Heart of the Wolf Ch. 06

Catie awoke the next morning feeling very warm and had something heavy drifted across her. She opened her eyes and was greeted by Kaine possessively holding her to him while he slept. He wore only black shorts so she got an eye-full of every muscle on him. When she tried to move slightly, he mumbled something unintelligible and pulled her closer. Instead of trying to get up, she decided to check out where she was.

In front of the bed, was a large stone fireplace. It looked like it hadn't been lit in a while and given what she now knew about Kaine, he probably never got cold enough to need it. The walls were a light grey color. The bed that they were on looked to be about queen sized or maybe bigger. The mattress was very comfortable and hugged her sore limbs nicely along with the fluffy pillow that was cradling her head. There were blankets and sheets on the bed, but she had been covered by Kaine instead and was warm without them. She could see that there was a door towards the left of the bed behind him and wondered where it went to. To her right, was a set of windows with golden curtains drawn over them. She could just make out the sun peeking through some of the corners.

She really had to use the bathroom at this point and tried to shove herself away from Kaine's grip. He once again pulled her against him harder and this time, she felt herself pulled right up against his morning boner. She blushed profusely as she felt it rub on her ass and yelped a little when she felt it pulse beneath his shorts. "Kaine," she said quietly almost like she was afraid to wake him. He continued to lightly snore away and ignore her. 'How am I going to get his attention?' she thought to herself. Then she thought of an idea that would catch him off guard. She moved her ass around some, so that it rubbed on his dick. "Kaine!" she felt him stir some and continued to move herself slowly on him.

"What exactly are you doing?" Kaine said groggily and chuckling at the same time. He flipped her over to where she was straddling him with her face inches from his. She yelped as she once again came into contact with his cock. However, she was now at his mercy. He ran his hands lazily up and down her back as she stared at him stunned. "What's wrong, Catie? Wolf got your tongue?" he asked laughing. "You don't seem so confident anymore," he said as he rested his hands on her waist and looked up at her.

Words wouldn't come to her. Her mouth seemed dry and she was afraid of betraying herself. She was fearful at the fact that she was starting to trust this man after everything that had happened to her. How was this possible?

"Kaine," she finally squeaked out, "I need to use the restroom. Where is it?"

"It's over there," he said pointing to the door to the left of the bed, "Help yourself."

"Thank you," she said as she quickly jumped off of him and practically ran to it. Once inside, she shut the door, locked it and sighed loudly. She swore that she heard him laugh again, but chose to ignore it and looked around the bathroom. It was large and immaculate. The walls were a pale blue color with white tile on the floor. The sink was on the left and had a large mirror above it. Behind the sink, was a large, Jacuzzi bathtub that looked like it could fit four people in it. Behind the tub, was a shower that took up the rest of the length of the wall. It had bright, white tiling and a large cascading shower head. Catie did her business, washed her hands, and left the bathroom.

Kaine was sitting on a leather couch that was behind the bed in an area that Catie couldn't see before. There was a large flatscreen TV back there as well. He was quietly sitting and offered for her to join him when he saw her leave the bathroom. She had a lot of questions about what was going on and wondered if now was the appropriate time to ask about them. She also wondered if he had tried anything while she was sleeping. She highly doubted that he'd do anything like that, but her mind was very leery of the fact that they slept in his bed overnight. She reached inside to find that her wolf wasn't concerned and that she was resting. She swallowed her fear and sat down with him on the couch. She needed to know what was going on and this was the only way to find out.

"I hope that you slept well," he said as she sat down beside him. "I know that I sure did. Sorry about being all over you. My wolf was happy too," he said smiling at her.

"Kaine, we need to talk about that. I don't know anything about any of this. I'm afraid." He frowned at her admission of her being afraid. There was nothing that she needed to worry about. Then it dawned on him, that she wasn't raised as he was, so this was all new. She was also very scared of men. She was starting to trust him some, but he knew that this would take time. He was prepared for that.

"First off, you shouldn't be afraid. You and your wolf will get to know each other and things will naturally work out. You just have to give her a chance. You probably won't be able to change until the next full moon. That's about a week away, so until then, we'll just work slowly and see what happens. I know that you have a hard time trusting me, but look to your wolf for guidance as well. She will tell you if something is off about someone. What is she doing right now?"

