Chapter 122

Lucas POV

Shana encouraged me to text Professor Black as soon as possible. I knew it was midnight, and Shana had just shifted, but I texted him anyway.

Immediately after I had sent the message to him, I anxiously awaited his response. Fortunately, he didn't make us wait long.

I was surprised he was up at this hour, but he wrote back saying that he would clear his schedule, recognizing the urgency in my words. He invited Shana and me to his office tomorrow morning on the community campus.

I told Shana to try to get a good night's sleep because we had a big day ahead of us tomorrow.

"Honestly, I don't know if I'll be able to sleep tonight," Shana confessed, keeping herself planted on my bed.

"You say that now, but I don't think you realize how exhausted you truly are." I studied her. "Do you feel sore?"

She nodded. "All over."

"Once you lay your head down on your pillow, sleep will take over. You need to rest."

She groaned and sighed at the same time, rising from my bed. "I guess you're right."

I gave her a quick peck on the cheek and whispered in her ear, "I'm always right."

---

Shana gripped the steering wheel tightly as we drove the next morning, her nervousness palpable.

I had offered to drive her car, but for once, she wanted to drive us. I wasn't about to refuse her, even though I would've preferred to drive.

Shana said she had slept last night, but I could see the bags under her eyes. She was still feeling worn out from last night's events.

"You feeling better this morning?" I asked her as I watched the whites of her knuckles on the steering wheel.

She nodded, worrying her bottom lip. Her hands fidgeted, a clear sign of her anxiety.

I couldn't blame her for feeling this way, considering the extraordinary events that had just changed the course of her life.

It changed everything she thought she knew.

"Don't lie to me," I said, sensing her unease. Right as I said the words, I could see her shoulders stiffen. "What's bothering you?"

She rolled her head back and forth, trying to ease the tension in her neck. I could see that she was battling with her emotions.

"Don't be afraid to tell me anything, Shana," I said, trying to comfort her as best as I could. "If something's bothering you, I want to know. Are you sore? Is that it?"

She shook her head. "No, it's not that."

"Do you feel okay? Should you pull over and sit in the passenger seat? I can drive the rest of the way."

"No, I'm fine." She shook her head again. She sighed deeply, contemplating her thoughts.

"There's something—"

"What if I can't control myself, Lucas?" Shana's voice trembled with fear, her eyes darting to meet mine. "What if I shift again, and I can't change back?"

"Shana, that wouldn't happen."

"You don't know that!" she snapped, her eyes going back to the road. "What if one day, I wake up and I've shifted in my sleep? Or what if I shift in class one day? I wouldn't know what to do. I wouldn't know how to help myself."

"You'd always be able to shift back. It's just something you need to get used to."

"How can I get used to it? How do you know I won't just shift and be stuck as a white wolf forever? We don't even know too much about it besides the things we've heard in legends. Which is all just a myth! We don't know what's real or what's fake!"

I reached over, taking her hand in mine and giving it a reassuring squeeze in hopes of calming her down. We sat this way for a while as her heart rate steadied again.

"Shana, we're on our way to see Professor Black," I said. "He's a specialist. He knows more about these things than we do, and he'll be able to help us figure this out. And I promise, no matter what happens, I'll be right there with you."

She nodded, her worry still etched on her face.

"Lucas," she began hesitantly, "do you think I'll end up like that boy? What if I can't control my wolf, and I hurt someone?"

The haunting story of the wolfless boy, who had lost control and shifted uncontrollably, loomed in both of our minds.

I wasn't sure what relation the boy had to Shana, besides the fact that they had both been wolfless. Maybe there was more in common between the two of them. Maybe Professor Black could help us uncover that possibility further.

But at the moment, there was no clear link between Shana and the boy.

My resolve hardened, and I spoke with determination. "Whatever happened to him, will never happen to you. He had nobody there for him besides the professor. That's the only reason why he wasn't able to protect himself. But I would never let anyone curse you in such a way."

"You can't protect me all the time," Shana said matter-of-factly. "Just look at what happened last night. Life is unexpected. I shifted and you didn't even know what to do. I couldn't even hear the commands you used with your Alpha voice."

"I know," I said, feeling defeated. Shana had a point. I was only human and I didn't have all the answers. I wouldn't always be able to protect her. "I know that it'll be hard, but I'm going to try my best to be there for you as much as I can."

She seemed to loosen up when I said this, giving me a small smile.

"Thanks, Lucas." She glanced at me. "And thank you for agreeing to keep this a secret. I know it's valuable information to share."

"Shana, I'd never sacrifice your safety over this. If it got in the wrong hands, we would be in a whole other world of trouble."

"That's why I'm grateful you were there, and I'm happy it happened after everyone left."

"Yeah." I blew out a deep breath. "Could you imagine if it would've happened an hour or two earlier?"

"James would've probably had a heart attack," Shana teased with a laugh.

"Now, I would've liked to see that," I teased back. A wave of happiness came over me seeing her laughing again.

Tensions have been a little too high the past twelve hours.

And even though she was laughing now, I could tell that it would be short-lived. Fear still clung to Shana like a shadow, and it was impossible for me to shake my own nagging doubts.

The weight of the unknown bore heavily on us both as we approached the university campus. I just hoped that Professor Black could give us some useful information and that he would be someone we could trust.

We were risking a lot by trusting him with this knowledge. But then again, who else could we turn to? Shana and I wouldn't be able to do this all on our own. Even with Grandma Jo, we would get nowhere.

As Shana pulled into the parking lot of the university, my phone suddenly rang.