Chapter 50
Luca freezes for a moment before scowling at me and dropping his hand from my
shirt, crossing his arms over his chest before he sinks back into the couch
cushions, glowering.
“No!” I say, throwing myself over the arm of the couch and stumbling my way to
the door, my face still pale from my shock. “Um, sorry it’s good to see you,
Jackson! I’m glad you could come.”
I hear footsteps behind me and turn to see Ben and Rafe coming over. Luca,
perhaps predictably, stays on the couch, though he’s moved to lean against the
far arm of it so that he can watch the goings—on at the door, his arms still
crossed.
“You’ve got a really nice setup here,” Jackson says, his eyebrows raised as he
looks around the room.
“Thank you,” Rafe responds, reaching out a hand. I see the corner of Jackson’s
mouth twitch upwards at Rafe’s relative warmth as he shakes my brother’s hand.
But it’s gone in a flash. “Where is your room located?” Rafe asks.
“I’m closer to this guy,” he says, nodding to Ben.
“Really?” Ben asks, surprised.
“I’m four doors down,” Jackson says, leaning against our doorway. Ben looks
even more surprised now, perhaps wondering if Jackson is just very perceptive?
Or if he, Ben, hasn’t been perceptive enough..
“You’re letting a draft in,” Luca calls from his place on the couch. “Maybe it’s time.
to shut the door.”
Alittle shocked, I glare at him over my shoulder, because the door has been
open for hours. “Would you like to come in?” I say to Jackson, gesturing towards
the room. “We don’t have any food left, but…”
“That’s okay,” Jackson says, nodding at me and pulling a folded piece of paper
from his pocket. “I just came to give you a copy of my schedule. Maybe you could
tell me a time, tomorrow, when we could meet for the homework?”
“Come to dinner tomorrow,” Rafe offers instantly. “Ari really doesn’t leave the
room much. He’ll be here all night. I’m sure you can find a quiet space to work.”
Chapter 50
I turn slowly to glare at my brother, but sigh when he just glares back. He is
definitely not going to let me go galivanting around in the castle alone with my
mate.
“Yes, Jackson,” I say, taking the schedule from his hands anyway. “Please, come
for
dinner.”
“All right,” he says slowly, frowning as he looks between Rafe and me, probably
wondering about our weird over—protective cousin relationship. “See you
tomorrow, then.”
“Bye!” Luca shouts from behind us, his word harsh and obviously making I clear
that he wants Jackson gone now.
I roll my eyes, but keep my focus on Jackson. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for
this,” I hold up the now-useless schedule in my hand.
“You’re welcome,” he says, nodding to me before moving away. I smirk a little as
he goes, thinking he needs to work a bit on his pleasant good-byes.
Rafe doesn’t say anything as he moves away from the door, heading back to the
center of the room and gesturing for Ben. But Ben pauses, frowning at Luca.
“Why are you so rude to him?” he asks. “What did he ever do to you?”
“Dude’s got bad vibes,” Luca says, scowling. “l don’t trust him.”
“You’re the one with bad vibes tonight,” Ben says, frowning at Luca, whose jaw
drops open, probably surprised that Ben — who he could take out with a single
punch — is calling him out for bad behavior. But I just sigh as Ben walks away to
go work with Rafe more.
I settle in on the couch across from Luca and glare at him a little.
“Ben’s right, you know,” I say, keeping my voice soft. “You have been in a mood
all day, and you’ve been taking it out on everyone else. Get your shit together.”
“Get my “Luca sputters, leaning forward to glare at me. “Get my shit together!?
Are you kidding me, Ari?”
My scowl deepens as I narrow my eyes. “This is weird for me too, you know!” I
hiss leaning forward, admitting for the first time in person — however tacitly that
the dream state really is real.
Chapter 30
Luca groans and presses his eyes shut, gritting his teeth, his whole body going
tense. I kick him, glancing over the edge of the couch at where Rafe slowly has
Ben go through the gestures of a cross—body punch.
“I am serious!” I whisper—hiss. “We cannot have this conversation here! This is
not public information!”
Luca’s eyes fly open, instantly glaring at me. “Fine,” he snaps. “Then we are
having this conversation tonight. And I would suggest that you have a great deal
of chamomile tea very soon, because I am not going to wait around for you in
that boring—ass fog forest for hours while you do your best to stay awake and
avoid this conversation —
I sit up a little, surprised. “Wait, so,” I hesitate now, trying to figure out the
meaning behind his words, “you can go there and like, hang around? Even
before I get there?”
“Yes, Shrimp!” he snaps, grabbing one of the pillows and throwing at me. I gasp a
little as it hits me right in the chest. “And it’s really boring! There is nothing to do
there except wait! It sucks!”
I scowl at him, hugging the pillow to my chest. “Fine,” I growl, glaring at him. “I’ll
go to bed.”
“Good!” he almost shouts, forgetting himself a little as he jumps off the couch and
storms for the door. “So will I!”
The door slams as Luca leaves and I gape after him for a moment before slowly
turning back to Ben and Rafe, who stare at me.
“Seriously,” Rafe says, glancing over towards the door. “What the hell is going on
with you two?”
“He’s just tired,” I mutter, sighing and pushing myself up off the couch as well. I
grab my Chemistry textbook off the coffee table and take it with me towards my
nook. “And so am I. I’m going to bed. Sleep tight, guys.”
They murmur their goodnights as I swing my velvet curtain shut and flop onto my
bed in despair, burying my face into my pillow.
“Whoa,” I hear Jesse’s voice say out in the room as the bathroom door creeks
open. “Where did everyone go?”
Predictably, it takes me forever to fall asleep, not least because Jesse, Ben, and
Rafe stay up for a while, talking softly. I get changed into the pajamas that
Daphne thoughtfully packed into my uniform box and re-braid my hair once it’s
dry, but it’s the Chemistry book, in the end, which really does the trick.
It’s not that it’s not interesting — it’s just that I’ve had such a long day, and the
workout Jesse put me through, combined with the minute details of the periodic.
table…
My eyes are flickering shut before I know it.
And almost immediately after that…
I raise my eyelids again to blink in the soft light of the birch forest, looking around
at the pretty yellow leaves flickering in the wind.
I sigh, wrapping my arms around myself, steeling myself for the hard
conversation that’s going to come next. Because I know I owe him an
explanation, but god, it would have just been so much easier if —
“Shrimp!” Luca’s voice rings out through the grove, and my eyes go wide to hear
the anger still lacing it. “I know you’re here, I can feel it!”
I curse to myself and then gasp as he appears between the trees, striding
towards me. I press my eyes shut, willing my clothes to change, my hair to tuck
itself up under the cap —
I give little shriek when I feel hands wrap around my upper arms, giving me a
shake. But when I open my eyes and look down, I’m relieved to see Luca’s
fingers wrapped around the sleeves of my black uniform, not the white nightdress
I always wear when I first appear here.
“Talk!” Luca demands, glaring down at me. “Now!”
“Would you stop being so rough with me!?” I snap, shaking myself free of his grip
and taking a step back from him. “You’re bigger than me, Luca! It’s bullshit to use
that to try to intimidate me
“Are you seriously going to try to talk to me about what is fair right now, Ari?” he
spits out, stepping closer to loom over me. “After all of the shit you pulled with
this
— this dream!?”
12:54 Sun, 10 Mar
Chapter 50
078%
“Hey!” I shout, whipping my finger up into his face, “I, too, was pulled into this
dream without knowing what it was, and I also did not know at first that it was
real!
So”
“But you definitely knew before I did!” Luca snaps, grabbing my arm and hauling
me closer. And you should have told me! Immediately!”
“I did!” I insist, staring up at him.
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« .
Not until after you let me confess all
. PT

