“I thought we should talk.” Sebastian’s grin was loopy, his eyes dazed.
Lucien rolled his eyes. The kid was drunk, too? Goddess it took a lot to get a lykan drunk... how much had he consumed?
“About?”
“You and me.” He leaned in even closer.
Lucien watched as Caia straightened, her eyes narrowing, “Sebastian, how much have you had to drink?”
The boy shrugged. “Enough. That’s not the point, though. I need to tell you something.”
“Well, tell me so we can get back to the party.”
“Caia,” he groaned, and leaned his head against his arms. His bright eyes opened, looking down at her. “Caia.”
“Sebastian?” She was laughing, amused. “Goddess, spit it out. I’ve never seen you like this before.”
Lucien smirked, I’ll bet she hasn’t.
“OK.” Sebastian straightened, rolling his neck on his shoulders as if preparing for a fight. “Caia. I want you to know... I want you to know I don’t care that you’re different.”
Lucien frowned. Uh oh, where is this going?
Caia stiffened, glowering at Sebastian. “Different?”
Oh yeah she’s pissed.
He nodded, continuing on foolishly, “I want to be here for you, Caia, when things get rough... and they’re going to. I think we should mate, Caia, before your po-”
“Hey!” Lucien boomed, cutting the boy off before he said something they’d all regret. “What are you guys doing out here? You should be inside enjoying the party.” He smiled for Caia’s sake, but inside he was burning mad. He was going to kill this kid. His step faltered in front of Sebastian and he glared down at him. The boy at least had the good sense to look nervous. “Sebastian, I think you’ve had enough to drink. Why don’t you go inside and start chugging back some water. That’s not a suggestion.”
He nodded blearily, glancing quickly at Caia, before rushing off the porch and inside. Lucien watched him go and then turned back to her.
Her light eyes were wide with confusion. “Did you hear any of that?” she asked.
He nodded and took a breath. He just needed to be calm and smooth, and he would have her thinking nothing of it. “Drink. That’s why there’s an age limit.”
She narrowed her eyes on Lucien, her mind still whirring with Sebastian’s proposal for them to mate. She hoped Lucien was right and it was just the drink talking, but she hadn’t even realized Sebastian had been thinking that way about her. And what the hell had he meant about protecting her when things got rough?
“What was he talking about?”
Lucien shrugged at her and grinned. “Oh, it was just the ramblings of an inexperienced, underage drinker. You guys were supposed to be sticking to soda.”
Caia was unconvinced. His reprimand sounded like a tactic to throw her off the scent. “This whole ‘different’ thing keeps coming up in conversation,” she persisted.
He threw her a look as if to say she was crazy. “I don’t know what you’re talking about?”
She sighed, so sick of games. “I’m talking about secrets. There are secrets here.”
“What kind of secrets?”
“I...” she heaved a sigh, throwing her hands up. “I don’t know.”
“Caia-”
“No.” She shook her head at him, annoyed. “Don’t use that patient tone with me like I’m a child, Lucien.”
The man had the audacity to smirk at her. “Stop acting like one.”
She fixed him with one of her finest glowers. “I am not.”
“Are too.” He grinned.
She felt her stomach twist at his smile. Dammit, did he have to be so hot and so... so. Caia sighed, trying not to smile back at him. The only way to not fall for his charm was to keep at him about the secrets. “For instance,” she placed her hands on her hips, straightening to her full height, not that it did any good standing next to a live action He-Man, “Why don’t you want me asking about the war? I mean really, not the phony answer you gave me when I first asked? Why does no one speak about the war?”
Lucien groaned, running his hand through his hair. “Caia, this is a party, why can’t you just enjoy it?”
“Because I’m asking you a question, oh chosen one.”
“Caia,” he said softly and started towards her. Taken aback, she stepped away from him and tripped on her heel, falling against the wall of the house. “Caia, there is no big secret,” he said as he reached out to steady her. His gaze moved from her face to sweep the backyard and the woods. “The war is such a part of our daily existence that we just don’t talk about it. It’s like breathing. You do it. It’s there. But you don’t talk about it.”
“Unless you’re an asthmatic,” she countered.
He turned back to her with a comically baffled look on his face. “What?”
“If you’re an asthmatic you talk about breathing because it doesn’t come so easy. Well I’m an asthmatic.”
“No you’re not.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s a metaphor, Lucien. I’m asthmatic because I’ve been a part of the war. I was a target and may still be. Which means the pack could still get targeted. I’m just saying, maybe it’s something we should talk about.”
He nodded at her, understanding. “I get it. I really do. But the Daylight Coven do all they can to find out the targets of the Midnights. We have an extra close relationship with them through Marion so … I think we’re good.”
“If you say so.”
Irritation flickered across his face. He took another step towards her, close enough that she had to crane her neck again to look up at him.
