Chapter 34 Luca
I shouldn’t have brought her here.
That was the thought pounding in my skull as Aria and I walked toward my house, the one nobody at school ever saw because it sat tucked behind a mess of trees like it was hiding from the world. The place had always been too big and silent, and now I was bringing the one person I shouldn’t bring straight into the center of it.
Aria slowed as the house came into view.
“Omg! Your house is huge!”
Her voice held a hint of awe and I didn’t blame her. The place was all dark wood with tall windows lit only by the amber glow of the porch lights.
“Yeah,” I said.
“It looks like the kind of place where someone finds out they’re descended from a cursed bloodline.” She paused. “Is this foreshadowing?”
“No,” I smiled. “It’s just a house.”
“Sure,” she said. “And I’m just a chill normal person who definitely isn’t panicking.”
I hadn’t even opened the door yet and she was already spiraling. I unlocked it and let her step inside first. The warmth from the fireplace hit us immediately. The living room glowed with low light and shadows, the air smelling like pine and smoke. A few framed photos lined the mantle—none recent.
Aria looked around slowly, her expression somewhere between awe and suspicion.
“I feel like I’m trespassing in a museum,” she whispered. “A haunted one.”
“It’s not haunted.”
She squinted at thepelt draped across the couch. “Okay, but that’s not helping your case.”
I dragged a hand through my hair. “I brought you here because I need to tell you something. And it can’t be said at school or in public or anywhere with ears.”
That got her attention fast. Her joking expression slipped replaced with something more serious.
“Okay,” she said quietly. “I’m listening.”
I sat. She stayed standing for a second before sitting across from me, hands clasped between her knees. She looked steady but her foot tapped once like she was bracing for impact.
“Before I say this,” I told her, “you have to promise you won’t tell anyone. Not your mom. Not Sienna. Not your book club friend. Nobody.”
“Luca,” she said, eyebrows lifting, “I’m not going to spill your secrets. Just tell me.”
I swallowed hard. This was it.
“I once told you I wasn’t human.”
Then her face scrunched up so dramatically I almost choked.
“…I’m sorry, what?”
“I’m serious about what I said,” I said.
She stared. “You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
She blinked three times. “Okay. Okay. Then what does that mean? Not human how? Like genetically enhanced? Alien? Vampire? Please don’t say vampire.”
I exhaled. “Werewolves exist.”
She froze.
The silence was so heavy I could hear the fire crackling behind us.
“…you’re kidding.”
“No.”
“Luca.” She sat up straighter, voice rising. “Luca, no. No way. Absolutely not. That’s—what—do you expect me to just—?”
“Yes,” I said simply.
“Okay, well I’m not built for this!” She stood up, hands flying everywhere as she paced. “I need a moment. Or ten. Or a defibrillator. I don’t know.”
“You asked.”
“Well I didn’t expect THAT answer! Oh my gosh—this—THIS is why you brought me to the spooky mansion?”
She pressed both hands to her temples like she was rebooting then she stopped pacing and looked at me again, wide-eyed and pale.
“So, you’re one? But werewolves are myths.”
“I am. And no, they actually exist.”
She stared at me for a full ten seconds. “Show me.”
“I can’t,” I told her. “Shifting in front of a human breaks pack rules.”
She caught the word instantly. “Pack.”
“Family,” I corrected, too quickly.
“Pack,” she repeated. “Noted.”
My palms were sweating. I never sweat. “Are you scared of me?”
She shook her head. “Honestly? I’m more scared of how calm I am right now. Should I be screaming? Crying?”
“No.”
“Okay then.” She blew out a breath. “So werewolves are real. You are one and everything weird about you is because of that.”
“Yes.”
She took a step closer and lowered her voice.
“That night you saved me. And when you… when we…”
The kiss.
Her cheeks flushed.
“That was me,” I said softly. “Not the wolf.”
“Well maybe a little bit the wolf,” she muttered.
I didn’t get to answer because that’s when I heard footsteps—firm and furious—coming from the hallway. My father’s voice cut through the room like a blade.
“LUCA!!!!”
I closed my eyes for half a second. Shit!!! I’m totally fucked. He stood in the doorway to his study. His expression was unreadable and shoulders squared like he was preparing for war. Aria instinctively moved closer to me. My father looked at her once then looked at me.
“You brought a human into this house,” he said, voice controlled. “And revealed our secret?”
Aria stepped forward before I could stop her. “Mr. Hale, I—”
“This is not your fault,” he said sharply without taking his eyes off me. “This is his mistake.”
Then he stepped closer radiating the kind of authority that made the air feel heavier.
“You and I will speak privately,” his voice had an edge to it. “Now!”
“No,” I resisted.
That got his full attention and his anger.
“You think you can challenge me?” he asked quietly. The quiet was the scary part. “Over a girl who does not belong to this family?”
“Don’t talk about her like that,” I snapped, my temper flaring.
A flicker of confusion? suspicion? crossed his face but it passed quickly. He straightened turning to Aria with a stiff politeness that meant nothing good.
“Miss,” he said, “Luca will walk you home.”
Aria nodded not before giving him a subtle glare, even though she looked like she had a thousand questions. My father disappeared back into his study, the door slammed harder than necessary. The room felt colder immediately.
Aria whispered, “Luca… I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” I said, my jaw clenched. “You should never have been pulled into this but you deserved the truth.”
I walked her out of the house, and as the door shut behind us, one thing settled heavily in my gut: I had crossed a line and my father wasn’t going to let it go.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
What was Luca thinking?! How could he bring Aria to his house knowing there could be a possibility of his Dad being around? Oh, he’s SOOO cooked. This chapter was drama, shock, tension, and father-son conflict rolled into one delicious supernatural mess.
Buckle up my lovelies cause things are about to get really chaotic🔥🔥.