Chapter Twenty-Nine—Lucas

Talk about whiplash.

Lucas fell to the ground after Hattie closed the portal, coughing from the wind knocked out of him. It felt good to be back in the present, but not when he remembered what they needed to do.

Sweeny stood up from several yards away, knocking the dust from her oversized skirt. Hattie walked over to her makeshift voodoo circle and started rummaging through her bag of tricks.

"Wait a minute," Sweeny said, storming over. "So, you were never going to tell us Jaxon is your mate, Hattie—Susie—whatever your name is?"

Hattie ignored her, keeping her attention inside of her bag.

Sweeny cursed beneath her breath. "Hey," she said, grabbing Hattie's shoulder. When Hattie turned to look at her, sadness rested on the corners of each of her eyes. Sweeny pressed her mouth into a thin line and took a moment before she spoke. "You need to stop whatever spell this is and go tell Jaxson—"

"No," she said. "You're going to kill Mena today. I'm not doing this—"

"Hattie!"

"I don't want to live anymore, okay?" she screamed. I've been alive since the 1800s, Sweeny. I'm tired of living over and over again. I want to erase all of this and freaking die!"

Lucas walked over and took Sweeny's elbow in his grasp. "Calm down, cher. She's hurting, yeah?"

Sweeny nodded. "Can we go home?"

Hattie wiped beneath her eyes and stood up. "You both need to rest before we do anything." She waved her hand and another portal opened. "Go home. I'll be in touch."

"Where did you learn this stuff, Hattie? Mena only made you immortal, she didn't give you any special powers," Lucas asked.

"I've been alive over 100 years in Louisiana, the voodoo capital of the US, I've learned a lot of things that would surprise you."

Lucas tugged Sweeny's arm, wanting nothing more than to get her home and safe. Sweeny let him pull her inside, and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, until they fell onto the deck at his house.

Sweeny groaned. "I'm tired of that. You'd think she'd find an easier way to transport someone."

Lucas helped Sweeny up and held her close. She snuggled her head into the crook of his neck. "God, it feels like we've been gone forever."

Lucas pressed his mouth on the top of her head and eyed the bayou behind them. Somewhere in the woods, Sweeny's Momma disappeared with Mena. He prayed she'd just die already, but he knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Let's go inside, cher," Lucas said.

They walked up the hill and into the back door of Lucas' house. The silence that greeted them made Lucas feel better about getting back home. When they'd left, it'd been chaos. With Sweeny's Dad lingering in the forest, and Lucas' pack hindered by Hattie, it felt relieving to be alone.

Sweeny kicked off her shoes and ran her fingers into her hair. Lucas snuck up behind her and bit the side of her neck. He'd had no time to spend with her since she transitioned. He wondered if she needed to run as he did, since she didn't completely transition like him?

She moaned and craned her neck so he had better access. Lucas mumbled into her ear, "My wolf is dying for you to run with us."

"Oh yeah? I think I would like that. After I eat, because I'm starving."

Lucas nodded. "I'm pretty hungry, too. Who knew time-traveling worked up so much energy, yeah?"

Lucas and Sweeny grilled steaks together. It felt oddly normal after everything they'd been through the last few days. When they finished, Lucas caught himself staring at Sweeny from across the table.

A small smile curled at the side of her mouth. "What are you doing, Alpha? You going to start something you can't finish."

He chuckled. "I think I can finish it, yeah. You want to test that theory?"

Sweeny beckoned him with her finger. He got up, slowly for dramatic effect, and walked around to her side of the table. Bending down, he captured her mouth with his, snaking his arm around her waist, he brought her up to sit on the top of the table.

Her plate fell to the ground, but neither of them seemed to notice. His wolf howled with anticipation of being with his mate—his life—for the first time since she transitioned.

Sweeny mumbled something into their kiss, tugging at Lucas' shirt and smiling when he stripped out of it. The scent of her arousal turned Lucas' stomach into knots, heating his blood like lava.

He leaned closer, deepening their kiss and pressing his hips into her open thighs. Sweeny tugged him closer, bringing him down on top of her, and wrapping her legs around his waist.

Lucas bit her neck, and pressed himself into a rhythm between her legs. Wild lust beckoned him nearer like a siren. His palm cupped her breast, twisting her nipple from beneath his T-shirt she wore.

Sweeny mumbled, and squirmed beneath him, drawing him to the brink of insanity.

The door burst opened, and Lucas couldn’t be bothered with it. Theo rushed inside; his thundering footsteps finally drew Lucas from Sweeny's mouth. His hair looked windblown and he wore basketball shorts and no T-shirt, which meant he'd shifted to get there quicker. "Oh my God, Jaxson, they're in here."

Lucas cursed. "Piss off, we're busy, yeah?"

Theo ran up to him and hugged him tightly. Lucas shoved him off. "What is wrong with you?"

Jaxson stumbled through the door next. "You've got to be kidding me. We've been searching for you and you're screwing in here?"

"Where have you two been? Everyone has been searching for you—"

Sweeny hopped off the table. "Calm your balls, boys, we've been gone a day or so and you act like we disappeared—"

"A day or so?" Jaxson scoffed. "You're joking right?"

Lucas glanced at Sweeny who downed a glass of water.

Theo put two and two together. "You two really think you've been gone for two days?"

Lucas swallowed harshly. "Yeah, when Hattie shoved us in that portal, she forced us to time-travel back in time … how long were we gone?"

"You've been gone a year, Lucas. We've all been looking for you since last September."

