Only he, Zac, and Adrianna still knew the truth of what happened that night, but if anyone were to ask him, Kevin Hall and Jeffrey Smith both deserved it. For what they did to Caroline.
His wolf reared up again, the fog of anger clouding his mind and had him releasing the tight control he usually held. A growl ripped from his throat. No! When he looked down, he saw the leather seats had ripped to shreds underneath his claws.
Shock made him startle. The wolf had gotten close to the surface again, closer than it had ever gotten, and he didn’t even realize it this time. A pain ripped in his head.
Ground yourself. Use the good, Lucas. Keep him in control.
“Sir? We’re here.” Reyes looked back at him his face inscrutable.
The battle between himself and his wolf ended. For now, at least.
“Thank you, Reyes.” He opened the door and slid out of the car, then headed inside the dark, empty townhouse.
Damn his wolf. Damn it to hell.
Last night, it had been testing his patience and control. The fact it had gotten close enough to the surface to make itself physically known should have made him angry enough. But, no. Now the damned animal wanted to control his thoughts too. Making him think of orange blossoms and olives. Of sensuous curves moving with a cat-like grace. Of claiming sultry lips made for kissing and a body shaped for making love.
Making love?
His wolf really was going mad. Lucas never made love. No. He had sex. He fucked. But never, ever, made love.
“Lucas? Lucas! Are you all right?”
He’d been so consumed by his inner battle that he didn’t see or hear his younger sister enter his office. “Julianna,” he greeted, getting up from his chair. “How’ve you been? How’s Jersey?”
She stepped into his open arms, and he breathed in her familiar scent as they embraced. Crisp, cool ocean breeze. Similar to his, and their father’s. His family were the only people he would let in this close, whom he would let himself be so vulnerable with. And that’s why he fiercely guarded them and would do anything to protect them.
“Are you okay?” She stepped back and glanced up with him, her mismatched eyes just like his except mirrored. Most people said she looked more like a female version of their father than their mother, with her stubborn chin and angular face made even more prominent by her severe, chin-length haircut. His middle sister always had this seriousness about her, and right now, she was gazing up at him like a concerned grandmother.
“I’m fine,” he assured her. “To what do I owe this visit? I thought you’d be staying in Jersey for the time being?” His twin sister, Adrianna, had moved there over the weekend to begin taking her place as future Alpha of the territory to replace their mother, and Julianna went with her to help along with the transition.
“You know all about what’s happening over there.”
His jaw clenched. “I do.” And it had pained him not to help out his twin sister, but he knew better than to get in her and Mama’s way, or worse, act like some white knight coming in to rescue them. “I don’t like that she and Mama may have enemies we don’t know anything about.”
“Did she tell you that one of them has been assigned to be her bodyguard?”
“What?” That he didn’t know. “What happened?”
Julianna relayed to him the story of how Anatoli Corvinus had somehow convinced Mama to take on his nephew, Darius, as a bodyguard for Adrianna. “And now he’s around all the time.”
“Do you think he’s going to hurt her in some way?” His wolf surfaced again, this time, out of concern for its twin.
“He wouldn’t dare,” Julianna said. “But I don’t like the way he’s always staring at her when he thinks she’s not looking. Besides, you know I can take care of her.”
“I know you can.” His sister had been part of the Lycan Security Force for years. It was an unusual position for the daughter of two Alphas, but he knew how it suited her and how much she loved it, especially with her fiercely protective nature. “I’m glad she has you with her.”
“And you?” Julianna’s sharp gaze turned to him. “Who’s going to watch out for you?”
“I can take care of myself. I’m not alone here.”
“If I could rip myself in two, I’d be watching out for both you and Adrianna.”
That made him smile. “I’m the future Alpha of New York, I have lots of people protecting me.”
“But not family.” She stressed the last word.
“You’re not the only member of our family here.”
“And what? Isabelle’s supposed to protect you?” She rolled her eyes at the mention of their youngest sibling. “What would she do if a mage attacked you? Throw one of her Louboutin heels at them? Whack them with her Chanel purse?”
“Julianna,” he warned. Most people thought Isabelle Anderson was about as deep as a wading pool, but Lucas saw in his sister something no one else did. An intelligence she hid behind that vapid facade and a kind heart she masked with vanity. Why she preferred people see the surface was a mystery to him.
His thoughts turned to another person who was like a puzzle he couldn’t solve. Sofia Selinofoto was an enigma that both angered and frustrated him. His reaction to her was disturbing. One moment, he wanted to crush her under his heel like a bug for daring to threaten him and the next, he wanted to bite those lush lips and have her under him, naked and writhing with pleasure.
“Will you tell me what’s wrong?”
The question caught him off guard. “Why do you say something’s wrong?”
Julianna looked at him
