Loving Lucius (Werescape) (12 page)

"What happened to bring on the discussion of aliens? Did it set him on alert? That's when he'd call on his Wolf to take note of his surroundings."

"Violet would have said something. She's always saying things that have nothing to do with what's being discussed." It didn't hurt to use her young age to save my ass.

"She'll grow out of it." He smiled warmly.

Like he'd experienced the phenomenon many times.

"So what about you? Two of my sons are ripping at each other's throats because of you. How are you going to handle the situation?"

They are? Impossible. "Marcus and Lucius?"

He nodded.

I don't need that. "Because of Marcus telling him to stop frightening me?"

"How old are you?"

Why did my age matter? "Twenty-four."

He leaned toward me, bracing his elbows on his knees, and looked me in the eye. "I find it hard to believe that a twenty-four year old woman who looks like you has no idea why two men would be fighting over her."

Chapter Five

Okay. Now I know why Lucius kept looking at me. Maybe I am naïve. What can I say? Langston sheltered me. "Alright." I managed not to blink under Augustus's unwavering gaze.

"You really didn't know." His brow furrowed. "How does a warlord's daughter as attractive as you know so little about men?"

Because I'm a hybrid who was locked away and never allowed a real relationship. "Father always kept a Guardian for each of us."

His eyes seemed to pinch slightly. "You weren't allowed to mingle?"

I stared at the clean white fingernails on one of his hands and shook my head.

"This isn't what I experienced among Normals back east. Why?" he asked calmly.

Back to the original question. An easy one to answer. "Father loved us." As his own. Maybe it wasn't exactly the answer I should have blurted. But it would suffice.

"He is a warlord. His job is to keep his city functioning. And a daughter is one of his strongest assets. It doesn't make sense that he wouldn't use a daughter to his advantage."

How do I get around that question? "I don't know what to say."

"Sherry said you're the smart daughter, Elise. You'd know the answer to that question. So, I need you to tell me why Lucius suspects you're hiding something."

There's nothing else to say. Nothing to save my ass. Just the truth. And I can't ever reveal that dangerous detail.

"Your heart is racing like mad, Elise."

I was staring at his hands again. I slid my gaze up the rolling muscle of his arms, across the soft golden tone of his leather vest, to the sharp angle in his squared jaw, and onward to his glowing amber eyes.

He knows I'm hiding something
.

"Calm down. Think," he said softly. "Remember, I'm here for all of us. That includes you now. I need you to find a way to trust me."

I couldn't breathe enough. What would happen? Would he tire of this game of softly-spoken interrogation and send me away? Would he keep Violet here with him?

My nose stung from a piercing tear.

I'll be damned if I lose one humiliating tear. "Please, don't send me away from Violet."

He reached over and draped my wrist with a warm palm.

The whole world began to tingle.

Strum. Through my being.

A jolting sense of fear-induced need to survive drove the humming awareness of touch from my cells.

Like when Lucius touched me. Lucius. That's what I want. To just feel this way forever. With Lucius.

No touching. So bad. Can't let it go on. Must move. Caught myself about to flinch and swallowed most of the reaction except the tiniest of motions.

The glow in his eyelids fluttered.

Enough to note he'd felt my reaction. Would I be called on that too?

"Elise, I'm not going to do anything to you."

Spoken like someone deeply vested in my life. A person who cared. Or a man who set me up for this interrogation. To win my confidence then go for the jugular. Marcus and Lucius were never fighting over me. They're all working together to learn my secret.

"Now, who said I'm going to send you packing? Lucius?"

No. I think. I'd cry from desperation if I had to speak. I wagged my head, if anything just to shake the stinging sensation of damning tears from creeping into my eyes.

He pulled that vile palm from my flesh.

Ended the strange wave of contradicting emotions warring inside my body.

"Listen to me. One day, we're going to be friends. But until then, I have to insist you believe I don't lie. I know it's hard to do with a stranger. But try. I'm not sending you away. Welcome home. This is it. I hope you find it pleasing. As for the boys…Lucius is usually best at everything. And I know he's difficult to read at times. But Lucius is the intelligent strong type who will probably take over for me one day. I say probably because I'm not about to hand over the safety of these people to just anyone. But Marcus is a fine son in many ways as well. Just as strong and capable. He's the other best option for clan head when I must step down."

Why is he telling me these things about his sons?

"Remember when it's time for you to choose, I have many sons. Any son could replace me as alpha." He winked.

What? "Choose?"

"A few single women thrown into a pool of a dozen unmated adult Shifters." He blinked at me as if the motion would imbue me with an omniscience I was obviously lacking. "Do the math, Elise."

Okay. Mating is inevitable? What just happened? To mate or not, I didn't want just any mate. And even if the one I wanted decided to bite me, I can't go through with the agreement without telling him about my alien DNA. Mating is out of the question.

"Look at me."

This is insane. I stared back into his observant blue eyes. "Who are you protecting?"

My soul froze.

