Chapter 25
Luca and I chat the entire walk home.
us down
And though the walk takes us about five hours the terrains rougher than a flat
road, which slows
the time passes in what feels like a blink. The three ahead of us are relatively
quiet, trudging along the miles and tripping on stones in the darkness, but Luca
and I get lost in latighter.
God — he’s funny, and he laughs at my jokes too, all of which just twists my heart
a little because as each mile passes my crush on him grows bigger and bigger,
inch by inch.
He tells me all about his childhood, raised in a big family like mine. How he was
so angry as a kid after his dad left, but how his mom’s brother took him into the
gym and taught him to redirect that anger into solid blows at a punching bag,
teaching him the art of boxing and keeping him out of trouble. And honestly, it
should be a sad story, but the way he tells it — god, my cheeks ache for laughing
so hard and smiling so much.
“Honestly, Shrimp.” Luca says, smirking down at me as our final mile begins, “if
any animals were thinking about taking us out, they’d certainly shy away knowing
we’ve got a hyena in our group, shrieking into the night.”
“Shut up,” I laugh, swatting him in the stomach with the back of my hand. “It’s
your fault —”
“It is not my fault that you keep making that shrill noise —”
I burst into laughter again as he teases me, unable to help it, shaking my head at
him. “Stop making me laugh, then,” I say, grinning up at him.
Luca doesn’t say anything for a moment, staring at me, connecting with me in
that quiet way we’ve been doing all day. “Stop making me want to make you
laugh,” he murmurs, just the corner of his mouth turning up. “Honestly
it’s… weirdly rewarding, seeing you crack up like that.”
I blush a little, biting my lip, and I look ahead, wrapping my arms around myself
to ward off the goosebumps that are forming on my arms. I don’t bother to
wonder if they’re a result of the growing cold or the butterflies he’s sent looping
around my stomach.
“You cold?” Luca murmurs, drawing close.
“Um,” I say, not knowing what to say. Because if I say yes, I feel like he’s going
to…
“Here,” he sighs, slipping an arm around my shoulder and pulling me close. I
sharply draw in my breath but… I don’t move away. Instead, I slowly exhale,
leaning into him just a little bit.
Just for body heat, I tell myself, not letting myself consider that we’re both
carrying backpacks filled with extra jackets and blankets.
WHATEVER, my wolf says on a gleeful exhale, laying on her back and letting her
tongue hang out of her mouth in ecstasy.
Chapter 25
I scowl at her and turn my attention back to the task at hand: getting back to the
barracks safely and ignoring the tingling sensation that passes all along the side
that’s pressed close to Luca, and across my shoulders where his arm lightly
rests.
We’re quiet for the rest of the walk, but when I glance up at Luca I see that
there’s a smile on his face, his eyes trained on the road ahead, both of us just
ignoring the fact that he’s walking with his arm draped around me. And I grin, and
keep walking because…
Honestly, it should be more awkward, but it’s not. Everything in me just screams
right.
Luca drops his arm from my shoulders as we come closer to the light of the
barracks, letting his fingers trail down my back before he moves away. We’ve
dropped back far enough where our other three teammates are unlikely to have
seen us, but…well, we’re back in the real world now, aren’t we?
We step inside and I notice with surprise that our group is the only one that made
it back this early. “Wow,” I murmur. “I mean, I thought we were slow, but…”
“Maybe the other teams didn’t hate each other’s guts as much as ours did,” Luca
says with a shrug, walking slowly for his bunk. I follow.
“I don’t think Perry hated us,” I murmur, glancing towards the bathroom where the
other three have disappeared.
“Yeah, well. I don’t think we’ll be swapping recipes with him anytime soon,” Luca
says, his voice dry. “Not when he’s tied up with those two.”
I hum a little consideringly as Luca grabs his bathing things and then waits for me
as I grab mine. We head into the bathroom together, but I blush horribly when
Luca heads for the showers, stripping off his shirt.
“Are you coming?” he calls over his shoulder.
my
I mumble something awkward about it being late and how I’m tired, and Luca just
shrugs. I turn
back, pressing my eyes shut as Luca drops his shirt on the bathroom floor and
starts at the buckle of his pants. I brush my teeth as fast as humanly possible
then, congratulating myself for accomplishing the monumental act of personal
restraint it takes to not glance backwards when I hear the shower turn on.
Instead, I scurry out of the bathroom, mentally scolding myself to respect my
mate’s privacy, especially when he thinks I’m a boy.
Then, denying my wolf’s near—constant urge to strip—down and climb into that
shower alongside my mate, I haul myself into my bed and flip back onto my
pillow, pulling my cap down over my eyes so I can get some sleep, or at least
contain myself marginally.
My rest is interrupted, though, about fifteen minutes later when I hear Luca’s
voice disturbingly close to my ear.
