Chapter 129
Ellie POV
The door closes behind us with a sharp sound, like the house is exhaling now that I’m gone. The cool morning air hits my face, and for a second I just stand there on the steps, breathing it in.
I just needed a second.
Lucas waits beside me, hands tucked into his jacket pockets, posture careful in a way that makes it clear he’s trying not to crowd me. The quiet between us stretches almost immediately. It’s… thick and uncomfortable, especially we haven’t said much since the ball and everything that’s changed because of it.
I mean…he said he liked me. Really liked me and always have and we just…left that.
Yikes.
I slowly look his way.
He looks as patient as ever.
“I’m sorry,” I say finally, the words spilling out before I can overthink them. “About… all of this. I didn’t know he was going to pull you into it.”
Lucas glances at me, then back at the path ahead. “You don’t need to apologize. I figured something was going on.
“Yeah…” I mutter.
We start walking, side by side. The neighborhood is still half-asleep, curtains drawn, lawns damp with morning dew. It should feel peaceful.
It really doesn’t.
“It’s just-” I scrub a hand over my face. “Ever since the ball, it feels like my stepfather has decided my life is some kind of puzzle he gets to rearrange. First Dominic. Now you. Like I’m a problem that needs to be solved by marrying me off to the nearest Alpha.”
Lucas’s jaw tightens. “You’re right. That’s not okay.”
I let out a humorless laugh. “Apparently it is, according to him!”
The silence creeps back in, the shape of his confession pressing in from all sides. But, I do like you. He’d said it so plainly, like I knew what to do with that information, when really I’d just felt… lost.
Lucas clears his throat. “Ellie?”
“Yeah?”
He hesitates, then asks quietly, “Is he… hurting you?”
My steps falter just a little.
I don’t stop walking. I can’t. If I do, I might not be able to lie convincingly enough.
“No,” I say too quickly, waving a hand. “No, he’s not.”
Lucas studies my face, searching, like he doesn’t quite believe me but doesn’t want to push. The look makes something twist painfully in my chest.
“It’s not like that,” I add, softer now. “It’s just… complicated. Really complicated.”
He nods once. “Okay.”
+30 Bonus
We walk a few more steps before the weight of everything finally breaks through my ribs.
“There’s something else, Lucas” I say. My voice sounds thinner than I mean it to. “Something that’s been bothering me.”
Lucas turns fully toward me this time. “Ellie. Maybe now isn’t the time. You don’t have to–”
“I know,” I cut in, then sigh. “But I want to. I wanted to say, I understand how you feel, I heard you, but I—”
He stops.
Which stops me a second after.
“What?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I don’t need an answer now. I didn’t need one the second I confessed, and I don’t need one the second I see you. It just… needed to be said.”
I slowly nod as he keeps walking and I move back to his side.
“So, you’re not mad?”
“No,” he saids, “But I am worried. What happened after your fight with you dad?”
I stare at the ground as I speak. “The night after the ball… my stepfather blew up. He said I was lying, hiding my affair with Dominic or trying to sabatage my sister. Then, my mother took me upstairs.”
Lucas’s hand twitches at his side. “And then?”
“And then,” I continue, forcing myself to keep going before I can lose my nerve. “I just… broke. I couldn’t stop crying. I didn’t even recognize myself.”
My throat tightens, but I swallow and keep walking, letting the memory spill out. “My mom sat with me. She tried to calm me down. And for a second, I really thought she was going to stand up for me. I thought…”
Lucas doesn’t interrupt. He just listens.
“But she didn’t,” I continue. “And honestly, it shocked me. She told me I needed to reconsider Dominic. For my own good. She said I should try to respect my stepfather, that I was being reckless, that I didn’t understand what I was risking.”
My hands curl into my sleeves as the memory sharpens. “I lost it. I yelled at her. I told her she didn’t get to choose my life for me. That I wasn’t something she could hand over just because that’s what she did with her life.”
Lucas’s jaw tightens, but he still doesn’t interrupt.
“She yelled back,” I say, my voice quieter now. “I’ve never seen her face so red. She said this was the best path. That I didn’t see the whole picture, that I never saw anything. And then she just… walked away. Crying.”
I stop walking again, the ache settling deep in my chest.
“She’s always smilin,” I admit. “How could I never see anything she never lets me. I don’t even know….what she means? You know?”
I look at him, slowly shaking my head. “It didn’t even feel like disagreement. It felt like fear. Or…: warning. And honestly, that makes all of this so much worse. Had…my stepfather always been this bad? Sure, he was an ass, but this all feels too…much.” ”
Lucas exhales through his nose, thinking. “I can’t judge families when I’m not in it. I don’t know what either of your parents, step or not, are like. You’re mother might just be under a lot of pressure,” he says carefully. “Blended pack marriages aren’t easy. Especially when there’s history, expectations, politics involved. Sometimes parents panic and try to control things when they’re scared of losing everything.”
“Maybe,” I say, even though the explanation doesn’t fully settle in my bones. “I just don’t know what she’s protecting me
213
from. Or who. Is it him? And if that’s the case why are we even still here if she doesn’t love him?”
+30 Bonus
We reach the edge of the academy grounds, students already filtering in, voices rising, life continuing like nothing is wrong at
all
“I’m not sure,” Lucas faces me, the sun kissing his light locks. “But I’m glad we talked. It’s always better to get that stuff out then bottled.”
I stop at the edge of the path and turn back to him, a smile tugging at my mouth despite everything. “Yeah. Thank you. For listening. For not… telling me what I should do.”
He smiles, soft and earnest, and for a second it feels almost easy.
“I care about you, Ellie,” he says. “No matter how messy this gets.”
The words settle somewhere tight but warm in my chest, and I nod. “I know. And… thank you for walking me.”
“Anytime,” he says quietly. “Really.”
He hesitates, then reaches out, fingers brushing toward my hand like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
Instinct kicks in before thought.
I pull back
The moment stretches.
His hand hovering in the air before he lets it fall back to his side. His expression doesn’t change much, but I see it anyway, the flicker of surprise, the recalibration.
“Sorry-I should-” I start, then trail off. “I’ll see you later.”
“Yeah,” he says, a little quieter. “See you.”
I turn toward the building, my steps quickening, the awkwardness clinging to me like static. That’s when I feel it-that familiar, unbearable pull-and my gaze drifts across the courtyard without meaning to.
Dominic stands near the steps, surrounded by his friends.
He isn’t laughing.
He isn’t talking.
He’s looking right at us.
At me.
Ah, shit. Just what I needed.
I don’t know how long he’s been there or how much he saw, only that he did see enough.
Our eyes meet for a heartbeat before I look away, heat crawling up my neck.
P
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