Page 31

ELLIETTE

I sat curled in the corner of the couch, wrapped in a blanket, crafting a new set of social-media captions when I heard a strange noise outside in the hall.

I jerked my head up and twisted toward the door. A man was talking, and I didn’t recognize the voice.

From my position on the couch, I confirmed that all the deadbolts were locked. I was safe. No one was going to get in here. I pulled the blanket tighter around me.

“Sorry,” said a second male voice, and this one I knew better than my own.

“ Lukas ,” I whispered and rose from my seat.

The blanket dropped to the floor, and as much as I wanted to run to him, visions of last night kept me rooted to the spot. Lukas was scary. Maybe even scarier than the men who’d grabbed me.

“Will that affect the sample?” he asked, slurring his words.

“Being pickled?” asked the stranger. “Not when it comes to what I’m testing.”

I finally found my feet and was halfway to the door when I stopped again.

Lukas had seen me last night during the worst of my ordeal, but it had been dark.

It wasn’t until this morning that I discovered how badly my face had been bruised.

My cheek had blossomed into a lovely bouquet of purples, magentas, and blues.

How would he react to the sight? Would seeing me trigger another violent reaction?

“ Jesus , man,” groaned the stranger. “Pull yourself together.”

“Easy for you to say,” Lukas slurred, and something heavy thudded against the wall.

Was he…? Was he drunk? I held my position and listened while an entire minute of silence passed.

Then I thought I heard the muffled ding of the elevator, and Lukas called out, “Give my regards to dear ol’ Dad.”

Something slid along the wall outside my door. There was another thud, this one heavier, and Lukas groaned.

Shit . He sounded hurt. I flung my door open, and there he was. Laid out. Face down on the hallway carpet between my apartment and his. The stale scent of beer rose from his body like a cloud.

“Lukas!” I slipped my hands under his arms and tried to lift him, but there was no way. “Can you get up?”

He groaned again, arched his neck to look up, stared at me for a while in confusion. His cheek was red, and it looked totally raw.

A dark shadow of defeat descended over his handsome features, and he grumbled, “Your face.”

“I’m okay,” I said. “And anyway, have you seen your own ? That’s one serious looking rug burn.”

“What?” Lukas’s eyebrows came together.

“Let’s get you inside,” I urged. “Can you get on your feet? ”

He moved slowly, but he pushed himself up to all fours, then to his feet.

“Who was that guy?” I asked, glancing at the elevator doors. “I heard you talking to someone.”

His body swayed. “Doctor.”

“Are you sick?”

He scoffed. “Sick and tired.”

I helped him into my apartment and onto the couch. “Sit here. I’ll make some coffee. You drink coffee, right?”

“Nothing stronger?” The words came out slurred again.

“It’ll be strong enough.” I put the coffee on to brew. “Though it’ll take a few minutes.”

He leaned forward, elbows to knees, head in his hands.

I sat beside him on the couch, but not too close, just in case he was going to hurl. It occurred to me, I should have grabbed the garbage can, just in case.

Before I could move to get it, Lukas tipped over sideways and laid his head in my lap.

I held my hands up. Alrighty, then . “Lukas?”

This submissive posture of his was more than a little confusing. So was his silence. Was he still breathing?

I held my hand under his nose.

Good. Definitely breathing.

Tentatively, I combed my fingers into his dark brown waves, marveling at how soft it was when his wolf had been all bristling coarseness. It was good to have my— Well, not my Lukas. But the Lukas I knew back.

He hummed contentedly as I stroked his hair.

“Were you out with Rafe all night?” I asked.

I knew Bjorn had kept watch outside my door so I could sleep. I’d released him from guard duty as soon as I woke up, and he’d let me know they’d found Evan, and he was okay .

Maybe after talking to Evan, Rafe had taken Lukas somewhere to drink off the trauma of having killed those guys.

That is, if berserkers could be traumatized. I honestly didn’t know.

Lukas had acted like it was nothing—murder being no more significant than checking an opponent hard against the boards. But while he could be brutal on the ice, it was a far cry from killing someone, and—as far as I knew—it wasn’t like he did that as part of his normal routine.

It made me stop. How well did I actually know him?

“No,” Lukas said, and his response was delayed enough that, for a second, I didn’t remember my question. “Drinking alone,” he added. “Pathetic.”

“Ah. Well. You had a lot to work through.” I tried to sound sympathetic when in truth, I was still working out how I felt about everything. Grateful to be rescued? Yes. Horrified about everything else? Also, yes.

