Chapter 3 Her scent

Lucas carried the unconscious woman to the waiting SUV, his arms tight around her as if letting go for even a second would be dangerous. The pull inside him had not faded. If anything, it had grown stronger. A deep, instinctive tether tugged at his chest every time he looked at her bruised wrist or the soft tremble in her lips.

He knew nothing about her.

Not her name.

Not her pack. He wasn't even sure whether she was a wolf. She doesn't smell like a human, but he can't sense her wolf either.

He opened the back door of the SUV and gently settled her inside. As he adjusted her body into a safe position, her fingers curled unconsciously around his wrist, holding tight. Her skin was warm despite the chill in the air.

A jolt ran through him.

His breath hitched. His wolf growled with approval.

Mine! She smelled so heavenly, and it was driving his wolf crazy.

Lucas clenched his jaw. Trying to clear his head.

Destiny mates? He had spent his life denying such nonsense. Yet holding her felt so natural, so right, that fear crept into places even he didn’t want to acknowledge.

Lucas noticed the tiny ring on her engagement finger. The ring was so small that one would miss it. 

The thought of her being engaged to another man was making him furious! 

“Penthouse,” Lucas said sharply to the driver.

The SUV pulled away from the curb, gliding into the night.

For several heartbeat-long seconds, the only sound in the car was her uneven breathing. Lucas kept his eyes on her, watching the small twitches in her face, the way her lips parted as she fought the effects of the drug.

He didn’t expect her to move.

He certainly didn’t expect her to wake.

So when she suddenly stirred, her lashes fluttering, Lucas tensed instantly.

Her pupils dilated.

Her breathing hitched.

She blinked at him, confused, disoriented, and dangerously warm.

“Hey, you are safe. Don't worry. What's your name?” Lucas assured her in a calm voice.

“Emily,” she answered softly as she fluttered her lashes. Lucas' heart picked up a race.

“Emily,” Lucas whispered, testing her name for the first time. It felt right on his tongue, familiar in a way that irritated him.

She blinked again, then slowly reached out a shaky hand toward his face.

“You’re handsome…” Her voice was soft, slurred, dripping with intoxicated sincerity. “So… warm.”

Lucas stiffened.

Oh no.

He recognized this stage of the drug’s effects. Disorientation. Seductive impulses. A false sense of desire. If not stopped, the victim would spiral into risky, uncontrollable behavior.

Emily stroked his jaw with trembling fingers.

“You smell… good,” she whispered as she leaned closer, her lips parting.

Lucas’s wolf roared with need and instinct.

He gripped the seat to stop himself from reaching for her.

Her breath brushed his lips and fire shot straight through him.

“No,” he growled roughly, grabbing her wrist gently but firmly. “You’re not thinking clearly. Sit back.”

But she didn’t.

Instead, she crawled toward him, her body moving on instinct driven by the drug, not desire. She straddled his lap before he could process it, her hands sliding up his shoulders.

“Please,” she begged in a whisper, her voice trembling with something that was not truly her. “Touch me… I feel… I feel like I’m burning…”

Lucas’s breath shuddered.

His arms automatically went around her waist to steady her, and the mate slammed into him with brutal force, making his vision blur at the edges.

His wolf howled.

Hold her!

Claim her!!

Mark her now!!!

Lucas gritted his teeth until pain shot through his jaw.

‘She wasn’t in control. This wasn’t consent. She is just acting as a result of the drug, as mediated by him, trying to keep his wolf in control.

He forced himself to lose every shred of softness in his tone.

“Emily,” he said, voice commanding, Alpha-strong. “This is the drug talking. Not you.”

She whimpered, pressing her forehead to his neck, trembling. “Make it stop…”

His heart squeezed painfully.

The driver glanced into the rearview mirror, eyes widening at the sight of her on Lucas’s lap.

“Don’t,” Lucas snapped at him. “Eyes forward.”

He needed to stop this before he lost control and ravaged her. With a curse, Lucas gently but firmly lifted her off his lap and moved her back to her seat, even as she clung to him desperately.

“Please…” she whispered, tears pooling in her eyes from the burning sensation in her bloodstream. “It hurts.”

“It will pass,” Lucas said quietly. “I promise.”

Her breathing grew erratic. She reached for him again, clawing at his shirt, trembling violently. If he didn’t intervene, her body would overheat and spiral into shock.

“Forgive me,” he whispered.

Then he pressed two fingers to the pressure point between her neck and shoulder. A small jolt of controlled Alpha energy surged through his fingertips.

Emily gasped softly, then went utterly still, her head falling gently to the side.

Unconscious again.

Lucas let out a shuddering breath and leaned back. His hands were shaking. His heart was racing. Never in his life had he struggled so intensely with control. The mate bond pull was real. Painfully real.

He stared at her for a long moment, chest rising and falling rapidly.

He didn’t know whether to be relieved or terrified.

When the SUV reached the penthouse, Lucas scooped Emily into his arms again, carrying her through the private elevator and into their territory, the Walker Brothers’ domain.

The halls were vast, modern, luxurious, but Lucas barely noticed. His focus was entirely on the fragile female in his arms.

He laid her on the king-sized bed in the guest suite, brushing hair away from her face with a tenderness that startled even him. She had a faint bruising on her wrist, marks of struggle. His wolf snarled at the sight.

He paced. Back and forth.

Panic, guilt, rage, and something deeper twisted inside him. The thought that her ‘fiancé’ is the one who might have hurt her drives him even crazier.

A scent shift in the hallway made him turn sharply. His brothers are here!

The first footsteps were heavy and firm.

Logan arrived first, shoulders broad, aura cold and commanding.

Leo walked in next, eyes sharp and calculating.

Liam followed, looking ready to tear down walls.

Luke entered silently, already assessing the room.

Lowell closed the door behind them, expression tense.

They all stopped when they saw the unconscious female.

“Explain,” Logan demanded, voice even but powerful.

Lucas exhaled. “I found her outside the club. She stumbled into me, drugged, terrified, barely conscious. Someone chased her. Someone tried to claim her.”

The room grew cold.

Liam cracked his knuckles. “Who?”

“I don’t know,” Lucas said, jaw tight. “But I’m going to find out.”

Leo studied her, noting the bruises. “She’s human?”

Lucas hesitated. “I don’t think so. There’s a scent. A dormant wolf. She hasn’t shifted in years, if ever.”

Lowell whistled softly. “A suppressed wolf. Rare.”

Luke frowned. “Someone wanted her powerless.”

Before anyone could respond, the doctor entered.

He checked her vitals, her breathing, and her pulse. When he finished, his expression was grim.

“She’s been given a new type of silencing drug,” the doctor said. “It induces memory loss, confusion, overheating, and sexual disorientation. Another few minutes and she would have gone into shock.”

Lucas’s fists clenched so hard his knuckles cracked.

“What happens when she wakes?” Logan asked.

“She won’t remember the last six hours,” the doctor replied. “But she will be weak. Scared. In pain. She will need rest, water, and supervision.”

“We will stay with her,” Liam said immediately.

Lucas shot him a glare.

“No. I will.”

The brothers exchanged looks, knowing, confused, suspicious.

Leo’s eyebrow lifted. “You seem unusually invested.”

Lucas turned away, hiding the truth in his eyes.

He couldn’t explain the mate pull.

Not yet.

“We don’t know who she is,” Logan said quietly. “Or who hurt her. We can’t let her leave until we find out.”

Lucas nodded. “She stays here. Under our protection.”

The brothers all silently agreed.