Testimony of Children (Alice Gray Book 2)

41

So when we were still carefully moving through the dark, damp and slippery passage, ten minutes later, Lucas began to lose faith. All thoughts of myself disappeared, and I immediately wanted to ease his suffering.

I needed my Alpha to be content. This co-dependence was going to get tiresome very quickly.

The irony wasn't lost on me. Until tonight, my greatest fear was that I would never form meaningful relationships; that my power would corrupt and twist every person that I got close to. Even Thomas had been unable to resist the pull of my life-force.

All of a sudden, I found myself desperate to please Lucas. I needed his approval. Maybe I should have been less concerned about gaining admirers and more worried about becoming one.

Sensing my shift in mood, Lucas looked down to check that I wasn't freaking out again. His green eyes shone with concern, standing out brightly from his rich caramel coloured skin. Dark hair cropped close to his head accentuated the strong features of his face: high cheekbones, square jaw and wide sensuous mouth.

As I held his gaze, the concern in his eyes turned to something else. Heat radiated from his large body. He licked his lips. The air around him shimmered as his warmth enveloped me, permeating every fibre of my being. It reached my core and my power reacted, rushing out to connect with Lucas.

His eyes went wide with surprise when our power met. His, harsh, wild and brutal. Mine, all those things but also different, the innate cultivation of my ancestor's magic refining my life-force in a way that I still could not grasp for myself.

"Alice," he said, breathless from the rush of our joint strength.

I couldn't form speech to offer a response. My eyes were glued to his, desperate for him to either break the connection, or pull me to him and reinforce it in a way that I desperately craved.

Lucas held my gaze, letting my power explore his, fusing and strengthening our bond. A tiny niggle in the back of my mind told me that this wasn't a good idea. That it wasn't right to become so reliant on somebody else. That I shouldn't want him so much.

Abruptly, I turned away from his penetrating gaze. I definitely shouldn't want Lucas so much. In the last two days I had admitted that I loved both Thomas and Stephen. Granted, I had only admitted it to myself. And I had a complicated history with both. But there was definitely no room for a werewolf in the mix.

Lucas reached towards me. I could feel his need to connect physically, to reassure with touch. That's how it worked, we had to touch each other to benefit from the comforting vibes that the bond created, but each time we did that, it strengthened the bond.

"You should have told me," I said, moving away from his outstretched hand.

"I didn't know it would happen that way with you, you're a witch. You're not like me. I was just trying to offer you comfort in the only way I knew how."

"But that happens with werewolves? They become attracted, you know, sexually?"

"It's just evolution, Alice. No big deal. The females want to breed with the strongest male, the Alpha."

"NO BIG DEAL?"

My voice was getting increasingly louder as my mind refused to accept how casually Lucas was trying to shrug this off.

"You've bound me to your pack, a consequence being that I now want to jump you? And that's no big deal?"

I could feel my face getting red, my bluster increasing in magnitude as I tried to make sense of what I was hearing. My power was unruly at the best of times, and for some unfathomable reason, it had accepted Lucas's dominance without the merest fizzle or pop. Now, as my temper got the better of me, there was no corresponding flare.

"Stop with the tantrum. A guy could get a complex from that reaction. It's not that bad. We don't have to act on it." His cocky little grin suggested that he had little faith in that statement.

Ugh. Men.

I'd just have to deal with this on my own. I stalked past him, careful not to brush his body with mine. There would be no more casual contact between us. I would not be a slave to my hormones, or the magic, or whatever the hell this was.

Pulling his jacket around me, I pretended that I wasn't still taking comfort in his scent surrounding my body. Losing balance, my hand brushed something smooth and round.

The tiny skull of a child grinned maniacally up at me.

Shrieking, I jumped into Lucas's arms. I was never getting used to it down here. He could barely contain his mirth as he held me to him, wrapping us both up in the contentment of the bond. Tearing myself away, I forced a scowl at him, even though all I really wanted to do was curl up in his arms and purr.

I really needed to get away from this guy.

Moving quickly down the passage, I became aware of it opening out slightly. The stench of decay was lightening, as though the air had circulated more recently. My speed increased, the thought of the outside world spurring me on.

Lucas grabbed my arm to slow me, urging caution. I shook him off. I could taste freedom, and nobody was going to keep me from it.

Light filtered through the passage, coming from a turning up ahead. Racing forward I took the corner full speed, failing to notice the figure silhouetted at the entrance to the catacombs. The collision left us in a tangled heap on the ground.

Only then did I notice with whom I had fallen.

Evan.

Uh oh, pack dynamics can be tricky...
Hope you're enjoying the story.❤️