Chapter 29

Trisha’s P.O.V

Two days after Damien and Lucas’s big fight, after he teleported in and out of the den, leaving Lucas and the rest of the Den spellbound and highly alert; I was standing in front of Lucas’s door, debating on whether I should talk to him about the whole misunderstanding or let him come to me. I know I have a lot of issues to sort out with him and discuss the reasons why Damien was in my room, but I just couldn’t bring myself to admit my mistakes.

But this had to be done. It was the right thing to do.

I knocked on Lucas’s office door waiting for him to answer but the door opened as soon as my knuckles came into contact with the wood for the first time.

“Trisha?”

“Lucas!”

We said at the same time.

“I’m…I was just…do you want to come in?” Lucas stammered.

“Sure.” I smiled at his nervousness as he stepped back into his office and allowed me to come in. After I entered, he locked the door behind us to provide us some much needed privacy.

Looking at the couch, I remembered how we shared that electrifying kiss that eventually led me into bed with Lucas. But I shook my head as I remembered what came after. Damien really had bad timing…and so did Lucas. I was grateful fore the fact that he hadn’t kicked me out of the den yet.

An awkward silence followed as we sat on the chairs, on opposite sides of the table, making the setting all the more professional. It showed me just how much Lucas was hurt by Damien’s visit.

“You go first.” I told him wearily, knowing there was no easy way to deal with this.

“Dylan told me that Damien has been visiting you since the first day you arrived.” Lucas sighed and rubbed at his eyes in tiredness. “He also told me about his c0nnection with your father.”

I had figured as much, since staying quiet any longer would be a question on his loyalties. I was surprised he hadn’t spoken out sooner; but I guess he valued my father just as much as he valued his pack.

“I’m so sorry for keeping you in the dark like this.” I sighed, weaving a hand through my hair. “Honestly, I was really surprised when Damien showed up the first night…scared too because I had initially thought he was the one providing Vandal with the distraction so he could raid my house. That turned out to be false and I thought he wouldn’t come again, but…he showed up.”

Shaking his head on a sigh, Lucas looked up at me, his hazel eyes holding a rim of amber. “We were never going to work out, were we?”

I blinked in surprise. “Where is this coming from?”

“When we slept together…I thought we could become something more.” Lucas had a faraway look in his eyes. “In my two hundred and sixty years on this earth, I had never felt a connection with anyone like I did with you. I wanted to ask you to be my mate.”

“Mate?” The word just didn’t fit right; didn’t sound right as it left my lips.

A wolf mated for life. Their mates were their partners in every way possible. Their soulmates, their best friends…their everything. A wolf was always loyal to their mate and they would do everything to make them happy. What a life I would have if I accepted Lucas’s feeling for me…

But being a Luna was much more than just being a mate. I would have to stick to all of his decisions and support him in everything he did, even if it meant going against Damien.

And I couldn’t be that for Lucas.

“I’m sorry.” I shook my head. “I can’t be your mate. I meant what I said that day…I wanted to forget about Damien, but…”

“You can’t.” He gave me a sad smile. “Damien is your first love…just like you are mine.”

“Lucas…”

“No, it’s fine.” He told me as he got up from his chair and came around the table to kneel in front of me. “I’m not asking you to return my feelings…I’m just letting you know how I feel towards you and that I will always be here for you, whenever you need me.”

“I’m so sorry, Lucas.” I told him with a hand to his cheek. Sorry that I couldn’t choose him over Damien; sorry that our time together didn’t mean as much to me as it did to him…and sorry that I was still withholding information from him.

Lucas smiled at me knowingly before rising to his feet. “So, let’s discuss what we do next, shall we?”

I nodded instantly. “Yes. I was hoping to talk to him in private that night…before things got out of hand…but we need to figure out where to go from here. Our goal is still the same; I want to protect Neema and you want to have a voice.”

“Yes.” Lucas sighed. “But now we no longer have the element of surprise. Damien knows about the letters.”

“Yes, he does.” Those letters were now a dead end. All this research, all the work we did, everything we went through…it was all in vain now.

“Can we broadcast the letters on TV?” Lucas said suddenly. “They have Vandal’s signature and even though they are in riddles and most of the population watching will be vampires, but I think we can make it work.”

“Absolutely not!” I rejected the idea instantly, my heart thundering against my ribcage. “People will cause riots! They will rebel against Vandal and even though it sounds like the perfect scenario, Damien’s reign will be questioned. We cannot have another Wipeout!”

“We won’t.” Lucas shook his head. “We’ll tell that we are doing this with Damien’s permission and that he wanted the mass to decide what to do next. The guy didn’t blink an eye at the letter ordering his father’s death, you think he’ll retaliate for this?”

“It’s not just his father, Damien now knows about Neema too.” I instantly regretted saying it.

“Neema? What does he have to do with any of this?” Lucas frowned, instantly catching on. “What haven’t you told me, Trisha?”

I sighed. Since the cat was already out of the bag, there was no point in turning back now. Besides, Lucas has helped me so much till now; it was only fair I told him the truth. “I’ll tell you, but first you’ll have to swear on your honor that you’ll never reveal his secret, even if it costs your life.”

“Glad to hear you think so less of me, Trisha. I’d never endanger a child’s life, I swear on my honor.” Lucas stated. “Will that be enough?”

“It’s not just about you, Lucas, the fate of the world pretty much depends on Neema.” I told him truthfully.

“Now you’ve gotten me curious. Why is Neema so special?” Lucas asked, anticipation making his wolf rise to the surface. “I’ve always wondered what was it about Neema that a vampire noble was getting so worked up trying to get him back when we had stolen countless of humans from under his nose and he hadn’t batted an eye.”

“Alpha!” Mark’s mate, Aiden, burst through the room at that instant, looking panicked. “Lucas, Trisha, come quick! It’s Neema!”

And then there was no more time.