Page 45 of Forsaken Desire
David’s eyebrows rose high on his forehead.
“Meet my wife,” Lucian said, squeezing my waist pointedly. I barely caged my gasp behind my lips.
“Wife?” David boomed out a laugh. His gaze turned to Cierra and back to me. “Interesting. Very interesting.”
“Sit down, then.” The older man on the other side of his mom waved his hand to the free seats. Lucian pulled it out for me, and I carefully dropped into it, plucking out my handbag and placing it on the table. It was taking everything in me not to grab my phone out of it and scroll so I didn’t have to participate. Lucian took his seat in an elegant movement. How could he move so smoothly?
I gripped the bottom of the chair and scooted myself in with little shuffles, but somehow, with every move, it caused an obnoxiously loud squeak. My mate’s mom stared with a single eyebrow raised. My face warmed, and I cleared my throat, lifting my chin and folding my hands in my lap.
“It’s nice to see you, Lucian,” Cierra drawled. Her smile held a bite to it. My spine became straighter. Her anger at my mate was clear to see. She was taking advantage that there were humans at the table.
Her message was for me. A clear snub. I narrowed my eyes. This was the type of woman you had to make your stand with.
Part of me felt bad for her. She’d expected a life with Lucian before me. I couldn’t deny seeing it from her side, but she was a shifter; she knew how precious a fated mate was. My mate crackled with energy. He shifted in his seat, his hand squeezing my thigh. By the tension lining his body, I could tell he seethed with rage.
I pointedly met her eyes. The initial slap of her dominance weighed on me and urged me to drop my eyes, but I grittedmy teeth, working to keep her gaze. She didn’t buckle, but the tension of Lucian’s fingertips pressing into my thigh told me he was likely staring her down.
“They’re fighting over you, Lucian,” David mused, his voice tinged with humor. His comment ripped me out of the challenge.
“It seems so,” Lucian mused and squeezed my thigh again.
On the other side of Lucian’s mom, a man, who was the image of an older Lucian, laughed, his bloodshot eyes glazed as they bounced over all of us.
“Henry,” his mom snapped, glaring over at him.
“I need to take a leak, dear,” David announced to the quiet human woman next to him. She helped him stand, serving as a prop as he staggered like a newborn foal.
As soon as they were gone, a low growl escaped Lucian. His eyes reverted to the blankness that sent chills down my spine.
“Out of my sight,” he bit out.
Cierra went pale at an alarming rate.
“Lucian,” his mother admonished.
“No, Elain,” he said, his voice gravelly. Did he call his mom by her name? I eyed them, but they didn’t seem like mother and son. Dominance pulsed from every one of his pores.
“Alpha.” She dipped her head so low her forehead almost smashed into the table.
“I hate these—Joey!” Alex’s voice was recognizable. A hand fell on my shoulder, but Lucian was there, yanking it off me.
A sharp growl spilled from Lucian while Alex flinched.
“Fuck, man,” Alex groused, hugging his arm to his chest. “I’m not stupid enough to make a pass at your mate. No need to kill me.”
Alex’s eyes pinched at the corners. The jab seemed targeted. Probably because of what happened at the community center.
Alex plopped down on Lucian’s other side, and I gave him a small wave.
“Now I see why you kept avoiding me when I asked you out?—”
Lucian gripped the back of his neck, the hold obviously threatening.
“Don’t push me,” Lucian hissed.
“Lucian!” his mom gasped.
I was already gripping his arm, tugging. Fortunately, he released his brother and smacked him on the back with a smile so that anyone watching wouldn’t think Lucian was threatening his brother.
