Anyone but him

Lucas's POV

I ran.

I didn’t look back, I didn't care who was yelling my name or chasing after me. I sprinted past the noise and kept running straight into the woods until the trees blurred at the corners of my vision.

Kael was on my heels. "Lucas! Lucas! What the fuck, dude?!"

I didn't stop until the ground disappeared beneath my feet.

Breathless, I stumbled to a halt, standing at the very edge of the cliff. My heart punched against my chest, beating loudly.

I paced, spinning in circles, my hands gripping my hair like they could somehow root me to the ground. My wolf howled inside my head.

Go back. Go back to him!

Claim him!.

This wasn’t happening. This couldn’t be happening.

Kael caught up a few seconds later, panting hard, his eyes wide with obvious disbelief.

"Lucas," he called out.

"Lucas, what the actual fuck just happened? Tell me this is a fucking joke. Tell me you slipped something into your drink, or I'm hallucinating just like the rest of us, or you’re pulling some kind of psychotic prank."

I stared at him.

My mouth felt dry. My whole body felt like it was vibrating, burning from the inside out.

"I-I....." I tried to speak, but the words couldn't make it out of my throat.

"This is all very messed up," I choked out finally. "Please. Please tell me that I didn’t just-" I broke off, laughing without humor, my stomach was twisting in a nauseous knot. "Did I just get mated to Bennett?"

Kael said nothing.

He didn’t have to. The bond.....the magnetic pull pulsing through my veins was answer enough.

I stumbled back, nearly losing my balance at the cliff's edge.

"I can’t do this," I muttered, shaking my head, pacing again like a caged animal. "I am a Storm, Bennett.... Bennett is a Cross, I hate him, we all do."

"And he is...... male." Kael reminded,

The icing on the cake that made all of this utter rubbish.

But the wolf inside me didn't care. It just kept howling for him.

Mate.

Mate.

Mate.

And no matter how much I wanted to rip the feeling out of me, it was already too late.

Bennett Cross was fated to be mine.

~

My hands continued to tremble as I clawed at the dirt like it could somehow ground me back into reality.

Kael crouched down a few feet away,

"Lucas....." His voice was quieter now, "What are you gonna do?"

I swallowed hard, feeling off-balanced.

Something I rarely felt.

"What do you think I am going to do?" I snapped, my voice sharper than intended. "I have to go back and talk to Bennett, to sort this shit-skate out."

Kael’s eyes narrowed. "You are going to have a civil conversation with Bennett, who is probably looking for you to rip you apart?"

I laughed, an ugly sound that echoed over the cliff. "Watch me."

He shifted uncomfortably, scratching the back of his head. "Okay....but, uh, your dad's going to find out eventually. You know that, right? Especially since everyone at the party literally just saw what happened."

At the mention of my father, a fresh wave of panic washed over me.

My father, Dominic Storm, the man who built his whole life , our whole pack's life, on pride, strength and dominance. Who raised me to hate everything Cross.

And now.....I was tied to one of them by fate.

"I’m not telling him," I said immediately, the words tearing out of me with enough force to hurt. "No. No fucking way."

Kael exhaled slowly,

"You sure about that?" he asked cautiously. "You think you can keep this a secret?"

"You would have me march in there and say what exactly to my father," I rose from the ground. "Hi dad, I finally found my mate, guess what, he is a guy, even better, he is Bennett Cross, our pack rival and oh...the grandson of the man who grandfather, your father wanted to kill and the son of whom you also crave to kill. Tada.".

Kael sighed and shook his head,

"On second thought, I think it is better if your father hears it from somebody else. But I don't know yet, aren't you sure that it wouldn't be best if he heard it from you?"

I glared at Kael. "Yeah, because that’s so much better. Maybe I should just gift-wrap the information and send it with a fucking fruit basket."

Kael raised his hands defensively. "Hey, on third thought, I'm just saying. Better a warning than him finding out when you and Bennett are clawing each other’s clothes off in front of the whole town square."

I snarled, my wolf stirring restlessly at the mere thought of Bennett.

The bond tugged at my chest again, and it took everything in me not to run back to that party.

I needed to think. I needed to breathe.

"I'll handle it," I said, grinding the words between my teeth. "My way."

Kael gave me a long, skeptical look but said nothing.

Silence stretched between us.

The party we'd left behind was still echoing, music, laughter, voices raised in drunken confusion. No doubt, by now, everyone had heard something. News like this wouldn’t stay quiet for long.

I scrubbed a hand down my face,

"I just.....I just need time," I muttered. "Time to figure out what the hell to do."

Kael nodded slowly. "You don't have much of it. Bennett's not exactly patient. And neither will the bond if it starts getting stubborn, so I've heard."

As if summoned by the thought,

My wolf whined again, clawing at the inside of my head.

I felt a little irritated by how accepting my wolf was of this bond, but then our animalistic side had a closer connection to the moon goddess, so it wouldn't exactly be against what she premeditated.

Go back.

Find him.

Claim him.

Mate, mate!.

I sucked in a harsh breath. "I'll talk to him. I'll talk to Bennett."

Kael snorted under his breath. "Yeah, good luck with that."