Page 44

LUKAS

L ukas accepted the call, saying, “Nothing to get worked up about.”

There was silence on the other end of the line. Lukas applied his blinker and checked his mirror while merging into highway traffic.

When his father did finally respond, it came with that note of frustration Lukas had learned to expect. “What was I supposed to get worked up about?”

“The hit,” Lukas said. “I assume you were watching the game. That’s why you’re calling, right? To tell me it wasn’t a good look for the clan, your heir going down like that.”

“That’s not it at all,” his father groused.

“Not even a little bit?” Lukas asked, his question a challenge.

Silence. Then… “Okay, fine. I did watch the game, and I saw the hit. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Hairline fracture. Detached tendon. I’m out for three months.” Lukas’s foot grew heavy on the gas, and he moved into the passing lane .

“No permanent damage, though?” his father asked, a hint of worry creeping in.

“No.”

“Three months,” his father mused. “That’s nearly half the season.”

Lukas’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. “Correct.”

“Maybe this is a sign that it’s time for you to come home.”

“Agreed.” Lukas sped up, switched into the right lane, then back into the left. “I’ll make arrangements as soon as I get back to my apartment.”

More silence. Then… “What am I missing?”

“What?” Lukas jockeyed around another car that was moving too slowly in the left lane, and pain sliced through his shoulder. Was the entire world out for a Sunday drive?

“You’re just going to capitulate?” his father asked. “After fighting me on this for years?”

“Three months, Dad. I’ve got nothing else to do with my time. I might as well come home, right?”

“I assumed you’d want to stay and support your team.”

And still have to see Elliette every day? The hurt look in her eyes. The unspoken questions on her lips. The way her body still called to his… No thanks. “They don’t need me.”

“Well, I’m certainly not going to argue with you about this. Everything’s ready for you here.”

“Great.” So fucking awesome.

“I’ll have to post an official announcement.”

“Whatever you have to do.” Lukas could only imagine what it would say. Something like: Virile new alpha takes center stage. Empty wombs welcome .

“I can arrange a charter flight to bring you home,” his father offered .

“I’d prefer to drive.” Sixteen hours on a flat, straight highway through the North Dakota and Montana plains should be enough to dull the pain—both in his shoulder and in his heart. Plus, he’d spent too much cash to refurbish the Lotus. He didn’t want to sell it. One loss at a time, please.

“Suit yourself,” his father said.

One hand on the steering wheel, Lukas exited the highway.

A few more seconds of silence passed between them before his father said, his voice softer and calmer than Lukas had ever heard it before, “This is a good thing, son. You’ll see.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

“I remember being uncertain when I first took the post, and while the responsibilities are enormous, there are perks that come with being alpha.”

Lukas never knew what part of the job his father considered the perks. It was a question he was too disgusted to ask.

His father cleared his throat. “Will you need much time to pack up your apartment?”

“You can send someone to do that part,” Lukas said. He didn’t want to risk the chance of running into Elliette.

“I’ll do that. When will you hit the road?”

“First thing tomorrow morning.”

“Really? So soon?”

Something about the way he asked that made Lukas wonder if his father had heard about his relationship with Elli. That is, if you could call it a relationship. Maybe he’d seen the picture in the paper.

“Like I said,” Lukas repeated, not wanting his father to have the slightest inkling about Elli. “I’ve got nothing else to do with my time.”

Pause. Then… “All right, son. See you soon.”

“Yeah,” Lukas said. Disconnect.

Lukas powered off his phone, then parked in the underground garage. He took the elevator up to his floor and stepped out cautiously. Everything was quiet.

He strode to his door and was just inserting the key into the lock when he heard movement coming from Elliette’s apartment.

He turned his head toward the noise. Should he apologize?

Well, of course he should apologize, but what could he say? He’d wanted her to think the worst. Make a clean break.

But avoiding her felt weak. Not to mention unkind. She deserved some sort of explanation, and it sounded like she was home.

He could find the words to leave things better between them than the last time he’d disappeared from her life.

He walked to her apartment. With his good arm, he knocked, then heard her ex’s unmistakable voice coming from inside.

God damn it. He knew it. He’d told Elliette her ex would be reaching out.

Lukas had assumed it would be a phone call, but the dickwad had shown up in person to plead his case.

