Chapter 7 Luca
CHAPTER 7: LUCA
Luca woke all at once, ripped from a paralysing nightmare by the first light of dawn hitting his face. Muscles rigid, sweat dripping down his chest, he drew in a deep shuddering breath and fought to focus on each of his senses to bring him back from the prison of his subconscious.
As Cal’s deep ocean-tinted scent filled his lungs, some of the tension left his shoulders. Pushing back into the witch’s arms, Luca could feel the witch’s calming breaths rising and falling against his back, the displaced air tickling the hairs at the nape of his neck. The weight of Cal’s body half-covering him should’ve panicked him, but instead, it was like a reassuring blanket chasing away his half-remembered dreams.
The more he focussed on the points where they connected, the more firmly he sank into the present. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only thing getting more firm. Dammit. Why was his body choosing now to come back to annoying life after so many years? And with the worst possible person. As if sensing the turn of his thoughts, Cal’s arms tightened around him and the man somehow nestled even closer, his movements making Luca aware just how well-endowed the witch was, and that was saying something coming from a wolf shifter.
Fuck. He needed out.
Reaching down to clasp Cal’s hand where it gripped his hip, Luca carefully pushed it away, hating the immediate feeling of loss. Cal’s breathing was still deep and even in sleep, but he responded by rolling even further onto Luca, half-pinning him to the bed. Luca huffed and rolled his eyes. The witch was worse than a wolf with his possessive posturing, even when he was unconscious.
As he lifted himself into a low plank to get enough leverage to slip out from under Cal without waking him, Luca wondered where his life choices had gone so wrong. Using every bit of his stealth, he grabbed some clothes and his laptop and silently made his way out to the kitchen in search of coffee and some self-respect.
Settling at the dining table, he stared at his open screen, unenthused, as he took a sip of scalding hot caffeine. The first thing he did was review the security footage of his poisoning. He winced as he watched himself fail to notice the hooded figure behind him when he put his drink down and then groaned under his breath as he watched the whole dancing platform incident. How fucking embarrassing.
Even with his skills and the programs he’d designed for just this kind of digital stalking, he couldn’t figure out where the human had gone once he left the club. It’s like he’d straight-up disappeared, which was entirely possible if he had magical help once he was outside Cal’s warding.
By the time he’d banged his head against that virtual wall for an hour, his usual work held no appeal. He knew he needed to put some decent time into looking into the pack to find the traitor, but he couldn’t face another morning of what felt like accusing his family of betrayal. Instead, he opened up his passion project and immersed himself in the hacking that actually made the world a slightly better place, at least for the few people he managed to help. There was never enough time.
He’d met the owner of the shelter he supported at one of the few charity events he’d attended for Marco back before they’d realised pushing him into public events wasn’t going to help him one bit. It might not have helped him move on the way they hoped, but it had given him this solace when he couldn’t face his day job.
Despite having the most supportive of families, there was a part of him that understood exactly where the kids who landed at the New Trinity Shelter for Supernatural Youth had come from. They had a stubborn strength he admired and a refusal to let the world crush them that he knew all too well. They deserved the fresh start his skills bought them—the anonymity of a new identity, safety in a digital rebirth.
He’d finished sorting the latest of the shelter’s intake the other day, but the owner—a hawk shifter named Portia—had emailed that morning with intel one of the new teens had mentioned. He and Portia had spent the last few months searching in vain for a lead on a trafficking ring targeting homeless youth. Supposedly, the Cruor Coven of vampires wasn’t behind it because, under the terms of the agreement between the crime families, they only trafficked adults. They also had to make sure they were physically safe and paid at least a token amount. As if that could make up for kidnapping and forced captivity.
Marco had been quietly working to take down the Coven with Darius, an independent vampire vigilante who also happened to be the brother of the coven’s leader, but it was a painfully slow process. Marco couldn’t afford to undermine the delicate balance of the city’s families, so until they had the support they needed, they had to tread carefully. At least with the Cruor Coven denying involvement in the trafficking of these teens, Luca was free to interfere however he liked without risking a war.
