Chapter 20
L ucian and I claimed each other again and again. The sun rose and fell as we lost ourselves in pleasure. We lay across the couch, staring out of the large window spanning across the wall. In the distance, the lining of the trees covered the river.
I nestled my cheek against Lucian’s bare chest, breathing in his scent.
Lucian rubbed small circles along my lower spine, his fingertips causing goose bumps to rise on my skin. The lulling sensation kept me in a semi-sleepy state. I gently scratched his chest.
I peeked up at him, and he had his eyes closed, his head tipped back. Tension no longer lined his mouth, instead the corners slightly lifted. I kept replaying last night and how vulnerable he’d been.
I’d never forget it. The image of him falling apart would live with me forever.
His cell phone vibrated, his torso rose and fell in a sigh while my face laid on it. With the foot on the floor, he propped himself up, jostling me in the process as he dug for his phone. He kept a grip on my lower back, not letting me get up.
“Yes?” he murmured into the device.
I couldn’t understand the buzzing on the other side.
He hummed, listening with his eyes closed.
Lucian’s eyebrows lowered, his lips following suit.
“Just bring her here. I’ll speak to my Luna, and we will handle the situation.
” My heart squeezed, and for once, it was with pure bliss.
He hung up and gently tossed the phone to the floor. I pushed up to look into his eyes.
“What happened?”
“Your human friend came to the clinic. She saw someone shift.”
I shoved to my knees between his legs to push myself up and tucked the throw around my shoulders.
“You can’t kill her,” I gasped. Panic tightened my throat. All I could do was shake my head. A human coming across our secret was a death sentence. Another news headline reading: Mauled by a wild animal. I couldn’t let that happen to Verity.
“Lucian, please. I’ll make sure she doesn’t say anything. She’s not at fault. I am. I showed her the clinic. I haven’t contacted her since. Of course she was worried. I will take the blam?—”
He clamped his hand over my mouth, his eyebrows high on his forehead.
“Slow down, Princess,” he murmured. I exhaled into his palm and nodded. After a beat, he pulled his hand back.
I didn’t think he understood her meaning to me. How much she had done for me. There wasn’t much time. If I had to guess, that was from Bruno, and he’d gotten Verity at the clinic.
“Lucian, in prison,” I started and licked my lips.
I hadn’t really told him about my time there.
His thighs framing mine stiffened. The tension returned to line his mouth, and the corner of his eyes pinched.
“I didn’t have anyone. Not outside.” I paused and exhaled.
“She shared everything with me. It’s hard to get your hands on anything in there without funds, but I was never without, because of her and Tate .
. .” I took a breath, not realizing it would be this hard to talk about.
A burn had started up on the inside of my nose.
I inhaled sharply, and the sensation faded.
Forcing myself to meet his eyes, I shoved away the shame that clouded my actions.
“I understand,” Lucian said before I could spit anything else out.
With his palms on the couch, he pushed himself up, the cast scraping against the rug as he scooted closer.
I tipped my chin up to keep eye contact.
“He’s bringing her here.” He cupped the side of my neck.
“Once she arrives, you will have complete say on how the situation is handled.”
I let out a hard breath.
Still, I eyed him, but he seemed serious.
“She’s trustworthy, I swear, Alpha. I will make sure she’s never a risk for us.” His lips twitched.
With a dull thump, the front door hit the stopper. I bounced to my feet and quickly donned my discarded clothes. I tossed the throw beside Lucian as he pulled on his sweats.
“Let me go!” Verity’s scream echoed to me.
“I need to talk to her alone.”
Lucian stiffened, but a moment later, he exhaled and nodded. I hurried into the hallway, heading directly to the front door.
She struggled to get away from Bruno, but he kept a stiff grip on her arm. “Let me go,” she hissed, dropping to the floor, her arm outstretched. He watched her, shaking his head.
“You can let her go,” I called out, still down the hall. Verity whipped her head to look at me, her eyes wide. I picked up my pace.
“Joey!” she shouted. Bruno released her, and she climbed to her feet, rushing toward me. “We need to get out of here.”
Her whisper was rushed and fearful.
“We need to talk,” I said.
She tensed, her hands stiff on my arms. She blinked a few times, and awareness struck them. “You know that . . . What kind of cult are you in?” she croaked. Her fear was palpable, but she didn’t let me go, and she didn’t try to run.
I caught her hand and pulled her after me. She followed without a word as I led her to the stairs and up to my bedroom. Once in, we went directly to the cushioned chair in the corner of the room.
Keeping her gaze, I began to undress again.
