Chapter 29

Chapter 29

“Something’s wrong, isn’t it?” Layton asked me on the drive home.

“Why do you ask?”

“I can feel it. The bond, remember?”

“Oh,” I replied, not knowing what else to say.

My nerves were killing me, and there was a knot in my stomach.

As soon as he turned off the car, he opened his door and walked out with inhuman speed to my side. I was about to grab the door handle when Layton was next to my door, opening it for me.

I looked at him, raising an eyebrow. He simply shrugged, acting like his behavior was normal. I really had to admit Layton and Zev were acting odd. It was like they had switched attitudes. While Layton was being friendlier, Zev was getting jealous of other guys. It was really silly.

My parents were still at work, so I made my way upstairs to dump my book bag. Layton followed me, probably assuming our talk would start as soon as we arrived.

“Are you hungry?” I asked him while I looked through the drawers in my closet. I was looking for some shorts, and also trying to make time to organize my thoughts.

“Uh… Sure,” Layton replied.

“I’m just going to change. You want to go downstairs,” I told him, peeking out of my closet.

He nodded and left the room without a word.

I prepared us some turkey sandwiches and grabbed a big bag of chips, bringing everything to the booth in the kitchen where Layton was sitting at. Layton had grabbed some sodas from the fridge, so I made myself comfortable.

“Last night, what I said to you, I didn’t exactly mean it how it came out,” Layton said, with a few pauses.

It was obvious he was finding it hard to go back on his words, or to apologize.

I chuckled, which was something Layton didn’t appreciate. He scowled at me. I stopped laughing, but the grin on my face didn’t go away.

I had been angry with Layton, but it was all gone now. At some point from last night when I hung out with Liam, to having lunch with the guys, to talking with Zev— my anger toward Layton had faded away.

The words he said last night were still in my mind, but I was trying to understand him.

Layton had a strong personality. I didn’t like to be told what to do or who to hang out with. We either needed to both compromise, or there was no point in investing our time and feelings in a relationship that would end, and probably badly.

“Last night with Liam, he told me some stuff,” I started to say, unsure of how to approach the subject. I wasn’t sure if my words would be offensive or not. The last thing I needed was to start a problem when I already had a few.

Layton frowned after I made the Liam comment, but he didn’t say anything. I was about to speak again, when he interrupted me.

“Whatever the prick said is either not true, or you just shouldn’t listen to him,” Layton said, sounding upset.

“You know, that’s a mean comment to make,” I told him, frowning.

“Cassidy, he’s a Rogue. Just because Marcus and Zeverus accepted him in the pack doesn’t mean everything he did was right,” Layton said, sternly.

I rolled my eyes at him. I was not going to get in the same argument with him again. Layton was still bitter with Liam. Even if he didn’t want to admit it, I knew Layton resented him for all those years the packs were against each other. He blamed Liam for all of it.

“I don’t really want to talk about Liam. I just wanted to point out something he told me,” I finally responded to Layton.

“Amuse me. What did the Rogue tell you? Even though I’m sure it’s probably a lie,” Layton said, crossing his arms.

“Well, I’m sort of hoping that what he said was true,” I admitted.

His whole posture changed, and he gave me a confused expression.

“What exactly did he tell you? And what did you two do all night long?” Layton asked, sounding suspicious.

“We mainly ran around. I’ll tell you about that later,” I said, stopping to find a way to phrase my words.

Layton raised his eyebrows, looking expectant. I sighed and decided it wasn’t all that bad. Liam had a point and Layton shouldn’t get mad.

“Liam said that the way you are is not okay, but it is sort of excusable because of your title, or title to be,” I said to him, looking down at my untouched plate.

“How is it that I am? And why are you talking about this with him? It’s none of his business,” Layton said, sounding angry.

I thought about his words and laughed, agreeing with him in one thing.

“Do you find this funny?” Layton asked, getting up from the booth. He was shaking, which was a sign that his Wolf was coming out.

“No, Layton. Just sit down,” I ordered, looking into his eyes.

He didn’t listen, but he seemed to be trying to get some control over himself.

“Why do you have to tell him and Zeverus our things?”

“Zev is my best friend, and you know that. I know it may seem like I tell him everything, but I don’t. You just assume that because you want a reason to hate him,” I said, my voice rising with each word.

“What about Liam? You just met the guy. You should know better than to trust him!” Layton snapped, once again returning to his angry state.

“I’ll admit that Liam doesn’t have the best history record, but he’s changed. He was only carrying resentment, but now it’s gone, more or less,” I replied, defensively.

“Keep thinking that and letting your guard down around him,” Layton remarked, sarcastically.

“That is the way you are!” I snapped, motioning at him with my hands. “How you are behaving right now is what I meant earlier. You get mad over anything!”