"She's sleeping."

"If she had a problem with me, then she'd be up and would probably try to defend the both of you like she did yesterday with those guys." Catie nodded her head and thought about what he was saying. He was giving her the opportunity to trust him because her wolf did. Why? Why was the wolf so trusting of him? She had to see something that Catie didn't just yet.

"How come my wolf stayed hidden from me for so long?"

"That I'm not sure about. We'll have to ask Mitch. He's my IT guy and has been digging into that matter for me."

"Oh ok. Could you do something for me?" he nodded his head yes and waited for her to continue, "Could you shift for me? I'd like to meet your wolf."

"Are you sure?" Kaine said as he sat up and looked her straight in the eyes. She nodded her head yes and watched him get up from the couch. "Ok. Lesson one in wolf shifting: remove all of your clothing," he dropped his shorts and Catie quickly turned away from him blushing. He started laughing some, "Catie, wolves have no qualms with nudity. You can look if you want to or you don't have to. I don't mind."

She turned back around and watched him start shifting. It was all too quick for her to notice every detail within the change, but soon a very large wolf stood behind her. She got up from her spot on the couch and walked slowly towards him. He sat on the ground as Catie made a couple circles around him looking him over completely. He then laid down so she could get an easier view of him. She tentatively held her hand out to him and he butted his nose into it. She ran her hand down his head and back feeling how soft and silky his fur was. He shuddered underneath her touches. She touched him everywhere, feeling every bit of him and taking in just how large and powerful he truly was. She laid her hand on top of his right front paw and was shocked at its size. It was about 2-3 times the size of her hand! He could easily kill her with it if he truly wanted to. She then grabbed ahold of his lips and pulled them aside to look at his large teeth. He yawned and she saw the fearsome canines that he had. He then laid his head back down between his paws so she could keep exploring. She came inches away from his face and stared at his eyes. They were captivating to her and she remembered how he'd protected her from Logan. She shuddered at the thought and he let out a soft whine.

"You didn't do anything. Sorry. I just had a bad thought about my ordeal is all," he let out a low growl at her admission and she put her hand on his head. He pushed his head into it and seemed to calm down some. He then licked her arm quickly and shifted back to his human self.

"So did you learn anything?" he said as he pulled his shorts back on.

"Does that hurt? Shifting like that?" she asked as she turned back around and looked at him again.

"No. I've done it so much that it doesn't bother me anymore. The first few times that you do it thought, it'll probably hurt a lot. I'll be with you the whole time though, so don't be worried about it. My wolf likes you."

"I like him too. He, well, you saved me. Thank you."

He took Catie's hand into his and laid it on his heart and smiled so sweetly that it almost broke her own heart, "You don't need to thank me. We couldn't have gone on without you."

'What is that supposed to mean?' The wolf just nodded her head in agreement before going back to sleep. 'Some help you are...'

"Do you and your wolf talk? Mine just seems to ignore me and sleeps all the time."

Kaine started chuckling, "They do that when they get bored or if they aren't worried about a particular situation. Yes, my wolf and I talk, but we have a better understanding of each other than you and your wolf do. It'll take time, but you'll figure each other out." He took a seat again on the couch and she followed and did the same thing. He then turned to her and gave her a serious face, "Catie, let me properly introduce myself to you now that you know what I am. I am Kaine Bardou, Alpha to the Bardou pack."

She just nodded her head yes and stared at him for a few seconds before questioning him once again, "Kaine, what does that make me?"

"Before I go into what that makes you, let me tell you a little about how we work," he took a deep breath and sighed before continuing, "Wolves are born into this world knowing their place. When I was born, I knew as did the other wolves that I grew up with, that I was the next Alpha. Betas are born as well but they can also be ranked up and made by the alpha's choosing. We are also born trying to find our mates. We are destined to be with someone although we won't know it until we just so happen to be near them or around them. To be honest, I didn't even want to go looking for you. I don't take orders from hybrids unless it has something to do with their masters. However, Luka was insistent and he is our very best. I'm glad that we went though. Anyways, I didn't know at first where you would fit in the scheme of things when we found you. However, you can do something that not many other wolves can do. You probably don't even know that you did it either, but when you were held captive, you broadcasted your pain to us."

