Page 36

A figure loomed in the doorway, the security light outside creating a silhouette.

I breathed a sigh of relief. “Lucian. You scared me half to death.”

He shut the door and locked it.

I clutched my chest to slow my racing heart. “What are you doing here?”

“Your alarm went off.”

I closed the distance between us as we met in front of the dark hallway. “I was just coming home from a date. We must have triggered whatever you’ve got set up.”

He took out his phone and turned it on. “No, this is different.” Lucian played a video of someone walking by a tree. “This is on the outer perimeter. I think he’s waiting for you to shift so he can attack your animal.”

That put a chill down my spine. “Maybe I should go and see.”

Lucian headed into the kitchen, and I followed. “I already searched the property. He’s gone.” With his back to me, Lucian opened the fridge and reached for a soda.

I hated getting spooked in my own home. Deacon’s offer was starting to look a lot more appealing.

“You installed cameras around the property?”

He cracked open the can and guzzled. After three swallows, he sighed.

Lucian faced me while holding the can against his eye.

“I’m still working out the kinks and trying to pick the best locations and angles.

You might need more. I’ll have to watch them for a little while to make sure they’re capturing everything. ”

“Did you see…” I wondered if he had seen Deacon and me kissing. “Are there cameras out front?”

“I’m not done with everything, but you can bring your father up sooner than we planned. The new polycarbonate windows are coming on Thursday along with the guy who installs them.”

“Are you sure they’ll work?”

He frowned. “I hate seeing you like this. It pisses me off. When I get done with this house, you’ll never have to worry about your safety again.”

I stared at him for a beat. “What’s wrong with your eye?”

When Lucian moved the can away, I gasped. “What happened?”

He hesitated before answering. “I ran into an old friend.”

I grabbed a dish towel and opened the freezer. “Some friend.” After putting ice cubes into the towel, I twisted it closed and held it to his swollen eye. “Does it hurt?”

“It’s no big deal. We have accelerated healing. Wounds close pretty fast, but sometimes bruises take longer since technically it’s just blood leakage.”

Realizing I was towering over him, I kicked off my heels. He stood a hair taller because of his shoes, but it allowed me to look into his eyes. “Are you okay?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

I turned his chin to gather his attention. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” He took the ice pack from me and held it in place. “How was your date?”

I backed up to the counter across from him and leaned against it.

“It went all right. He was really selling himself.” I heaved a sigh and stared at the floor.

“After tonight, maybe I should stop dragging out this mating thing. I wouldn’t have to worry about all these security threats if I lived in a pack. ”

“Is he what you’re looking for?”

I picked up my shoes. Carrying them toward the hall, I replied, “What I need is a man who respects my lifestyle and ambitions. I know what I have to offer, but he has something to offer too, so we’re on equal ground.

I don’t want anyone taking advantage of me.

” I set my shoes down at the hall entryway and looked across the space at Lucian, who tossed the rag into the sink.

“Deacon checks a lot of boxes. He’s beta to the biggest pack out here, and that means he’s got a substantial income. ”

“You sure are saying more than I asked.” Lucian moved swiftly toward me. “It sounds like you’re trying to convince yourself.”

I scoffed. “That’s ridiculous.”

His nostrils flared, and he tilted his head to the side with that predatory gaze that made me shiver. “I can smell a lie. What happened?”

I crossed the room. After switching on the floor lamp by the game table at the back of the living room, I took a seat in the wooden chair. “Whose Jeep is in my garage?”

“Robyn got a new toy. She let me borrow it on the condition that I treat it like a newborn baby. That’s why it’s in the garage.” Lucian walked over and stole the chair to my right. He turned his whole body toward me, arm resting on the table. “Did he disrespect you?”

“No.”

He sniffed the air.

I stared at the checker box on the table. “Feel like a game?”

“Not really.”

“Why?”

He eased back in his chair. “I’d rather talk.”

“What I’d really like is a glass of wine.”

“He didn’t order you any at dinner?”

I got up from my chair. “I don’t like drinking too much on the first date. It leads to bad decisions. I indulged in a glass, but I need something right now to help me sleep.” Once in the kitchen, I pulled out a bottle of white wine and a corkscrew.

“Something’s bothering you.”

“Why are you so worried about me?” I called out while removing the cork.

Lucian’s voice answered from behind me. “Maybe I’m concerned you weren’t treated right.” He turned on the sink faucet.

