Chapter 22

Trisha’s P.O.V:

The sound of the door opening and closing woke me up from my slumber. I had no idea when I’d fallen asleep last night, but now the sun was high up in the sky and the rays coming through the open window fell on the floor, illuminating the entire room.

“Trisha!” Neema yelled from the doorway as he ran across the room and dived onto the bed and placed an excited kiss on my cheek. “Good morning!”

“Good morning, honey. Did Mark drop you off?” I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

“No, I did.”

Neema and I turned to look at the doorway to find Lucas leaning against the doorjamb in a dark red t-shirt and black jeans. It’s the first time I’d seen him wearing any vibrant colors and I have to admit, he looked darn delicious.

Lucas smiled as if he knew exactly what was going on in my head before he eased into the room. “I brought you breakfast, since you missed dinner last night.” He said handing me a bag of blood.

“Why did you miss dinner, Trisha? You said it’s not good to miss dinner.” Neema turned to ask me, his eyes wide with curiosity.

“I’m sorry, honey. I was working.” I tussled his hair while I glared at Lucas. Neema didn’t need to know that he could skip meals. He needed more nutrition than any of us, but he was still a child prone to tantrums.

He simply held his hands up in defense as he backed out of the room. “I’ll leave you two alone…for now.” He winked as he neared the door.

“Lucas, wait.” I called out just as he was about to exit. “Can I go to The Sanctuary today? With Neema? I have a few things I want to ask Granny Dilliana. It’s important.”

“Sure. I’ll escort you.” Lucas answered from the doorway.

“Lucas, I know the way. I can go on my own.” I reminded him.

“I know that, but I have some business to attend to there as well.” Lucas peeked from around the corner. “And I can also introduce you to the head of the Sanctuary today.”

“There’s a head of the Sanctuary?” I asked with my eyebrows raised. “I thought you were their head.”

“No,” he shook his head. “I’m their protector, but I’m not their leader. All the decisions inside the Sanctuary are taken by David Ruth, their leader. We’re friends actually, and I have a meeting with him today.”

“Alright,” I nodded. “When do we leave?”

“As soon as you’ve finished breakfast.” He said before walking away. “I’ll wait for you at the exit point.”

“Okay!” I jumped out of bed and went straight into the bathroom to change into a pair of blue denims and a green full sleeve sweater. “Neema, let’s get you changed.” I called out as soon as I got out of the bathroom, to find Neema digging through his bundle of clothes in the wardrobe.

“Pick something warm,” I warned him. “It’ll be really cold inside the forest and we’ll probably get back later in the evening, so get a scarf too.”

“Okay!” Neema picked up a bundle of clothes and rushed off to the bathroom, holding them close to his chest. I took the opportunity to finish breakfast, since Neema was old enough to get dressed on his own and he’d call me if he needed help. And I didn’t want to drink blood in front of him. He didn’t have a lot of good memories associated with blood and even though he knew I’m a vampire, he didn’t need to see me in action.

Within ten minutes, we were ready and headed in the direction of exit point, only to find Lucas standing there in his underwear, with a bag in hand.

Neema looked at Lucas wide eyes since he was wearing a jacket and a scarf securely wrapped around his neck, while I was trying my best not to ogle. Hot damn! He had bulging muscles and a six pack and he was toned all over.

I was no saint and Lucas was built like a very fine specimen of the opposite sex. It was natural for me to be attracted to him, especially since he was parading around half-naked.

Lucas seemed to have caught the drift of my thoughts, because his lips tilted up on one side in a smirk while his eyes had a ring of amber around the iris. He seemed to be approving of my thoughts.

“Why aren’t you dressed? Trisha said its cold out.” Neema asked before I could, innocently unaware of the sexual tension in the air.

Lucas grinned. “Wait till we get down, I have a surprise for you.” He told Neema before throwing the bag over to me. “Hold on to this for me, please. And you guys should go first.” He motioned for us to lead and then stepped back to give us more space.

I strapped the backpack in front of me and hoisted Neema up in my arms. “Hold on tight champ!” I warned and then leapt off, down the trap-door.

Neema screamed as soon as we were in the air, but he wasn’t panicked. In fact, I think he was enjoying the jump a little too much. I shifted my angle so that the landing doesn’t affect Neema and when I placed him on the ground, his cheeks were flushed and he was practically bouncing on his feet.

“Trisha, look!” Neema pointed up at the exit with a huge smile and I looked up just in time to catch the most amazing thing I’d ever seen.

Lucas jumped down from the exit point, but midway through the fall, he did a cartwheel and then the sound of bones shifting hit my ears as Lucas was engulfed in a flash of light as he landed on the forest floor on all fours, a few feet ahead of us. But as the light receded, what stood in front of us was no longer Lucas, but a large wolf with silky grey fur that ended in black when it reached its legs.

“Wow.” I breathed as the wolf turned its head towards me and I noticed Lucas’s topaz eyes staring at me from the body of the wolf.

“You’re beautiful.”I told him as I walked towards the grey wolf, Neema’s hand tightly clutched in mine. But Neema didn’t look afraid. In fact, he looked awestruck and curious.

Lucas stood perfectly still as Neema approached him. He knew that any sudden movements could scare away the child. Neema raised his hand towards him and only then did he lower his muzzle and tapped his nose lightly to Neema’s palm.

Neema let out a surprised giggle. “It’s cold!” He said, reaching for Lucas again, and this time, Lucas nuzzled his face to Neema’s chest as he hugged the enormous wolf. Unfortunately, Neema was too small and Lucas’s form too big, so he only ended up embracing Lucas’s head.

Lucas made a snorting sound and motioned at Neema and then his back, telling me to place the child there so he could carry him. But I shook my head. Lucas made a growling noise which startled Neema into taking a step back, but I knew what he meant so I gave him arm a reassuring squeeze.

“We need to get there fast. I have a lot of questions to ask Dilliana and besides, Neema won’t be able to balance himself when you’re running and it’ll only slow us down.” I told him.

Lucas grunted and tilted his head forward. I picked up Neema in my arms and told him to hang on tight and keep his eyes closed. And then we were off, Lucas and I sprinted through the forest towards the Sanctuary.

I had many questions and I needed facts to fight my case, not riddles. But as we neared the great wall of trees, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that whatever we find today, it’ll change my prospective forever.