“Caia,” his tone was a warning.
She shrugged, pretending to be un-intimidated. “I guess it’s just easier to worry about the war when you were once the target of it.”
He looked incredibly uncomfortable as he swallowed and shook his head, his eyes darting away from her. “You weren’t a target of the war.”
“No. But I was the target of a war. Makes you nervous.”
“Caia,” Lucien growled softly, “I will protect you. You have nothing to fear. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Caia stilled, trying not to make more out of his promise. He was the Pack Leader; it was his duty, nothing more. They were silent together a moment, and then she raised her eyes to look into his. They were filled with sincerity and determination. He really meant what he was telling her. The silence seemed to stretch thin between them, and suddenly the air around them changed. It became electric, crackling and sparking. After a long moment, embarrassed and awkward, she moved to go. She hadn’t taken more than two steps when she was abruptly crushed against him, his warm lips pressing against her own. Shocked at first, her mind taking its time to catch up on the fact that he, Lucien, was kissing her, she stood immobilized. Having never been kissed before, she didn’t know what to do with her lips, and she strained a little as if to pull away. Lucien held tight and kissed her harder, and all thoughts of pulling away just dribbled out of her brain. Her legs began to tremble as if her nerves had snapped, leaving every part of her body shaking. Lucien made a soothing noise in the back of his throat, and left her lips to brush soft kisses across her cheek. He then moved his lips to her ear, his warm breath sending shivers running throughout her as he whispered for her to open her mouth. Her final thought was obliterated and she obediently complied. At the feel of his tongue against hers, another wave of rippling shivers cascaded over her. She stood dazed until instinct took over, and she was kissing him back, in love with the feel of his mouth fused against hers. Lucien’s strong arms tightened in response as she slid her hands up over his arms and entwined her own around his neck. Forever, they seemed to be locked in that kiss, each moment building something new in Caia. It was like a spring tightening, all these feelings she didn’t know what to do with. Her skin grew hotter and hotter, her body losing her usual tight control one burning step at a time.
“Lucien!”
They pulled apart at the sound of Ella calling his name, Caia gasping, trying to catch her breath. She felt caught in his surprised gaze. And then he smiled softly, brushing his thumb across her lips. Her heart thudded. Had that really happened? Did all first kisses turn out that good?
“Lucien!”
He pulled back cursing under his breath, but his eyes never broke contact with hers.
“There you are,” Ella called, striding towards them. “Lucien, the pipes have all burst!”
That got their attention.
“What?” He turned to her.
She heaved a huge sigh throwing her hands up in bewilderment. “A few seconds ago I heard Alexa squeal in the kitchen, and the pipes have burst. Water, everywhere! Then Julia comes running from the downstairs bathroom, Morgan from one of the upstairs, and they’re the same. Magnus is checking Caia’s bathroom while Isaac and Draven take care of the plumbing. But there’s water, everywhere,” she ended on a whine.
Lucien cursed again, and started heading towards the kitchen.
“Can we fix it?” Caia asked nervously, still reeling from Lucien’s kiss.
Ella nodded. “Thankfully, Isaac and Draven are plumbers, but it’s put a little damper on the party.”
Caia nodded numbly and followed after them. She stopped in the doorway, watching as the others mopped up the small flood in the kitchen. This couldn’t be happening. Her gaze flitted back towards the end of the porch where she and Lucien had shared their explosive kiss. Could it have been explosive enough to have done this? She bit her lip, her heart thumping louder and louder. First, the pipes in the airport, then her bathroom... oh, and that morning with Ella when she’d cried over her father’s photograph. Was this her doing? She shook her head and pulled back from the doorway. Kicking off her shoes she turned and ran down the porch stairs, past the lawn chairs and into the woods, not stopping until she was at least five minutes from the house. Leaning against a tree to catch her breath, and trying to slow her panicking heart, Caia shook her head in disbelief. “It can’t be me,” she whispered. “How could it be?”
What was going on? Is this what the pack meant when they called her different? But pipes bursting? No, that was crazy. No one else would even connect the two.
“No,” her moan turned into a gasp. And suddenly she knew. She could feel something inside of her pulsing. It had always been there, throbbing like a barrier below the energy she tapped into when she changed. It was alien and strong.
“What’s happening to me?” she pleaded with Gaia, as she felt tears prick her eyes, the fear readying her heart for explosion. Growling a profanity she would never have dreamed of using before, Caia pulled off the satin dress in haste and ripped her hair out of the French twist. And then she began to run; faster and faster, her feet tearing on bracken, her toes sinking in moss and dirt, her muscles aching; and with one final spurt of fear she dove arms first as if she were diving into a pool, high into the air, pushing the change like she had never done before. As she landed, it was on her graceful pads, her wolf legs pushing her further into the forest, and away from her fears.