His Arrogant Human Mate novel Chapter 47

I sighed, looking to where Caroline was laying on the couch in the office, plugged into her music and reading. "That sounds familiar," I mumbled.

"Yeah? What is the little Caroline up to since we've been gone?" Andrew asked.

"She actually tried to make an effort once with some of the girls in the pack at a breakfast, but the women did not respond well. Since then, she's been really out of sorts. Still blames herself for everything that went down with Alfie," I explained. "I set the date for the Mating ceremony and that has been a big problem as of late as well."

Andrew chuckled. "Oh, I bet. When is the date?"

"Twelve days from now," I answered.

He whistled slowly. "Man, no wonder she's upset. Alf and I haven't even spoken about that yet. That is definitely rushing it."

"Who's that?" Caroline asked curiously.

"It's Andrew," I mouthed.

Her expression wavered slightly and I knew exactly who she was thinking about. "How's Alfie?" she tested, voice soft.

I smiled gently at her, motioning for her to come here. She unplugged her headphones and dog-eared the page she was on before padding over to me. "Andrew, I'm going to give the phone to Caroline, she wants to say hi," I informed him.

"Hi, Andrew," Caroline greeted. "How are you?"

She was quiet for a few moments before her body tensed up. I reached out to wrap an arm around her waist, but Caroline put a hand over her other ear and took a step away. "A-Alf?"

I kept trying to pull her against me, but she gave me a glare that told me to knock it off. Whatever Alfie was saying, it must have been serious. Caroline ended up having to leave the room, racing out.

"No, no, no, Alfie!" I heard her cry. "Don't say that, please. It was my fault, I promise. I am the absolute worst-"

He hung straight up, just as Caroline was walking back into the room, her eyes red but her cheeks dry. "H-here's your ph-phone," she mumbled. She was just trying to act as if she hadn't been crying.

I grabbed her hips and pulled her against me, then sat in my chair so she was perched in my lap. "I hope those were happy tears," I told her.

Caroline sniffled, nodding slowly. "H-he said he didn't hate me. That he never did, but he was sure I hated him. A-and Al-Alfie thought it was his fault, not m-mine," she mumbled.

With a smile, I tucked her hair behind her ears. "See? I've been trying to tell you-"

"You would say anything to make me feel better though. To try at least."

Chuckling, I leaned up to kiss her cheek. "True, but I meant it that time. You just were afraid of telling me the truth, huh? That's why we had that exercise the other day, or one of the reasons why." Her body tensed up at the mention of making her have an emotional breakdown, which made my wolf want to snuggle her until her fear went away. I put her arms around my shoulders, kissing the tip of her nose. "Caroline, are you still scared of me?"