Chapter 10 - Camden
Kissing Flora felt like coming home. Camden relished the feeling of her body under his, the taste of her lips, and the sensation that her nearness was giving him.
He hadn’t meant to kiss her, and hadn’t expected her to respond so enthusiastically when he did.
After weeks of doing everything he could to show her how much he had changed, he felt like everything was finally coming together.
Despite being prone on the ground, Camden felt like he was floating in the clouds.
Her arms wrapped around his abdomen and linked behind his back, pulling him closer to her.
He didn’t want to crush her, so he held his weight with his forearms but allowed her to draw him nearer.
That was all he really wanted: to be close to her, to be one with her.
He could smell the saltiness of their sweat mixing together as their skin rubbed together, but underneath it was the faint smell of cinnamon that always seemed to follow Flora. It had a spicy, earthy sweetness that was intoxicating.
Camden groaned as she bit his lower lip.
There was no one around, no one to see if they took this further than a kiss.
He moved his arm down and pressed his palm against her hip, sliding it upwards under her shirt so that he could feel her smooth skin beneath his palm.
Their lips were still enmeshed when his fingers brushed the bottom of her bra. Flora suddenly froze beneath him.
“Flora?” he asked, pulling back to check on her.
The hands that had been behind his back moved suddenly to his chest, and she shoved him with all her might, forcing him off her. He sat down on the grass, stunned by the sudden shift in mood.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. “Did I do something?”
Flora shook her head, avoiding eye contact as she brushed herself off and stood. Without a word, she started to walk away.
“Flora!” he said, scrambling to his feet. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“I’m going home,” she said without looking back.
Camden stood, dumbfounded, unable to understand what had happened and disappointed that Flora once again was shutting him out without an explanation.
He had thought they were getting along better lately and had made progress from where they were in the past. Had that all been an act on her part?
He had been giving it his all, doing everything he could think of to make her feel safe and happy.
If she didn’t want a physical relationship with him, that was one thing, but to lead him on felt harsh.
He stood there, pondering what had gone wrong and wondering whether he should go after her to find out the truth. He wanted to confront her and get to the bottom of their interaction, but before he could make another move, Jasper was there.
“Did you forget something?” Camden asked.
“No,” he replied, shaking his head. “I’m the bearer of bad news, unfortunately.”
Camden could sense that whatever Jasper had to tell him would need his whole attention. He tried to put Flora’s strange behavior out of his mind and focus on the conversation at hand.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Well,” Jasper said, pausing to take a deep breath. “Alpha Hughes has had me keep an eye on Demetrius Sier and the Ironbrand pack since we first went there. Things have been escalating since Flora left.”
Camden’s stomach twisted into knots at the mention of his mate. “What do you mean by escalating?”
“At first, her parents pretended they had no idea where Flora could have gone,” Jasper continued.
“It seems like they never told him which pack they came from originally because they didn’t want to get caught in between two packs.
They probably wanted to have the chance to come back here if it didn’t work out in Ironbrand. ”
It made sense to Camden that they would keep information close to their chests. They had always been the kind of people who played both sides, wanting to do whatever was in their own interests regardless of how it affected others.
“What’s changed?” Camden asked.
“Sier has been pressuring them for information,” Jasper explained.
“He thinks they know who took Flora and where she is now. I don’t know if they suspect she is back here or not, but it’s possible that they’ll tell him about their past in Silverrose soon.
If they do, we should expect them to come sniffing around to see if Flora is here. ”
Again, Camden wondered why Demetrius Sier was so hellbent on having Flora as his mate. Surely a powerful alpha would be able to get another luna without much effort. What did she have for him that he was willing to continue to search for her long after her disappearance?
“We need to make a move against Sier and his pack soon so we can keep Flora and Sofia safe,” Camden said. “We need more dirt on him so we can find out what he’s really up to. Alpha Hughes won’t let us make a move without evidence. Have you uncovered anything specific yet?”
Jasper shook his head regretfully. “It’s weird. No matter which angle I play, I keep running into dead ends. I know something is going on there, but I have no idea what it is,” he admitted.
Camden nodded in understanding. He wished Jasper had a different answer for him, but he appreciated his candor.
He dismissed him and watched as Jasper headed back to town.
When he was alone once more, he closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead with his thumb and pointer finger.
He was going to have to tell Flora what was going on.
He knew she was going to react badly to the news about Stella, Ben, and Demetrius, but she deserved to know the truth.
Slowly, he finished picking up their sparring equipment and headed back to the house.
It was late when he arrived home. The sun was already starting to set, and he found Flora cleaning up from dinner.
“Hey,” he said tentatively, gauging her mood. “Where’s Sofia?”
“In her room,” she replied, not bothering to look at him.
“Can I talk to you?”
“Let’s not,” Flora said quickly. “I’d just…rather not talk about it.”
With the news from Jasper, Camden had nearly forgotten about the moment he and Flora had shared after their sparring session.
