He is the Bad Wolf

CADEN'S CURIOSITY

Caden had a problem with being Sia's babysitter. The problem was this: he wasn't a damn nanny. Sia did not need his constant vigilance or protection, no one was going to hurt her in this place. She was safe as long as she did not leave the house or stray too far from the property grounds. Lately she had spent a lot of time wandering the maze. Sometimes she would enter alone, and other times Silver would accompany her before leaving with his team. Caden noticed that she preferred to go in during the day. Sia carried a different book with her every day and some food to pass the time until the sun went down, and then the moon took its place in the starry sky. It's been two weeks since she got here with them ... well ... since the Countess revived her. Caden cared about her state of mind, not every day you were killed and resurrected five hundred years later. Today she did not enter the labyrinth, she just sat on one of the benches near the main arch adorned by roses as red as fresh blood, as red as the lipstick she had chosen this morning. Sia had started experimenting with makeup, styling her hair into a loose ponytail almost every day and spraying on a little perfume before leaving her room. Other males had noticed this change, it is not that she was not beautiful before but now she beckoned them like a faint siren’s song.

He watched her from the deck as he descended the stone steps in bare feet. Caden preferred to be comfortable when he was not working or scolding the pack members and it was on days like these when the Countess was away that he could afford to completely relax and dress like a homeless man. Silver had started referring to him as the homeless of the pack just because he liked to wear old t-shirts with holes and tears and lounging pants. He slowly padded to where she was writing in what appeared to be a journal, as she heard his footsteps on the wet grass, she closed the notebook and hid it behind her. "Hey." He nodded casually, "Aren't you going to explore today?"

She shook her head and in doing so her scent wafted over his face making him feel a little lightheaded. Her perfume was driving him nuts and not the good kind of nuts. It sickened him. The other males enjoyed her scent too damn much. Sia had stopped wearing jeans and sweatshirts that hid her figure, now she preferred dresses that accentuated her delicate waist. She seemed to prefer the color green and to be honest, she looked adorable in any color. “What?” She asked arching a brow at him. He had been caught staring at her quite shamelessly, no way to recover from that now. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No.”

“Then?”

“You look very pretty today.” He said simply and sat down next to her not bothering in asking if she’d be okay with him hanging out with her.

“Oh.” She blushed deeply but did not take her gaze from him. "Thank you." She said with a shy smile. He was surprised that she didn't want to hit him with a rock or the heavy journal she was hiding.

“So?”

“Hmm?”

“How come you’re not exploring today? Are you tired of going into the maze now?”

"No, nothing like that. I love the maze." then she turned crossing her legs to talk face to face, he did the same. "Today something made me want to write here. Sometimes I write before I sleep but it seemed to me that it could steal some inspiration from mother nature.”

“What do you write about?”

“Memories, dreams… spells.”

“Spells? Have your powers returned?”

“Yes and no. I’m afraid I’m not as strong as I used to be, but I will get there in no time.” She said wistfully. He didn’t doubt her, if anything he was cheering from the back of the bleachers.

“May I ask for a small demonstration?”

“You want to see me use my powers?”

“Only if you want to.” Caden had never seen a witch so up close and he found himself wondering if they were all this beautiful and hypnotic. He was not blind; he could accept when a woman was beautiful without problems and Sia just was. Her auburn hair matched his green eyes. She seemed out of a dream.

She shrugged her shoulders diverting her beautiful eyes towards the door of the main entrance of the house, a large group of males had begun to gather to observe them from afar. A few blew kisses at Sia, others just watched miserably as Caden spent his time with this girl. Apparently, no one was safe from being envious. Caden's chest puffed up with pride and suddenly he felt cocky but didn't let anyone notice, he remained casual in front of Sia but inside he was dead laughing and rolling on the floor like a child. “Maybe when they’re not around.” She said turning her head once more to hold his amused gaze. “Are you enjoying this?” she nodded towards the suffering males.

“I won’t deny it gives me a great deal of pleasure watching them like that.”

“Why are they behaving like… that?” She scrunched up her nose as if she’d smelled a foul aroma.

“Just because they are wolves doesn’t mean they don’t have other type of desires.” At that he winked. “If you know what I mean.”

“Ah. I will continue to play dumb then.”

“No need. All you have to do is say no and they will leave you alone.”

Sia suddenly seemed to lose all trace of humor. "A long time ago I planned to end my life and a strange man would not allow me to do so even though I said no and to leave me alone." Then she laughed bitterly, "It's quite funny because he killed me some time later and although I couldn't speak at that moment, in my mind I was telling him no."

Caden didn't need to ask who it was, Gideon's name suddenly fell heavily on them just as the sun began to set.