The Alphas' Daughter (Alpha Eyes: Book 2)

Chapter 8

We strolled out of the house and through the woods. His nearness and touch calmed me to almost a normal emotional state. The moment we emerged from the trees into a clearing, my stomach bottomed out. The few wolves I saw first did little to ease my fears. Let's just say they were straight out of a modeling magazine.

"Lucas!" The first muscled guy noticed us and jogged over. His hair was just long enough to be spiked with gel. He hadn't ditched his shirt yet (thankfully) but the fabric clung to his sweaty skin. Even my wolf looked away.

"Max," Lucas drawled. "Good to see that you're looking your best for me."

The guy laughed. "Well if I'd known you were going to emerge from your mansion today... So who's this?"

While I still didn't want to be in the spotlight, I knew that this was a first step. Lucas tightened his hold around my shoulders as he began the introductions.

"Max, this is Karina. She's my mate, and your future luna."

Luna... I balked as the word rang through my mind. With older siblings, I didn't think that Lucas was the family successor. If he was the next alpha... holy macintosh!

"Karina, it is a pleasure to meet you." Sometime during my blitz mental panic, Max had taken my hand and pressed it to his lips.

"Easy, Kasonova." Lucas eased my hand out of Max's. "She's not up for negotiation."

Max cocked an eyebrow. "The only thing that would put me off is—" His nose twitched, and he sniffed several times. "Never mind. You went all the way with her."

"Of course I did," Lucas stated. "You good?"

Max nodded and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "You both have my allegiance."

"Then we'll continue on." Lucas steered us past Max and towards a large building at the far side of the clearing. I guessed it was the training hall by the sounds coming from inside. The closer we got, the louder the noises.

Several yards out, the door swung open and a stunning girl in workout gear stepped out into the sunshine. Her glossy golden hair was perfectly tied up, and her clothes hugged her in all the right places. If there was ever a physical manifestation of the perfect luna, she was it.

Her already sparkling eyes lit up when she saw Lucas. "Lucas! You finally returned to us! Where have you been hiding?"

My wolf snarled, ready to jump to my defense if needed.

Lucas squeezed my shoulder. "Maya, I'd like you to meet my mate."

Her face froze, that stupid joy slowly trickling away as she realized what he'd said. "Oh. I see."

"Karina, this is Maya." He nodded toward the stunner. "She's one of the pack's best fighters."

That snapped her out of her daze. "Only one of the best? I thought you valued my skills more than that, Lucas."

I stiffened beside Lucas, hating everything about her. Whatever decisions he had made, she clearly had hopes with him. But he was mine, so she needed to back down.

"I'm sure you continue to find new ways to make yourself invaluable to the pack," Lucas said, his tone carrying an edge of warning. "We all have a part to play in making this pack work."

She forced another smile, clearly not liking the message he was sending. Yet she wouldn't break...not in front of him. "Well, I'm sure there will be something for your mate to do. She has to be pretty special for you to bring her home."

Something stirred within me, slowly rising towards the surface like a burning wave. Even my wolf was fighting against the sudden surge. I knew that my instincts of self-protection were on high, but this was the deepest form of self-protection. It might be even deeper than I knew.

"Maya, I suggest you show your future luna more respect," Lucas growled.

She shrugged off his warning. "As long as you think she's worth it..."

I saw red, or rather white. My vision hazed over, everything turning a filmy white color. Before I totally knew what was happening, I lunged forward and reached for the imp's neck. She irritated me in a way I couldn't totally describe. I just couldn't handle her silent plays for my mate.

Just as my hand was about to close around her neck, Lucas's arm closed around my waist and tugged me back. He held tight as I lunged forward again. No matter how hard I tried, he wouldn't let me go.

Maya held her almost bruised throat and stared at me with wide eyes. "What kind of freak are you?"

"Maya!" Lucas barked.

I looked down at my hands, noticing how they were trembling from whatever energy was racing through me. This reminded me of my first crazy outbreak, only much stronger.

"Look at her, Lucas," Maya shrieked.

Why hadn't someone shut her up yet?

"Are you not seeing this?" she continued.

I tore Lucas's arm off my waist, turned away from Maya, and ran as hard as I could. The trees blurred together as I picked up speed. I couldn't see or hear anything else around me, just the path that would take me back to our room where I was safe.

My wolf remained quiet as I burst through the door into Lucas's—our—house. She led me back to our room and fully retreated as I staggered to the mirror. Everything was still a bit hazy, though it was slowly clearing. Whatever this surge was, it was losing grip.

I braced myself on the vanity and stared at my reflection. My mom had told me about what it was like when she first saw her green eyes in the mirror. This seemed pretty similar. The fear and shock was very real.

The green of my irises was just starting to reappear in otherwise white. Thankfully the rest of my features were still normal. I gently touched my cheeks as my vision slowly flitted back to normal. Seriously, what was this?

Lucas stumbled through the open door behind me. His chest heaved with unusual, out-of-shape kind of breaths. He was a lycan; out of shape didn't exist.

"How... How did you run that fast?" he wheezed. "I couldn't catch you."

I turned away from the mirror and widened my eyes to emphasize my point. "I think we have bigger mysteries to solve."

Seeming to recover, he closed the bedroom door and quickly crossed the room to me. Taking my face in his hands, he stared at me for a minute. By the time he blinked, my vision was all back to normal. He didn't seem phased by anything he was seeing.

"So this is something new," he deadpanned. "But I am certain that we can handle this. I will say this: I missed your beautiful green eyes."

I gave my best smile. He was my biggest support, and he was the only I wasn't freaking out. "Thank you for being so calm about this. I don't think I'd be able to handle a new mate and whatever this is at the same time."

He pulled his shoulders back and looked deep into my eyes. "There is something more at play here than we realize. It would not be fair to go against my protective instincts. So you have my undying support...no matter what."

"And Maya?" I hated to ask. The words scratched out of my throat. But I needed to know.

"She has been warned," he answered quickly. "In my pack, you only get warned once before a punishment follows. If someone gets punished twice, the next time they step out of line means they are kicked out of the pack. She knows that she's on a watch list."

I nodded, making a mental note about warnings and punishments. As Lucas's mate, he would never actually punish me—nor would he need to because I would never act against him—but it was wise to understand the workings of the pack. Lucas had a system that clearly worked.

He tapped my nose and smiled. "How about we go do something else? Something we haven't done yet?"

My wolf and I both warmed at the idea. The mention of 'we' was a sweet promise. I cocked my head. "What did you have in mind?"

He planted a firm kiss on my mouth before grinning like an idiot. "How about a run?"