexander linked, “Seriously?” I replied, “I’m working on something!” Rain chuckled, “Oden is also wondering what’s up.” I told her, “Let them. They can’t be in this right now. We promised Cayden.” She agreed, “True. I won’t say anything.”
Cayden walked back in. He studied me, “I know that look. You think you’re onto something. What’s up?” I explained, “Ashley Griffen is a character in a book series. Did you by chance run into Samantha McLean and Cindy Blake?”
Cayden smirked, “We did. I knew who they were though. We’ve looked into Black Path before. The girl who said her name was Cindy is Addison Davis. The girl who called herself Samantha is Sierra Kiern.”
I stared at him as Rain growled. I clarified, “The Alpha and Beta’s daughters?! They send in their own kids?” Cayden nodded, “Yup. The difference is Ashley has a background you can run. The other two don’t.” I frowned, “That seems odd.”
Cayden responded, “You have no idea. Come on, let’s get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow.” I teased, “Do remember that you have to stay in the stands.” Cayden frowned, “Why don’t I like that sound of that? Oh god. What did you do to the outfit?” I giggled, “Just wait and see.”
I popped into bed and Cayden got in next to me. He whispered in my ear, “You’re going to try to kill me, My Duchess.” I scoffed, “Never, My Commander.” We fell asleep holding each other.
I woke up before Cayden. Rain said, “I’m so ready for this.” I was too. I took a shower and put on some gym clothes. Cayden woke up slowly. I kissed his lips before saying, “See you there, My Commander.”