Her eyebrows shot up, and she flicked them to the side. We’d seen each other naked, so it was nothing new, but she pursed her lips.
“Um, what are you doing?”
“Just shut it. Watch and then listen to what I have to say.” She clamped her lips together. I wasn’t surprised at her lack of argument; we’d been through enough. “You were always wondering what Tate and I were hiding.”
I stepped out of my shorts and shifted. Warmth flooded my veins. The stretch of my limbs was fast to the human eye, but the still-healing injuries all over my body smarted.
I shook out my pelt and let out a little bark. She jerked back in the chair, her eyes frozen in stunned disbelief. Her mouth flopped open and closed.
With slow steps, I approached her, keeping my head lowered and my mouth shut so my sharp teeth wouldn’t scare her. I stopped a few feet away and slowly lowered to my belly.
“Joey?” she whispered.
I forced a rumble from my throat, trying to keep it tame. I stretched my front paw forward.
Verity reached down with a shaking hand and scratched the top of my head. I groaned, leaning into it.
“What the fuck,” she mumbled, pulling away. With the same care, I stood to return to my clothes piled up on the floor. I pushed back into my human form. She stared at the floor, blinking repeatedly. While she reeled in silence, I dressed.
“I’m a shifter.”
Silence.
“I see that.” She cleared her throat.
Another bout of silence. I plopped my ass on the edge of my bed, waiting for her to snap out of whatever she needed to process.
“I have so many questions.” She wouldn’t stop blinking.
“I can’t tell you much of anything, Verity,” I admitted.
“Do you eat humans?”
My lips twitched.
“Yes,” I said, dead serious and trying not to laugh.
She looked at me, deadpan. I couldn’t hold it back anymore, I burst into laughter.
“Eating humans, really?”
Her shoulders relaxed, and she rolled her eyes.
“Well, at least now I get why you and Tate were so secretive.” A smile twitched the corner of her lips.
“I’m sure it’s obvious, but you can’t tell anyone,” I warned.
“Or what, you kill me?”
I rolled my lower lip very briefly.
“No, I’d kill you,” Lucian announced, forcing our attention to him, entering with the crutch under one armpit. He leaned against the sill.
Verity stiffened and frowned over at me. The last time she’d seen him, he’d been on the verge of death.
“You’re going to stay with him?”
Lucian’s stiffness extended to his face.
I licked my lips. After yesterday, I’d reached a new peace, and instead of wanting to run, I would give us a chance.
“Yes,” I replied simply.
“Are you sure, Joey? I mean, I saw how heartbroken he left you.” She wasn’t looked at him, but I was, and I didn’t miss his expression droop. “I mean, he had you walking in the forest naked,” she tsked and shook her head.
“What?” Lucian snarled.
“Yeah,” Verity sniffed and glared over at him, actually acknowledging him.
I loved how ignorant humans tended to be in the face of an Alpha’s wrath. Sure, humans could feel their dominance in some sense, but that didn’t stop Verity.
His eyes swung toward me, and they narrowed.
“That was because I’d just shifted. I couldn’t come out to you in my fur.”
“Right.” Verity scowled. “Well, that makes more sense, but I still don’t like him for you.”
Lucian growled, the rumbling, deep sound startling her.
“Anyway,” I began, loudly, before Lucian broke her neck.
She eyed him warily from the corner of her eye.
“Yeah, I should probably go,” she muttered, standing and shuffling from foot to foot. She was waiting for him to get out of the way so she could make her escape.
“Or,” I announced as she frowned over at me. “Or you can stay for a while?”
I gave her a beseeching look, while she kept peeking from the corner of her eye at Lucian.
When she focused on me again, searching my face, her lips screwed into a pout.
“Okay, a sleepover won’t hurt,” she finally said.
I popped up to my feet and scurried over to Lucian. He looked down at me, his eyebrow raised high.
“Can she stay in one of the bedrooms in the house next to Samantha?”
It didn’t feel right placing her in Samantha’s space while she dealt with her mate’s death.
Lucian cupped the side of my neck.
“You can do as you wish, Princess.”
I pushed to my toes and kissed his cheek.
“And you need to stop coming up and down those stairs,” I chastised. His lips twitched.
“Let me show you to the bedroom,” I offered, turning and grabbing her arm to pull her after me. Verity gave him a wide berth. Though she would die before she admitted being scared of him.
“The first bedroom on the second floor should be ready for a guest,” he called after us.
“You should rest, Lucian,” I shouted, taking the steps two at a time.
We reached the back door in the kitchen and headed out into the cold breeze.