Page 14 of Shifters' Fated Summer
“Hey, it’s okay. I said you were safe.” Luca said softly.
My vision blurred and it felt like my racing heart was shoved up into my throat, making it hard to take a full breath.
Harper raised an eyebrow.
“It’s time to question her,” Cade said. “Before she goes into withdrawals and is useless for days if not weeks.”
“No, I don’t want that,” I argued, pulling back. I didn’t want the werewolves to touch me.
“Summer, we just need some information. No one is going to hurt you. But we want to help others. They have other hostages.”
Luca’s soothing words did little to calm my spiking pulse. I had to get out of here. “No, no,” I whimpered. “No.” The edges of my vision darkened and I gripped my chest, trying to get more air.
“Hey, Summer, breathe!”
My chest seized, lungs expanding in tiny pants that did nothing to curb the dizziness overtaking me.
Luca grabbed my plate before it fell from my shaking hands. He set it on the counter with a clink and then gripped both of my shoulders, anchoring me. Gently, he turned me and pressed me into his chest.
I went stiff, terrified of the contact. The sounds of the room dulled, everything starting to feel numb.
His t-shirt was soft and warm, smelling of pine trees and something sweeter like vanilla. His skin radiated so much heat. Just like the warm shower, I felt myself softening, my breathing eveningout and my pulse slowing.
“Defective,”someone muttered, and Luca began growling. The sound vibrated through my chest, calming my panic further. Slowly, I came back to myself.
The panic drained my energy, leaving me weaker than when Evrin drank from me. My knees wobbled.
Luca’s hold tightened on me. “Easy there. We’re gonna go sit down somewhere quiet,” he murmured.
Through my lashes, I spied the Alpha jerking his head in silent command. The arms around me urged me forward, supporting me as I wobbled out of the kitchen and into the hall.
The light dimmed as we entered another room. Luca’s thumb rubbed circles against my muscles.
“Here, we are gonna sit on this couch, okay?”
Mumbling my agreement, I let him pull me down until I rested on the sofa, my arms wrapped around my legs and Luca held me tight against his chest.
I should push him away and try to escape, but the feel of his heated hands on my skin was drugging in its own way. I was hardly ever touched in the den, and never by anyone but Evrin. In the last hour, Luca had touched me more than Evrin would in an entire week. I was ashamed to realize that I was starving for the contact. Honestly, I would have climbed entirely into his lap and burrowed into his chest, that was, if I could have trusted him.
I couldn’t. Ididn’ttrust him.
And yet Icouldn’t pull away.
Chapter 5
Questions
Luca’s hold over my shoulders kept me against him, and his heat soothed my panic. It overrode my rational thought with something primal.
He shushed me, letting the rise and fall of his chest calm me. After a moment, he asked, “Better?”
Swallowing, I nodded, not raising my cheek from his shirt. Each breath sucked in the scent of wild forest and sweet caramel.
“Summer, we need to know anything and everything about the vampire nest. We weren’t able to get everyone out. We think they had other rooms where they were keeping blood slaves.” Luca’s voice was gentle, but his words still caused me to flinch. It was a harsh reminder that we were on very different sides of this conflict.
Cade sat in a rolling office chair opposite us. He leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. His blond hair was like burnt sugar in the shadow, but it was those eyes that ensnared me. They were the warmest honey brown, and yet the cold calculation in his narrow pupils sent mystomach churning.
Danger,my instincts screamed at me.
