The Other Part of Me

Cassie

"No!" Cassie yelled when she saw the wolves charge. "You can't!" As she was about to put herself in the middle of the fight, she felt herself being held back.

"Bad idea," a masculine voice whispered behind her, she was being held back by the shoulders, she felt her back pressed into something hard. "They'll tear you to shreds before they even realize you stepped in between them." She turned to the voice. A blond, naked guy about Braden's age was staring down at her. She realized he was likely one of the other wolves in the welcoming committee that greeted her. When her attention turned back to the main event, she saw Andrei running towards her.

He moved to the side and lunged towards the naked guy, who had pushed Cassie to the side with so much force, she stumbled to the ground. When Cassie looked up, naked guy was on the ground, holding his torso up by his elbows. Andrei bared his teeth at him. She was sure he was going to lose his face and she would have to witness it.

While Andrei had his attention on the naked guy, Caspian's wolf jumped on Andrei. He tried to bite him on the neck, but Andrei swiftly rolled himself off the naked guy, in the process getting the red wolf to slide off his back.

The wolves quickly stood and circled each other again ready to face-off, their growls more menacing than before.

Cassie looked at the naked guy. "I can't let them fight! How do I stop them before blood is shed? Why isn't anyone stopping this?!" She yelled.

"You just have to let them fight, to the death if it's what it takes." The naked guy stood and helped her up. "It's the way of the wolf." His eyes moved to the fight in process.

Cassie heard a yelp, when she turned, she saw Andrei had Caspian's wolf by the back of the neck. "Fuck the way of the wolf!" She was determined to end this now.

As she stalked toward the fighting beasts, she knew they were beyond reasoning and she knew she didn't have the muscle to separate them. She needed to think: vicious, unorthodox, but effective.

When she reached the battling assholes, she went with what felt natural. Cassie straddled Andrei's wide black back, leaned forward and stuck her middle fingers into his eyes. Her thumbs would have been best, but she wasn't at the right angle.

With a yelp and a strong tremor, Andrei released the red wolf and buckled under Cassie like a bucking bronco, sending her crashing against the dirt for the second time.

She quickly looked towards the red wolf and was relieved to see Caspian's form. He was looking at them with a look of shock. She held her hand up, Caspian nodded to her.

Cassie stood to go to Andrei and saw Braden sitting with his legs sprawled in front of him, nursing his eyes.

Although she very much wanted to make sure he was okay, she knew showing signs of weakness right now would only get her a lecture, which she was not in the mood for. "What the hell, Braden? Let's go home, now!" She demanded before ceasing control to Eva.

She heard a few gasps behind them, but she didn't give them much thought.

Eva took off in a sprint in the direction of home. She hoped Andrei's quick-healing abilities would help Braden recover from the pain she inflicted.

When she sensed Andrei once more in control and now running behind her, she ran faster.

Andrei caught up to her in no time. Together they ran home, side-by-side. Once they were at the Bloodstone gates, Andrei shifted back to open the gate so that Eva could pass.

When Braden, once more, in full naked splendor, approached Cassie, she was slipping her tank top over her torso. She grabbed the pajama bottoms from the ground and was about to slip them on but was unable to complete the task. "Let's go." He demanded, grabbing her hand, pulling her a little forcefully back towards the house.

"I'm literally half naked!" She objected.

He kept walking. "You were fully naked in the arms of that blond Adonis. You didn't seem to mind then."

As he pulled her, she kept losing her footing, stumbling against his back. She was moderately relieved when he spun around and lifted her in his arms.

She saw shredded red plaid cloth and broken glass on the floor. Her eyes slowly scanned the exterior walls of the mansion on an upward trend to find the source of the broken glass. "Is that my window?"

"Out for a stroll?" A few pack members that were outside asked them.

She wrapped herself tightly around Braden hoping to conceal anything she didn't want displayed to the pack.

Braden ignored them and kept walking into the mansion and up the stairs.

He walked in through his door. He didn't set her down until they had made it into the conjoined bathroom. Without releasing his grip on her wrist, he turned on the shower. He tore the tank top from her body and pulled her under the water stream without warning.

She gasped, accidentally swallowing a little bit of water. "What the hell, Braden!" She tried pushing away from him but he wrapped a strong arm around her and began lathering her naked skin with his bar of soap. "You're acting like a brute!" She yelled.

"You smell of him!" He growled.

She squirmed against him, trying to pull away, all to no avail. When he rinsed the soap off her skin, he sniffed her. Suddenly his grip on her eased. She quickly pulled away from him and ran to her room, soaking wet. The lock was on the side of the bathroom so she couldn't keep him out as much as she wanted to. She rushed to the dresser, quickly putting on the first bra and the first pair of panties that she could get her hands on. She opened another drawer, grabbing a black fitted t-shirt and faded blue jeans.

When Braden walked through the door wearing a towel around his lean hips, she was searching her purse, making sure she had her cell phone, keys and wallet. She looked up just a moment to see him but quickly went back to her task-at- hand.

"You're soaking wet." He observed.

She was. Her wet hair was dripping down her clothes and the breeze coming through the broken window made her shiver. She knew she would have to change one more time or risk pneumonia. She ignored him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I realized I was acting crazy when I was sniffing you for any traces of Talon." He said humbly.

Cassie looked at him angrily. "I don't even know who the hell Talon is!" She snapped.

He approached her slowly. "Blond Adonis."

She shrugged. "I had never laid eyes on him until the moment right before you pounced on him." She turned to face him. "Braden, I don't want to be with a guy who acts like a jealous idiot just because I'm standing next to a guy." He sighed. "I'm not that guy," he reached for the hem of her t-shirt and peeled it off. "But I am that wolf." He removed the towel from his hips and spun her around to place it around her shoulder. "Especially when it comes to my mate." He patted her hair with the towel. "You were right, I was a brute with you," he whispered against her ear. Slowly, he ran his hands down her torso, stopping at the small swell of her belly before he unfastened her jeans. "I should have been kinder. I'm sorry."

At this point, Cassie was tired.

She stepped out of the remainder of her clothes and grabbed a loose pink t-shirt from her dresser before pulling it over her body. If she wasn't going to sleep at a hotel, she would sleep in Braden's bed out of sheer necessity. "You made this mess, you deal with it. I'm sleeping in your bed." She hurried before he could argue, locking the bathroom door behind her.