“Yes,” I whispered.
“Doll, why does Oliver want to kill you?”
My stomach churned again as another wave of nausea hit me. I could feel panic clawing up my throat. The mention of his name was enough to make me remember everything he’d done to me.
Lucas’s hand slid to the back of my neck as he moved closer. He closed the space between us and pressed a kiss to my cheek.
“Tell me,” he whispered. “Let me help you.”
I reached up with shaky hands to grip his shoulders. My eyes darted over his face. There were so many questions I still had to ask him. I wanted to trust him, I truly did, but what if I trusted him and he was like Connor?
“Ariana...”
I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead against his. Lucas had saved me from Oliver and he was doing everything possible to make sure that I was safe.
Why?
“Let me help you,” he whispered against my lips.
“Why do you want to help me?” I asked him.
He was silent for a few minutes before he answered me. What he said was something I never expected to hear.
“Because for some reason I have this need to protect you. No matter how hard I try, I just can’t get myself to hand you over to your family and let them protect you.” He sucked in a breath. “I need you to be at my side so I know that you’re okay.”
“I-I think I know w-why,” I whispered.
“Why?” he asked.
I pulled away and opened my eyes but movement over Lucas’s shoulder caught my attention.
Ethan was staring down at his phone as he walked in our direction.
Noticing my distraction, Lucas turned to follow my gaze. His body tensed when he spotted the ex-alpha.
I sat back and watched Lucas as he stood and turned to face Ethan. The movement made Ethan’s head snap up. “Are you back so soon?” he asked.
“Have you made the calls?” Lucas questioned instead of answering him.
“Yeah.” Ethan pushed his phone into his pocket and walked over to the counter where he grabbed a paper and held it out towards Lucas. “The last shop can deliver it tomorrow but as you can see, it will cost you twice as much.”
Lucas stared at the paper for a few seconds, glanced over at me and then looked at Ethan. “Will you have the car fixed by tomorrow?”
“Of course.” Ethan smiled. “Now that you gave me the go ahead I’ll start stripping it now.”
“Make the call.”
As Ethan called the shop, Lucas packed everything we had purchased into the bag but not before eating some more chips. Zipping the bag closed, he placed it down at my feet and then took a seat next to me. I smiled when he reached for my hand.
“Where are we going to sleep tonight?” I asked him softly. “I didn’t see any motels.”
Lucas pressed a kiss to my hair. “Don’t worry about it, doll,” he muttered. “I’ll find us a place to stay.”
***
That had to be sooner than either of us expected. We were hit with a sudden thunder storm—by thunder storm I meant a heavy sheet of rain and booming thunder. The sky was so dark that it looked like it was in the middle of the night instead of only two o’clock in the afternoon.
Ethan was forced to close the garage door and stop working on the car when the power was cut off.
We were basically stranded in the middle of nowhere with a stranger who just so happened to be a Lycan. He was the least of our worries though, because we still had no place to sleep.
I clutched Lucas’s hand tightly as darkness swallowed us. It took a few blinks for my eyes to get used to the dark.
With the rain beating down on the roof, it made it impossible to hear anything else. A bright light suddenly blinded us for a few seconds.
“Come with me,” Ethan yelled.
I hesitated but Lucas grabbed our bag and pulled me behind him as he followed Ethan. We walked down a short hall until we reached a door to the right. Ethan unlocked it, glanced over his shoulder to make sure that we were behind him before he pushed it open.
Pain pelted down on us, soaking us within seconds. The cold made my teeth chatter. Every inch of my body hurt from the cold. Despite that, I couldn’t help but tilt my head back to admire the beauty of the lighting flashing across the dark sky.
“Close the door behind you,” Ethan ordered when we entered another building.
I pulled the door closed and then turned to take in as much as the light he held allowed.
The three of us stood in what appeared to be a very small kitchen. Ethan placed the light down on the cabinet and glanced at us over his shoulder as he made his way over to the dark hallway.
“I’ll get you some towels.”
Turning, I closed the space between us and pressed my body against Lucas’s. Shivers raced down my spine when his icy fingers ran over my arms. Lucas hesitated a moment and then wrapped his arms around me to pull me closer.
“This should do for now.”
Lucas pulled away and took the towels from him before I could move. One was wrapped around my shoulders and the other used to dry my hair.
“Is there a place nearby where we can rent a room for tonight?” Lucas asked him.
“Meredith recently turned her family’s old home into a Bed and Breakfast. I don’t know if she had any rooms available. Want me to give her a call?”
A nod from Lucas had Ethan pulling his phone from his pocket. How the phone was still working even thought he was soaking wet was beyond me. Lucas tensed when Ethan moved closer.
He dialled a number on his phone and then put it on speakerphone. It rang a few times before a woman picked up.
“Meredith, hello?”
“It’s Ethan.”
“No shit Sherlock,” the woman muttered. “I know it’s you because your number’s saved. Now what the hell do you want?”
“Do you have any rooms available? It’s just for tonight.”
“Hold on.”
The silence between us was filled with the woman shifting through what sounded like papers. She suddenly fell silent and then muttered a few curses that made Ethan’s lips twitch.
“I don’t have any open rooms,” Meredith finally answered. “The wedding is this weekend, remember?”
She ended the call before Ethan could reply. Letting out a sigh, he took a few steps back and turned to place his phone onto the counter near the light.
“I have a spare bedroom you can use. It’s not as fancy as the room at the B and B would’ve been but...” he trailed off with a shrug.
“It’s a d-deal if I c-can use up all y-your hot water,” I stuttered.
Ethan chuckled. “Of course you can. I’ll show you to your bedroom and then the bathroom.”
We followed him through the living room and down a short hall. Ethan opened the door and stepped aside.
“Your bedroom.” He turned, took a few steps forward and opened another door. “The bathroom.”
“Thank you.
“I’ll leave the light here for you to use. I’m afraid that I don’t have any candles but I have a few more lights at the garage.” Ethan glanced around and then pointed down the hall. “Towels are in that closet, help yourselves. The water takes a while to heat up so just give it a few minutes.”
“Where are you going?” Lucas asked him.
“Back to the garage. I need to lock up.” Ethan smiled at him. “I don’t want your car to be stolen.”
The moment Ethan was gone; I turned and entered the bathroom. Lucas was right behind me with the light held up to light the way. My eyes locked on the bathtub.
“I don’t think we should stay here,” he said when I turned to face him.
“Why?”
“Because we don’t know him,” he answered.
“I think that it’s better for us to stay here than in town where we’ll be surrounded by humans.”
Lucas pursed his lips. “I’m not sure whether I should be offended by the fact that you keep insulting my race or not.”
I winced. I was so comfortable being around him that I completely forgot about the fact that Lucas was human and not like me.
“I’m sorry,” I apologized.
Lucas sighed as he lowered the bag to the floor. Without saying a word, he stepped around me and walked over to the bathtub. He washed it out, propped the stopper in and then opened the warm water tap.
“I’ll go get some towels,” he muttered as he straightened. “Take off the wet clothes before you get sick.”
“Lucas—”
“I’m not mad at you,” he interrupted. “Please, do as I say. The last thing we need right now is for you to get sick.”
He was gone before I could utter a word.