Insider by Micalea Smeltzer Read Free Book Online Page B

through his hair before stretching his back. The movement caused his shirt to lift and show off his taut stomach but I was too upset for it to get me excited. “I’ll be right back.”
     
    I watched him weave through the crowd , and every woman he passed eyed him. Normally that made the wolf in me insane but I was too numb for it to matter.
     
    Peter Grimm was dead and that meant Travis was Alpha. I knew he’d continue his father’s pursuit to kill us. I was so new to this life. How would I be able to defen d my pack? Caeden? Myself? I kne w nothing of fighting in my wolf or human form like the others. I couldn’t be a weak link for them. I was going to have to prepare myself. There was no way I was going to let Travis Grimm hurt anyone in my pack. Not Charlotte. Not Bentley. Not their parents or Gram. It was time for me to step up to the plate and take my position as Alpha by Caeden’s side. He needed me. They needed me.
     
    Caeden came back with a small coffee and sat down beside me. He was extremely jittery but I knew it wasn’t a byproduct of the coffee. He was simply anxious to be back with the pack. In a time like this they needed their Alpha. Both of their Alphas , even though I’m not sure I could be included in that terminology. I knew nothing of being a leader whereas Caeden was a natural.
     
    “Caeden?” I asked and put a hand on his bouncing knee to stop him.
     
    “Yeah?” he said and placed his coffee cup on the empty seat beside him. A girl, probably sixteen or so, had been slowly creeping towards it. I couldn’t hide my smile.
     
    “When we get home I want you to teach me to fight. As a…” I looked around and hissed, “ wolf and as a human.”
     
    “Sophie,” he rubbed his face and then turned his blue eyes to me, “I don’t know if I can do that. I don’t want to hurt you. ”
     
    “ Then get Bryce and Bentley to teach me. Please, Caeden, I need to know how to defend not only myself but the pack as well. You know I’ m right,” I argued.
     
    He groaned. “It’s just that the thought of you getting hurt makes me sick, Sophie, sick ,” he repeated.
     
    “Caeden,” I said softly and looked at him beneath my lashes, “I’ve already been hurt. Wouldn’t you rather I know how to defend myself?”
     
    He smacked his hands against the hard plastic airport seat. It left a dent. I did a quick scan to see if anyone had noticed. Nope, old man picking his nose, two girls giggling as they pointed at Caeden and they were looking at his face so there was no way they saw the dent, and then there was a guy yelling angrily into his phone. I let out a sigh of relief.
     
    He squished his eyes closed and then pressed his fists against them. “Fine,” he said after several minutes of silence. “You’re right, you need to learn. I’m sure they won’t mind helping you.”
     
    I smiled. “Thank you,” I threaded my fingers through his and then leaned my head on his shoulder.
     
    “I don’t like this,” he said. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
     
    “A few little bruises aren’t the end of the world Caeden. I’ve had worse,” I said and thought of my scar.
     
    “Yeah, I know,” he rubbed his face. He hadn’t shaved and scruff shaded his cheeks and jaw. He had been right when he said I loved him scruffy. It only served to make him more handsome.
     
    They called our flight and we boarded the plane. Caeden took the window seat again and I settled beside him. We buckled our belts and Archie settled into my lap to sleep. Man, I wish I could fall asleep that fast. The flight attendants went over safety measures and then told us to prepare for takeoff.
     
    My fingers dug into the leather seat as the plane taxied to the runway. Caeden took my chin in his hand and tilted my face towards his. “Remember when I said I’d have to distract you with my lips?”
     
    I nodded.
     
    He grinned. “Good,” and then his mouth was on mine, searing into me, like he wanted to melt