8. Cade

Cade  

I knocked on the door to Kaya's and Quill's room. He opened the door. "Cade, she is out like a light. I don't think you should wake her. "I wanted to just lay next to her to be near her. But I didn't want to risk waking her up. I nodded at Quill.  

"Alright, I will see you in the morning. We can meet in the lobby. "I turned away, and Quill shut the door. I went back to the room I had gotten. Mark, my beta was in there. "Cade, your back?" Yeah, she was asleep. I didn't want to risk waking her up.” "Got it. Well, I can't wait to meet her."  

"Yeah, what do you think they must talk to their pack about. I mean, she would normally come back with us, so I don't get why they have to talk to their pack." "Yeah, I don't know; maybe they just want to let her parents know or something. They may want to coordinate where to get her stuff sent. I have no idea." 

It seemed weird that Quill had stuff to go over with us. It was customary for the female to join her mate's pack once they found out they were mated. It was just how things went. I shook the feelings aside and lay down on the soft bed. I closed my eyes and fell into a deep slumber. 

I awoke to my phone alarm going off. I looked over and saw Mark was sleeping through the alarm. I got up and threw on my jeans and my T-shirt. It was fall, and winter would be here soon. I went and shook Mark awake.  

"What? I am up." He said as he sat up groggily. I waited for him to get ready. Once both were ready for the day, we exited the room and went to the lobby. When we got downstairs, we spotted Quill and Kaya. As we approached, we saw they had already finished eating. Kaya looked up and smiled big. "Good morning," Quill spoke. "Kaya wants to know if you slept well." I looked at her again. "I slept well, thank you. Did you?" 

She nodded. I looked at Mark, who was just standing there."Oh, Kaya, this is my Beta Mark." I pushed him a bit forward. He extended his hand. She stood up, but instead of shaking his hand, she grabbed his forearm. She had done this once before. I take it that is the greeting they use in the north. I had to wonder just how different it was up there.    

I looked at her outfit for the day. It was less ornate than the dress she had worn the night before, but it still was made of some animal skin. I looked down and saw she had a bracelet on. Had she worn it the night before? It didn't really matter.  

"We will grab some food, and then we can talk." Mark and I made our way over to the food and loaded up our plates with a little of everything. Then returned to the table. Quill was looking at Kaya, and I wondered what they were talking about. I dug into my food. 

For continental breakfast, this was pretty decent. Mark and I ate in silence. I occasionally looked at Kaya. She was still conversing over the mind link with her brother. I figured they were close. I wondered what it would be like to have siblings. I was an only child. 

Sure, I had Mark. He was close, like a brother. I mean, we have been friends since we were in diapers. I felt like he was family. Still, I had often wondered what having siblings would have been like. Mark and I finished our food and looked at the pair before us. "Looks like they are still talking, Cade." 

Just then, Kaya let out a laugh. Quill began to chuckle as well. I had to wonder what was so funny. Kaya turned her smiling face toward me. She had a carefree way about her. There was something so unapologetic about her. It was so raw I couldn't really put my finger on it.  

"So, Cade, you are my sister's mate. The big question is, what do you think comes next." I was shocked by the question. What did he mean? What comes next is that Kaya comes home with me and becomes the Luna of Shadow Pack.  

"I don't get what you're asking." "What do you think happens now that you found each other?" "Um, Kaya will return to live in my pack with us." I looked at Kaya. Her face fell a bit. Her smile turned to a puzzled expression. She turned her head and looked at her brother. What was she saying?  

"Quill, what is she saying?" "She is just confused." "What, why?" "Well, we don't do that in the north. The men go out and find their mate. Once they have found each other, the guy joins the female's pack, not the other way around." 

Did that mean that they didn't have alphas born into the position? Were they chosen by election or something? What did this mean? Did they now expect me to abandon my pack and live in the north? Would Kaya refuse to go with me? "So, what does this mean?" 

"I don't know. I planned on talking to our pack once I knew exactly what you expected. I thought it might be different down here, but I needed clarification. "I looked at Kaya, who looked like she was in deep conversation with someone. I looked back at Quill, who also looked to be talking with someone.  

Mark spoke. "Well, that is weird." That they have different traditions or that they are now talking to other people?" "The traditional thing. I never heard of the guy leaving his pack for his mate; the female always leaves." "Yeah, I know." "I have to wonder if they are structured differently than us. Like they don't even have alphas. "No, every pack has an alpha.""I don't know, Cade?" 

"What should I do if she won't come with us. I am not going to force her to leave." "I don't think it will come to that. I saw her face when she saw you. She will not want to be parted from you." "So, what do you think they will do?" "The fuck if I know. I don't know anything about the northern packs. No one really does except the Northerners themselves." 

He was right; they eluded the rest of us. They always stuck to the north, rarely coming down here. In fact, if Kaya had not come down with her brother, I probably would never come across her. In truth, the two of them were the only northerners I had ever met.  

Quill finally spoke. "We want to know if you will return to the north with us. " "Do you mean just Cade or the both of us?" Mark asked."Cade specifically, but whomever else you want to bring from your pack will be fine." "You don't expect us to move up there, do you?" "No, we don't want you to come live in the north. The pack wants to meet you and see who Kaya will live with." "So, you are not going to keep her from me." 

"Of course not. You're her mate. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't do that. "That was reassuring. I would have liked to see them try to keep her from me. It would have been a bloodbath. "So, would you be willing to come to the north?" 

I had to wonder what he would do if I said no. But, in truth, I was planning on saying yes. I knew my pack could be sustained while I was gone. If it was more than a day or two, though, Mark and I would need go back and put a system in place while we were gone. I looked at Kaya. She looked back at me expectantly. "Yes, we will come to the north. "She smiled. Goddess, that smile. It warmed my heart. 

Mark asked. "Just so we can plan, how long will we be gone?" "That depends on how you want to travel." "Well, how do you travel?" I ask. "So, we hiked to the research station and took a bush plane. We made two stops before we came to the city. Then we rented a car to drive to Nightshade pack." Mark spoke. "Theoretically, we could just go straight to the research station." 

"There is no commercial airport there. You have to go by bush plane. "Mark and I needed to go over particulars to make this work. We would need to return to our pack and make the arrangements. I looked at Kaya. She was just sitting there quietly, trying to keep up with everyone.  

I tried to look at her when we talked, but between the four of us speaking, I was sure she was somewhat lost in what we were discussing. I connected with her brown eyes. Then I spoke. "We must return to our pack but will see you in a few days."