Maybe this time, Lukas thought, things now being fucked between him and her, she’d take her ex back. Then again, if her decision to move on was as firm as before, she wouldn’t need his help to send her ex packing.

And whatever she chose, it was none of Lukas’s business .

Still, he listened harder. No one was shouting. He could hear the dickwad’s voice clearly, though he couldn’t make out any individual words. Elliette, he couldn’t hear at all. Did that mean she wasn’t home? Had the dickwad broken into her apartment?

Technically, it was his name on the lease, but he’d given her full access and moved out. So this might be no better than a landlord coming in without notice. And that would be a grave violation of Elli’s privacy.

Lukas listened harder and still detected no signs of her presence, but what if she was there and felt threatened? What if she was too afraid to say anything?

He pounded his fist against the door.

The door whipped open, and Daniel Dickwad stood there in the opening, holding his phone to his ear.

“Call you back.” He ended his call, and his gaze dropped to Lukas’s empty sleeve, hanging limply from his shoulder. “What do you want?”

Lukas glanced past Dickwad’s shoulder and into the apartment, but he didn’t see Elliette. “Is she home?”

“Who?”

See? Total dickwad. Lukas’s gaze snapped back to the guy’s face, and he barely suppressed his responding growl. “You know who.”

“Hmmm,” the dickwad hedged. “She might be home , but wherever that is these days, it isn’t here.”

“Her ring light is standing in the corner,” Lukas said. His patience was waning, and his shoulder throbbed.

“She’s coming to get her stuff later,” the dickwad said.

“Where did she go?”

His eyebrows shot up. “You don’t know?”

Lukas clenched his teeth, pissed at himself for showing his cards. “I had a game today. We haven’t talked. ”

“Well, if you guys are as tight as you think, then I’m sure she’ll send you a forwarding address.” Daniel slammed the door in Lukas’s face.

Lukas pressed the side of his fist against the door, and bowed his head. His vision turned red, and he felt his wolf pushing against the inside of his skin, demanding to be let out.

He’d rip the guy apart for breaking his deal with Elliette, for forcing her out before she’d found a new place to go.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and checked to see if he had any missed calls or texts from her. Nothing.

“Yo. Lukas,” called a male voice.

Lukas gritted his teeth and turned toward the voice. It had better not be a photographer. This building was supposed to be secure.

To his relief, it wasn’t paparazzi. It was Murph, along with Elliette’s redheaded friend, exiting the elevator and walking toward him.

Murph’s long brown hair was knotted at the back of his neck and still damp from his post-game shower. He was dressed in his usual dryad attire—plaid flannel shirt, down vest, and worn Levi’s—like he was perpetually ready to head into the woods for his next camping trip.

In contrast, the redhead was dressed like she’d stepped straight out of a fashion magazine, except that instead of carrying a rhinestone purse or a tiny dog, she hugged a stack of cardboard boxes.

“What are you two doing together?” Lukas asked. They were an unexpected pair.

Murph and the redhead glanced at each other in surprise, then back to Lukas.

“We’re not together ,” the redhead said .

“Sorry,” Lukas said. “I didn’t mean?—”

“We just hit the elevator at the same time,” Murph explained. “This is Kiera.”

“Elli needs moving boxes,” she said, her tone a little frosty. “I still had a bunch from the latest shipment my sponsors sent me. I told her I’d bring them over.”

“Sponsors?” Lukas asked.

“She’s a social media influencer,” Murph explained. “Companies send her shit to talk about online.”

Lukas didn’t know much about that, but it looked like she must be doing okay with her career. She had four medium-sized boxes stacked one inside the other. Not bad for just her latest shipment .

“You’ve talked to Elli then?” Lukas asked. “You know what happened?”

“You mean with you last night?” Kiera asked. “Yeah. I heard. And here I was, starting to like you. I gotta say, Bakken. You turned out to be a real disappointment.”

Lukas clenched his jaw. He didn’t need this woman to tell him that. “I meant with her apartment,” he said. “Her dickwad ex kicked her out.”

“No,” Kiera said, shaking her head. “Moving out was Elli’s choice.”

“What? Where’s she gonna go?”

“Not that it’s any of your business,” Kiera said, “but she’s crashing at Jen’s for a while.”

Murph cleared his throat. “If you ever get around to wondering why I’m here…”

Lukas and Kiera both turned to look at him.