“It isn’t about that,” he assured her. “It’s about your parents.”
The dish she was washing clanged loudly into the sink as it slipped through her fingers. She turned her head sharply to look at him. “What about them?”
“They are being pressured by Alpha Sier to tell him where you have run away to,” Camden explained. “So far, they’ve given him nothing, but I wanted you to be prepared.”
“Stella and Ben have no idea where I am, though. Do they?” she asked, fear creeping into her voice.
“No,” Camden answered slowly, trying to reassure her but not wanting to sugarcoat the truth.
“They don’t know that you’re here, but the fear is that they will start listing places you could be.
This is the only other home you’ve ever known.
It won’t take long for them to mention Silverrose if Demetrius pressures them much longer. ”
“Oh, goddess,” Flora whispered. She began breathing in shallow breaths, and her eyes were wild.
Camden could tell she was panicking as her eyes began to flit from one darkened window to another.
“They’re going to find me. He’s going to make me go back there.
And Sofia…no. I can’t let them take her. We need to leave!”
Her voice, which had started as quiet and horrified, had risen with each passing sentence.
It was as though she couldn’t control her volume any longer as she thought about her worst fears coming true.
She wiped her hands on a towel absentmindedly, abandoned the sink full of dirty dishes, and began walking toward the stairs.
Camden could see she was planning her escape right then and there.
“Easy,” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist gently as she tried to pass by. “Take a minute and breathe, okay? You’re safe.”
“I’m not,” she whispered back. “I’ll never be safe.”
Camden turned her so that she was looking into his eyes. She needed to see proof that his words were true as he spoke them.
“You are safe,” he assured her. “You and Sofia do not need to run away or be afraid of Alpha Sier or your parents anymore. I made you that promise already. I’m going to protect you, I swear. Nothing could prevent me from taking care of my mate.”
Flora exhaled forcefully, a flash of anger sparking in her eyes. She shoved Camden’s arm away and turned back toward the kitchen sink, then wheeled around to face him angrily.
“You’re going to protect me?” she scoffed. “You think I feel safe living with the man who left me in the dirt all those years ago?”
Camden was alarmed by how quickly her emotions had changed, but his resolve remained steadfast.
“I’m a different man now than I was back then,” he assured her.
“You’re asking me to take your word for it,” Flora argued. “I can’t just believe you. You have no idea what I’ve been through and what I’m trying to escape. It’s my job to keep Sofia safe, and you’re asking me to just ignore this threat.”
“I’m not asking you to ignore anything! I’m the one who told you about what’s going on!
” Camden’s frustration was bubbling to the surface now.
He knew that his life experience was different from hers, but he was doing everything he could to make it better.
Why wasn’t she trusting him now? “All I’m asking for is a little trust.”
“And I’m telling you that it doesn’t work that way,” Flora insisted. “The past doesn’t just go away because you decide that it should.”
“I never said it did.”
“Yes, you did!” she argued back.
Camden growled in frustration. “Must you argue with everything I say?”
“Only the stupid things,” she countered.
The floorboards creaked, and Sofia walked into the room. She was already wearing her pajamas and was clearly ready for her mom to put her to bed.
“Mom, you said you’d come up and read to me when you were done,” Sofia said.
“Of course,” Flora said, snapping out of her argumentative state and back into mom mode. “I’ll be right up. Did you brush your teeth?”
Sofia nodded, and Flora crossed the room to her, grabbing her hand.
Why was it that all their interactions had to be cut short by someone?
First Jasper, and now Sofia. He didn’t want to be angry with the little girl, but it seemed like every time he and Flora had the chance to talk, there was someone there to put a halt to any progress they were making.
He desperately wanted to finish their conversation, if only to be sure that Flora wouldn’t disappear in the night with Sofia in tow.
He knew that the squad would keep them safe and that they would soon find more information on Demetrius that would allow them to take him down for good, but getting Flora to just listen to him long enough to understand that was proving difficult.
As Flora and Sofia headed up the stairs, Camden followed them. He felt a pull to remain in their presence, if only as an observer, for as long as he could.
“Which book did you want to read tonight?” Flora asked as Sofia climbed into her bed.
Sofia pulled a book from under her covers and presented it to her mother. Flora smiled as she snuggled up next to her, propped up on pillows, and opened the cover.
“Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived in a tower…”
Camden barely registered the rest of the story, entranced by the picture-perfect scene in front of him.
He ached to be able to join them instead of lurking in the background of their lives.
He knew that Sofia wasn’t his daughter, but he couldn’t help but feel like he could be a father to her if given the chance.
He had done as much as he could without feeling like he was overstepping Flora’s parental authority already, but he wanted to do more.
This little girl had been through enough in this life, and so had his mate. He wanted to give them the world.
Instead, he shut the door of Sofia’s room and headed back downstairs. The only way he could keep them safe was by solving the problems with the Ironbrand pack, and he had always been good at solving problems.