The teen from the shelter had given them two new names to chase down—one was a potential victim and one was someone they’d been messaging before they’d disappeared. The name of the latest missing teen, Riley Kelly, looked familiar. It didn’t take long for Luca to figure out why. Kelly was a common enough surname that it could’ve been coincidence, but this particular Kelly was the daughter of a cousin of Blaze, the President of the Elemental Mayhem MC.
Luca’s fingers flashed even faster over the keyboard as he tracked down as much information as he could. He’d been hunting down these missing kids anyway, but this put an additional angle on things. It was leverage with the MC. A potential favour owed if he could find where the missing teens were being held in time.
Cal must’ve been more tired than Luca realised, because it was late enough that he’d left his searches running in the background and started back on the most urgent work he needed to sort for the pack by the time he emerged from the bedroom. Luca swallowed hard as he realised the witch had only bothered pulling on a pair of grey sweatpants. He was still shirtless.
Luca had been too tired to watch Cal the night before, but now he couldn’t help himself as his eyes tracked over the perfect dark blond curls of his chest hair and the flash of metal from his pierced nipples. It should be illegal for a human to have such deep, v-cut abs. Most shifters were less defined, and they had the benefit of genetics that made it almost impossible not to have an eight pack. How much time was this guy spending in the gym?
“The coffee’s fresh,” Luca said in lieu of a greeting, pretending he hadn’t just eye-fucked Cal hard enough to pin him to the nearest wall.
Cal tipped his chin in acknowledgement and went to grab a cup, giving Luca a chance to check out his equally muscled back and ass. Groaning low under his breath at how inconvenient his sudden return of libido was, Luca forced his focus back on the building schematics he’d secured for Angelo. He needed to check it had all the details they’d need to plan an approach that would keep their enforcers safe tonight.
“What are you doing?” Cal asked, his tone carefully neutral as he came to stand at Luca’s back.
This again? “Working,” Luca said, matching the witch’s tone.
“That’s a human city council building.”
Luca cursed under his breath. He should’ve realised Cal would recognise the building. Too late to hide the location from him now. He’d just have to hope the witch didn’t try to interfere.
“Humans buy weapons, too. And if they break our rules, they get treated the same as anyone else.”
“You expose yourselves like that to them? That’s beyond reckless,” Cal snapped, no longer trying to sound casual.
Luca rolled his eyes. Of course, they didn’t fucking expose themselves. Ruling crime family of the city or not, the supernatural council would have their balls if they did.
“Don’t worry. The humans stay oblivious. They just do it with a large side-helping of pain and/or death.”
“If you’re planning torture sessions, you can get the fuck out of my home,” Cal snarled.
Luca twisted in his seat to glare up at Cal. The witch had no idea what he was talking about. Yeah, maybe sometimes his intel helped his family rough someone up who hadn’t paid a debt or had tried to buy from a different supplier, but in this particular case, they were tracking down the people who’d been involved in the bombing of the nightclub that had led to Vin joining their pack. They had lines they didn’t cross, and one of them was dealing in weapons like the silver shrapnel bomb that was used. They weren’t about to let anyone else in the city get away with that shit.
The council manager who’d be working late in that building tonight had supplied uniforms and identity cards to whoever had set the bombs. Maybe they hadn’t realised what it would lead to, but they sure as shit hadn’t come forward once they did. They needed to answer some serious questions, and Luca needed access to whatever extra data they might be keeping offline in their office so they could figure out who the group behind it was—this mysterious D-2S hate group, the terrorist organisation no one had even heard of before six months ago.
“You don’t even want to know what rule they broke?” Luca asked.
“Torture is never okay, especially when it’s just to help your family keep breaking the law.”
Luca snorted and hit send on the schematics before Cal went full Daddy and tried to take his computer away. Closing it up, he turned and stood, getting right in the witch’s face, or as much as he could when he only came up to his chin. He’d meant to tell him to fuck off, that he didn’t owe him an explanation, but the disappointment in his eyes made his stomach twist uncomfortably and he found himself explaining despite himself.
