Hunted (War of the Covens 1)

“No. I mean … Lucien said the same thing about me not saying much.” Her explanation produced nothing more than a look so evil, she was sure the girl was muttering some kind of curse against her in her head. Caia felt Jaeden kick her under the table in amusement and decided looking at her new friend would only make her laugh, and that would definitely incur further wrath from these lykan girls.

Malek ripped off a piece of his sandwich like the animal he was and then talked with his mouth full, “Were you dating anyone at your old high school?”

Caia’s brows knitted together, as did Jaeden’s, she noticed. “No. It’s frowned upon … that’s what Irini said, anyway.”

Malek laughed. “It’s frowned upon. You’re very cute, you know that?”

“Mal,” Jaeden warned.

“What?” He huffed and then explained to Caia, “It’s frowned upon to try to make a ‘forever’ deal with one of them, but dating and sex isn’t out.”

“It’s not in either.” Sebastian glowered.

Daniel scoffed. “Ah, come on. It’s harmless fun.”

This set off a debate about the ethics of dating humans. Caia noticed they were very careful not to use the word human—it was always “them.” Jaeden and Sebastian were obviously dead set against the whole idea, so Caia got the feeling it was definitely “frowned upon” by the pack.

As they argued among themselves, Caia noticed that Alexa wasn’t saying anything but was watching Caia with her dark eyes narrowed in dislike. She felt herself flush under the scrutiny. If Caia didn’t know any better, she would guess that this lykan was threatened by her. Funny how she’d worried only about returning to pack life—it had never occurred to her that she was returning at a time when many of the young wolves were in competition with one another to snag the mate of their choice.

She looked at little Finlay who sat across from her watching the goings-on. She caught his eye and shrugged as if to say she was sorry for causing the argument. He merely blushed and looked away.

“Ignore Mal,” Jaeden finally spat. “We’re allowed to be friends with one of them, but nothing more.”

Caia nodded while Malek chuckled at having so thoroughly annoyed the group.

His next question caused even more of an undercurrent. “Caia … you got your eye on anyone in the pack yet?” He leaned back in his chair, puffing out his muscular chest and grinning, his eyes blacker than black with heat. She squirmed, completely uncomfortable with such blatant attention, but before she could say anything, the table jumped, and Mal growled. Someone had kicked him hard, and she had a feeling it was Sebastian.

Jaeden grinned. “Be warned.”

Caia hid her smile. Oh boy, was she in for a ride with this lot.

At least she had two lykans on her side.

Climbing into Jaeden’s Buick, Caia felt like she could breathe again. Her first day of school had gone as expected, except for the overwhelming sense of pack being thrust upon her. Even when one of them hadn’t been in a class with her, she’d felt their energy throughout the school.

She threw a tired smile at Jaeden. “That was interesting.”

“Cy, I’m sorry about Mal.”

“Don’t be. He’s harmless, right?”

“Oh yeah,” she agreed quickly. “But, well, it can’t be easy for you coming back to all this. You don’t need a jerk like Malek sniffing after you. It’ll only cause more grief.”

Caia smiled. “Thanks.”

“For what?”

Caia shrugged, embarrassed. She had never had a friend, so she wasn’t quite sure how you were supposed to talk with one. “I don’t know. For being cool, I guess. You and Sebastian.”

“Cool? About what?”

“I don’t know. You’ve just been really nice to me.”

“Oh.” She smiled, seeming to understand. “You mean because every other bitch at that table thinks you’re a threat? First they want to figure out if you’re competition—are you into boys or girls—and then your threat level will go up or down depending on their own preference and the object of their affection’s preference.”

“Ah, okay.”

“So what is it? Boys or girls?”

She thought of the flush of attraction she’d felt toward a man she’d be an idiot to turn her attention to. “Boys.”

“Cool. I’ll let them know.”

“Does that make me a threat to you?”

“As long as you leave Ryder alone, we’ll be cool, my friend.”

“Ryder?”

Jaeden’s brow rose with a quizzical tilt. “You know, the big guy who was with Lucien last night. He’s Lucien’s best friend, and a Rogue Hunter.”

She honestly hadn’t noticed any big guy next to Lucien last night. She’d been preoccupied with that big guy all by himself. “Nope. Sorry.”

Jaeden chuckled. “You’ll meet him soon enough. But things look good for us if you didn’t even notice him last night. He’s pretty hard to miss.”

Jaeden grumbled about French class and projects and, for what had to be the hundredth time that day, made Caia feel like she had been her friend forever. So lost in Jaeden’s warm chatter, she was surprised to realize the car had stopped, not at the house but in town.