“Hey,” he says, and I shriek and jump a little, spinning towards him, realizing that
he’s standing on
Chapter 24
the edge of Rafe’s best his arms looped over the side of my own, the way Jesse
usually stands when he wants a spnet word Lanca grins instantly, laughing at me
“Jumpy,” he comments.
“Tired.” I say, glaring at him a little but turning on my side, propping my head on
my hand and gazing at him “Why do you disturb my slumber, pretty boy?” I try to
inject some teasing into my own voice then, but honestly I think it fails. Because I
mean with his dimples flaring like that-he really is just so pretty
“Brought you dinner,” Luca says, lifting one of the wrapped sandwiches I’m
getting very sick of and placing it by me on the bed. “I figured you forgot to go get
one for yourself.”
“Why did you think I’d forget?” I say, smiling and taking the sandwich, pulling it
close but not unwrapping it.
“Because you always do.” he says softly. “Rafe always has to bring you food,
remind you to eat.”
Alittle smile pulls at my mouth. “Have you been watching me, Grant?”
He stares at me for a long moment. “Can’t seem to help it,” he breathes, and my
heart feels like it completely stops as he reaches out a hand, his fingers drawing
dangerously close to my cheek —
But at the last moment his eyes shift to his hand, and he clenches it into a fist,
drawing his lips into a tight line. “Good work today,” he says, nodding and shifting
his eyes away from me. “Um. Yeah. Good job.” He hops down from his spot and
waves to me over his shoulder. “See you…tomorrow. Today. When…whenever.”
“Night, Luca.” I say softly, though I know he hears me.
And I groan as I flop again back on my pillow, holding my sandwich against my
stomach, wondering how the hell I’m supposed to get to sleep while my heart is
racing this fast.
But my doubts are soon proven wrong as I hastily eat my sandwich and rest my
head back on the pillow again, totally beat. I curl up in my blankets, at least
content in the knowledge that I don’t have to get up early, because candidates
aren’t even expected back until dinner time.
Still, my last thoughts are inevitably — about Luca, wishing he’d stayed, wishing
we’d had chance to talk more — even for a few minutes or for a few more
hours…
il
My dreams tonight are unusually vivid, and I feel more conscious in them than I
usually do. I blink, looking around at the hazy birch forest, which is somehow
bright even though it’s edged with fog. I turn my head, considering the pretty
white trees with their leaves turning golden for autumn, pleased and surprised.
And then I run my hands down over my favorite white nightgown from home —
relishing the soft feel of it beneath my palms. Smiling, I next run my fingers
through the long length of my hair, which I never get to do anymore because it’s
always tucked up under that
little cap —
“Hello?” a voice calls, and I go very still.
Who the who the hell is that?
Chapter 25
And suddenly, as I peer through the forest, I instantly recognize Luca, even
though he’s standing far away. I groan a little, because of course I can’t stop
thinking about him even when I’m asleep — hell. I fell asleep thinking about him,
wanting to spend more time…
“Seriously, where the hell am 1?” Luca mutters, his voice carrying through the
trees.
And suddenly my eyes go wide because….
Because…
My mind flashes back to what my mom and Aunt Cora have told me before
About meeting their mates in the dream state-
Which they can only do once they’ve met, and invited them there —
1 gasp. slapping my hands over my mouth as I realize that…
“Who’s there?” Luca calls, turning towards my gasp..
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Frantic I dart away, hiding behind a
“ » . .
tree. “F*ck, f**k!” I hiss, peeking out
and seeing him walking closer. The
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My breath comes in fast pants as I
0 7
panic — because he can’t see me
P ¢ 5
here — he can’t see me like this —
even if he does figure out that this is
o ’ .
just a dream, he’ll have seen mein a
: . )
dress with long hair! And he’s not
> ’ Sara :
stupid — he’ll remember it in real life
and put the pieces together! The
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the latest chapter there!
I clench my fists at my side, forcing myself to think
I press my eyes shut, willing the dream to end.
No, my wolf says, her voice echoing out loud now — because she’s in my head
and so am I now.
“Let me out!” I hiss, looking around for her.”
No! she says, more cheerfully this time. Play with him! We need this!
Cursing, I listen carefully and panic when I hear Luca’s footsteps moving closer
“Hello?” he calls again. “Seriously, is there someone there?”
My heart starts to seriously pound when suddenly I realize that…that this is my
dream, right?
And if it’s my dream…I have control.
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I look down at myself, willing my
nightgown to change….and suddenly,
5 =
it’s gone, replaced by my grey
candidate uniform. I gasp and reach
up, realizing that my hair has been
tucked into my cap as it always is.
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And, slowly, I start to smile.
Sun, Tu Mar
Chapter 25
That’s my girl, my wolf says huffing a wolfy little laugh. Now got
And, smiling, cursing myself for being an idiot and taking needless risks…I step
out from behind
the tree.
“Hey,” I say, and Luca turns to stare at me.