"Wait? I did what?"

"You broadcasted a feeling to us. The wolves can communicate telepathically with each other. In human form, we can communicate to each other, but not as well as we can in our wolf form. However, typically only an alpha can broadcast feelings to the whole pack at one time. If I were to do so right now, the whole pack would run in here trying to figure out what was going on. Think about it. Remember when Dr. Adams was looking at your leg and I came running in?" she nodded her head yes and stared at him wide-eyed. "I came in there because you projected your emotions to everyone. You're lucky the whole pack didn't come running," he said chuckling.

"I'm confused. So where does this put me? What role do I play here?"

Kaine thought for a minute about what he was about to say before he told her his conclusion, "Please don't think that I'm crazy, but you're role is one of the most important. Catie, when my wolf first saw you, he knew exactly what you were," he sighed again before continuing, "You're our mate, Cadence. You're the next alpha female."

Catie was stunned. So much so, that she didn't even know what to do or say. At his admission though, her wolf was standing at attention and howling in agreement. "Kaine...I... I don't know if..."

"Catie," he said interrupting her thought, "Don't doubt yourself on this one and trust me. What is your wolf doing?"

She was quiet for a few seconds trying to digest everything that had just been said. "She was howling. Now, she's sitting and staring at you."

"Because she knows that it's true. She knows who her mate is as well."

"Kaine, I don't know what to say. Honestly, I'm overwhelmed. Would you mind leaving me for a little bit?"

"Sure. Take all the time you need. I'll know when you're ready," he said and quickly got up from the couch and left the room.

Catie waited until he had left the room before she got up and started pacing. 'He's crazy. There is no way that I am what he says. This is so fast. I'm so confused.' She felt that she was on the verge of tears. How was she supposed to do any of this? A couple of days ago, she was her normal self with her normal life and now, she was supposed to be... something else. She started pacing even quicker around the room thinking more about the past few days and now the predicament that she was in. Her wolf thought that she was being ridiculous. "What do you know?" she said angrily to her wolf. She huffed loudly and laid back down ignoring Catie.

She thought about being mad at her, but what good would that do. And technically, according to the wolf, she was being dumb. Like Kaine said, they were born knowing their place in the world, so the wolf knew what she was supposed to be whether or not Catie did or didn't. The wolf had accepted it and moved on. It was as simple as that. Catie was still having a very hard time wrapping her head around everything. She decided to ignore it for now and take a bath instead to calm her nerves.

Once in the bathroom, she stripped off her clothes that she had on yesterday and turned on the water to the tub. She made it hot to the point of being almost unbearable and then climbed in. She eased herself into the water finally giving herself the chance to relax her sore muscles. She looked at her submerged body under the water and saw the bruises reflecting back at her. How was she supposed to be an "alpha" when she couldn't even protect herself? She was angry and upset all at the same time. She felt dirty and had the overwhelming urge to clean herself. She found a washcloth and some Dove soap and went to work scrubbing herself until her skin was red and raw. Tears streamed down her face as she did so.

"Cadence. Stop hurting yourself right now. For your privacy, you're lucky that I haven't ripped this door open, but if you don't quit then I will," she heard Kaine say from the other side of the door. He didn't sound angry, but sad by what was happening. He sounded upset at the fact that he wasn't near her to help her. Catie turned to her wolf who also seemed sad as well. She wasn't sure if it was due to the fact of what she had been doing or because Kaine was upset.

"You're still there, aren't you?" she asked in between hiccups from her crying.

"Yes I am," he said. She heard him sigh loudly before speaking again, "It's killing me not to be in there with you right now."

At his admission, she went to war with herself mentally. She didn't want to be alone while she broke down, but she was afraid of him seeing her. What if he hurt her? What would he do when he saw her marks and scars? Her tears started falling even harder. She felt worthless and alone. She then turned to her wolf again who was confused by her fears. This was their mate. He wouldn't care about any of that. All he would care about was making them happy. Things seemed much easier and clear-cut in the wolf's eyes. She took a deep breath, built up the courage, and shakily spoke to the door, "Kaine, please, can you help me?"

