Eva was in trouble and I had no way of getting to her.
Nobody was at home. I had no clue where the pack members were since I hadn’t seen any otherwise I would’ve asked them for help. Not that it would do any good since I didn’t know where they were.
They had gone through with Grayson’s plan even though I had told them that I didn’t want to go through with it.
I ran a hand through my hair as I paced back and forth.
The first thing I had done when I was woken by Eva’s pain was to run to Lucas’s room but he hadn’t been there. Then I had gone to Dad’s and Granddad’s room only to find it empty too. After searching through the whole house I had realized that I had been left on my own.
How could Lucas have gone with them?
The last time I had seen him he could barely move. Surely he wouldn’t have gone with them!
I froze when I heard the truck pulling up. My eyes darted around as I tried to figure out what to do.
Pursing my lips, I ran into the kitchen on shaky legs and grabbed the biggest knife I could find before I hurried back towards the front door.
“Ariana, open the door.”
The knife slipped from my fingers and dropped to the floor when relief hit me. I unlocked the door and pulled it open. A gasp fell from my lips when my eyes landed on them.
“Is she okay? What happened?” I questioned.
Lucas entered the house and kicked the door closed behind him. “Lock it again,” he ordered as he headed for the stairs.
I followed his order and hurried to catch up with him as he started climbing the stairs. My eyes locked onto the top of Eva’s head, resting against his shoulder.
“Lucas?”
“She’s already healing,” he said. “Eva. . .was shot.”
I stumbled but managed to grab hold of the banister just in time to steady myself. Shocked into silence, I silently followed him.
Lucas didn’t carry Eva to her room like I thought he would, instead he carried her into my bedroom and gently lowered her onto the bed.
“Grab me the first-aid kit, a bowl of warm water, towel, and a clean shirt,” he ordered.
I hurried to follow his orders and then stood aside to watch him.
He took a seat on the bed next to her and carefully removed Eva’s bloody shirt. Lowering her, he rolled her onto her side and reached for the towel. Dipping the end into the warm water, he started wiping the blood away.
The sight of her healing wound made me feel queasy. I sucked in a breath and instantly regretted it when the smell of her blood filled my nostrils.
I swayed.
“Ariana?” Lucas’s voice sounded miles away.
“I-I feel sick,” I breathed.
Warm fingers curled around my upper arm and steered me away. I found myself sitting with something cold pressed to the back of my neck seconds later.
“Breathe through your mouth,” Lucas ordered. “Stay here until I come to get you, okay?”
He didn’t wait for my reply.
Once some of the nausea faded, I slowly opened my eyes and blinked rapidly to clear the lingering dark spots from my vision. Lucas had guided me into the bathroom.
Frowning, I glanced over at the door that stood ajar. My hesitation only lasted a few seconds. I got up on shaky legs and walked over to the door.
Lucas was bent over Eva as he closely inspected her wound. Sitting up, he grabbed the first-aid kit and proceeded to clean the wound with antiseptic before bandaging it. When he was done, he dressed her in the clean shirt and then stood to pull the sheet over her before he stood back and stared down at her.
I waited for him to come to me but he lingered.
Running a hand through his hair, he took a seat next to her again and reached out to brush his knuckles across her cheek. It really was no surprise when Eva leaned into his touch.
Despite the things she said and the ways she acted, I knew that she was longing for him. I just didn’t understand why she was being so stubborn.
Lucas wasn’t unreasonable, I was sure that he would understand it if Eva told him about the things she wanted to do before settling down.
“I’m sorry, firecracker.”
I blinked and focused on them again.
Eva’s eyes fluttered open just as Lucas was about to stand.
“I heard you,” she whispered, making him pause.
“What do you mean?”
“Y-you were in my head.” She frowned. “After I was shot, you told me to run to you. You guided me to where you were hiding.”
Lucas stared down at her for a few more seconds and then shook his head. Leaning forward, he kissed her forehead and then stood. “Get some rest,” he told her.
I hurried away from the door and over to the basin.
Pulling the cloth from my neck, I opened the tap and splashed my face with some cold water.
When I straightened, Lucas stood behind me, staring at me.
“This is why I didn’t want to agree to his plan,” I told him. “What if she had been shot in the heart? Hunters use specific bullets made to kill us.”
Lucas’s eyes locked with mine for a few seconds before darting away but not before I had seen the guilt in them. Clearing his throat, he moved closer.
“Ariana,” he paused. “Eva wasn’t shot by a Hunter.”
I spun around to face him. “Who shot her then?”
He swallowed a few times before he answered me. “I shot her.”
I blinked up at him as I tried to process what he had just said. He. . .shot Eva? I must have heard him wrong because Lucas wouldn’t shoot his own mate.
“I’m sorry, I think I—”
“I shot Eva,” he interrupted. “The bullets were normal. Completely harmless to your kind.”
My hand shot out and connected with his cheek before I could stop myself. His head snapped to the side from the impact.
Clenching his jaw, Lucas slowly turned his head to glare down at me.
For a moment his eyes flashed with anger but it was gone as soon as it appeared.
“He knew,” he muttered. “She might have looked like you, but she didn’t act like you.”
Reaching up, he gripped my chin between forefinger and thumb as he took a step closer. It tilted my head back to keep our eyes locked.
“Oliver isn’t stupid. He knew that it wasn’t you standing in front of him.” He paused. “I did what I had to when he grabbed her and threatened to kill her.”
“Y-you shot her!”
Something flashed through his eyes, something dark I had seen in Oliver’s eyes that night he had kidnapped me at the party.
“She’s alive, isn’t she?” he questioned. “I brought her back home in one piece and breathing didn’t I?”
My stomach clenched as a wave of fear hit me. He was using his size to intimidate me.
“Didn’t I, doll?” he rasped.
I swallowed and gave him a small nod.
Lucas’s fingers slid along my jaw as his head lowered. I sucked in a breath and held it in.
His lips brushed my ear. “If you ever slap me again, doll, I might do something you won’t like.”
I squeezed my eyes closed as images darted in and out of my mind of ways he could hurt me but it all came to a halt when he pressed a kiss to my cheek.
Lucas pulled away.
“I-I need to check on Eva,” I stuttered.
“I suppose you do,” he muttered.
I tensed. Lucas pressed his lips to my forehead like he had done to Eva a few seconds ago but his lips lingered longer, and then without a word, he spun around and walked away.
I lingered in the bathroom until the urge to be near Eva took control. Relief flooded me when I saw that Lucas wasn’t in the bedroom. Hurrying over to the bed, I carefully crawled onto it and curled up at Eva’s side.
She turned and wrapped an arm around my waist.
“Missed this,” she whispered.
I swallowed. “Me too.”