The Alphas' Daughter (Alpha Eyes: Book 2)

Chapter 21

Lucas impatiently tapped his foot on the floor on the drive home from the airport. He must have said something over the mindlink because I could feel the car speed up once or twice. We stayed on major roads and only stopped when we needed to...and at quiet places. I knew what he was doing, trying to get me home with minimal exposure or public appearances. I didn't argue with him, which would have been awkward anyway since he hardly said a word. He held my hand and stared out the window.

We crossed the border into our own territory, and he relaxed a little. I rubbed thumb across the back of his hand, hoping to catch a glimpse of where his mind was at. Still silent, he lifted our hands and pressed his lips to my knuckles. I appreciated his attention—little as it was—but I knew that it was mostly an instinct. His body showed attention, but his thoughts were miles away.

We pulled into the driveway and stopped in front of the house. Lucas squeezed my hand and exited the car without even looking at me. I took a slow breath and reached for the door handle. The door opened from outside, and Lucas held out a hand to help me out of the car. I grabbed his hand, hauled myself out, and immediately tucked myself against his side. Having his arm wrapped around my shoulders helped me not to think about everything happening.

Finally... mercifully... Lucas looked down at me. Seeing into those beautiful eyes filled me with calm again. I could face almost anything if he stood by me.

"You okay?" he murmured.

I nodded. "Glad to be home."

"Me too." He released a long breath and kissed my forehead. "I need a long soak in the bathtub with my girl, and a good night's rest in our bed."

"Sounds perfect," I sighed, nestling my cheek on his shoulder.

"Kellen!"

I stifled the groan in my throat as my mate let go of me and marched across the driveway to meet his beta. I should have guessed that he would want to take care of some business before completely unwinding. He'd come up when he was ready.

I nodded to one of the guards who'd driven. "Please take our bags up to our room. I'll be up shortly."

The man bowed and gathered as many bags as he could before nodding to another guard for help. They were gone in a flash, up the stairs to deliver the bags. I stared after them for a moment; after glancing at Lucas and seeing that he was still talking to Kellen, I headed inside and to the kitchen. After a long day of travelling, a big cup of tea sounded really nice.

"Karina!" I paused in the front doorway and glanced back. Lucas held up a hand, signaling me to wait. He said a few more things to Kellen and jogged over to join me.

"Something wrong?" I looked up at him, genuinely confused by his mood jumps.

"Nope. I just wanted to go up with you."

I nodded towards the house. "I'm going to stop in the kitchen to make some tea. You want any?"

He brushed some hair out of my face. "One of the staff can bring it up, you know. You don't have to make it yourself."

"I want to do it," I countered, patting his chest. "I need to do something for a bit. You can come with me or meet me upstairs."

"I'm not willing to leave you, so I'll come with." He tucked my hand into the bend of his arm and led the way into the house.

"Leave me?" I echoed. "Babe, you've been stuck in a car and plane with me for nearly two days. It's not like we haven't been together recently."

He tugged on my hand as we strolled into the kitchen. "There is a world of difference between being together while travelling with other people and being together in our own home. We've been out of our own house, and now that we're back, I'm reminded of how much I enjoy being with you."

I cocked an eyebrow and grabbed the electric kettle off its base. He made it sound like our time in Greece wasn't as special as being at home. No, that couldn't be right. He'd told me that he loved that time alone. Maybe the shock of having that rogue find us away from home just made him feel more at ease in our own territory where he could control the security. Yeah; that was probably it.

"Okay, Romeo," I said, shuffling to the sink to fill the kettle. "What's really going on?"

He chewed on his bottom lip for a moment and finally let out a sigh. "I'm concerned. More than that, I'm genuinely worried that all these events are coming to a head. I had a lot of time to think on the plane ride, and the severity of everything came together in my head."

I set the kettle on the counter and turned to face my mate. Truly, the worry was written­—no, more like chiseled—over his face. I hadn't noticed the darker circles under his eyes, the lines across his forehead, the five o'clock shadow on his jaw; but now that we had a minute to step back and think about things, it was obvious how much this was affecting him.

"Lucas, we're going to figure this out. Nothing is going to happen to me. You and your guys are going to find whoever is behind all of this, and you'll put an end to it. I'm not... overly worried because I have the utmost confidence in you. I trust you with my life."

He stepped closer and pulled me into his chest. For a long minute we stood like that, arms tight around each other and taking slow breaths. I nestled the slope of my nose in the curve of his neck—a position I discovered to be extremely calming—and waited for him to say something. He was the one who needed convincing in the moment, not me. If he needed more reassurance, I could do that just as well.

"You're right," he murmured. "It's not out of control yet. Everything is still different pieces that haven't fit together on the puzzle board yet. Until they do, we'll keep taking one day at a time."

I smiled at his word picture. Pieces on a puzzle board indeed. This was certainly a detailed mystery that would only reveal itself once everything was on the board; but each piece had something important in itself. What we needed to do was find the connecting points between the pieces we had rather than trying to guess what the final picture was.

Lucas' arms tightened around my waist. "I love you. You know that, right?"

"I do," I answered. "I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't."

He leaned back and gazed down at me with much lighter eyes. "You still desperate for that tea, or can we just go upstairs?"

My wolf turned little flips at what he was suggesting. We hadn't... since most of the tension started, and I only now realized how much I was missing that certain fire in our relationship. While I still wanted my tea, I wanted him more.

"The tea can wait," I whispered, slipping my arms around his neck.