Luke turned into a giant kid. I'd never seen a grown man so excited to do something so...weird. When we pulled up at his farmhouse, something familiar and homely enveloped me. I wanted to stay here as long as possible, it was just so pretty and peaceful.

"I think you look grubby enough," he said, giving me the once over.

"Excuse me?"

"Well your top has a hole in it, you've got paint stains on your jeans, and a spot of ketchup at the corner of your mouth."

My face flushed red. I flipped the sun visor down and looked at my reflection. No ketchup. I glared at Luke. "Really?"

"Gotcha."

With that, he leaped out of the car, throwing the keys into my lap. He ran towards the old wooden barn at the side of the house. How the rickety old thing was still standing baffled me.

"Are you coming?" he shouted.

I grinned. Karma, bitch. I pointed at the door and shrugged my shoulders.

His face fell and he jogged back to the car. "I'm sorry. I got a little over excited."

He opened the door for me and I got out. "Looks like chivalry really is dying."

"I know, I'm sorry." He looked down at my trainers and then at the muddy path leading to the barn. Before I knew it, he scooped me up in his arms.

I shrieked in surprise and laughed. "What are you doing?"

He started marching towards the barn. "Hopefully this will make up for my lapse with the door."

"Don't be ridiculous," I said, looking at his handsome face. I found myself resisting the urge to kiss his cheek. I wanted to put my arms around his neck and cuddle into him, but I couldn't. It wouldn't be appropriate. "Besides, some mud on my trainers would only add to the look, right?"

A wicked glint passed through his eyes. "Good point." He promptly put me down, right in the thick of the mud. The ground actually squelched. "Excellent thinking, Cat."

"Oh my God!" I yelled. "Did you actually just do this?"

He carried on walking and yelled back, "Yep, I think I did."

I let out a scream of frustration. These trainers were only four months old, I'd bought them just before coming back to Whitby. Bright white with streaks of purple and pink, I adored them. Now they were just brown. Even the laces.

Luke opened the barn doors to reveal an old red car. The bottom of the rear bumper had more dents in it than a punchbag and the exhaust was rotten. When he got in it, the car creaked and leaned heavily to one side. I couldn't help but giggle.

When he reversed it out, I had to put my hands over my mouth to stop the giggling. The entire side of it was a mangled mix of rust and red paint. Luke looked absolutely ridiculous in it, like a bear who had been crammed into a sardine tin.

"Get in," he shouted through the window.

I opened the door carefully, in case it fell off its hinges, and sat down.

"Hey, you're getting the carpet muddy," he said, chuckling.

I bent down and scraped some of the still wet mud off the side of one of my trainers. "I wonder why?" I said, smearing his cheek with the mud. At least I wouldn't want to kiss it now.

"You didn't just do that?" he said, looking at himself in the rear-view mirror.

"Yep, I think I did."

He wiped most of the mud off his face leaving a brown smear behind. To my horror, he spread it all over my forehead. I screeched like a mouse and batted his hand away.

"You didn't!"

He laughed. "Yep, I think I did."

I rubbed at my forehead, hunching down and looking at myself in the wing mirror. I looked like I'd attempted to put makeup on and forgotten about it.

"Luke, I am not going anywhere looking like this."

"Then how come we're moving?" he said, wiggling his eyebrows up and down.

"Luke! Seriously!"

He laughed. "Calm down. You've got plenty left on your trainers to make the rest of your face match."

I spent the next half an hour licking the fingers on my left hand and rubbing at the mud on my forehead. It didn't do much. You could still tell I had mud on me. I gave up and settled back in the threadbare seat.

"You look adorable," Luke said, trying not to laugh. "I'm sure I'll get a good deal just for how cute you look."

I stuck my tongue out at him and crossed my arms over my chest. "Seriously, mate, you're gonna pay for that."

He laughed. "Mate?"

"Yep, that's what you've been downgraded to."

"As oppose to?"

I opened my mouth to answer but quickly realised I had no answer. "Oh stop it, you know what I meant."

He grinned. "Let's talk about this dream you had that upset Marcus so much."

"I'd really rather not."

"It looks like we're going to be spending a lot of time together so you may as well tell me."

