Capturing My Mate *Rated R* (Book #1)

Chapter 9

* Cara's Pov *

"Wake up babe, we are almost there." Reid shook me slightly jolting me up. We were driving along the road. Reid and I were sitting in the back of the vehicle and I didn't know who the driver was. I smiled; I hadn't been in a car for years. I sat back and pretended as if I was used to it, but secretly I couldn't stop my mind from running 1000 miles per second.

"Just breathe, everything will be ok." Reid smiled at me. It still amazed me how well he could read me. I leaned against him breathing shallowly. It was all over, I would be going to a place I could finally call home. With the person who meant so much to me.

I turned to Reid, I wanted to tell him so bad what I really felt about him. The three words that would have summed up everything I felt towards the man next to me. I loved him, and it was a weird thing for me to say. I never thought I would ever meet someone I could wholeheartedly love.

When I was younger, I thought I "loved" Steven. He could be so sweet with me sometimes and oftentimes he gave me special favors and treats. I saw him at first as a father figure. It was only when I started to grow older, his treatment towards me grew more sexual in nature. And when I rejected his advances, he grew to be physical.

Eventually, I realized he was a horrible person and his occasional kind words and special treatment were also a form of control. I didn't want to be controlled like that ever again.

"Reid?" I looked at him, suddenly remembering the events of a few hours ago. "What happened to Steven?"

Reid's full attention snapped to me. "He's dead." He said watching my expression carefully.

Shock registered on my face."Who-Who killed him?"

"I did." Reid looked down at my hands.

"Oh." I looked away when tears started to cloud my vision. I can't believe I was showing so much emotion towards someone so vile.

Reid's hand turned my face to him. His eyes filled with understanding. "Cara, I'm sorry. I know you may still have some lingering feelings for him."

"Reid because of you I'm alive. You have nothing to apologize for. Steven was a terrible, cruel man and he would have killed you if you didn't kill him. I have no lingering feelings for him, what I feel for him is complicated. He'd been in my life for so long. He's the person who's known me the longest. I can't explain how I feel, i feel equally relieved and sad. Is that normal?"

Reid rubbed my back. "It's very understandable  Cara. As you stated, he's the person who's known you the longest. It's ok to mourn him whilst still admitting he was a  fucked up individual. There's no right way to feel in a circumstance like this. What's important is just to allow yourself to feel." He opened his arms and let me cry into them.

I allowed myself to cry only briefly. I needed to look forward into the future and leave Steven and that god awful place in the past.

I pointed out the window. "Is there any way we can wind this thing down." He pressed a button and the window rolled down.

"Oh my god, look at the lights. There are lights strewn along the trees when we drove by." I stuck my head outside, then thinking better of it, I pulled it back in.

"Welcome to our pack." Reid said."Wow they really pulled out the red carpet for you." He grinned.

"They did all this for me?" I couldn't believe this. I could barely speak, and I swore my heart felt like it would explode from happiness.

We weren't even in his pack lines yet but all the trees were decorated in lights leading up to the line that divided the forest from the pack grounds. Where the pack grounds started, white candles lined the street.  We kept driving and finally we made a stop at a mansion sized house. Masses of people stood outside waiting for us.