Page 51

51

Lucas

Standing on Marco’s front porch, I hesitate before knocking on the door. Before leaving the truck, Simon told me that Kurt was staying here with his niece for now. Maya’s shaken up by her mate’s actions today. I can’t blame Kurt for wanting to be there for Maya, the only family he has left. I’d be furious in his shoes. I’d march down to where Marco is being kept and throttle some sense into him.

The door opens, and Kurt appears looking pissed. His mouth opens—most likely to yell at whoever is at the door—only for his angry appearance to morph into surprise.

“Lucas. Simon,” he says with a sigh, looking at each of us in turn. “What brings you two here?”

“I came to see how Maya is doing. Lucas came to talk to you,” Simon answers with a small smile. Kurt hesitates, his eyes glazing over.

“Maya says it’s fine for you two to come in. She’s in the kitchen right now,” Kurt states, his eyes focusing again. I thank him, motioning for Simon to go first. It seems he’s been here before as he instantly walks through the house. I hold back, looking to Kurt, who seems to need a stiff drink, and soon.

“Marco hides his whiskey in his office,” I state, watching surprise flash through Kurt’s eyes.

“How the hell do you know?” Kurt asks, motioning for me to follow him in the opposite direction Simon took.

“Kaylee told me when she and I started working on our friendship. It was just after finding out she was pregnant. She mentioned that she missed Marco’s whiskey. Apparently, it’s apple flavored,” I answer with a shrug, my smile growing as I think about my Kaylee.

“Honestly, the apple obsession she’s had the last few weeks finally made sense when Amelia blurted out she’s with pup,” Kurt chuckles, opening a solid oak door and revealing a small yet tidy office. “I thought she was going through something after the kidnapping incident. I guess I was partly correct.”

Kurt motions for me to sit on one of the two armchairs in front of a fireplace while he rummages through the desk drawers. He groans when he comes up empty and turns to me.

“Want to give me a hand?” he asks, and I laugh, standing from my seat and making my way toward the one and only bookshelf in the office. Searching through the books, I find the one Kaylee told me about, a tale about the Goddess and the first werewolves, and pull on it.

Instantly, the shelf swings open, revealing a hidden shelf full of finely aged whiskey. Kurt lets out a low whistle, his eyes scanning the shelves before he picks up a bottle.

“I’ll be damned. Should I tell Maya about this?” Kurt asks, reading the label on the bottle, his eyes widening.

“Careful, that bottle is expensive. That whiskey is older than you,” I cheekily point out, grabbing two glasses from the shelf. Kurt takes the bottle to the table that sits between the two armchairs while I bring the glasses over. His eyes are glazed once more before the door to the office opens with a loud thud, making me jump. Maya strides right up to the hidden shelves, takes a bottle of whiskey, and storms out again the way she came.

“I’m guessing she didn’t know about the whiskey,” I state as the door slams shut.

“No, she did not. I feel like Marco will hear about this when he gets out,” Kurt answers, taking the glasses and pouring me one. I sigh, sitting on the armchair and sipping the whiskey. It burns going down, but the burn feels good.

“So, what do you want to talk about?” Kurt asks after downing his glass in one gulp. He moves to refill it and I watch in silence. I’ve never seen him drink like this, and I’ve known Kurt my whole life.

“I had a vision,” I blurt out once the bottle has been closed and put on the table. Kurt’s head whips towards me, his eyes wide as he searches to see if I’m joking. I guess he deems me to be serious as he takes another swig of his whiskey before staring at me with a stoic expression.

“Describe to me what you were doing before the vision,” he says, and so I do.

I explained how the morning started—how Kaylee and I were about to start breakfast when it came on suddenly. My lips form a soft smile as I picture that scene—how my daughter will look just like her mother but with my eyes. After I finish explaining everything, the room becomes silent.

Kurt stares at the empty fireplace, leaning forward with his forearms on his knees while I sip my whiskey. I can tell he’s mulling over what I just told him, and I can see the tears in his eyes forming. I know he’s thinking about my mother—about his true mate—and my heart aches for the man who has treated me more like a son than my own father ever did.

