"H-how much did y-you hear?" I asked softly.

Granddad pursed his lips as he glanced between the two of us. "Enough," he growled.

"Are you going to tell Dad?" Ariana glanced at me. "Eva's only throwing out accusations. Nothing's true."

He hesitated before he entered the kitchen. Granddad stopped next to Ariana and frowned down at her.

"Accusations or not," he muttered, "the things she pointed out are a bit worrying."

Her lips parted but she said nothing. With the shake of her head and a glare in my direction, she stormed out of the kitchen. Granddad instantly turned to face me once she was out of sight.

"What's your plan?"

"What do you mean?" I tried to act normal but guilty colour flooded my cheeks.

"I know you, Eva," he said. "I know that you're planning something."

My shoulders slumped. "Fine. I'm planning on proving that I'm right but I don't exactly know how I'm going to do it."

Walking over to the fridge, he opened it and stared at the contents for a few minutes. With a slight shake of his head, he grabbed a water botte and then turned to face me.

"Do you know his full name?" he asked.

"I know where he lives too," I told him with a small smile.

"I only need his full name for now." Granddad walked closer until only a few inches separated us. "I want you to stay out of it until I find something on him."

"But why?"

He rolled his eyes. "Because I said so. I want to make sure that—"

His words were cut off when Grayson suddenly entered the kitchen. He paused and frowned at us but he said nothing as he walked past and out the back door.

"Let me know what you find," I muttered to Granddad before I hurried after Grayson.

I stumbled to a stop and glanced around. He had walked through the door only a second ago but he had already disappeared. It shouldn't be that much of a surprise considering the fact that I had seen how fast he could move.

Was it related to his mixed breeding?

I frowned as my eyes darted around once more.

Grayson's house was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees in all directions. There was a distance of at least five miles between the trees and the house. The grass was neatly cut all the way to the tree line.

Turning, I was just about to head back inside when movement caught my attention. I frowned as I stared at them.

Grayson was busy talking to his brother to the east of the house. Emeric was staring down at the ground as his brother spoke but whatever Grayson said made his head snap up.

I wished that I was closer so I could hear what they were talking about. Was it about Grayson's pack?

Where was his pack anyway? It was a question that had been bothering me ever since we arrived at his pack. Wasn't an Alpha supposed to interact with his pack? I even considered the fact that his pack might be spread out around town, but thought better of that since there were too many humans around.

Shaking my head, I looked back to where Grayson and Emeric stood, only to find them walking deeper into the forest. My curiosity had me hurrying to catch up with them.

***

I couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was following me. Every time I glanced over my shoulder, I found nobody there. It couldn't be Grayson or Emeric since both of them were still a few feet in front of me. They were both silent as they followed the well-walked dirt path.

I glanced around and instantly regretted it when I stepped on a twig. The sound of it snapping was loud in the silence that surrounded us. My head snapped up as my body froze.

Fingers wrapped around my wrist like a steel band a second before I was jerked roughly to the right. I stumbled but was steadied and then pushed back against the rough bark of a tree.

My eyes snapped up and my lips parted but he clamped a hand over my mouth that instantly silenced me. I glared up at Lucas, but he wasn't paying any attention to me.

Lucas's head was tilted slightly to the side while his eyes were focused somewhere over my shoulder.

Swallowing, I reached up to tug at his hand that was still covering my mouth. His fingers twitched against my skin but he didn't remove his hand. I hesitated a second before I decided to do something else.

I licked his palm. It had the opposite reaction to what I was expecting. Lucas's eyes snapped over to me but all he did was raise a questioning eyebrow.

I grabbed his wrist and gave it another tug.

Lucas smirked as his hand slowly slid from my mouth down to rest against my throat. His thumb traced slow circles over my pulse, making goose bumps break out over my skin.

"What—?" He pressed a finger to my lips.

My heartbeat increased when Lucas moved closer until his chest brushed mine. He lowered his head. I held my breath and waited for his lips to touch mine but he change direction at the last second and pressed them to my ear instead.

"I suggest you keep silent if you don't want to get caught," he whispered.

My eyes darted around the trees and then up to the branches above us. We were apparently hiding behind a thick tree that was surrounded by dense bushes. There was no way that Grayson or Emeric could see us. Surely they would've turned back when they realized that there was no one behind them?

Lucas shifted again. His hand moved from my neck to rest against the trunk next to my head as his forehead dropped to my shoulder.

I realized with some surprise that his body was trembling against mine.

"You're shaking," I whispered.

"Not for the reasons you're thinking off," he breathed.

I pursed my lips.

There was nothing I could do other than stand there and wait for him to move, but as each second ticked past, I grew increasingly uncomfortable.

I was hyper ware of the hard body pressed to mine and the warm breath tickling my neck. He smelt of sex, sweat and something else I couldn't place.

Reaching up, I pressed my hands to his abdomen, intent on pushing him away, but my hands had a mind of their own. My fingertips brushed along the ridges of his stomach over the thin shirt he wore.

"You healed fast."

He hummed.

My hands slid lower until I reached the hem. There was no hesitation, only curiosity. Feverish skin met my exploring hands. Lucas's breathing increased as I continued to explore his skin with my fingertips for a few seconds before I moved a hand to his side where he had been injured.

There was no sign of his injury at all. No bandages and no lingering scar.

"You should work on your snooping," he muttered as he raised his head. "You're not very good at it."

"I'm not trying to be," I growled.

"You should when Grayson is the one you're trying to follow." His lips curled up at one corner. "Although it's a bad idea to sneak up on him. He'll kill you before he realize who you are."

My eyes darted over his face. "You know what he is."

His smiled widened. "I know a lot about the man you claimed to be your mate."

It was hard to miss the anger darkening his eyes when he was staring at me the way he was. My fingers twitched against his skin as unease hit me.

"What's your father going to say when he finds out how much you've been lying to him?" His eyes dropped to my lips for a few seconds before they darted back up to mine. "Harmony will only last so long before the lies start catching up with you."

"I should say the same to you."

My words only made his smile widen. Amusement flashed through his eyes but it was gone in the next second. Lucas straightened and then reached out to cup my cheek. His thumb brushed over my cheekbone as his eyes dropped to my lips once again.

Was he going to kiss me? Was I going to let him kiss me? His head slowly lowered to mine and without hesitation, my head tilted back and my lips parted.

Just a little taste wouldn't hurt.

I licked my lips and sucked in a deep breath. Once again Lucas changed the direction of his mouth. Pressing a kiss to my cheek, he took a step back and winked at me.

"Don't go snooping where you have no business too, firecracker."

Although he said it in a teasing manner, I had a feeling that he was giving me a warning that I wasn't supposed to take lightly.