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1463 Words
The truck tore down the road, headlights slicing through the dark like blades. I sat stiffly in the passenger seat, every muscle locked, sneaking glances at Lukas gripping the wheel like it personally insulted him.
His knuckles were white. His jaw was granite. His golden eyes—no longer just “intense” but actually glowing—kept flickering to me, wild and restless.
I swallowed hard. “You gonna tell me what the hell just happened back there?”
Silence.
I shifted in my seat. “Lukas.”
His hands tightened on the steering wheel, leather creaking under his grip. Finally, he muttered, “You were in danger.”
I blinked. “Yeah, thanks for the heroic rescue, but growling at a dude and shoving him into a wall isn’t exactly normal.”
He shot me a look. “You think I care about normal?”
I folded my arms across my chest, my dress riding up dangerously high. His gaze dropped for a split second before he jerked it back to the road.
“You’re bleeding,” he said gruffly.
“What?” I looked down. Sure enough, there was a tiny cut on my thigh where someone’s bracelet must have scratched me in the crowd.
Before I could respond, Lukas jerked the truck into a sharp turn, gravel flying. We skidded to a stop in front of his cabin.
“What are we doing here?” I asked, heart thudding.
“You need it cleaned.” His voice was strained, like he was holding something barely in check.
He was out of the truck before I could argue, slamming his door and stalking around to mine. He wrenched it open, leaned down—and for a heartbeat, we were way too close.
The heat coming off him was unreal. His scent—woodsmoke, pine, something darker and wilder—wrapped around me, dizzying.
I scrambled out, trying not to brush against him. He didn’t move back.
Instead, he rumbled, low and dangerous, “Stay close.”
I almost laughed—where the hell was I gonna go?—but the look in his eyes killed the sarcasm in my throat.
Something was happening. Something I couldn’t explain.
Inside the cabin, the world shifted again.
It was warm, cozy. Bear’s toys scattered across the living room. A fire crackled in the stone hearth. Lukas grabbed a first-aid kit from the kitchen and nodded toward the couch.
“Sit.”
I hovered awkwardly, but one look from him had my legs giving out.
Kneeling in front of me, Lukas took my leg in his hands. His touch was unexpectedly gentle—calloused fingers ghosting over my skin as he cleaned the cut.
The whole time, I watched him. The furrow in his brow. The muscle ticking in his jaw. The way his hair fell over his forehead, begging to be pushed back.
Mine to protect.
What the hell did that even mean?
I cleared my throat. “So, uh... is now a good time to ask if you’re a werewolf?”
He froze.
The alcohol in my system, the leftover adrenaline, the sheer insanity of tonight—it all hit me at once. I burst out laughing.
“Oh my God, you’re serious,” I gasped, clapping a hand over my mouth.
Lukas stood up slowly, towering over me. His expression was unreadable. But his next words—low, rough, terrifyingly sincere—erased any lingering humor:
“I’m not just a wolf, Autumn.”
He stepped closer. I scrambled back on the couch instinctively.
“I’m alpha.”
I blinked. “Like... alpha male, chest-thumping, king-of-the-jungle alpha?”
A slow, humorless smile curved his lips. “Something like that.”
He knelt again, one hand braced on either side of me, caging me in.
“You’re under my protection now,” he said, voice like velvet and thunder. “Whether you like it or not.”
My heart hammered against my ribs.
“But why?” I whispered.
His eyes locked on mine. His voice dropped even lower.
“Because you’re mine.”
I stared at him.
Lukas Grove. Giant, brooding, slightly homicidal lumberjack... telling me, with a straight face, that he was a werewolf alpha.
I blinked again, like maybe if I did it enough times, he’d magically turn into a normal human who didn’t growl at frat boys and claim ownership over me like I was a stray cat he’d decided to adopt.
“You’re serious,” I said flatly.
He didn’t blink. Didn’t flinch. Just watched me with those molten gold eyes like I was something fragile—and his.
A weird, tight pressure built in my chest. I shoved it down hard.
“Okay,” I said brightly, fake-smiling so hard my cheeks hurt. “Cool. Cool cool cool. You’re crazy. Good to know.”
His jaw tightened. “Autumn—”
“Nope!” I jumped up off the couch so fast the room tilted for a second. “No, see, this is where normal people apologize for threatening to eat frat boys and then quietly check themselves into therapy!”
He rose too, moving faster than any human should. I backed up until my knees hit the door.
“You weren’t supposed to find out like this,” he said, voice low and rough. “But you were in danger. I couldn’t—I won’tlose you.”
“Lose me?” I spluttered. “Lukas, we barely know each other! You’re my boss! I walk your freaking dog!”
“Bear’s not a dog.”
“Oh my God,” I snapped. “You’re doubling down? I was joking when I said the werewolf thing! JOKING! You weren’t supposed to be like, ‘Yeah babe, full moon’s my gym membership!'"
His eyes darkened. “You feel it too. Don’t lie.”
“Feel what?!” My voice cracked. “The suffocating terror of realizing my employer needs a psychiatric evaluation? Yeah, feeling it loud and clear, buddy.”
He stepped closer. I bolted.
Yanking the door open, I fled into the night, the cold slapping my face like a wake-up call. I heard him call my name—raw, desperate—but I didn’t look back.
Nope. No sir. No thank you. Not today, Satan.
The woods between his cabin and Jade’s rental house were pitch black, but adrenaline pumped through me like rocket fuel. Twigs snapped under my heels. Branches clawed at my bare arms.
I didn’t care.
I just ran.
By some miracle, I made it to Jade’s porch without face-planting. I hammered on the door with both fists.
“Jade! Open up! Jade, for the love of God!”
The porch light flicked on. A second later, Jade yanked the door open, squinting at me in her pajama shorts and oversized college sweatshirt.
“Autumn?” She blinked. “Jesus, you look like you were chased by a bear.”
“WORSE,” I gasped, shoving past her into the house and slamming the door behind me.
She followed me, bewildered. “Girl, what the hell happened? Where’s Lukas?”
“Probably sprouting fur and howling at the moon!” I shrieked.
Jade stared. “...you’re drunk.”
“I’m not!” I hissed, pacing wildly. “He said—he said he’s a wolf, Jade. Not, like, ‘I’m a lone wolf, I don’t believe in love’ kinda wolf. Like, an actual fur-and-fangs werewolf!”
Jade plopped onto the couch and folded her arms. “Okay. Either you’re having a psychotic break or you got roofied at the party.”
“I didn’t!” I rubbed my hands over my face. “I’m serious! He growled at that dude, Jade! Like, growled! And his eyes were glowing! It was like something out of Twilight on steroids!”
She snorted. “Maybe he wears colored contacts. Maybe he’s just into really aggressive cosplay.”
I glared at her.
“I’m calling an Uber and getting a flight back to anywhere that isn’t here,” I muttered.
Jade raised an eyebrow. “And leave me alone with the sexy psycho lumberjack werewolves? Rude.”
I groaned and collapsed onto the couch, tugging a throw blanket around my shoulders like armor. My heart still raced. My brain was still trying to reboot from the sheer insanity of the night.
I wasn’t crazy.
I couldn’t be crazy.
Right?
Right?!
Across the room, Jade pulled out her phone and started scrolling. Probably Googling "how to tell if your best friend is having a full mental breakdown."
Meanwhile, outside the window, the woods seemed to shift. The trees leaned in closer. The night breathed.
And somewhere deep in the shadows...
something growled.
- Writer