Kaine slowly opened the door and left it opened so that the steam could clear out. In the tub, was his mate. His heart broke when he saw here. She looked tortured and alone. He could see the raw spots on her skin from her scrubbing roughly at herself. He could also see that she was crying even more and that she was afraid of him being in there, but he also saw a hint of relief on her face. He sat down beside the tub and held his hands out to her. He didn't want to strip and jump in like his mind screamed to do. He would do this at her pace. He felt her take ahold of his hands. She was shaking and fear was pouring off of her, but he stayed silent and kept his eyes focused at her face or the wall. After a few minutes of sitting like this, she let go of his hands and laid her head in his left hand. He placed his right hand on her cheek and slowly stroked her skin. As he did so, he felt her flinch several times under his touch.

"Catie, I don't have the luxury of a matebond to know what you need from me. I want to help you, but you need to tell me what I can do," he pleaded with her.

Catie sat herself up and looked into his eyes. He looked tortured to say the least. He was fighting with himself and she could see it. He wanted to help her, but he didn't want to cause her any fear or distress as well. Why was he doing this?

Because he's our mate.

She was stunned. The wolf had actually spoken to her! She was standing at attention and was staring at Catie. Catie felt an overwhelming calm sensation roll over her. She didn't know if it was the wolf's doing or Kaine's but she felt herself calming down. She stopped crying altogether. She reached her hand out to Kaine which he grabbed ahold of. She then lightly tugged on his hand indicating that she wanted him with her.

"Are you sure?" he said as he stood up and looked down at her. She nodded her head yes and quickly looked away as he dropped his shorts to the floor. He walked around to the back of the tub and lightly pushed her forward before sitting down behind her. He looked at the lines of scars on her back. He was curious as to how they got there, but decided to keep his curiosity in check and focus on helping her feel better. She leaned back into him and rested her head on his shoulder. Ultimately, he felt calmness wash over both of them as they stayed silent like this for some time. He kept his arms around the sides of the tub although he wanted desperately to hold onto her. The last thing that she needed though was to feel possessed even though that's what his wolf was dying to do. Trying hard to ignore his wolf, he kept his eyes shut and tried hard to keep his dick in check.

Catie was afraid to move any after she had leaned back onto him. She was scared of what it might imply to him. Her wolf urged her to not be afraid of him and she was trying very hard not to be. He hadn't done anything to hurt her, but neither had Dr. Travis or Logan until that day. She shuddered and instinctively felt Kaine's arms wrap tightly around her chest and pull her closer to him. "You don't have anything to be afraid of anymore Catie. I will always be here and soon I'll be able to teach you how to utilize your wolf."

She nodded her head in agreement and placed it back on his shoulder. She had the overwhelming urge to kiss him on the neck where she could see the pulsing of the vein beneath his skin. Where was this coming from? She turned to her wolf who was urging her on. She wanted their mate. No matter what Catie's fears were, the wolf was not afraid. She wondered if Kaine's wolf did this as well. With what was poking her in the back, she figure that was a yes as well or that he just wanted her. Either way, Catie chuckled lightly at her private joke. She thought more about what had transpired and decided that she needed to take the wolf's advice and stop being afraid. If she was to be considered the alpha female of this pack, then she needed to quit being weak and afraid. This male was hers. She built up her courage and lightly placed butterfly kisses along his neck.

Kaine took in a sharp intake of breath and tried to hold himself as still as possible. He couldn't believe what she was doing and was surprised by it. "What are you doing, Catie?" he asked. He kept his eyes closed and his head back as she kissed him from the bottom of his neck up to the hollow of his ear. When she bit his earlobe ever so slightly, he could barely stifle the moan of her name that escaped his lips. He felt his cock jump to attention which she no doubt had to be aware of now. She stopped her assault as he unwrapped his arms from her and pushed himself upright a little bit more. Once a bit more upright, he pulled her roughly to his chest and again wrapped his arms around her. This time, though, she couldn't move. He lowered his head to her neck and shoulders and returned her butterfly kisses. She squirmed and moaned some but was held in position by his powerful arms.