Taken at Dusk (Shadow Falls #3)(28)

"Do you still hope I'm a werewolf?"

He hesitated. "Yeah. I probably shouldn't tell you that, but yeah, I do. It would make everything easier."

"Make what easier?" She thought about what Fredericka had said.

"Everything." He brought the blade of grass back over her lips. "I wouldn't have to be away from you when I shift. We could hunt together. You would be with me when I'm leading the pack."

The thought of hunting and killing wild animals didn't sit well with her, even being with the group of weres that included Fredericka didn't hold a lot of appeal, but she tried not to let it show.

"We'd make a great team."

"And what if I'm not a werewolf?"

He smiled, but for just a second she thought she saw disappointment in his eyes.

"We still make a good team," he said.

"Does everyone feel that way?" she asked, not wanting to mention Fredericka.

"What do you mean?"

"The last couple of times we've been together, someone from the pack sent for you as if they didn't want you with me."

"It's nothing," he said.

"You sure?"

He tickled her cheek with the grass. "Trust me."

"I do trust you."

"You haven't told me what you're afraid of."

She bit down on her lip. He swiped the blade of grass over her mouth.

"Start talking."

She told him about the eagle and the snake and then about the huge buck and the lightning.

He frowned. "Do you think Derek is doing this? He communicates with animals."

"No. Derek wouldn't do that."

"You say that like you trust him." Lucas's tone deepened.

"I do. Please don't take it the wrong way. It's over with us, but I know he wouldn't try to hurt or even scare me. He cares about me."

"And you him?" His eyes went from blue to almost orange.

"Yes. But it's still over." She could tell he didn't like hearing her say that, but he seemed to understand. For a flicker of a second, she wondered how long it would be before she could understand it herself.

He stared back up at the moon. "If it's not him, then who?"

"I think Holiday and Burnett believe Mario and Red are behind it. And they sent the impostors posing as my grandparents. But then Della said that they're vampires, not shape-shifters, so they couldn't be doing it themselves."

"Maybe Mario has a shifter working for him. Though it's uncommon that two species work together like that." He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I won't let that creep lay another finger on you."

She knew he really didn't have the ability to keep that promise, but she liked hearing it.

Then, because it felt good talking about it, she told him about the ghost and the bird falling from the tree.

He looked concerned. "Do you think she's a death angel?" He was obviously more disturbed by the ghost than the fact that Kylie had brought a dead bird back to life.

"No, but I think she's a supernatural."

"Did you check her pattern?"

"That's part of the problem. She doesn't have one."

"Everyone has a pattern," he said.

"But she doesn't. Before she disappeared, she told me the others were out there."

"What others? Like more ghosts?" Lucas looked around.

"I don't think she meant ghosts. She made it sound like they were evil."

"And ghosts aren't evil?" he asked in disbelief.

"Not really. At least none of them that I've met."

He shook his head. "I can't imagine dealing with them."

She hesitated before answering. "It was hard in the beginning. It's still freaky, but not as bad." She met his eyes. "Besides, I can't imagine shifting into a wolf."

He smiled. "It's a piece of cake. I hope you figure that out for yourself, too."

She chewed on the fact that he really wanted her to be werewolf. No disrespect intended, but she wasn't so sure she shared his hope.

"I heard you experienced some of the mood swings last month." His gaze lowered to her breasts. "You also underwent some hormonal changes like female weres do."

Yeah, she'd grown an inch, a cup, and a shoe size-not so strange until you realized it happened overnight. Not that she really liked being reminded of it. Her face heated.

She pushed back the embarrassment. "True, but there's just as much evidence that I'm not a were. According to Holiday, weres are seldom ghost whisperers. They start turning when they're very young and they don't have the ability to dreamscape."

A light smile appeared in his eyes and, blast it, she knew exactly what he was thinking about, too. The dream. The one of them swimming, practically naked and ...

"Guess we'll have to see in a couple of weeks when the moon is full."

He ran the blade of grass over her lips again and then down past her chin.

Her breath almost caught when it glided across the swell of her breasts above the cut of the tank top. It was just a piece of grass, but it could have been his finger for the sweet sensation pouring into her chest.