“Our target helped whoever set the bomb in The Sapphire last month. You know, the one that killed eight people and left another thirty-five injured?”
Cal’s brow furrowed, and he lost some of the air of righteous anger. “Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh . We’re not the cartoon villains you seem to have cast us as. We have a moral code. It might not match yours, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist,” Luca said, trying to step past the irritating witch.
Cal blocked his way, trapping Luca between his still half-naked body and the dining table behind him. “Don’t try and make out like you’re the good guys,” Cal said, but he didn’t sound as mad as he had been.
Luca frowned and looked away. He didn’t like the way Cal’s disappointment made his stomach squirm and his wolf whine inside him. “Whatever.”
A touch to his jaw had Cal making him meet his eyes again. “You want to be good for me,” Cal said, faint surprise in his voice.
Luca’s cock twitched in his jeans and he shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t want to be anything for you,” he growled a moment later than he should’ve as he finally used his shifter strength to push past the infuriating man.
Or at least he would’ve pushed past him if Cal hadn’t shifted the gentle touch to his jaw down to wrap a hand firmly around his throat. Another damn dominance move that he wished he hated and shouldn’t have had his cock hardening even more.
“Don’t,” Luca warned, relishing the sensation of his voice vibrating against Cal’s fingers despite himself.
Cal’s thumb stroked down the line of his carotid artery, sending a shiver through him. “Why are you fighting this?”
“Why are you even interested? I’m a criminal, remember?”
“You’re breathing fast like you’re losing it, but your eyes and claws haven’t shifted. Why not?”
Luca’s already racing pulse skyrocketed at the seemingly innocent question that threatened to reveal a secret even his family hadn’t realised. How did Cal see through his walls so easily ?
“Because you’re not worth it,” he said, shoving at the man’s chest in the hopes he’d back off.
“No. I don’t think that’s it. You said you don’t like your wolf’s instincts. You don’t like shifting either, do you? Who hurt you to make that happen?”
This time, he shoved Cal for real, not holding back. Even with Cal’s strength, he couldn’t withstand a shifter set on getting away, but he didn’t stumble far. Only a couple of steps. Luca should’ve used the space to run, but he was seconds away from a full-blown panic attack and instead, he sank back into his chair and put his head between his knees.
Fuck he hated this weakness Cal brought out in him.
Warm hands ran through his hair, massaging his scalp, and Cal’s calming breaths grew louder to his sensitive ears as he exaggerated them so Luca could follow along. Even knowing what he was doing, Luca couldn’t bring himself to fight it.
“Shhh, baby. It’s okay,” Cal murmured. “Come down to the bar with me. I think I have something that might help you feel better.”
“Isn’t it closed? It’s the middle of the day,” Luca said.
“Come find out,” Cal replied.
Luca straightened up and tipped his head up to meet Cal’s eyes, ignoring the miles of abs in his face that he did not want to lick. “Your ‘ something ’ better not be code for your cock.”
Cal threw back his head and laughed. Luca couldn’t help but smile at how freely he showed his amusement, the anger and stress between them finally broken.
“I’m going to grab some clothes. Don’t run off,” Cal said, leaning down to kiss his temple before striding back to the bedroom.
Luca blinked in surprise at the casual affection and stared after his retreating form. What the fuck were they doing? His phone buzzed in his pocket as he waited for Cal to return.
Aria
Sorry I attacked your witch.
Aria had never been able to stay mad for long.
Luca
He’s not my anything. But apology accepted. Sorry I growled at you.
Aria
He’s definitely something, BABY.
Luca groaned. He was never going to live that down. Glancing up as Cal re-entered the room, he pocketed his phone and headed to the door.
Cal paused his steps as they drew close. “Everything okay?”
“Just my sister being an ass,” Luca said.
Cal smirked. “I don’t think she likes me.”
“She likes you just fine. You’d be dead already if she didn’t.”
Cal tilted his head, watching him. “She could try again. It didn’t work out well for her last time.”
Luca’s eyes caught on the faint red marks still visible on Cal’s neck. He’d forgotten they’d been caused by his sister.