Murph continued. “It’s because I wanted to check in on how you were doing.” He directed his comment to Lukas’s shoulder .

“Elli’s the wounded party in this scenario,” Kiera said. “Not him.”

“Lukas is the one who can’t get his arm down his sleeve,” Murph said.

“Oh,” Kiera said, as if she’d assumed Lukas’s oddly hanging shirt was simply the latest in berserker fashion. “What happened?”

“It’s nothing,” Lukas said.

“Most of the team had already left the locker room when Coach came in,” Murph said, “but he told those of us who were still there about your shoulder. He said you were out for at least three weeks, maybe longer.”

“Oh, no,” Kiera said, and she jostled the boxes into a better position in her arms. “Does Elli know?”

“Don’t know,” Lukas said, then turned his attention to Murph. “You could have just called. You didn’t need to come all the way over here.”

“I tried to call,” Murph said. “But your phone’s off.”

Oh. Right , Lukas thought. He’d powered it off after talking to his father.

“Um. Hello? ” Kiera said snarkily, ignoring the conversational tangent. “Why haven’t you told Elli about your shoulder?”

“As you just pointed out,” Lukas said, “I wounded her last night.”

Kiera’s mouth tightened, silently communicating that she didn’t think that was a good enough reason. “If you’ll excuse me, I gotta get rid of these boxes.”

She went to Elliette’s apartment and kicked her toe three times against the door.

The door opened, and Kiera greeted the dickwad with a, “Hello, loser.”

She went inside, and the door closed behind her .

When Lukas turned back toward Murph, the guy was grinning at the door.

“Murph?” Lukas prompted.

“Huh?” Murph blinked, then turned his attention back to Lukas.

“Thanks for your concern.”

“Of course,” Murph said. “You know…we’ve got an early curfew tonight, but do you want to get together with the team to talk it out?”

“Not to be anti-social, but I’d rather be alone.”

Murph pushed out his lips, then said, “I guess I can understand that.”

“Besides, I’m going back to Montana tomorrow morning.”

“Just like that?” Murph asked, looking surprised.

“Just like that.”

“Will you be coming back?”

Lukas shook his head. “Doubtful.”

A serious expression came over Murph’s face, and Lukas got the distinct idea that he understood what it meant that Lukas wouldn’t be coming back.

Murph might not have been a berserker, but he was fae.

A dryad . And while their clans ran under a different kind of hierarchy, Murph would understand that traditions were rarely broken.

“It was good to get to know you,” Murph said. “Play hockey with you. Even for a short time. I’ve been a fan since I joined the league.”

“Appreciate it.”

Kiera emerged from the next-door apartment, shaking her head in frustration. “I don’t know what she ever saw in that guy.” Then she narrowed her eyes on Lukas. “I’d hoped for better from you. ”

“I feel like I’m missing out on a story,” Murph said. “You know how I hate to be late to a party.”

“No story,” Lukas said. “And definitely no party.”

“Do better,” Kiera said, poking Lukas in the chest. She headed down the hall.

“Hey!” Murph called after her. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

“No need,” she said. “Kick your friend’s ass for me a while longer.”

She didn’t wait for the elevator. She took the stairs.

Murph turned back toward Lukas. “Do you need your ass kicked?”

“I’ve kicked it enough myself, thanks.”

Murph gave him a wicked grin. “Contortionist, are you?”

“What?”

“Never mind,” Murph said, chuckling. “Anything you want me to tell the guys?”

“Tell them thanks for welcoming me. Tell them to give KC hell tomorrow. And tell them I better be watching the Spriggans in the playoffs.”

Murph blew out a breath. “That would be nice.”

“Good night, Murph.”

“Bakken.”

Lukas entered his apartment, but he didn’t go any further than the entryway. He felt immobilized by the weight of his destiny—all that lay ahead and all he’d leave behind.

There was no way out. Sure, Gray Bakken had plenty of male offspring who would have killed to take Lukas’s place. But the desires of the next generation were inconsequential. The old alpha had chosen his successor, and that was that .

While wars between berserker clans had once been so frequent they were commonplace, rebellion within the ranks was unheard of.

Lukas was stuck. Welcome to the rest of your life.

He tipped his chin up, then bashed the back of his skull against the door three times before exploding in an angry outburst so loud that it made the windows vibrate.

“Fuck!”