The next morning, Lucas was already up and ready before the clock struck seven.He felt dumb for not taking part in the search right from the start, by now, they would have gone far with the search for her. He had kept a distance from Brenda ever since the incident, the last thing he was going to do was apologize to her, it would be stupid to do that.The more the days passed by without them talking, the higher the cold wall of pride that was building between them grew and the more desperate to find Riley he became. As he was about to step out of his room, he heard a knock on the door and he opened it. It was Brenda. He was surprised to see her here but he was also very impatient and in a hurry to get rid of her. "Lucas, can we talk?" She asked gently.First of all, he wasn't in the mood to talk to her, secondly, he didn't want to waste any more valuable time. Riley had to be found as soon as possible and the more time he wasted, the further she got away from him. He shook his head
Riley enjoyed her stay in Shenhai but she knew she had to leave."It still beats me how you're so hospitable to someone like me, Caleb." She said the next day as he walked into her room with her medication. She was doing so well now, she looked as healthy as ever but those scars of hers were still there, and it would take some time for those to fade away."I'm glad I was, look at you now, you're the best company I've had in years." He replied. "You've made Shenhai a pretty interesting place for me and you've only been here for a few days." She smiled at him, "I would like a tour, Caleb." She said and he looked at her in surprise."Really? Taking a tour around Shenhai will take about two hours or less." He replied. "No way! This town is that small?" She asked in surprise.It took almost two hours to walk the full length of Lucas's pack. How could a pack be as big as a town? Well, a pack was some sort of a town after all, wasn't it? She thought.He nodded, "Shenhai is small and that'
They remained on the top of the mountain until the sun started to set and the bright sky took on a pale red tinge."This is the best time of the day to be up here, you can see just how beautiful nature can be." He said to her as he stared fixedly at the sky. "This is a pretty interesting place, having nothing much to do but run the business that keeps the city alive and studying the daily habits of everyone, it is fun at times."Riley's lips curled into a faint smile and she said, "That's such a boring way to have fun, Caleb. I'd like my fun to be with a charming man on a horse who is ready to go on an adventure with me."He looked at her, "A charming man on a horse? Your imagination sure is very creative, have you found or encountered that charming man?" He asked. "Yeah, but he wasn't on a horse, instead he was in a fancy and luxurious limousine." She replied. "I'd have preferred a horse frankly.""Is it the man you talked about earlier?" He asked.She nodded, "Yeah, he was a charmi
'WELCOME TO SHENHAI. SHENHAI.'Shaw and his men stared at the sign for a long time, this was the only small town that was left for them to raid in search of the girl, if she wasn't here, then their search was going to be harder than they thought."Common boys, let's move," Shaw commanded. "If she's not here, then she must be on the other side of the forest. She has a pretty good headstart but she can't outrun us for long."They marched forward, looking like silhouettes in the dark in their all-black costumes. Shaw had a feeling they wouldn't have to get farther than this small, mediocre town, she just had to be here. They stopped when they got off the dirt road that led to the town and finally started seeing buildings that made up the small town of Shenhai. All Shaw was thinking about was how much the princess would give to them for this particular job. It would be his last, after this, he would retire from the special force and go away from the pack, probably raise a chicken farm and
The silent walk back to the pack house couldn't have gotten weirder.When Riley set her eyes on Lucas again, there was a sudden outburst of emotions in her. It felt like she hadn't seen him in years and her heart ached knowing that it was all her fault. Her eyes watered as she stared at him, there were so many things she wanted to do at that point.She wanted to run towards him, she wanted to embrace him in a tight hug, she wanted to cry. She wanted to kiss him and let him know how much she had missed him, she wanted to apologize and make him understand how sorry she was. She wanted to explain to him why she had run away, but she couldn't find her tongue.Lucas stared at the dead man's body, his face had been stained by drops of his blood and his claw was still bloodied by it.He stared at the men who had seized Leia firmly and said in a menacing tone, "Let her go."They looked at each other, unsure of what to do and how to handle this situation. About four more guards stormed into th
Surely he still had a little affection for her in his heart to listen to her pleas.It wasn't her only shot, it was the only chance the innocent maids had to survive."Lucas, please, don't harm them! I beg of you!" She cried, staring into those cold eyes of his."Why?" That was all he asked, he had never seen her in this state.Slowly, the cold wall he had built around his heart started to melt as more of Riley's tears ran down her face. But then, the thoughts of the lies she had told him came flooding into his head again."Why should I spare their lives? They've seen everything after all, what's the point of living?" He asked.The maids had recovered from the shock and they were trembling with fright. "Please, Lucas, don't kill them, they saved my life when I almost died, please!" Her voice was hoarse and desperate, she didn't want any more bloodshed.Lucas frowned and his eyes narrowed, "I think you got it all wrong there, Riley. Not when you almost died, when you almost got yourse
She could have fainted out of shock at that point.Brenda couldn't believe her eyes! Riley! Alive and well right before her eyes! It didn't look real at all, her heart constricted with fear and terror.This meant that Shaw and his men had failed, for fuck's sake Shaw never failed! But how? How was it possible that Lucas found a way to get to her? Shaw and his men had the head start, they had the advantage, so…how?She looked at Riley and she could have sworn that there was a merciless glint in her eyes. A glint that told her that she was treading on thin, dangerous ice. The blood all over them made Brenda cringe as a scary thought dropped in her head, Whose blood was that?"Riley?...No way…" She mumbled.Riley didn't know how to feel, facing the fiancée of the man she was pregnant for but the baby in her womb was the least of Brenda's concerns. She bowed to Brenda who just stared at her speechlessly.She looked at Lucas, "Where did you find her?" She managed to ask."Shenhai." He repl
Everything was still the same as she had left it a few weeks ago.She couldn't even remember how long she had been gone, and to be honest, she missed this pack a lot. Although it wasn't even hers, she started to love it because of Lucas. He was a reason, at least, but it seemed like he despised her now, and for a lot of reasons, it troubled her greatly. Who else could she turn to but him? He was the only one who cared about her, that was until she ran away. She slept comfortably, but only her body was calm, her thoughts were in turmoil. It felt good to be back, but it wasn't just the same. She could never forget the havoc her presence had reeked upon Caleb's house and it made her heart bleed.She imagined the rest of the people of the town waking up to such a gruesome scene and not even finding her there. All fingers would be pointed at her, as they should be, but they would never see her again, she was sure of that. Her thoughts couldn't be prevented from wandering off, she thought