“What did you do to her?” he asked, curious. He had to shove his hands in his pockets so he didn’t reach out to touch the scratches.
“Used my coffee to suffocate her.”
Luca couldn’t help it. He burst out laughing. Maybe he should’ve been angry and protected his sister’s honour or something, but he already knew she’d recovered just fine and it served her right for making trouble. He still hadn’t forgiven her for the dare. It was bad enough he’d gone up on the platform in the first place, but making a spectacle of himself collapsing in front of everyone in the bar was something he would’ve burned from his memory if he could.
“Death by coffee. You have no idea how apt that is,” he said. Their caffeine addiction was another thing he and his sister shared .
“Who’s older?” Cal asked, leaning against the wall near the door, seemingly in no hurry to head downstairs.
“She is, but only by five minutes. You’d think it was five years with how she acts,” Luca said. Despite the low fertility rate overall, twins weren’t uncommon in shifter families.
Now that his attention had been drawn to them, his eyes kept flicking back to the marks Aria had made on Cal’s neck and he couldn’t help the low growl that slipped out. The fact his sister had marked Cal up was making him twitchy. It didn’t help that it was right where a mating bite would’ve been.
That thought was like iced water down his spine and he couldn’t help rubbing at the smooth skin of his own neck. It had cost a fortune for the magic to have the scar removed when the bond was broken, and he was grateful every day that he no longer had to stare at the reminder of the worst weeks of his life in the mirror.
“Hey. Where’d you go?” Cal asked softly.
Luca blinked up at him. Somehow, he’d missed Cal reaching out and gripping his nape again, grounding him. “Sorry.”
“You don’t need to be sorry. Does it bother you? It’s just a scratch. No major damage,” Cal said.
Dammit. He’d been staring at those damn marks again without even realising.
“C’mere,” Cal said with a sigh, pulling him in close so Luca could nuzzle into Cal’s neck and reassure himself that his sister’s scent had been thoroughly washed off his witch.
“You smell good. Like the ocean,” Luca whispered, so close to Cal that his lips dragged against the skin of his neck as he spoke.
“It’s the water magic in me. I’m a coastal boy—New Trinity city born and raised,” Cal said.
“Do you have family here still? ”
Cal stiffened a little. “No.” His tone shut down any follow-up questions Luca might’ve had.
Cal’s scent was like a drug to him and despite the tension his question had engendered, he realised he was tracing over the lines his sister’s claws had left with his nose in little circles.
“Tickles,” Cal murmured.
“Sorry.”
“Do whatever you need, baby. It’ll drive you to distraction otherwise.”
Luca hissed in annoyance and started to pull away. “ I don’t need anything. It’s my damn wolf.”
Cal’s grip on his nape tightened and kept him pressed close. “Your wolf is part of you, Luca. Its needs are yours.”
“I don’t need you to witchsplain shifters to me!” Luca shouted.
“You sure about that?”
All this talk of his wolf had drawn its attention when usually he kept it contained in the depths of his soul, as far away from his rational waking mind as he could manage. The animal inside him turned his thoughts dark and possessive— Mine .
Growling in annoyance, he rubbed his stubble over Cal’s neck, driving his scent into the witch’s skin. It still wasn’t enough. Mouthing over the marks, he ignored the ache in his teeth as he refused to let his fangs descend. Instead, he sucked hard on the delicate skin, drawing the blood to the surface until he was confident the hickey had replaced the damage his sister had done.
Cal moaned and clutched him tighter, grinding his hips against him. “Just like that. Good boy.”
The words snapped him back to reality. “Fuck. Sorry,” Luca stuttered. What the fuck had come over him? This wasn’t anything like normal behaviour for him .
This time when he pulled away, Cal let him put the distance between them. A groan of satisfaction escaped him as he looked at the mark he’d made. Fuck. It was a whole different kind of distraction now. Before, it had just tweaked the protective nature of his wolf. Okay, maybe also the possessive nature. Now, staring at the bright bruise he’d left behind had his wolf surging up inside him, begging him to finish what he’d started and claim the witch.
What the fuck?