“My fucking father,” Lukas murmured against my thigh.

I stroked his soft hair, letting it sift through my fingers, and readjusted my assumptions. Apparently, Lukas hadn’t tried to drown out the memories of the evening, but rather something regarding his father.

“After I saw your brother?—”

My stupid brother. I was glad he was okay, partly because it gave me the chance to kill him myself for what he’d put me through.

“—my dad called. He wants to pass the baton. Whore me out.”

Whore him out? My hand stilled on his hair. Was that Lukas’s way of saying his dad thought it was time to choose his son’s mate ?

Mating bonds were common among berserkers and fae. Over the years, I’d heard plenty about them, though never with such a negative phrase.

“Why would you put it that way?” I asked. “I don’t understand.”

“Good,” was all he said.

“Lukas.”

“You’ll hate me.”

Hate him? Never. Even when I hated him, I didn’t really hate him.

Sure, it sucked to imagine him being mated. I couldn’t help the twinge of jealousy. But I’d never expected a future between the two of us. Not even my wildest dreams. So, news of his impending alpha status didn’t change my life plans at all.

After making his grim declaration, Lukas didn’t say anything more, not even when I called his name. When he started to snore, I gently lifted his head, got up, and slid a throw pillow underneath him.

The coffee was ready, and I poured myself a cup. As I stood in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with my hands wrapped around the hot mug, I was struck by how incredibly boyish Lukas looked in his sleep. Peaceful almost. So different from how he’d looked at the warehouse.

While I watched him, his chest moving rhythmically, I went back to my earlier thoughts and tried to figure out exactly how I felt about what he’d done last night. What he’d done—at least in his mind—for me .

I’d never really thought about the aftermath of all those times he’d protected me in the past. After getting me out of harm’s way, had he gone back to avenge me?

Truth be told, I’d spent so much time panting after Lukas, I honestly hadn’t thought to ask if there’d been any fallout.

Like, had he gone after those kids who’d left me behind after that away game?

He obviously hadn’t killed them, but even a tongue lashing from a berserker wolf would have been terrifying.

Or what about Josh Peterson—that guy who’d been a bit too handsy on our first date? He hadn’t hurt me, but I’d complained about him to Evan and Lukas. Come to think of it, Josh had gone to school the following Monday with a black eye. He said he’d got it playing dodge ball. Had that been Lukas?

As for those guys last night, I had a hard time calling up much empathy for them. They’d abducted me, and one of them had threatened me with a knife when I’d done nothing to either of them.

Maybe Lukas was right. Maybe they deserved what they got.

Not that I condoned what Lukas did, but it wasn’t fair to judge him. He’d done it for me. He’d done it because that was the kind of creature he was. And that was the kind of world he lived in.

No one judged a lion for killing the hyena who threatened one of its pack.

My phone rang, and I answered it before it woke him. “Hello?”

“Tiny?” Evan’s voice was rough with emotion. “I wanted to call sooner, but Lukas told me to let you sleep.”

“Evan…” I let out a sigh. “I don’t even know where to start with you.”

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m so sorry. I fucked up. Now, I just need to know that you’re all right.”

“I’m fine. Really. But I’m also really, really mad at you.”

“You should be,” he said, and I could hear his feet pacing. “You have every right.”

“It was super scary, Evan. I think that guy wanted to kill me.”

He didn’t respond right away, and I could sense his own spike of fear sizzling along the telephone line.

Finally, he asked, his voice filled with remorse, “Can I, pleas e, come over?”

I glanced at Lukas. I didn’t know how long he’d sleep, and it probably wasn’t a good idea for Evan to see him here. “We do need to talk, Ev. But I’m not quite ready. Later?”

“I get it,” Evan said. “But I want you to know, I’ve made things right. There won’t be any more trouble.”

I set my mug on the counter. “How? How have you made things right?”

“That part doesn’t matter. Just know that I have. Everything’s gonna be all right,” he assured me. “But…you didn’t call the police, did you? You didn’t tell them what happened.”

“No.” I dragged the word out because it still felt wrong not to involve the authorities. How long would it take for the police to discover two mutilated bodies in an abandoned warehouse? Would they follow the evidence back to me? Back to Lukas?

Or would my attacker’s henchmen move the body and hide whatever evidence remained? After all, they had something to hide.

“Good,” Evan said. “Involving the police could make things worse.”

“For who?” I asked.

“For me,” he said. “Maybe for you.”