Why that question? We were just talking about mating. And now a blatant question about my loyalties?

"Elise, everything Lucius does is to protect his family. So I promise to only ask this question one time. Okay?" He nodded.

For affect. What now? The absolute worst question? "Okay."

"Are the aliens going to come here for you and your sisters?"

God. I don't think so. "What?" I actually squawked.

He just watched me.

Waiting. Here goes the only shot I have to satisfy his curiosity. Or squash his fears. "They're after my father. That's why he sent us out here and stayed behind." I understood Langston's reasoning now. Would it matter if I explained more? I studied Augustus's encouraging expression. "I didn't really know why he did it when he did. But it just hit me full force on the trip. I know because I can't stand not being with Violet. We're fourteen years apart. She's almost like my own child. I know it's crazy. But now I understand what drove Father to send us off with strangers." I scraped back the cuticle on my fingernail before realizing what I was doing and snapped my gaze back to his. "I don't know if I can ever be as strong as Father was. I don't think I could send Violet away."

"It makes me ill just hearing you say that. I have eleven sons of my own. Throw in a few nephews and you can only imagine how much stress I experience every day when they set out to hunt or on errand. But that's a parent's place. The way of the world. We must do what we must do." He managed a forced smile and nodded. "I see you're as responsible as people come. Like Lucius. But something's eating at you. Maybe it's just about you and has nothing to do with anyone else. Or it's about your sire. Or you and your sisters. I don't care what it is. As long as it's not going to hurt anyone here at my outpost, you have nothing to fear. And I have no doubts you've been honest with me. So, you settle in. Find a place for you and your sisters here. And when you trust me enough to tell me what's gnawing a hole inside you, come and find me. I'll help you slay your demons."

That's
what
Lucius said.

"Agreed?" he insisted with the same patient voice.

"Yes." Maybe I can believe him.

"Come now. I'll walk you to your cabin. I've got to fetch Drea home anyway."

When he left me shutting my cabin door, I could have dived into the fireplace's welcoming flames. But fell against the door's hard consoling wood that did anything but let me faint from relief.

That man, the alpha, had laid the grounds for his challenge. I'd just have to find a way to lie to skirt the truth. To live here with Violet. We can stay. Yes. In this not-so-awful place. Now, I'd have to take care. Every time we turned a corner around this log building, we walked past a single door in the wall. Just how many rooms did this one butt up against? With four sides, this building had four rooms because my cabin had only one door. And anyone could be leaning an ear to a wall. Listening.

None of us can ever speak of aliens
.

"Why are you standing there like that?" Sherry droned.

My shoulders pressed into the supportive wood. Sherry and Violet sat at the small table and chairs beneath the shutters of the room's only window.

"I'm thinking." Talk about spouting off with the truth.

"A woman brought us a pile of things," Sherry said. "Blankets, a pitcher and a bucket full of water. She said we could take hot baths tomorrow. But bathing is done during the hours of daylight. Are you listening?" she droned.

Always. Listening like a warlord's servants doesn't involve touching. "Yes."

"Elise?" Violet called.

Now what? My gaze drifted to where her hands held a broad flat basket on the tabletop. Her round wide eyes held a touch of sadness. Or fear.

"Did Augustus scare you?"

Rather worry. Violet and her knack for reading people. If only I had her skill, I might have avoided this whole accursed mess when Father wanted Lucius to bite me. Then I wouldn't have to dodge Shifter reactions or piece them together to develop a survival plan. I wagged my head.

But now I knew what I hadn't realized because of Augustus. How I screwed up the one thing I finally wanted. Lost it. When I could have held it in my hand. Touched it. Him. So much for a window of opportunity and my damned fears that slammed shut such a doorway.

My heart ached.

In memory. For what it wanted. Accursed stupid uncontrollable organ. And they say a Shifter's Wolf is impossible to control. What about a half-alien heart? Did the extra DNA push a person to insanity over something she dare not risk?

I can't hurt Violet.

Can't.

****

The pale white light of sunrise washed darkness from my cabin but did anything but brighten my day. Augustus ordered me to meet with him in the morning. Better to get the visit with my sire over with. I yanked on my combat boots and hurried to his lodge where he sat in his chair at the empty table as if he had sat there all night. Waiting. For me. Alone. He'd even sent his mate Drea away to chew me a new asshole. Then again, she had enough sense to keep her comments to herself until she was behind closed doors with Augustus.

"We need to talk," he muttered.

Not the tone I wanted to hear.

"Sit." He waved at the bench beside him.

Fine. Let's get the scolding over with. I planted my tail on the hard wood and faced him.

"She is no threat to us. To herself, yes. But that one is lost outside her sire's circle of influence."

Why did he always know how to make me feel like I was eight years old? I nodded just to get this mental thrashing over with.

Augustus slowly uncrossed his ankles, dropping the one combat boot to the wooden planking with a thud, rising off the back of the chair, leaning forward, closely, to bore his deadly glare even more deeply through my skull. "You will apologize to her today."