I frowned. "What makes you say that?"

He passed me his phone. On the screen was a message from Marcus. Look after her whilst I'm gone. Please.

I snorted and passed it back. "Nice."

"He does care for you, Cat."

"Oh, spare me the sob story. He's in the doghouse for a long time yet."

"Tell me about this dream then."

I sighed and gave in. I detailed him on the dream and everything that happened up until the point where he arrived.

"So how come you guys aren't naked after you've...you know...changed?" I asked.

"Our clothes become part of our fur. When the fur disappears, the clothes are left on."

"Oh, that's quite...cool."

"I do sympathise with him to an extent," Luke said, sighing. "Of course, I'm not going to tell him that."

I giggled. "Why do you sympathise?"

"I've not seen my parents for years so I get where he's coming from with his mum."

I frowned. "You said they're travelling?"

He shook his head. "No, they're not. They're in hiding."

"Why?"

"She's a witch and he's a werewolf."

I took a moment to think about that. How awful must it be to have to hide your love from the world because some stupid rule demanded no love between different species? That was no way to live, not for anyone. "How have you survived on your own?"

"I've had my brothers and sisters, they protected me and hid me from outsiders. It wasn't until I was fully grown that I could fend for myself. People that do know about me have learned I'm no threat so they just pretend I don't exist. I'm happy with that, it beats death or being on the run."

"Or in hiding," I said, giving him a sympathetic smile.

He nodded. "I blamed myself for years for them having to hide. Took me a long time to figure out that they would be in hiding regardless of whether I existed or not. Forever is a long time to hide and not see your own family."

My heart ached for him. I couldn't even begin to imagine what his parents must be going through. "Do wolves...do you live forever too?"

"Yes, werewolves are immortal. We don't turn on a full moon, we turn at will. Silver doesn't kill us, and our bites don't kill vampires."

My curiosity had been piqued. "So what does kill you?"

He laughed. "Are you asking me to tell you how to dispose of me?"

I giggled. "Yes, I think I am."

He grinned. "It's ok," he said, giving me a cheeky wink. "I know you couldn't live without me."

I burst out laughing. "Of course not."

"A wooden stake right through the heart. Problem is getting to it. Our ribcage is ten times stronger than any vampires and our hearts are encased in bone."

I raised my eyebrows. I hadn't expected something so tough. "That's...hardcore."

"Have to be to survive in our world."

I desperately wanted to reach over and take his hand. I felt like he needed comfort right now after touching on the subject of his parents. "How old are you?"

"I stopped ageing at thirty. That was one hundred and twenty years ago."

My jaw dropped. "You're one hundred and fifty?"

He nodded.

"I gotta say, you age pretty good."

He laughed. "Thanks."

"I'm guessing the different mum is why you're built so much...bigger than the rest of your brothers and sisters?"

He nodded. "Yes, but only because she's a witch. With her being a witch mum, I got an extra boost of magic as I was developing in the womb. My size is related to how much of a power boost I got. If Dad had been the witch and Mum the wolf, I'd be just like the rest of my family."

"That's...that must have been hard to grow up with? I sensed a lot of tension between you and Mason."

He smirked. "He's a prick. Always has been, always will be."

"I gathered that," I said, laughing. "Anyway, less talk of the unpleasant things in life. What car are you looking at?"

"I don't know, I'm keeping my options open. I thought about a Range Rover because I'm a big guy, but I kind of like the idea of a sports car. They have some Audi's, Merc's and BMW's in so we'll see."

"Really going low key then," I said, giggling. "How does a handyman earn so much money?"

He laughed. "I've had plenty of years to work and invest my money in the correct places. Don't judge a book by its cover."

"Are you like a millionaire or something then?"

"Why?" he asked, grinning. "Are you a gold digger? Because if you are, the answer is yes."

I burst out laughing. "No, I'm not but that's a good option to know."

We carried on chit chatting for the rest of the drive. When we turned down a little country lane with brand new red brick buildings lining the road, my anxiety shot through the roof. What the hell was I doing? Why had I agreed to do this?

Luke parked right outside the front door, right next to a brand-new Porsche. I nearly choked. "You can't park here," I whispered.

