Austin’s eyes focused somewhere over his shoulder, then turned back to him. “Are you sure about that?”
“Yes.”
“In that case, you’re an idiot, Lucas.”
Before he knew it, Austin whirled him back toward the house. “Wha—”
“Take a good look, dumbass.”
“Look where? I—”
His chest squeezed so tight he could hardly breathe. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen that was making him see things. Because standing on the back-porch steps was Sofia. Even in the moonlight, he could see her beautiful face and the myriad of expressions that flashed through them—worry, surprise, apprehension—and finally, as their eyes met, pure happiness.
“Lucas!” She was running toward him, her arms wide open as they crashed into each other. He didn’t even realize he’d been running to her too. His arms encircled her, crushing her to him and breathing in that delicious scent of hers as he nuzzled her hair.
“You’re safe,” she murmured. “You’re okay.”
He pulled back, brushing the locks of hair away from her face. Her eyes were shiny with tears. “Me? What about you? Those men—” He’d almost forgotten about those two men who broke into her home. The bruise on her jaw, however, was a clear reminder. Anger rose in him—at them, and at himself for failing to protect her from getting hurt in the first place. “Were they trying to rob you?”
“It doesn’t matter.” She wrapped her arms around him.
He stiffened. “What are you doing here? How did you get here? Do you remember what happened? Did—”
“I do,” she interrupted. “I remember everything. They tried to take it away but—” She choked and put a hand over her mouth. “We should talk, Lucas.”
He agreed. “Austin, I—” But his friend was gone. He must have slipped into the house quietly. “Let’s go for a walk.” He took her hand and pulled her along. When they were far enough from the house, he spoke first. “What happened? How did you get here?”
“The last thing I remembered was seeing you on the floor of my apartment.” And then she relayed the events of what brought her here. As he suspected, they had taken her to the basement of Fenrir. He winced when she described meeting his father and then Adrianna and his mother. He smiled to himself, glad they were there to defend her.
“And then I was on my way here. Your mom even lent me her jet,” Sofia continued. “And also, Astrid came with me. She explained everything to me, about … you guys.”
“Lycans.”
“Yes.” She wrinkled her nose. “It’s still confusing to me, about how it all works. Plus, she told me she and her siblings were all different too and that magic exists.”
“Yes, witches and the warlocks are real too. And others. We have enemies, too.” He wanted to tell her about the mages, but it might be too much for her. Also, he realized that they had been walking for a long time and that she was shivering, despite being bundled up in a thick wool coat. As a Lycan, his body adjusted to the cold easily, which is why he was wearing only a shirt and jeans even though it was late winter. He steered her toward the nearest building—a barn that housed most of the heavy farm equipment used in the spring and summer.
As he opened the door and gestured for her to go first, he asked, “Do you believe what she told you?”
“I watched you turn into a wolf and then back again. How could I not believe it?” She let out a sigh as they entered the warm barn.
He paused, trying to figure out how to phrase the question he wanted to ask her. “And did she tell you about me?”
“Your sister implied that what happened wasn’t normal for your kind. When I asked Astrid about it, she said that was your story to tell.” She turned to him, her slate gray eyes clear even in the faint light. “Will you tell me, Lucas?”
His throat closed up as the memories began to flood into his mind. He considered shutting down or telling her it was none of her business. That was his knee-jerk reaction whenever anyone tried to bring up the past. But when he stared down at her face, he couldn’t stop himself from telling her. “When Lycans shift, we’re fully aware of what’s happening and we can control our animal, or sometimes let it act on instinct. In the end, we’re always the one in charge.” He paused. “But not when bloodlust happens.”
“Bloodlust?” she echoed.
“No one’s really sure what it is or why it happens. It’s been described in our records, but never really seen or studied. In fact, it’s only been observed in one Lycan in the last few decades.”
“Just one?”
“Yes, one. Me.” The silence between them echoed as they both contemplated his words. Lucas reached out to brush an imaginary speck of dust on her cheek. “One of our doctors told me that it might be because both my parents are Alphas. Or because of what happened when I was a kid.”
Realization swept over her face. “When you were kidnapped.”
“The kidnappers—they hurt Adrianna. They hit her when she wouldn’t stop crying, and then one of them … he looked at her in a way that made my flesh crawl.”
She swallowed audibly, and her body stiffened. “You saved her, right?”
He nodded. “I shifted into bloodlust. I was ten, and it was virtually unheard of for anyone that young to shift. Whether it was because of trauma or my genes—I don’t know, it just happened. I was still small, so I only tore them up.”
“And your family covered it up.”
“Yes, that’s what we do, to protect our secret.” He waited for her to ask what he knew what was on her mind. To his surprise, she didn’t even say the name. So, he decided to lay it all out for her. “Kevin Hall.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I do. And if you hate me after this, then I understand.”
“Lucas—”
“Let me finish,” he pleaded.
