Althea’s Point of View

It has been two days since the Kaden incident.

Landon has been acting a bit strange lately. Distant. I knew he had talked to Kaden recently, but he wouldn't tell me what had happened. I even brought up Kace, and what would happen to him, but he just dismissed me.

I have decided I am going to confront him about this. He is in his office right now, working. His father has gone away on a business trip, so we have the place to ourselves.

And I am beginning to feel the loneliness.

So, I wander down, taking the stairs two at a time. But as I get closer, I begin to slow down. What do I say to him? I hardly confronted him about anything when we were just friends. Maybe I had told him what girl he shouldn't bother going after, but that is all.

I peek my head around the corner, seeing Landon stooped over his desk. He just sat there, not moving at all. It is obvious that he isn't doing any work, because he is using both of his arms to prop his head up, that he held in his hands.

"Landon?" I say warily. I don't move from my place in the doorway. He is visibly upset, by the looks of it. He doesn't even turn, or speak to acknowledge me in the slightest.

I amble closer, reaching my hand out to touch his back. I do so, gently. He flinches, a shiver rippling under his skin. Again, he doesn't make any move to look at me.

"Is everything alright?" I ask softly. He makes some sort of noise that confuses me. Does he want me to leave or something? Too bad, I am not leaving until I get some sort of an answer. So I round the desk, pulling up a stray chair for me to sit on.

He is covering his face with his hands, so I can't see his expression; which is probably one of annoyance. He is looking down at his desk, that is bare of any paper. I have to know what he is thinking right now.

"I am fine..." His curt voice cuts me off. I had been reaching for him, wanting to make some sort of physical contact. I try not to feel slightly offended by this. I have to remind myself that he is my mate now, and that I have to deal with whatever issue he throws at me.

"No, you're not," I say curtly. I may not know exactly what is wrong, but I know a sad Landon when I see one. So, being brave, I reach out and grab his hand, wrapping my fingers around his own. He doesn't move. I had actually expected him to move away from me for whatever reason. So this is a pleasant surprise.

When he looks up at me, and what I see takes me by surprise.

His tears.

His eyes are bloodshot, and filled with unshed tears. A single tear runs down his cheek. The scene instantly breaks my heart.

Wordlessly, I stand up, and round the desk, so I come to stand beside him. I may not know why he is crying, but what I do know, is that I need to be there for him no matter what the situation is. He pulls me onto his lap, so I am straddling his hips.

"I've failed you," he whispers, leaning his head against my breasts. I close my eyes. His words cause an unknown pain to strike my heart. Why would he say that. I stroke his soft hair to try and soothe him. Even his soft sobbing makes me want to join him in his sorrow.

"No, you haven't," I murmur. Aside from my remorse, I was feeling confused. Landon couldn't do anything to fail me. Unless of course he cheated on me or something, but he would never do that...

"Kace..." he says against my chest. My eyebrows furrow. Kace, I hated to be reminded of him. The man who thought that he owed me his life, when in actual fact, I couldn't care less what happened to him, as long as he didn't harass anyone else again.

"Kaden..." Landon continues to say, in a pained voice. The more he talks, the more confused I become.

"Landon, what are you talking about?" I question. He breathes out onto my chest, making me shiver. I can even feel his wet cheek pressed against me.

"Kace has escaped. And I think I know who is responsible," Landon said. He lifted his head, matting my eyes. I wipe his tears away, and it's like I see a new man there. He looks mad, that's a given...But he also looks determined.

But the fact that Kace has escaped gives me chills. Who knows where he is right now. He could be out there, plotting my death right now. But no, he can't be. He owes everything to me. I shouldn't be worried at all, yet the idea of him coming back for me again scares me more then anything.

"It's okay. Who cares what happened, he's gone now. Out of sight, out of mind," I struggle to say. But even saying that, Kace lingered in the back of my mind. His cheeky smirk would haunt me forever. Even Kaden would haunt me. His power over all the packs was worrying.

"I will always have to deal with Kaden," Landon complains. I roll my eyes. I want to tell him to suck it up, but he still looks visibly bothered. So, I do what I know what will truly calm him down. I kiss him.

His lips are warm, and slightly salty from his tears. I never want to see him cry again, because it breaks my heart. He is pouring all his angst into this kiss, and I let him, even responding to his vigour with my tongue.

"Why do you always have to distract me?" Landon questions through the kiss, squeezing my waist gently. It makes me jump, rubbing my thigh against Landon's crotch. He groans softly in my ear, and I begin to feel a fuzzy feeling begin to consume my stomach. Pleasing Landon is something I had thought about many times before we were mates, but the thought always made me blush and shy away.

"I am taking your mind off of Kaden. Seems as though you are spending more time thinking about him, then you think about me," I joke, running the tips of my fingers through his hair. He smiles, kissing the tip of my nose.

Even though I can feel how turned on he is against my inner thigh, he is being decent, and am glad for that. I will know when I will be ready, and even though I feel it will be soon, I can't cross that line right now until the circumstances are right.

"You know, I have wanted you since we were young," I say quickly. So quickly, I am at first sure Landon hadn't heard what I had said, until his face lit up with a right smile. I felt colour seep into my cheeks, and I tried to hide my face from his view.

"What do you mean, wanted me?" Landon questioned, his smirk bound to scare my mind as much as Kace's has. I shake my head at him, pretending like I didn't know what he was talking about. But in actual fact, I didn't want to tell him the truth again.

"You liked me didn't you. More than a friend," he said, making me hide my face in his neck so he wouldn't see my expression. He laughs warmly, his hands stroking my back.

"Even though I was ugly, and useless?" I hear him ask. I pause.

Did he really just say that? I lift my head up, giving him a glare, thinking he is joking. But he looks completely serious.

"You weren't ugly and useless. In fact, you were more than I could have ever wanted. You still are," I tell him. I hope he saw that his looks meant nothing to me. Now, and back then. His change didn't change my views in the slightest.

"In fact, I thought you were very handsome," I state confidently. I grab his face, and he laughs, like he doesn't believe me at all.

"You have always been beautiful. I bet you wouldn't be mine if your father let you date that boy way back,' Landon said, completely straight faced. I blinked. Levi? the boy I liked back when I was thirteen? I hadn't actually liked him, I just made it seem like I did so Landon wouldn't think I was desperate.

"You're kidding. You're bringing up Levi?" I mutter, rolling my eyes as he screws his face up.

Levi had been a friend of my mother friend. He was attractive, and every girl liked him. But he had more dick in his personality, then he did in his pants...

"I was unbelievably jealous," Landon admitted. "I thought you and him would be mates one day, and I would be forever alone."

I lightly punched his shoulder. He had to be kidding, I mean I thought he didn't think about think about that kind of thing at all. Ever.

"Well I am yours now. Forget Levi, and anyone else," I tell Landon, resting my forehead against his.