"There's a parking space, Cat, so yes, I think I can."

"Oh my God, I want to crawl in a hole and die," I said, shrinking in my seat.

"Lighten up, have some fun. Come on." He pointed at the open roller shutter door. "There's a whole warehouse of them in there. Let's go have a look."

He opened his car door, and I couldn't help but squeak. "Don't, Luke. Let's just go home."

"Oh, get your big girl knickers on. You're supposed to be some badass witch, right? Prove it."

I frowned. "I'm not entirely sure how I'm supposed to do that when we're car shopping."

"Just get out the car, Cat." He took the keys from the ignition and pushed himself out of the small opening. "Chicken."

I sucked in a deep breath and got out of the car. I glared at him over the roof and said, "You're gonna get downgraded to matey in a minute."

He grinned. "Fine by me, Captain."

"What?"

"Matey is a pirate term."

I grinned. "You know you forgot to open the Captain's door again? You're seriously lacking, matey."

"Get inside, wench."

We headed inside the immaculate showroom, chuckling away like a pair of teenagers. When I took in the sight in front of me, I had to stop and take a moment. I'd never seen such a collection of prestige cars.

Row after row of shiny sports cars. Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, even some names I didn't recognise. I couldn't imagine the money's worth sat in this one place.

"See anything you like?" Luke asked, casually strolling along the first row of cars.

"Yes, but this isn't my car. It's yours."

"I think having an outside opinion would be beneficial."

"My outside opinion would be as long as I don't have to travel in that rot box ever again, buy whatever you fancy."

He laughed. "She's a classic. You leave old Jessie alone."

"Jessie? You named that thing?"

"Yes, it's the law. A man has to name his toys."

I pointed at a bright blue Porsche. "That's a toy. Not that thing out there," I said, jerking my head towards the door.

"How very dare you. Poor Jessie." He skimmed his fingers over the gleaming paintwork on a white car I didn't recognise. "This is...well, Jessie wouldn't come close to this, I have to say."

"What even is it?" I asked, looking at the weird red mark it had for a logo.

"This is a McLaren. The new GT if I'm not mistaken. Brand new out this year."

"It looks expensive."

"That's because they are expensive. You can kiss goodbye to the best part of two hundred grand for one of these."

My jaw dropped. "I could buy a house with that!"

"Hi there."

I turned to see an older gentleman in a grey suit striding towards us. His grey hair had been slicked back with gel and he walked with an air of arrogance I instantly took a dislike to. His beady green eyes were scanning us up and down already.

"Hi," said Luke, holding out his hand.

The man looked at it and pressed his hands together. "I'm sorry. Bit of a germ freak. My name is Owen. Can I help you?"

I glanced at Luke with a wicked glint in my eye. He gave me the smallest of nods. "Hi, Owen. I'm Caitlyn." I put my finger on the McLaren and walked down the side, sliding my finger across the smooth paintwork. "We really like this car."

He scratched his head and coughed. "Please don't touch the paintwork, Miss. That's a very expensive car."

I resisted the urge to smirk. This guy was so pretentious and clearly looking down his nose at us. "Oh, I know. I have a choice of what car to buy. A gift from my darling boyfriend."

"Well," he said, coughing and clapping his hands together. "Why don't I show you our selection of second-hand cars out the back? I'm sure they'll be at a more comfortable price point for you."

"I'm sorry?"

Worry filled his little piggy eyes. "Just...you know," he said, motioning his hand over us both. "I'm sure these cars are perhaps a little out of your league."

I looked at Luke and smirked. "Did you hear that, darling? This car is out of our league."

Luke nodded and looked at the man. "Maybe you'll just indulge my girlfriend's desire to appreciate nice cars?"

"Yes, of course," Owen said. "But please no touching."

"Hands in pockets," I said, grinning at him and making a point of shoving them into my jeans.

"Enjoy," he said, before retreating back to the office.

"Wow," I whispered to Luke. "Can you believe that? You were right though. That was fun watching him twitch as I touched it."

He laughed. "Told you. The best bit hasn't even started yet."

"What are you talking about?"

"Watch and learn, Cat. Watch and learn."