"Do you regret it?"

I glanced at him from the corner of my eyes. "Do you?"

"Don't answer my question with a question, Ariana." He angrily shifted gears. "You haven't said a word to me since we left and it's worrying me. Did I do something wrong?"

I licked my lips. "You didn't do anything wrong. It just wasn't what I thought it would be like."

"So I fucked things up."

"You didn't," I quickly denied. "Forget I said anything."

"Kinda hard to do that," he muttered. "You. . .forget it."

"What were you about to say?"

Running a hand through his hair, he sighed loudly. "I liked it, Ari. It was good for me but then you say that it wasn't what you expected and it kind of makes me feel like shit. I felt like I was doing it right."

I smiled. "Everyone's first time is different," I told him. "We can't compare it."

Our eyes locked for a few seconds before he focused back on the road. I reached over and placed my hand on his that was resting on the gearshift.

"Did I hurt you? Was I too rough?"

"It hurt a little at first but then it was just a bit uncomfortable afterwards," I said. "I liked the. . .the sound you made and the weight of your body on me." My lips twitched. "And the way you cursed when you came. To be honest with you, I wouldn't want to change anything that happened."

"Would you want to do it again?" he asked so quietly that I almost didn't hear him.

"I—"

Lucas suddenly started cursing, cutting off my words. I sat up straighter and glanced over my shoulder out the back window to figure out why he was cursing. No cars were following us and there wasn't anything alarming going on around us.

I looked back at him and found him staring at the dashboard.

"What's wrong?"

"I have no clue, but I do know that we need to stop somewhere otherwise we'll be stranded."

I leaned closer and followed the direction of his gaze. Lights flickered on and off while a few stayed on. Something was wrong with the car and clearly neither one of us knew what it was.

Luckily we were driving through one of the small towns I recently found out existed. We made it to a car repair shop just in time. Parking the car in front of the garage, Lucas glanced around and frowned. There was nobody in sight.

"Stay in the car. I'll be right back."

I watched him until he disappeared into the garage. Unclipping my seatbelt, I leaned down and started searching through the bag at my feet.

I wanted to call Eva or Dad from the hotel to let them know that I was okay but Lucas had refused. He said that we couldn't take the risk of the call being traced. Before we left the motel, we'd stopped at a 24/7 shop where Lucas bought us some clothes and a few snacks but I thought I saw him slip a phone between the stuff he purchased.

My hope deflated when my search for a phone in the bag came up empty-handed. I sat up and looked at the garage again. There had to be a phone inside that I could use.

I climbed out of the car, hesitated a moment and then headed towards the building. Lucas had disappeared through another door earlier. My eyes darted around nervously. There were a lot of places for someone to hide. They could jump out and grab me at any moment.

"Lara?"

My steps faltered at the sound of my mother's name falling from the lips of a man.

I gasped and jerked my arm away when he grabbed hold of it. Spinning around, I stumbled backwards and stared at the man.

"I'm sorry," he instantly apologized. "I. . .for a moment you looked like someone I used to know."

The man was tall and in very good shape. He was dressed in old worn jeans and a tight shirt that was smeared with grease. A thick beard covered the lower half of his face and golden brown eyes watched me with something close to shock.

"Can I help you with something?"

My lips parted but no sound escaped. I took another step back and glanced at the car. I knew that he was going to catch me before I reached it. My eyes darted back to the man. He didn't look threatening at all.

"O-our car broke down," I stuttered as I pointed a shaking finger in the direction of it. "W-we don't k-know what's wrong w-with it."

He turned slightly to look at the car.

I sensed Lucas before he appeared at my side with a hand pressed to the small of my back.

The man's eyes darted between us before the focus on Lucas. Something flashed through his eyes but it was gone in the next seconds. He smiled and held out his hand towards Lucas.

"Ethan. I heard that you're having car trouble."

They shook hands.

"Yes we are."