“Since you asked, Deacon was a gentleman.” I filled my glass. “He took me to Dragonfly’s and paid for a nice dinner. He told me about his pack and a little about himself, and it was fine.”

After a sip of wine, I turned on my heel and watched Lucian wash the dirty dishes that my father must have brought up.

“My dad likes him.”

Lucian stopped washing and stood very still.

“I guess I have decisions to make,” I added.

He rinsed a plate off and set it on the drying rack. “You don’t want a guy like him.”

“And why not?”

“He’s controlling.”

My eyebrows rose. “How do you know?”

“I got to know him enough that I didn’t like what I saw.”

“Sometimes people only show one side and not the other. He was a nice guy.”

“Maybe it’s an act.”

“Then I guess we’re all performing the greatest play of all.” The wine soothed my nerves. “I see what you’re saying. He can be arrogant, but he’s a beta who ran a pack for years, so he’s got the personality of a leader. Duty shaped him that way… among other things.”

“Then what’s the issue?” He turned while drying a glass.

One thing I liked about my relationship with Lucian was the honesty. “Deacon’s the ideal candidate in every way, but…”

“But?”

My shoulders sagged. “We have no chemistry. Nothing.”

Lucian slowed his drying. “As in… physical?”

“It’s nonexistent. I hoped finding chemistry would make the decision easier, but I guess you can’t have it all.”

“Maybe cats and dogs don’t mix. You should look for another tiger.”

I stared into my wineglass. “There are only a few around here, and they’re not worth my time.

I could go to another city, but that means moving.

This is my home, and I’m not giving up all this for a man.

Anyhow, the wolf thing doesn’t matter. He’s a predator, and that’s a core trait I understand.

” I drank more wine, wishing it could erase all the doubt weighing on me.

“Sounds like you’re trying to talk yourself into it again.”

“Maybe I am. He’s at the top of the list. My other dates had qualities I simply won’t accept. They were abhorrent men, and after looking at their records, one of them had a history of beating his wife.”

A wicked smile wound up Lucian’s face. “You ran background checks?”

“Welcome to twenty-first-century dating. Anyhow, I can’t worry about little things like chemistry or personality. If I find a suitable mate, I can negotiate our terms.”

“Sounds like war.”

I raised my glass. “Love is a battlefield.”

After my final swallow, he collected my empty glass to wash.

“Why does your dad need oxygen tanks?”

I placed my earrings in a small bowl where I put jewelry while cooking.

“He was a smoker for years and years. People don’t realize that even though we can’t get cancer, it still affects us, especially the older you get.

Older people don’t shift as often, so they don’t heal.

I guess it damaged his lungs and made it harder for him to breathe. ”

After cleaning the glass, Lucian set it in the drying rack and turned around. “That’s a really shitty hand he was dealt. Nobody should struggle to breathe.”

“I wish there was a magic cure, but he’s seen the best Relics. It’s not just his lungs. He’s one of the oldest Shifters I’ve ever known. I guess the body’s not meant to last forever.”

Lucian dried his hands with a checkered towel, his bruised eye holding my attention. “You’re lucky you’ve had him this long. Not everyone gets that with a parent.”

The inflection changed in his voice. He must have been thinking about his poor mother.

“I don’t take a day for granted—the good or the bad.

Nobody prepares you for taking care of your parents.

It’s draining, and sometimes I get overwhelmed and wish I didn’t carry all this responsibility and guilt, but that’s what we do when we love someone. ”

“You’re allowed to feel all that.”

“Thanks. I wouldn’t trade it for the world, but it’s just me, and that makes it harder with a full-time job.”

He walked over and lifted the clear dome off the cake plate. “What the hell is that?”

“A cake.”

He snickered under his breath. “It’s… interesting.”

“Deacon made it.”

“No wonder. It looks like he iced it with his hands.”

I leaned over and stared at the misshapen round cake.

Even though he frosted it, there was a visible line down the middle where it had broken in half.

Dark crumbs were mixed in with the pink frosting, which had crimson blots from the food coloring that he hadn’t blended thoroughly.

“Well, at least the poor darling tried.”

“Tried and failed.”

“It’s sweet.”

Lucian swiped a little frosting and gave it a taste. “Too sweet. It came out of a plastic container—the premade stuff.”

“So?”

“He could’ve used pink frosting, but he bought vanilla and added food coloring. Either he’s as dumb as a rock, or he’s trying to pass this off as homemade.”