Chapter 471: Protecting the River
"I’m done," Neoma called softly from the doorway.
Pearce’s eyes went wide upon seeing her standing there. "Zosime? Is that... is that you? Why aren’t you locked up down here?" He growled, the expression on his face turning severe.
"Andreas’ Zosime is dead, old man," Lucas snapped and walked to where Neoma was standing.
She looked ashamed as he approached and pulled the door closed behind them, as if Pearce had reminded her of how much damage she had caused—as if she believed Pearce to be right. She should be locked up for what she did.
"Come with me," Lucas said after locking the door.
He led the way out of the dungeon, the strength in his shoulders rolling as she watched him walk in front of her. They hadn’t spoken in what felt like so long—a silent abyss yawning between them after her last words to him—and she didn’t recall him being this... this... what was he even?
Something in her belly trilled lightly as her eyes wandered down his back and the strength of him that rippled with every movement as he led the way for her. When she felt her cheeks growing warm, she dropped her gaze to the floor.
"Where are we going?" She asked when they had finally made it outside and Lucas kept walking toward the trees.
"Don’t you trust me?" He glanced back her way, the playfulness dancing in his eyes that she was so familiar with.
She smiled. Lucas had been a good friend to her. When she was in the dungeon as Zoe, he had looked after her when he probably shouldn’t have. He stayed with her after Andreas attacked her. He defended her. He tried to protect her. But it was all because she appeared so young, and then she realized... it was all because she reminded him of his mate.
She didn’t want to remind him of his mate. And she didn’t want him feeling sorry for her.
"I trust you," she said quietly as she walked through the brush, following him into the denser part of the forest.
They continued walking for some time, and gradually Neoma stopped worrying about where they were going and just appreciated being out in the calm of the woods away from all the drama of the pack. But it was cold. Winter was fast approaching.
She shivered and rubbed her hands together, picking up the pace so she could borrow some of Lucas’ warmth from just being close to him. Lycans were like the sun. They were so warm all of the time—the cold never seemed to phase them.
"Shit I forgot you aren’t as warm as the rest of us," he said when he noticed how she was hunched in on herself, trying to preserve her own warmth from escaping out into the forest air.
"I’m okay," she shrugged, trying to prevent her teeth from chattering.
"I just wondered if you had seen this place yet," he said as a small river came into view.
This must be the river that ran by Maggie’s old cottage, but it was particularly magical at this spot. Branches from trees on the bank curved over top of the soft rapids like a veil.
"It looks like the trees are trying to protect the river," she laughed softly. "It’s kind of funny isn’t it?"
"Hmm," Lucas hummed, gazing at the sway of the branches hovering over the water. "Why do you think it’s funny?"
"Well... how something so massive and rooted would feel it needed to protect what’s free? The river is never the same. You could cross it now and when you came back through it would be an entirely different section of water. It’s always changing. What is there to protect?"
"Its freedom," Lucas shrugged as if he understood the trees well. "Someone may come and dam it up, and then it wouldn’t be free anymore."
"Maybe the trees will lean too far and fall in, damming the river themselves," she gave him a crooked smile as if she had just won some kind of unspoken challenge.
He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, we can go back. You’re cold. I’m sorry."
"Wait," she said, putting a hand on his arm, and then she gulped and took it back.
He was so warm, the difference in temperature of his skin and the winter air was a shock—a welcomed one. But it made a warmth flow through her like the river in front of them, diverting into her belly where it trilled before rising to her cheeks and the tips of her ears.
Lucas’ eyes slid to find her brown ones that now seemed full of so much more wisdom than he had seen in her before, despite the fact that she appeared shy now for some reason. It was like her true age was revealed in her eyes—her time spent safe and welcomed and protected allowing her to start growing into who she truly was. He was grateful. Graeme had done well inviting her into the pack.
"You don’t have to be sorry. I am glad you brought me here. It’s beautiful," she shrugged, allowing her eyes to follow the river once more. It reminded her of how she got her new name.
"I figured... you must have some kind of thing with water. It was a river that named you," he said, as if he were reading her thoughts. "Maybe that is your element."
"My element?" She asked, a smile blooming on her face. How did he know about that?
"Yeah, I heard that each alyko aligns closely with one element in particular," he said, rubbing the back of his neck again.
Why was he acting shy? She laughed softly and then brought a hand up to her mouth to stifle it, her eyes going wide.
"Are you laughing at me?" He chuckled.
"No! I just... I didn’t know you knew so much," she said, biting her bottom lip to prevent her smile from growing again.
"You are laughing at me," his eyebrows shot up in mock offense. "Alright, come on..." he threw an arm around her shoulders and hugged her close to offer his warmth. "Let’s head back before you catch a cold."