“Lidia had told me that her powers might be hereditary,” he finally says, his voice low and full of emotion. “She’d hoped that if you did indeed have powers, you’d already be alpha of Oak Fur and out of Ramos’ control. She got part of that hope fulfilled, at least,” he adds, chuckling sadly at the end.

“So I can expect to have more visions in the future?” I ask, both elated and scared by the prospect. “And my own pup may be able to have them too?”

Kurt nods, swinging back the last whiskey in his glass before setting it down on the table. I start thinking about what this new information means—that I may need to watch my unborn pup for signs of her own gifts one day. But what about if Kaylee and I have more pups in the future? What if all my pups have gifts?

“I’d stop worrying about it, Lucas,” Kurt says, his voice breaking me from my thoughts. “You and Kaylee are powerful wolves. Your pups will be safe, whether it be the one and only pup you have now or three dozen down the line. You two will make sure of it.”

“How will I know if my pups have the same power I have, the same one my mother had?” I decide to ask, wanting to be prepared.

“You won’t know until they tell you. I suggest you don’t keep this power a secret from your pups but instill into them the importance of not sharing it with others,” Kurt answers, picking up the bottle and uncorking it. I thought he would pour into the empty glass, but I was shocked when he took a long swig straight from the bottle.

“That was the mistakes her parents—your grandparents—made. They shared that Lidia could see visions, and in the end, that led to her and I never being together.” Tears finally spill from his eyes, and I reach out to take the whiskey bottle from his hands.

“Marco doesn’t understand how lucky he is to have a second-chance mate. How lucky he is to have a pack that cares! And he almost threw it all away because of his own personal issues!” Kurt shouts, taking the whiskey glass from the table and throwing it into the fireplace. The glass shatters upon impact.

I have nothing to say, no way to help Kurt through his emotions other than to sit here and silently support him as he cries it all out.

A presence pops into my head, opening a link. I’m about to shut it when I feel Simon tentatively reaching out, worry etched into the link.

[Everything okay?] Simon asks, sounding exasperated. I guess he’s dealing with a drunk Maya while I deal with a drunk Kurt.

[Yeah. Kurt is just letting off some emotions,] I answer, my eyes focusing on Kurt, who has curled up in the chair with a forlorn look.

[Maya is doing the same. I think we should help these two to bed before we leave,] Simon says with a sigh through the link. I agree, telling him to deal with Maya first before coming to help me with Kurt. He agrees, telling me he’ll be here in a few minutes before the link closes.

True to his word, Simon appears at the office door in ten minutes, a bruise matching the one I got earlier under his left eye.

“Maya’s right hook?” I ask, getting an annoyed growl.

“Evette is going to be pissed,” he huffs back. I chuckle, telling him to take Kurt’s left side while I stand on his right. On the count of three, we haul the now passed-out Kurt onto his feet and half carry, half drag him up the stairs into the guest room.

We tucked him into bed, and Simon told me he would meet me at Kaylee’s truck after making sure Kurt had a glass of water and a bottle of Tylenol on the nightstand. I leave Marco’s house and wait beside the truck, breathing the cool fresh air.

I have the answers I need. This power I have is, in fact, hereditary. I can see visions just like my mother. I know from Kurt talking about my mother’s power that she could control hers—I guess I just need to learn how to control mine.

“Lucas?”

I jump, arm up, as I prepare to punch whoever it is that has called out to me, only to stop just an inch from punching Simon.

“Dude, why are you being such a space case?” my friend asks, brows raised as he looks at me.

“Sorry. Just a lot on my mind,” I apologize, motioning to the truck. “Mind if I just take you to the infirmary and head home? I have something I need to talk to Kaylee about,” I ask. I’m not really in the mood to visit Ash and see how Devon is doing.

“Yeah, about that. Royce linked me two minutes ago. Ash is out cold, so I’ll check on him in the morning,” Simon answers, climbing into the truck. Feeling relieved, I climb into the driver’s side and pull out of the driveway.

Simon tells me he and Evette want to walk home, so I kill the engine when we get to the cottage. Once they’ve gone home, I plan to tell Kaylee everything Kurt told me.