LUKAS

FOUR

Anastasia's POV

The three of us sat at the large table with full plates in front of us. The food here was quite... different. Right now, on my plate there was mountain goat meat, an arrangement of unrecognizable vegetables, and a slice of bread to go with it. In my cup, there was just plain water.

"So are you going to introduce me to the lady?" The man asks, looking at Lukas. Lukas clears his throat before motioning to me. "This is Anastasia, she's a werewolf. Anastasia, this is Ymbi, he is the leader of this cave." I took Ymbi's awaiting hand for a handshake. "Pleasure to meet you, Anastasia." He says with a smile.

"Pleasure to meet you too." We both let go and continue with our meals. "What brings you two to my cave?" Ymbi asks. Lukas puts down his fork before answering. "We are on a little mission and we need some weapons." Lukas explains.

"Of course! You may visit the weapon room after your meals... Oh! And feel free to stay the night." Ymbi says. I smile at him. "Thank you."

"It's nothing! It's the least I could do for Lukas here." Lukas only smiles and continues with his dinner.

Once we all finished our food, Ymbi led us to their weapon room. "Have a look around. I'm sure we have something that might spark your interest." He says. Me and Lukas entered the room. Shelving filled with weapons covered the walls. I head towards the right wall while Lukas went left.

I saw a silver spiked ball that hung from a chain. "Woah." I said as I looked at the shiny material. Sadly, I couldn't touch it so I moved onto the next weapon. It was a grenade. Pretty simple but it worked. "Hey Lukas, what about this one?" I turn around with the grenade in my hand only to see Lukas looking at a gun that was as bug as me.

"What are you even going to do with that?" I ask in disbelief. He looks at me and smiles. "Shoot stuff." He says, twisting the weapon in all directions, looking at all its features. I ducked when the gun pointed at me. "Why can't you just get a normal gun?" I ask, ignoring Lukas' snickers.

"I don't know. I kinda like this one." He flips the gun in my direction again and I drop to the floor. Lukas let's out a beautiful laugh as he watched me on the floor. His laugh was like music to my ears. It was full and... natural.

I quickly wiped the smile off my face and frowned up at him. "Not funny. I could've died." I huffed. Lukas put the gun back then made his way over to me and smiled down at me. "The safety was on."

"Regardless! I could've died!" I say. He stretched out a hand to help me up and I took it. "I would've revived you." His face was close. Our noses were almost touching. We grew quiet as we finally locked eyes.

"Are you done, lovebirds?" Ymbi's voice held a hint of amusement in it. I quickly stepped back from Lukas and shook my head. "We haven't found perfect weapons yet." I explain. Ymbi nodded and turned to leave. "I can see why." He mumbled under his breath. I'd decide that I didn't hear that. "Find small weapons." Lukas says with a little disappointment in his light eyes.

I wanted to read his mind but I knew I shouldn't. I felt like I was invading his privacy- which I would be if I had decided to do it. I just nod my head and continued searching.

I must've picked up a dozen trinkets and junk before I found something compact and useful. It was a knife with ridges cut into it. It could easily be laced with poison. I put it in my pocket and continued looking.

A few times my eyes came across a sword. I wanted it badly but Lukas said small weapons.

I ended up taking the knife, and two grenades. I saw that Lukas had a small gun and some kind of spray.

"Found what you need?" Ymbi asks once we finished up in the weapon room. I nod and hold up my things.

"Yup. You have many weapons." I say. Ymbi nods with his usual smile. I could feel Lukas standing not too far behind me. "You two look tired. You must stay the night." Ymbi explains. I wouldn't mind staying the night. It would be an upgrade from where we slept yesterday.

I look to Lukas for his opinion. He looks down at me before back at Ymbi. "Thank you, we will." Lukas says, nodding respectfully. Ymbi's smile seemed to widen. "Come, let me show you your room." Ymbi turned and began to walk back down the tunnels. My eyebrows furrowed at his words. Room? Surely he meant rooms.

I decided not to think too much of it and follow the candle Ymbi held. Me and Lukas walked a couple of steps behind Ymbi. "When we get to the room, I'll teach you some simple magic." Lukas says to me. I smile up at him, excited at the thought. "Really?" He nods with a hint of a smile on his face.

_____

"Confinerous Win-" I was interrupted by Lukas' uncontrollable laughter. I frown at him and cross my arms.

"It's Confinrous Wingord." He says through laughter. I narrow my eyes before saying the spell once more. "Confinrous Wingord." Lukas nods and smiles.

"Good. If you really wanted to cast the spell, you'd just motion your hands towards the object or person you're working the magic on." He explains. I nod and Grin.

"Teach me more." I demand. He smiled and just looked at me.

"Tomorrow." He says. I nod, taking what I could get. I learned about five spells tonight and it was nothing but fun. "Thank you for teaching me." I blurted out.

"I promised I'd teach you." He says as I take a seat beside him.

"Eh but still... thanks."

I could feel the heat radiating off his body. It was quite warm and comforting. Lukas turns to look at me and I stare back. He lifts his hand to my cheek and slowly caresses it. I knew what was happening and I did nothing to stop it. In fact, I secretly wished it would happen.

Deciding he was taking too long, I leaned in and closed the gap between us. Lukas seemed stunned for a second but he then kissed me back. His beard tickled a bit but I didn't mind.

His lips were soft and his movements were gentle. His hand moved to the back of my neck, pulling me closer to him. I didn't protest, wanting more of him. His hand fell to my waist, tightening his grip around me.

Our lips moved together for a few more seconds before we pulled away, out of breath. We sat there, in silence, catching our breath. I didn't know how I felt about the kiss. I knew I had a mate waiting but there is no way around the fact that I did kiss him. Would this complicate things between us?

"I'm sensing your confused thoughts. I'll give you some time to figure it out."

"Thank you." I say with a small smile. The feelings of his lips kept replaying in my mind. It was my first kiss and I was lucky to say that it was quite pleasurable. "Did- did you enjoy it?" I ask him out of curiosity. I felt myself blush as I asked the question.

"Yes." He answers simply. I nod, trying not to smile to myself. He had liked the kiss.

"Get some sleep, we leave in the morning." He informs. I get up and head for the bed only to realize something. "Where will you sleep?" I question him. He motioned to the couch on the far side of the room. "Over there." He says.

"But that-"

"Go to sleep." He interrupts me. His voice had no room for arguing this time. I take off my shoes and slip under the covers, into a blanket of warmth. I curl up into a fetal position and drift off to sleep. This would be the best sleep I'd gotten in days.