LUKAS

ELEVEN

Anastasia's POV

"No, try again," Lukas orders me. He was training again and I was becoming quite frustrated. So far, Lukas had beheaded a fish and told me to revive it. So in my right hand with the fish head, and the body in my left, I struggled to give life to it.

I closed my eyes and joined the fish with its head one more time.

When I peeked open one eye and saw that nothing was happening, I became even more angered. "No," Lukas says. He grabs both of my hands and held them in place firmly. "Think of the neurons, the scales, the blood. Be the nucleus and all you have to do is direct the cells." I sighed. He sure made it sound easy.

I squeezed my eyes shut and did exactly what he said. Soon, I felt the fish squirm in my hands. My eyes shot open and I immediately returned the fish into the pot of water beside me. "I did it!" I exclaim. Lukas smiles and nods. "You did it." When he looked at me I could tell there were unsaid emotions behind his eyes. I took it as my chance to see deeper into him.

I should've been her mate.

When he noticed what I was doing, he shut his eyes but it was too late. "Anastasia! You can't just read people whenever you feel like doing so!" He began to stand up from where we were sitting on the ground. "I saw what you were thinking," I said to him. He crosses his arms and looks off into the distance. "And I know that you have a mate now but it will not change how I feel about you." I press my lips into a thin line.

"You will have to find somebody else, Lukas," I told him, standing up as well.

He just nodded. "I know."

There were a couple of moments of silence before Lukas spoke. "Are you ready to go?" He questions. I look over to see Azriel looking at us through the window. "Yeah."

Samouel's POV

I scrunched my face up as my grandmother littered me and Nerissa's faces with wet kisses. "Oh, you're such sweethearts! Look how much you've grown! I remember when you guys used to walk around here with just a diaper on!" My grandmother pinches our cheeks, barely noticing the bored look on my face or the slightly angered one on Nerissa's. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Socrates with a wide grin as he mocked us by pinching his own cheeks. I only glared at him because I was still trapped in my grandmothers hold.

My grandfather was watching too and he saw our discomfort. "Honey, that's enough. They're too old for that." He thankfully stepped in and stopped her assault on me. She reluctantly let go and stood beside my grandfather.

We were in my grandfather's office, waiting to collect Anastasia.

"So, have you figured out where my daughter is?" My dad questions. My grandfather shook his head. "I've had nearly all my best trackers out looking for her. Only one says he has gotten an idea of where she might be. I think it might have something to do with that witch she was with." My grandfather explains. My father looked quite confused for a moment. "What witch? What did they look like?" He questions eagerly.

"Well he didn't seem like one to talk and his hair was far too long if you ask me." My grandfather says.

"Lukas." My father mutters. He whips out his phone and dials a number quickly. After a long pause, he begins yelling into the phone. "Do you mind giving me any clue why Lukas is currently running about with my daughter!" I couldn't hear the whole conversation but it seemed to be going south. "You are useless." He says before hanging up.

"Who was that?" My grandmother asks.

"Beatrice."

My grandmother immediately rolled her eyes. "What did you expect from her? She's never any help."