Chapter 30: Lucas

 

We hit a wall pretty quickly on the search for information on Sutton’s mother. Sutton only knew her married name and we didn’t have access to the records humans kept on those matters. I would need to send someone to Dranfort to do some more digging before we could trace her life among the packs. In the meantime, I had concentrated on getting to know Sutton.

It had been almost two weeks since she had first woken up in my bed. It had been two weeks of ups and downs. We would get close, then something would pull Sutton away again. We had more than a few intense moments but she would end up keeping me at arms-length after. But we were making progress. Her smile came easier these days and I could even make her laugh.

Sutton was currently out with Tarrah getting more supplies for her yard project. I was taking the time to catch up on some pack business that I had been neglecting. I had just finished approving the budget for a round of road repairs when I heard Sutton’s and Tarrah’s voices come into the house. Losing all focus on my work, I got up to meet them.

I found Sutton in the kitchen carrying two drinks as best she could with her cast. It was the last remnant of the injuries she’d had when she arrived. The rest had completely healed already. She was more beautiful than I had imagined. She saw me come in and smiled, making my day that much better.

“Hey,” she greeted happily, “the shrubs came in at the nursery today. And we picked up some of the flowers. I’ll have to special order a few. They don’t seem to carry them.”

Taking the drink from her casted hand, I pulled her in, my mouth finding hers in an instant. She returned the kiss with a giggle. Something fluttered in my chest at the sound. Still, she pulled away too soon.

“What was that for?” she asked.

“Do I need a reason other than it’s you?” I replied, brushing the tip of my nose against hers.

“I suppose not,” she said. “But that’s for Tarrah.” She tipped her head at the drink in my hand. “Just so you know.”

“I think she’ll…”

Jaden burst into the house calling my name before I could finish my sentence. I called him to the kitchen. He looked worried and his tone had been urgent when he came in.

“What is it?”

He glanced at Sutton nervously, then back at me. “We should go in the other room,” I said.

“She can hear,” I instructed. I had been determined not to keep anything from her, I wasn’t going to start now. But Jaden still looked unsure. “I’ll tell her anyway, Jaden. So just speak.”

“There’s trouble at the border,” he said. “We caught another Dawn Stalker scouting party. They didn’t retreat this time. There was an attack.”

“How many injured?” I demanded.

“Four,” he stated. “No casualties on our side. However, we took out one of theirs. Captured two more. The other escaped back into Dawn Stalker territory.”

“Did any of them get past our men?” I asked urgently. “Are any of them inside our boundaries?”

“I was told no,” he said.

My eyes narrowed at the way he said it. “But you have doubts.”

“If it was Max I spoke to, I wouldn’t,” Jaden replied, confirming that he wasn’t sure the report was accurate. “I think we should go check it out ourselves. At the very least to bolster the ranks. A death isn’t a good thing.”

“No, it’s not,” I replied. “We’ll leave in the morning.” I turned to Sutton. “I’m sorry. I need to take care of this. Will you be alright on your own for a few days? Tarrah can come stay with you.”

“I want to go with,” Sutton said, surprising both me and Jaden.

We exchanged a look.

“No,” I told her. “It’s not safe. We can’t risk any of them catching their scent if they try to cross again.”

“Then I won’t go that close to the border,” she argued. “But I’m coming with you. I caused all of this and…”

“And what are you going to do to stop it?” I snapped.

She seemed surprised at my harsh tone, but before I could feel guilty her eyes narrowed. Her shoulders stiffened and her hands clenched.

“I could leave,” she retorted.

“You wouldn…”

“I could create a scent trail leading them out of your land. Make them think I went toward human territory,” she continued. “If that’s what they’re looking for, it shouldn’t be that hard, now should it.”

“That’s ridic…”

“Actually, that’s not a terrible plan,” Jaden interjected.

I shot him a threatening look. He just shrugged.

“What? It could work better than spending weeks fighting them off hoping they’ll give up,” Jaden said. “We need something that has them chasing their tails until we sort something more concrete out.”

“I don’t think we’ve come to a point where we need to use my mate as bait,” I argued angrily. “It’s not happening.”

Sutton crossed her arms over her chest and cocked a hip. “I thought you said I wasn’t a prisoner here.”

A growl erupted from my chest. Rhonen shot to the forefront of my mind as I took a step toward her, towering over her small figure. She flinched and backed away. All of the confidence and bravado I’d seen a moment ago drained away in an instant. She looked away. But not before I caught the fear in her eyes.

Guilt immediately twisted in my gut.

‘Get out,’ I linked Jaden. He didn’t hesitate and I didn’t pay attention to where he went off to.

“Sutton, I’m sorry,” I said genuinely. “I lost my temper. That was unacceptable. I truly apologize.”

I reached out to her but she shied away. Her body language reverted back to the timid woman I’d met weeks before.

“It’s fine. It was my fault,” she replied.

“No…” I took another step toward her but she took off before I could touch her.  

“It’s fine. I’ll stay,” she said as she rushed out of the room and headed upstairs. Leaving me to curse myself and my own stupidity.