sorts of weird shit!” he shouts,
flinging hist arms out to the side in

o « o :
exasperation. “God, seriously, Shrimp,
do you think I would have said half of
that shit to you if I had known that

: PTY

you were actually hearing it!?” The
content is on Novelxo.org! Read
the latest chapter there!
“Which is why,” I say through clenched teeth, crossing my arms. “I told you it was
real, and then decided to never meet you here again!”
“What, like that’s your choice alone!?” he gasps, staring at me. “Do you have
control over this place?”
do you
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I spread my hands wide and, some
instinct prodding me, will flowers to
grow. Delicate little snowbells push
themselves out of the earth, unfurling
themselves from green leaves to
hang their little white heads all
around us. The content is on
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chapter there!
Luca gasps, his eyes going as wide as saucers as he looks around.
“Can you do that?” I ask, my voice going softer now.
Luca looks up at my face and stares at me for a long moment before he, too,
spreads his hands wide.
Nothing happens.
“What….are you trying to do?” I ask quietly.
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ur . . »

I’m trying to make…daffodils..” he
murmurs, looking around. But none
appear. I sigh, shaking my head as he

DL dr 5
looks up at me again. “So this
B » I
is…your dream,” he says, picking up
on things now. The content is on
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chapter there!
I nod. “I think so.”
“And you pulled me into it,” he continues, studying my face as he takes a step
closer.
I shrug, a little embarrassed, but admitting it because….well, I certainly can’t
blame him for it. Dream states come from the female wolf, we invite our mates
into it, but we’re in charge.
“So,” he continues softly, and a pulse of shock runs through me as I feel Luca’s
hands on my cheeks, turning my face up to him. “Do you…not want me to do
this?”
And before I can stop him, he lowers his lips to mine.