Sweeny dropped the glass and shattered it. "A year?" she asked. "No—we were gone like one night."

Lucas shook his head, searching for his cell phone he'd left behind. He found it on the counter, and plugged it up. When it came on it read September 12, 2023.

His breath left him. "He's telling the truth."

Sweeny took the phone and looked at it in disbelief. "Oh my—what does everyone think happened? Y'all graduated without us? Where is Momma? What does she think? Could y'all not find Hattie? Where is my dad—"

"Calm down," Lucas said, running his knuckles against her spine. "Tell us what happened."

Theo jumped onto the counter and sat. "After Hattie pushed y'all into the portal, everything went south. Your dad began to panic. Hattie disappeared with y'all, no one could find her either. The school thinks y'all ran away, and your Momma—" he glanced at Sweeny—"we haven't seen her at all. She's been gone."

Sweeny wrapped her arms around her stomach and Lucas pulled her back against him for support. Her Momma did save her regardless of being under Mena's thumb.

Jaxson cleared his throat. "So, what is Hattie, and why did she want from you?"

Lucas stilled, holding Sweeny, he debated on what to tell him. Should he tell him the truth? Or let Hattie handle it? Sweeny answered for him. "Hattie is your mate."

Whelp, that takes care of it.

Jaxson chuckled. "Yeah, right."

Sweeny stared daggers at him. "I'm serious. Mena made her immortal in 1910, that's why she sent us back, to kill her before she killed Thomas, which is you."

Jaxson sat on the recliner, rolling his eyes at Sweeny. "Seriously, Sweeny? You couldn't come up with something better?"

Sweeny looked at Lucas for support.

Lucas cleared his throat. "She's telling the truth. Originally, Mena killed Thomas and forced Hattie— which her name was Susie—to live without her mate forever. We went back and saved Thomas, but Hattie was still cursed."

Jaxson looked pissed. "So what? I don't remember an entirely different life. Come off it," he snapped.

Theo shifted nervously on the counter.

"You were reincarnated. Hattie has it to where you can't tell you two are mates. She wants to end it. She wants Mena to die so the spell will break, and she can die. She's been alive since the late 1800s."

Jaxson's dark brows pulled down over his eyes. "Hattie?" he said to himself. Suddenly he jumped up, turned his baseball hat around backward on his head, and bolted from the house.

Theo laughed. "I wonder where he is going?"

Lucas looked over at Sweeny. "You think that was a good idea, cher? He's pissed, and Hattie will probably be pissed, too."

She shrugged. "Well, so am I. I'm pissed she drug us into her mess."

Lucas knew how Sweeny felt. He felt it, too. Theo tapped his fingertips against the counter. "Want to follow him?"

Sweeny nodded excitedly. "Really bad."

Lucas chuckled. "Only to make sure that nothing bad happens, not to be nosey, no?"

Sweeny tied her hair into a ponytail. "Of course, Lucas. When are we ever nosey?"

Theo bounded out of the house and into the front yard, transitioning in the air, with ease. He looked back at them and waited. Sweeny bit her lower lip.

"What's wrong?" Lucas asked.

She shrugged, pulling at the end of her hair. "I don't want to shift in front of him. I don't look like y'all."

Lucas pinched the end of her chin. "They're gonna see you one day, yeah?"

Theo pawed at the dirt in anticipation. Sweeny cleared her throat, and transitioned quickly. She looked beautiful with her bright eyes and tempting scent. Theo seemed transfixed with her.

Lucas felt it, too.

She started running, still in her clothes, since she didn't shapeshift as the rest of them, and left them in the dust.

The corner of Lucas' mouth moved upward. That's my mate.

Lucas followed Sweeny's scent and found them in the woods behind Hattie's house. He guessed that wasn't really her parents, and didn't really want to know how she pulled that off.

Jaxson must have just found her, because he stormed toward Hattie. She sat in the middle of a clearing, her eyes closed and palms upward. Jaxson didn't seemed bothered that she didn't open her eyes for him.

He bent down, scooped her up and kissed her.

Well, that's one way to do it.

Hattie's eyes popped opened, and she tried to shove from him with no luck. Finally, she melted into his arms, and Theo let out a wolf whistle from beside him. Lucas shifted, watching Sweeny stand a few yards in front of them.

Jaxson let her down slowly, but kept his gaze on hers. "Take this spell off me. I want to have my mate. Take it off now."

Hattie glared at Sweeny. "Couldn't keep your mouth shut, huh?"

Sweeny shrugged. "He deserved to know, Hattie."

Hattie pushed her dreads from her shoulder. "It doesn't matter, because as soon as we kill Mena, it'll all go away. You'll be destined another mate, and none of this will ever matter."

Jaxson didn't buy it. "Take it off now, or I'll follow you until you break. I won't let up. I want what they have," he said, pointing at Sweeny.

Hattie glanced up. "You will, as soon as we kill Mena—"

"No," Jaxson screamed. "Take it off now, or I'll find someone who will."

Theo elbowed Lucas. "This is getting good."

Lucas waited for Hattie to counter, but a whisper of a breath slid up his spine. He spun around but no one stood there. He looked around the field, feeling watched, but seeing no one.

"Something isn't right," he said, but they didn't hear him over their banter. "Something isn't right," he said louder.

Sweeny turned and her eyes rounded.

Lucas spun on his heels, coming mere yards from Mena and Sweeny's Momma.

"Look what we have here, Melody. Someone let the dogs out."