The Earl's Exception (BWWM)

Úlfhéðnar (Sequel news)

"Who else knows she's your mate?"

Lucas' fist curls as he turns around to Arun Saleh, who still had amusement shining in his pale blue eyes.

Lucas Roland hadn't seen his girlfriend in three very long weeks. He'd rushed right to the airport from the hospital after witnessing his ex-girlfriend and his best-friend birth a son. Boyd was supposed to pick him up from the airport and help him set up a surprise, but it was Lucas who'd been surprised. He watched in horror as airport staff and travelers all in a trance-like state led Arun to him. The handsome man who looked younger than him smiled deviously and jovially said

"Fróði...So that's what's under all the hair and black dye."

At that time Lucas had only known the reclusive billionaire by name, reputation and portfolio, he could even admit to having admired the man. He hadn't known that Arun wasn't human, that he was an alpha creature from the highest of ancient orders. Lucas didn't like to think about the creatures that walked the earth in human skin, it reminded him of his mother.

"No one." Lucas growls, his glare searching the house for ears out of habit rather than necessity

Boyd had disappeared and Funke had just left for her business meetings under the protection of another creature. California seemed to be full of them.

"I see you haven't claimed her..that's smart." Arun notes as Lucas turns to him

"And yet somehow you knew immediately that she was my mate." Lucas accuses the being, barely holding himself together

It had been like this since their meeting at the airport last night. Arun Saleh seemed to know all of Lucas' deepest secrets and mentioned them so casually it made his blood boil.

"What do you want me to say Fróði? I never forget." Arun shrugs, Lucas' fist curling again from the vague reply

"Relax. Your secret is safe with me."

"Follow me." Lucas states, turning for the tiny yard by the pool.

It felt odd to discuss something so important, a secret so haunting, out in the foyer like this. He could see Arun wasn't about to drop the topic, judging from the way he'd teased it right in front of Funke and Boyd. No one had ever mentioned Lucas' mother so casually, in fact Lucas wasn't of the habit of entertaining anyone who could call either of his parents by their first names. They had died one after the other in his early teens, leaving him and his sister Carlen under the care of an aunt from Úlfhéðnar, another thing he didn't like to think about.

"Go ahead." Lucas urges the man who'd openly flirted with Funke and then softly considered entrancing her

"Do you want me to explain this to you like you're two?" Arun Saleh wonders, running his fingers through the granite counter of the small outdoor kitchen lazily while his gaze rests on Lucas Roland

In his many years in this realm he had cursed his immortality, his long memory, the times he'd bumped into his oldest friends and they hadn't recognized him and he'd been forced to watch them die. Not once had they all been reborn at the same time; this must be a sign. If only he could find Zujuni now. If only he could show her she had been right to suspect Frode was actually handsome under the furs, beards, hair and black dyes.

"There's a rank of ancient beings called the fallen and they are about to start a war for this world. I get that part. The part where it has anything to do with me...explain that." Lucas instructs, leaning back and crossing his muscled arms over his chest

Arun Saleh hadn't entranced him yesterday, in fact he'd been so sure Lucas would comply that he simply explained that he was putting the alliance back together and Rikke had vowed Úlfhéðnar would be with him if he ever needed it. Until then Lucas had thought of Úlfhéðnar as his mother's birth place that he'd never visited and she rarely spoke of. Now, as he mused over saying No so that Arun Saleh heard him clearly, he wondered what exactly his mother and aunt Anja had left out.