“I wouldn’t get mad if you didn’t make poor choices,” Layton retorted.

“Are you serious?” I asked, already seeing our conversation take another direction.

“Yes, I am.”

“You and I…” I said, trying to get some sort of composure. It was hurting me to think of the next words that I would say to him. “We’re done.”

Even as I said that, I found myself disagreeing with my words. I wanted to be with Layton. I just didn’t want to be on a leash all the time. Why did he always have to think he was right and I was wrong?

“Is that how you think this works?” Layton asked me.

He narrowed his eyes at me, which had grown darker than I had ever seen them.

“What are you talking about?”

“Cassidy, you are my mate. The only one I have and ever will have. You are the only one I want,” Layton said, still sounding angry.

I looked at him, not knowing how to respond. My eyes were glassy, but I didn’t know why. I wasn’t feeling sad, but tears seemed to automatically spill.

Having a mate was a commitment. I had thought I understood what it entailed, but maybe I didn’t. When more tears rolled down my cheeks, I felt him embrace me.

He didn’t say anything. He only held me, wrapping his arms around my waist and leaning down to nestle his head in my neck.

“Shh… It’s alright,” Layton cooed, peppering soft kisses over the skin on my neck.

I couldn’t really explain why I was crying, but I assumed it was because of what Layton had said. I was going to be his only mate, and the only one he wanted.

Liam said a Wolf couldn’t be without his mate. I didn’t want to hurt Layton by breaking things between us, but I wanted him to understand me.

Layton pulled me away from his chest and placed one of his hands softly on the side of my face. He kept the other one wrapped around my waist.

“Baby, look at me,” Layton told me. He was speaking softly. When I looked up, I noticed his eyes were glassy and rimmed in red.

“I don’t want you to hurt, or for you to cry, especially because of me. If you want to break up, we’ll do that,” Layton said, sounding so unlike him.

I let out a sob and wrapped my arms around his him, burying my face in his neck. I was significantly shorter than Layton, but I stood on my tip toes to try to reach him. He lowered himself, allowing me to get comfortable next to him.

“Cassidy, please don’t cry anymore. I’ll go away,” Layton said.

He was trying to untangle his arms from me. He was pulling away and I didn’t want that. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When he tried to pull me away, I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck and snuggled myself closer to him.

When I felt that I could speak, I started to explain.

“I don’t want you to go. I mean, I did. Well, no, not really. I’m so stupid,” I said, not understanding my own words.

Layton lightly laughed at my words, and he picked me up from the ground. I wasted no time in wrapping my legs around his waist, and pressing myself even closer to him. I wasn’t going to let him go. He felt too good.

Tears were no longer falling from my eyes, but I knew I still looked ready to have a break down.

“I understand our relationship, and that it will be complicated. I just want there to be some boundaries or something.”

“What do you mean?”

“I, I don’t know. I mean, I can tell you exactly how I want things to be. That doesn’t mean it will be what’s right,” I said, thinking I’d probably confused him. I knew I was confusing myself.

Layton smiled at me and laughed.

“Yesterday when you woke up, I thought things would finally be stable between us,” Layton said, as he tucked a strand of hair that had fallen on my face, behind my ear.

“I wish that you and Zev could be friends again,” I started to say. Layton was about to interrupt me, so I help up my index finger, signaling I wasn’t finished.

“But I know that may never happen. I just, I don’t want to lose my friends. I also don’t want to feel like I have to hide things from you,” I said.

“I don’t like that you are friends with Zeverus. But at least he respects us and what we are. Now I also have to compete with that Rogue. I don’t like him and I don’t trust him,” Layton said, seriously.

“You have no one to compete with. It’s just you and me, but they are my friends.”

“I know,” Layton said, letting go of me and taking a seat on the booth.

“If only my Wolf saw it that way,” Layton said.

“What does that mean?”

“Whenever you’re around any guy, my Wolf drives me insane. And you’re always around guys.”

“Oh,” I lamely replied. I had never seen it from that point of view.

“Well, that’s true. I’m even friends with the guys in your pack.”

“Well, I don’t have to worry about them. It’s just Zeverus, his pack, and now Liam.”

“So Tyler, Jared, and my friends from your pack are cool?” I asked him, already not wanting to hear his answer.

“My pack would never try anything with you. They respect me, and they respect us. Once I become Alpha next month, you will become the pack’s Luna.”

“Zev wouldn’t try anything. And neither would the other guys,” I said, defending my friendship with them.

“That’s what you think. But we won’t argue about that. If my Wolf feels unsettled when you talk to Tyler or Jared, and they are in my pack, imagine how he gets whenever you are with Zeverus, Liam, Micah, or Nate.”

