Chapter 21: Lucas

I didn’t take my eyes off Sutton for the rest of the evening. It irritated me that there were other people around when all I wanted was to have her to myself. But that wouldn’t be the best situation for the long term.

Our bond was getting stronger. As amazing as that was, I had to tread lightly. We both would be physically driven by the growing connection. It would feel more and more animalistic as the primal response to the mate bond took over. It would come to a head at some point. We would give in to the inevitable, and my preferences wouldn’t be described as gentle in the most meaningless of encounters. Given Sutton’s history, surrendering to the bond without consideration could be catastrophic. Even if she was willing in the moment, she would question everything after.

I wouldn’t allow that. Spontaneity would have to wait for another time down the line. So, having a buffer for the time being was a good thing.

Dinner was actually quite pleasant. The food was delicious. I was impressed with Sutton’s skill. We had worked together to prepare it, but she did most of the work. I kept close enough to steal a few touches here and there. Tarrah carried much of the conversation — as she usually did — which seemed to help keep Sutton at ease.

A couple of hours later, Jaden and I were clearing the table when I noticed her attempting to hide a yawn. Taking her elbow, I lifted her from her seat.

“You need to rest,” I instructed. “Go up to bed. I’ll check on you soon.”

She nodded and headed for the hall. Tarrah jumped up and gave her an enthusiastic hug, telling Sutton she’d check in with her again soon. I watched her leave the room. The others stayed silent as I listened to her move through the house, waiting for the distant sound of the bedroom door closing to say anything.

“Do you want to explain why Sutton believed you were my mate, Tarrah?”

Tarrah choked on her wine, nearly spitting it across the table.

“Come again,” she spluttered. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Lucas. I barely mentioned the subject of mates all day.”

“So, you never actually mentioned Denny the whole time?” I questioned.

“I was trying to avoid a potentially volatile situation if I slipped up,” she said. “Besides, I agree that the topic of mates wasn’t what she needed from a new friend. I’m here to help you out, but I’m only going to do that by helping Sutton.”

“Which is how it should be,” Jaden inserted. “And from what I saw, any misunderstanding there has been cleared up.”

“It did,” I confirmed, sitting back down at the table with them. “But there’s still a lot of work to do and I’m going to need both of your help. If you’re up for it?”

“Anything,” Tarrah said eagerly. “Denny won’t be back home for another month and I need a new project. Plus, I like Sutton. I want to see her come out of her shell.”

The corner of my mouth tipped up. “Me too,” I agreed. “Which is why I want you to keep getting close to her because your going to help me find her wolf. I’ve reached out to Dr. Callahan and she’s going to run some blood tests and I’ll be doing some more research into anything that’s suppressing her lycan half.”

“You’re sure that’s what’s going on?” Jaden asked, more curious than skeptical.

“We know for sure that her biological father was a lycan, but nothing else about him” I explained. “But that leads me to what I need from you. I need ears in the Dawn Stalker ranks. It’s important to find out what is going on with the Beta Mason’s death — if they suspect Sutton is responsible, if they have started searching for her, anything and everything. But I also need information on Sutton’s family. See if we can find out if the relationship with her stepfather is still there. Something about her interested Alpha Anders enough to keep her close.”

“That’s been bothering me as well,” Jaden conceded. “It was one thing for a Dawn Stalker Alpha to do business with a human, why the hell take his daughter as part of the deal? Lycan or not, she was raised in the human world as a human with no wolf. With their prejudices, she wouldn’t be worth their time. So, again, why take her?”

“And did her stepfather know why they wanted her as well?” I added. “I’m still not sure how to feel about that. Sutton made it sound like he didn’t realize what was going on, but I didn’t get enough information to trust that. Either way, I want to know how to find them and how to contact them. I’ll leave it up to Sutton to take that step, but I want the information on hand when that time comes.”

Tarrah nodded but appeared lost in thought, only half listening to the conversation.

“What are you thinking, Tarrah?”

Her face scrunched up. “You have no idea who her parents were?” she asked.

I shook my head. “I’m getting her mother’s name but she knows nothing about her biological father,” I confirmed. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “There’s just something about her that I can’t put my finger on. I feel like I know her… or that I SHOULD know her for some reason. I can’t explain it.”

Jaden nodded. “Yeah, I kind of got that feeling tonight as well,” he said. “But I couldn’t tell you why.”

I couldn’t say that I felt the same. However, I had a different, very obvious, reason for recognizing her. Whatever subtle detail they were subconsciously picking up on, I wouldn’t be able to see it with the mate bond flooding my senses with everything else about Sutton.

“Maybe it’s because of our bond,” I suggested. “Since I’m Alpha, you could be recognizing her as your future Luna.”

Jaden shrugged. “It could be.”

Tarrah’s lips pursed. “Maybe, but I don’t think so.”

“Well, if you figure it out, let me know,” I said as I stood up. “For now, I’m going to say goodnight to my mate.”