Chapter 13: Lucas

Sutton’s mouth fell open. Then snapped shut. Then she started to laugh bitterly, shaking her head.

“What are you talking about?” she asked. “I’m pretty sure I know I’m a human, Alpha.”

I hadn’t planned to have this discussion now. Not in the middle of the night when she needed to be resting. Not after putting her through an emotionally trying day. But after getting to hold her… to comfort her… to have her trust me enough to fall asleep against my chest… hearing her entertain the thought of leaving me and going back to someplace she didn’t belong was unacceptable.

“Sutton, let me start by saying — you are and always will be welcome here, human or otherwise,” I stated. “But you are not human. I know the scent of a human.”

Again, I watched her thoughts play out on her face. From disbelief to confusion back to disbelief then there was what looked like shame. That’s when her expression went blank, trying to hide what she was thinking. But it was too late. She knew something.

“Sutton, do you know why you don’t have the scent of a human?” Rhonen was waiting eagerly at the front of my mind, hoping to find out if we would ever get the chance to meet her wolf. “Did Beta Mason ever say anything?”

Sutton scoffed. “I can assure you, he never said anything about me being anything other than human. He took pleasure in telling me how pathetically human I was whenever he got the chance.”

She started to eat, hanging her head, hoping to avoid the conversation. But I could hear the bitterness in her voice and it wasn’t just about Mason and his bullying. She was keeping something from me and I wouldn’t allow it.

“Sutton, you know something about what I’m saying,” I said sternly.

She swallowed, still unable to meet my eye.

“You were right about this soup,” she said evasively. “It really is good.”

“Sutton…”

She flinched, jumping slightly at my tone. I didn’t want her to be afraid of me, but she would take me seriously. I wasn’t someone who was used to having to ask twice, even before I was Alpha. This wasn’t just to satisfy my curiosity — I needed to know.

“Sutton, if I’m going to keep you safe, I need to predict any possibility,” I said. “The Dawn Striders don’t mate with humans. Their Alpha doesn’t do business with humans. They have a well-known disdain and prejudice for humans. If what you said is true, there is a myriad of scenarios I can see playing out regarding your escape. I need to know everything I can.”

“It’s nothing,” Sutton insisted. “It’s nothing to do with…”

“I will be the judge of that,” I stated.

She set her spoon down. Brushing a piece of hair behind her ear, her hand lingered on the mark on her neck briefly. Crossing her arms in front of her, she took a deep breath.

“My dad isn’t my real father,” she told me. “I didn’t know until I was a teenager. After she had died. But I did know she was with someone before my dad. She hid it most of the time, but I saw it well enough.” Sutton touched her mark again. “She had one of these.”

“She was mated to a lycan?”

Sutton nodded. “I don’t know what happened to him,” she continued. “I asked her about the mark once when I was about ten. She said she would tell me all about it in a few years. She died a year later. It was my dad who told me I was actually a product of that relationship. I guess he met my mother not long after I was born.”

I considered what she had told me. It explained a few things, but there was still a lot missing. However, Rhonen and I both felt a jolt of excitement knowing she had lycan parentage. While it was possible that a human-lycan pairing would result in a child without a wolf, it was incredibly rare. If anything, they find their wolves later than full-blooded lycan. We may just get to meet her wolf after all. It would be an honor to help her find her. To see her first shift. Rhonen was practically dancing in my head.

“I’m sorry about your mother,” I told her. “I know how much that loss hurts.”

“Thank you,” Sutton replied quietly.

“Did your father know who her mate was or anything else about him?” I questioned, wondering if she might have other family we could look for.

But Sutton shook her head.

“No, nothing,” she said. “He didn’t even know his name. He said he asked my mother, but she refused to talk about him. All he knew is that he died and that it was pretty traumatic for my mother.”

“That’s not surprising,” I said, taking the opportunity to teach her that most mate bonds were an incredible blessing. Not the horror she experienced. “It’s not unheard of for a lycan not to survive the loss of their mate. The thought of having to live without them is too much to handle, let alone the physical pain of the bond being severed.”

Sutton’s brow furrowed. Her hand started to move toward her own mark but stopped. She started to chew her lip, looking both worried and scared. I wondered if she thought Mason may still be alive since she wasn’t feeling that pain. Or if she had that pain to look forward to.

“Sutton…” I reached out and took her hand in mine, encouraging her to look me in the eye. “What you had with Mason wasn’t real. It was a bond that was forced on you. It was used to control you. That’s not what a mate bond truly is for us. It’s so much more than that.” My thumbs started to trace circles on her skin. The tingling sensation almost hypnotizing me as I looked at her fingers enveloped in mine. “A true bond — a fated bond — forms before we ever mark each other. Instantly connecting one mate to the other. It’s a primal response — physical, emotional, even spiritual. From that moment, the bond grows stronger.” I met her eyes again, hoping she was starting to understand what was happening between us. “You were robbed of that, Sutton.”

Sutton held my gaze for an intense moment. I thought she was beginning to understand. Until she pulled her hand away. She cleared her throat, crossing her arms again as she looked anywhere but at me.

“I, um… I’m a little tired now,” she said softly.

“I’ll let you rest,” I said, standing from the table. “If you need anything, I’m across the hall.” Hooking a finger under her chin, I lifted her face to look at me. “Get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Rhonen whined as I walked away, but it was necessary. She may not want to admit the attraction between us yet. But the seed had been planted.