“I’m assuming it isn’t great,” I replied, taking a seat in front of him.

“No, it’s not,” Layton sighed.

“Do you want to work it out?” I asked, my voice sounding very insecure.

“I want whatever makes us stay together,” Layton said, reaching out to take my hand. I moved my hand so that he could reach it, thinking he wanted to hold it.

Swiftly, he moved me around and I somehow ended up sitting on his lap.

I laughed cheerfully. Seeing him smiling made me really happy.

“Had I put more restraint in letting you move me around, you could’ve hurt me,” I said, slapping his chest. I was still smiling at him, so he knew I was kidding.

“I would never let anything happen to you. There’s also the fact that I’m stronger,” Layton replied, grinning.

I chuckled and shook my head at him, loving how he was being in those moments. Layton placed one of his hands on the nape of my neck, bringing my face closer to his.

“I love you, Cassidy,” he said, before crashing his lips against mine.

Layton ended up staying the rest of the afternoon in my house. He received a few calls from his pack, but he excused himself saying he was busy.

I was happy that he didn’t leave. He was putting me before his pack, something I never thought he would do. In a very selfish way, it made me happy.

“Your parents are home,” Layton told me at around seven thirty. Soon enough, I heard the front door open and noise coming from downstairs.

“Come on, let’s go say hi,” I told Layton, holding out my hand for him to take.

“I want to stay,” Layton said, not moving to get up.

“You can stay. I’m sure my mom would love to have you for dinner,” I said, tugging on his hand to make him get up. He didn’t even budge.

“No, I mean I want to sleep over,” Layton clarified, lowering his voice.

It wasn’t the first time he was sleeping over, but we hadn’t done it in a while. For some reason, things felt different.

The whole deal with the Rogues and then the guys discovering that I was a Legen, it felt like it happened ages ago. In reality, it had only been a few days. I had just woken up from the confrontation the day before.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” I asked him.

“Are we okay?”

“I think we still need to work some things out. But for now, yes, we’re okay,” I nodded.

“Then I’m staying,” he stated, finally letting me drag him out of the room.

“Cassidy!” I heard my dad call for me on the walk downstairs.

“Coming!” I called back, walking faster and grabbing Layton’s hand so that we could hurry up.

“Hey sweety, how was….” My dad started to say, but quieted down when he noticed Layton.

“Layton,” my dad greeted with a nod.

“Hello sir,” Layton replied, outstretching his hand for my dad to take.

“Oh Layton, you’re here,” my mom said.

She had just walked into the living room, and came straight to hug Layton. I chuckled at my mom’s cheery attitude when she saw Layton and how my dad was the complete opposite.

“Are you staying for dinner?” My mom asked Layton when she released him, offering him a warm smile.

“Yes, if I’m not intruding that is,” Layton replied, turning to look at my dad as he said that.

“You can stay for dinner. While we eat, you two can tell us what you guys were up to all this time,” my dad answered, raising his eyebrows and looking between Layton and me.

My dad was behaving like a typical dad, which was something I wasn’t used to. He was usually a lot more carefree. Around Layton though, I realized that wouldn’t be the case, at least for now.

Dinner turned out better than I had expected. My mom helped a lot with my dad. He was still warming up to Layton, and as usual, Layton wasn’t making it any easier.

“I’m going to walk Layton out the door,” I told my parents after dinner. It was fairly late, and we had school tomorrow. Even if Layton was just going to get back in through my window, we had to keep up the act.

“I’m just going to call my parents up and tell them I’m sleeping over. I’ll be up in your room right after,” Layton told me when I opened the front door to let him out.

“Sounds good, I’ll say good night to my parents while you do that,” I told him. I was about to close the door, but he stopped it with his hand.

“What? No kiss goodnight?” He asked me, a teasing smile on his lips.

I chuckled and narrowed my eyes playfully.

“Well, I can give it to you now, or later. You can pick.”

“I think I’ll take one now and one later. I’ve been behaving well,” he said, lowering his head to plant a small kiss on my cheek.

“Night mom, good night dad,” I called to them from the living room door.

“You’re going to bed already?” My mom asked, checking her wrist watch.

“I’m tired, and I have a lot of catching up to do tomorrow at school,” I replied.

“Oh let her go to sleep. She’s had a long day. Good night Cass,” my dad said, standing up to kiss me good night.

I waved at my mom, leaving them to argue about what movie they were going to watch. Even if they had to wake up early, my mom loved to sleep late. My dad always wanted to go to sleep early, but my mom would keep him up until she was asleep first.

“So you have a lot of catching up to do tomorrow at school?” Layton asked as soon as I crossed the door to my room.

