Chapter 22

Aria

Spending the afternoon with the guy who tried to kill me wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind.

But it was either that or spend the entire day in that frigid playroom, so I bundled myself and Lucas up in our winter coats and sucked it up.

We made our way through the city, each of us holding one of Lucas’s hands. It probably would have looked like we were a happy little family, had Liam and I not both looked like we’d rather be literally anywhere else.

Still, I couldn’t help but smile at Lucas’s excitement. He was still exploring his human form and all of the fun that came along with it, like being swung by his hands between me and Liam and stopping to play hopscotch on the sidewalk.

Around lunchtime, however, Lucas began to get hungry—and cranky.

“I don’t wanna go home to eat!” he whined, bouncing on his toes. “I wanna stay outside and play!”

I sighed, glancing at Liam for help. Of course, he offered little in that department—he’d hardly said a word to me since I asked him to come out with us, and hadn’t so much as made eye contact yet.

“Alright, alright,” I said, glancing around at our nearby options. I didn’t really want to go back to the Lunar Labs building either, not when I was still trying to cool off after what had happened that morning, so I couldn’t blame Lucas for wanting to stay out.

Finally, I spotted a cute cafe across the street. It looked warm and cozy inside, with plush furniture and potted plants hanging in the windows.

“How about there?” I asked, pointing. “We can warm up for a little bit before we go back out.”

“Oooh… Yes!” Lucas exclaimed, seeing a couple of teenagers walk out munching on croissants. “I want what they’re eating!”

I glanced at Liam again, but he just shrugged. “Sure.”

With that, we headed across the street and into the cafe. I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich and a coffee for myself, and Liam ordered a bagel. Lucas pressed his nose up to the glass case, pointing at a croissant covered in powdered sugar inside.

“Can I have that? Pleeease?”

I paused, uncertain. As far as I knew, since Lucas had been… well, a dog up until recently, he’d only eaten food that was fit for that form. “Oh, buddy,” I said gently, “I don’t know if so much sugar is such a good idea…”

Lucas whirled to face me, pushing his lower lip out in an exaggerated pout. “Pleeease?” he begged, clasping his little hands together. “Please, I want it so bad!”

Dammit, I thought as I looked down at those big mismatched eyes, so much like his father’s. It was hard not to picture a little Darren looking much the same, before he turned so damn aloof. I almost wondered if whatever ‘history’ he had with my sister took that innocent look away from him.

“What do you think?” I asked, turning to Liam. “Is it okay if he has sugar?”

Liam thought for a moment, then shrugged again. “It should be okay.”

I got the sense that he didn’t really think all that hard about it, but if he thought it would be fine, then I supposed it was alright. It was only a little powdered sugar, after all. So I ordered that and a cup of warm milk for Lucas.

Once we got our food, we settled around a table near the window and ate while big fat snowflakes began to fall outside. Lucas was happy as could be, gobbling down his croissant and drinking his milk like his life depended on it.

Liam was silent, picking at his bagel. I didn’t bother to make small talk as I ate and sipped my own coffee; if he was going to sulk, then so be it.

By the time Lucas was finished, the sugar was hitting him like a freight train. He could barely stay in his seat, and I was constantly having to pull his hands away from the windows before he could leave marks, exclaiming about wanting to play in the snow.

Finally, we finished up and headed outside, with Liam practically dragging the two of us toward a nearby playground.

The playground was full of kids—a far cry from the dog parks that Lucas was used to. But the kids invited him to play with no hesitation, and before I knew it, he was climbing around a jungle gym with a group of boys around his age.

“Has he had the chance to make friends before?” I asked, glancing at Liam. We were sitting on a bench dusted with snow, holding our cardboard coffee cups in our hands. The warmth of the cup felt nice through my knit mittens.

“He was a wolf up until recently,” Liam retorted, shooting me a sidelong glance.

I pursed my lips. “I know that. But surely there are other…” I lowered my voice. “...Werewolf kids he could play with.”

Liam chewed the inside of his cheek, furrowing his brow. “Alph—Mr. Avarise keeps Lucas fairly solitary. Not out of cruelty, mind you. It’s just… safer that way.”

A frown tugged at my mouth. Kids needed socialization, especially at this age, when their brains were developing so much. Lucas seemed fine with the other kids, but… still. It wasn’t healthy to keep a kid cooped up by himself.

“Oh,” I said, glancing over in Lucas’s direction. “Well, he should—”

My words caught in my throat when it hit me: Lucas was gone. “Lucas?!” I called out, jumping to my feet. Liam shot up as well, nose twitching as he caught Lucas’s scent on the wind.

“He’s this way,” Liam growled, storming off in the direction of a nearby copse of trees. “Lucas! Lucas, come back!”

I jogged after Liam, suddenly grateful for that keen werewolf nose of his. But instead of hearing Lucas’s tiny voice call back, we were instead met with the sound of a familiar bark.

Liam and I exchanged terrified glances.

Lucas had shifted.

We didn’t waste any time in taking off at a run in Lucas’s direction, shouting his name. Up ahead, I saw a brown flash of fur in the underbrush, followed by another excited yip. Lucas crouched down then pounced out of the bushes, wagging his tail.

“Lucas, we’re not playing,” Liam hissed, reaching for his scruff. “You’re going to get—No!”

Before Liam could catch Lucas, he was bounding around us, tongue lolling. He took off across the park, a wild blur of brown fur and floppy ears.

“Damn you,” Liam hissed as he took off in his direction. “This is your fault!”

“My fault?” I bit out, running after him. “How is it my fault?!”

Liam didn’t answer that, too busy trying to catch a rambunctious Lucas in his wolf form. But Lucas was too fast, racing circles around us, and it wasn’t exactly as if Liam could shift and catch him in front of everyone.

Then, suddenly, Lucas veered off toward the road. My heart leapt up into my throat, terror washing over me.

“Lucas!” I screamed. “Come back! NOW!”

The pup skidded to a halt.

And then obediently turned and trotted back to my side.

Liam just stared at me, mouth hanging open, chest heaving.

“We should go home,” I said.

…

“Daddy! Daddy, I had the best day!”

Lucas ran across the pine turf toward his father. I shivered as we stepped into the playroom, marveling at the dusting of what genuinely looked like very real snow on the ground. Rich people, I thought as I kicked at the white powder, wondering what sort of machine they’d installed to manage this.

We rounded a tree to find Lucas and Darren, who was currently… doing pull-ups on one of those fake tree branches.

Shirtless.

Darren hopped down, snow-damp back muscles coiling beneath his skin, and scooped Lucas up. I quickly turned away when he started walking toward us—anything to hide the red flush to my cheeks. I think I heard Liam snort at me under his breath.

“Oh, yeah?” Darren asked, shooting me a curious glance as he approached, not even breathless from his workout. “What did you do today?”

No, no, no, don’t tell him, I thought, whirling back around. If the ashen color of Liam’s face was any indication, then he didn’t want our little secret getting out, either.

But it was too late. Lucas was already telling his father about our day. In vivid detail.

Darren’s face fell. Oddly familiar heterochromatic eyes stared at Lucas in shock.

“You… shifted? In public?” he breathed, accusatory eyes landing on me. “Someone could have gotten hurt.”