"Why don't you pull it in so I can have a look?" Ethan pointed to the garage.

Lucas didn't give Ethan his name and he didn't introduce me to him either which the man clearly noticed because his smile slipped slightly.

"We have a sitting area inside," Ethan said to me. "You're welcome to take a seat."

"Thank you."

With a nod, he made his way over to the car.

I turned towards Lucas and tilted my head back to look up at him. His eyes were still focused on Ethan. Lucas was frowning as if he had eaten something sour. Reaching up, I placed my hand on his chest.

"There was no one inside, but I need you to stay—"

"Then I'll be okay." He opened his mouth but I jumped in before he could argue. "If something happens, I'll scream. Besides, it won't take you long to move the car."

"Ariana," he sighed. "You'll scream as loud as you can? You won't freeze up in fear?"

"I can't promise you that," I admitted softly.

"That's what worries me, Ariana." Lucas reached up and cupped my cheek. "You could've easily fought him. You're stronger than him but you froze and he ended up hurting you."

My eyes dropped. How could I tell him that I hadn't shifted since I was twelve? I'd lost contact with the animal inside me and I had no idea how to reach out to it.

"I'm missing something, aren't I?" he asked.

I avoided eye contact as I answered him. "Yeah, but I'm not going to explain it now because it will take hours and that's something we don't have."

He hesitated and then agreed. Lucas surprised me when he leaned down and kissed me.

"Don't wander off." With the stroke of his thumb across my cheekbone he walked off and joined Ethan at the car.

Spinning around, I hurried towards the entrance and entered the garage. I easily spotted the sitting area Ethan had mentioned and also the counter that was littered with papers.

Hurrying towards it, I searched for a phone but found none.

There were lots of papers and a pen. Making up my mind, I grabbed a piece of paper and the pen. I wrote down Dad's number and my name.

"Are you looking for something?"

My body jerked in fright when he spoke so suddenly behind me. Ethan walked around the counter before I could turn around. His eyes darted over my face and then dropped to my hands.

This could go two ways: the man would either follow my order or not.

"Uhm. . .can you do something for me?" Without waiting for a reply, I slid the paper over to him. "Can you call this number and tell the man who answers that Ariana is okay?"

His brows dipped into a frown. Ethan's eyes darted between mine and then dropped to the number on the paper. "Are you in trouble?"

"No," I hastened to assure him. "It's nothing like that."

Thankfully I was saved from giving him any explanation because Lucas arrived. Ethan quickly grabbed the paper and stuffed it into his pocket.

"You found it." He nodded down to the pen which I quickly handed him. "I keep telling them to put everything where they found it, but they never listen."

"Everything okay?" Lucas asked against my ear.

I smiled up at him.

"I couldn't find the pen but she spotted it," Ethan said as he started searching through the mess. "Here it is."

He pulled out a thick book and placed it on top of the mess.

"Can you have it fixed by tomorrow?" Lucas asked him.

"It shouldn't be a problem," he muttered as he leafed through the book. "I just want to make sure of the model number. Pop the hood for me, will you?"

I took a seat on the edge of one of the old leather couches and silently watched them as they moved about the car. From what I could tell from their conversation, Ethan would have to order some parts needed for the car but it was going to take a few days.

I had no idea what was wrong with it and I didn't exactly care. All that concerned me at the moment was whether Dad was going to get my message or not.

"Ariana." I looked at Lucas. "Can you get the bag from the car?"

"Okay."

For some reason I felt guilty. Was it because I was doing something behind Lucas's back? There was a good reason why he didn't want anybody to know where we were but I just wanted Dad to know that I was alive and okay.

Opening the front door, I leaned inside and grabbed the bag. A low whistle from behind me had me snapping upright.

The man that was leaning against the wall smelled horrible and the way his eyes darted over my body made my skin crawl. He licked his lips and straightened with a slight struggle.

The moment he took a step towards me, I did what Lucas had told me to do.

I screamed.