Luka's POV:

My eyes followed her as she left until she disappeared up the steps.

I'd say that went well.

Or at least better than it could have been.

She actually took the information I gave her a lot better than I was expecting.

And given that my only goal in that whole conversation was to not completely freak her out, I think I did well.

She seemed to believe me, despite how ridiculous what I told her might seem to someone that's never encountered my species.

The fact that she's at least come in contact with her wolf through her dreams was just the boost I needed.

It told me that even if she wasn't conscious of it at all, that she shared the same lycan instincts that I did.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say that subconscious knowledge was helping her understand and accept all of this.

I knew this was new to her, but she never doubted anything that I said to her.

Whether it was the mate bond or that subconscious knowledge, I wasn't sure.

What I was sure about was that I needed to get her to my pack.

The fact that her wolf has been lying dormant all this time admittedly saddened me, both because both sides of me desperately longed to see her, and I couldn't imagine missing such a large part of myself.

I wanted to show her everything that she was.

But at this point, it was up to her.

I had a plan, but it wouldn't work if she doesn't do what I want her to.

I stepped back and glanced at the door of this cage.

She might not have panicked, but she was definitely wary, which is probably why she kept me in here.

She was aware of the mate bond, but she didn't know what it meant.

I'm just hoping it was strong enough within her for me to pull this off.

Shutting my eyes, I listened, hearing her footsteps above me in the dirt followed by the heavier steps of a horse.

Perfect.

I waited for a couple more minutes before the heavy footsteps of the horse started off and faded as she rode into town.

As soon as I could no longer hear her, I opened up the cage door and began setting my plan into motion.

I didn't know how long she planned to be gone, but it was probably enough for me to get done what I needed to before she returned.

I really only needed one of her instincts to kick in for this, whether it was for me, or the need to keep me here for her... father.

Either way, I just simply needed her to chase.

~~~

Lydia's POV:

I think my expression was completely blank.

I had ridden into town, picked something up from Briar, and was now riding back.

My body running on autopilot at this point. I couldn't even tell you what I just spent money on.

All I knew was that I was headed home to cook breakfast for me and the wolfman in my basement.

Luckily Angus knew where home was and was keeping at a nice walking pace back without me having to do too much.

My horse was moderately well mannered for a shire gelding, although right now I think he could tell I'd been on edge all day today.

I didn't even bother putting on a saddle or a proper bridle, settling for just a halter and some rope

I was fine riding bareback and I had worked with him enough to respond to leg pressure instead of pulling at his head.

Rubbing the reddish-brown hair covering his neck, I tried to relax.

It didn't work.

I guess it would be kind of hard for anyone to relax after being told something as ridiculous as what I had just heard.

It was ridiculous but it made sense and that's what I was having trouble grasping.

I had trouble with the fact that I believed everything that he said to me.

Not to add the whole 'mate' thing that he still hasn't explained.

Did I even want to know?

Regardless of the many excuses can and have come up with, I think the answer was yes.

His explanations ended up explaining up the dreams that had been bugging me, and the fact that he predicted the one I had two nights ago flawlessly was even more intriguing.

I'll admit, I was curious.

Curious and nervous all at the same time.

I came back to my senses once I felt Angus stop without any direction from me.

His ears stood straight up and pointed straight ahead towards my house that was now in view.

I tried to follow where he was looking, hearing him snort as I inspected what I could see.

My jaw then dropped once I spotted the white wolf lying peacefully on my porch.

The simple fact that Luka really could have just let himself out of that cage at any time finally made itself known to me.

I guess with all that was going on, the fact that anything with the brain capacity above a three-year-old could have opened it never crossed my mind until now.

Why did he stay in there for so long then?

No. More importantly, what was he doing now?!

The wolf's head lifted as I clicked my tongue and Angus began trotting.

Luka's tail began thumping against the grass as he lifted himself into a sitting position, watching me approach.

Trying to think up my next move, I soon found myself in a very strange predicament.

On one hand, keeping Luka in a cage now seemed wrong on so many different levels, but I also knew that my father would be devastated if he returned and the wolf was gone.

He would have taken this trip for nothing.

Luka didn't move an inch as I rode up to him, seeing that pair of trousers I gave him tied loosely around his neck.

He finally stood as I hopped off of Angus, who was oddly calm around a wolf of his stature.

I wondered if Angus knew what Luka was.

He had to because there's absolutely no way any horse would be this calm around any canine.

Luka's stature as a wolf became much more clear once I turned to face him.

I saw a lot of him while he was unconscious, but never got a clear idea of his height.

Now, I wasn't short by any means, but even so, the tips of his ears reached close to my shoulders.

Where I thought some sudden nervousness would be, I found that warmth instead.

Which I thought was completely bizarre.

This wolf was built for power, I could see the muscle even under all the fur.

Not to mention the sizeable teeth and claws that looked like they could so easily tear into everything.

Anyone would be scared. I should be scared.

But I wasn't.

He took a couple steps towards me, his paws leaving large prints in the dirt.

I held my tongue for the moment, watching his nose twitch as he got closer.

This was weird. This was so so weird.

This wolf and the man I met were the same.

I think the whole transforming into a wolf thing was pert fo the things I hadn't accepted yet.

But I couldn't deny the fact that so far, their mannerisms were the same.

And the eyes of this wolf were exactly how he explained them to me.

His tail still swayed

I ended up sputtering out a couple attempts at talking, failing as he sniffed towards me.

A blush crawled up my neck as I to the sudden urge to feel his fur again.

What he absolute hell was happening to me?!

I guess that thought was strange enough for me to pull myself together.

I shook my head and took a single step back.

"Ok. No. I don't know what you're trying to do, but I need you to go back down there," I said, sounding as stern as I could possibly muster.

It became clear that he could understand me like that when he looked over towards the shack I was now pointing at.

He then just looked back at me, tail wagging faster as his head tilted and his tongue came out.

I felt my eyebrow twitch when I could almost feel what his answer was

He found this funny.

"Now," I added, taking a step closer to add to my point.

I knew that I couldn't overpower him physically by any means, so I was just begging that he'd listen to me.

As soon as my foot hit the ground, however, his stance changed again.

His front paws stretched in front of him in a playful way, a small gruff bark leaving his mouth.

I couldn't tell what I was more frustrated at.

The fact that he wasn't listening to me, or that part of me actually thought that this was amusing.

"Luka, I'm serious," I added, my voice losing its harshness and being replaced with desperation.

He didn't react at first, he just blinked at me with his tail going as wild as ever.

I was about to speak with my last-ditch attempt to get him to listen before he suddenly turned and ran.

My head turned to follow him, seeing how he was running towards the direction where I initially found him.

"Luka!" I yelled, both in anger and an odd amount of panic.

I didn't even realize that I had begun running after him for a few steps.

He wasn't stopping, and I knew I couldn't chase him down myself.

Shit.

I needed to get him back here.

My body acted on its own as I returned to my horse, pushed myself onto him, and lead him into a full gallop to run after Luka.