“That could’ve been my mom,” I scolded him. As soon as I was inside the room, I closed and locked the door.

“I knew it was you. I felt you coming.”

“Well good for you,” I told him, making my way to my closet.

I picked my pajamas and headed for the bathroom, wanting to do my night routine even if I wasn’t going to bed just yet.

I was wearing a pair of black shorts and a white tank top. Layton was staring out the window, still fully clothed.

“Are you going to wear all your clothes to bed?” I asked, walking closer to where he stood.

He turned to face me, slowly appraising me. His eyes roamed every inch of my body, before they settled on my face.

“I’m sleeping in my boxers,” he replied, taking a few steps toward me.

We stood in front of each other for a while. Layton staring down at me, but I couldn’t guess what he was thinking. Without saying anything, I closed the small space between us and placed a kiss on his lips. When I got a taste of him, I kept moving my lips against his.

I smiled to myself. It felt weird to be the one starting anything between us.

Layton took next to no time to start kissing me back. I started walking backwards, pulling Layton along with me. Once he saw what I was doing, he slowly laid me down on the bed, covering my body with his. Neither of us broke the kiss while we settled on the bed. Layton was running his hands over the smooth skin of my stomach, slowly getting his hand under my shirt.

My heart was beating fast in my chest. When I tried to calm down, I noticed that Layton’s heart was beating out of control as well.

Layton trailed small kisses over my jaw, and down to my neck. I had one of my hands tangled in his hair, while the other slid over his chest. I closed my eyes, enjoying the soothing motions his hand was creating against my skin.

He was biting and sucking the sensitive skin where he had claimed me. Every time he touched that area, or around there I lost my self-control. The feeling was very intense, sensual. In that moment, it wasn’t any different. I was moaning lowly, while Layton teased my mark.

I couldn’t stop writhing under him, but Layton pressed his body harder against mine to stop me from moving around. When he did that, I felt the bulge in his pants pressing against my thigh. Even though I felt nervous and embarrassed, I knew we were past that.

I moved his head to bring his lips back to mine. We were both really concentrated on enjoying our lips playing in motion, his tongue teasing mine, which was making me lose what little control I had.

I heard a distant noise outside my room, but I was too lost in the ecstasy I felt from being with him, I ignored it.

When I finally reacted, I heard the constant knocking on my door. A growl rumbled through Layton’s chest. When I opened my eyes, I saw his had turned darker. His features look different, wild.

“Cassidy, are you in there?” My mom asked, sounding worried.

“Yeah, I’m here. Sorry, give me a sec,” I said, breathlessly, getting up and trying to fix myself. I pointed at Layton to go inside my closet. Reluctantly, he started moving around and did what I told him.

“What’s up?” I asked my mom, after opening the door.

“Your dad wanted me to tell you we will be gone tomorrow by the time you wake up, so here’s your allowance for the week. I forgot to give it to you yesterday,” my mom told me, eyeing me strangely.

“Oh, thanks.” I felt shaky, so I quickly took the money from her and hid my hands behind my back.

“I’ll pretend like I don’t know Layton is in there, but maybe next time you should try to cover up the love bites forming on your neck,” my mom said, smiling at me and raising an eyebrow.

I felt my face burning after she said that, and quickly move my hands to cover my neck.

“It’s okay, but maybe you two shouldn’t be doing that with us in the house. Oh and please be safe,” my mom told me, before walking away, more than likely down stairs.

I closed the door, still feeling embarrassed by what had happened. I locked the door, not wanting for her or my dad to barge in on us.

Layton left the closet looking amused.

“My mom knows you’re here,” I told him, taking a seat on the bed.

“I heard,” he said, sitting down next to me.

“That was so embarrassing,” I told him, putting my head in my hands. Layton chuckled, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

“At least she didn’t kick me out of the house,” Layton said, grinning.

I slapped his chest, but still rested myself against him.

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice you had left love bites on my neck!” I told him, rubbing my neck like if that would make them go away.

“They are barely noticeable, but I think she saw my mark on you and thought it was a love bite,” he admitted, moving my hair to look at it.

“Come on, let’s just go to bed,” Layton told me, moving us to get in.

“We’re not going to do anything,” I warned him, shoving his hand away.

He chuckled, and got up to start taking off his clothes.

“Don’t worry, your mom’s right. We should do that when we’re alone. That way, we can make all the noise we want,” Layton teased, grinning like crazy.

“Oh, you are so bad,” I told him, but still laughed at his words.

Once he was in his boxers, he got into bed right next to me. After lying down, I rested my head on his naked chest.

“Do you think everything will be alright?” I asked him. I had my hand on his chest— loving how it felt each time he took a breath.

“It will be,” Layton calmly replied, and I was hoping he was right.