Agitation

LUCIAN'S POV

I couldn't believe Ares was still nagging me about this. The entire drive back to the pack house, I could feel him pacing in my head, restless and agitated.

"You're unbelievable, Lucian," Ares growled, his deep voice rumbling through me. "You actually signed the maid contract right after we found our mate. Are you mad?"

I snorted, tightening my grip on the steering wheel. "Excuse me? I'm unbelievable? You were right there with me, Ares. Don't act like you weren't just as stubborn in that meeting with Gregory Williams on Friday."

"That was before we met Teresa !" Ares snapped back, his frustration clawing at me. "You could've told him you were joking!"

I let out a bitter laugh. "Oh yeah, because I'm known for joking about contracts." I rolled my eyes. "You were on the same page as me, Wolf. Don't pretend I was the only one being stubborn."

"That's different!" Ares retorted, irritation lacing his words. "You know what meeting our mate did to me."

"Yeah, yeah, you flipped faster than a pancake," I grumbled, the memory of seeing Teresa for the first time burning in my chest. "But let's not pretend you weren't all 'Oh, Lucian, don't let Gregory push us around,' right until you saw her."

Ares let out a low, frustrated growl. His anxiety seeped into my skin, crawling under my flesh like an itch I couldn't scratch. Neither of us had gotten any rest since Monday. Ares wouldn't shut up about the conditions Teresa was living in. He kept replaying the image of her run-down apartment in my head, and it was driving me mad.

"It took everything in me not to drag her out of there," Ares muttered darkly.

"We can't do that," I reminded him, though the protective instinct flared in my gut. "We'd look like complete lunatics."

"You already made a great first impression, didn't you?" Ares sneered.

I winced at the memory. Yeah, I had been a bit of an ass to her. What else was new? I was Lucian Blackwood—prideful, rich, and with a dash of sarcastic charm. But now, we had to approach this differently. I needed her to trust me before we crossed the 'Welcome to the werewolf world, you're my mate and Luna' bridge.

The problem was, since meeting Teresa, my mind was a battlefield. Half of me wanted to push her away because… I didn't want to end up like my parents. Their so-called 'love' was a disaster. But the other half? It wanted her close—closer than anyone else. It wanted to pull her into my world, to protect her at all costs. And Ares? Don't get me started. He was head over paws for her, nagging me to take better care of her.

By the time I collapsed into bed, sleep refused to come. My thoughts spun, tangled up in Teresa and the overwhelming need to protect her. Then there was the darker part of me, the one that craved vengeance against anyone who had hurt her. That part scared me. I wasn't usually violent, but for her? I'd wipe anyone off the map who even looked at her wrong.

Great. Now I was the psycho boyfriend in the shadows.

After hours of restlessness, I gave in to the one thing that always cleared my head—shifting. I let go, allowing the transformation to take over. My bones stretched and cracked, skin rippling as fur began to sprout. The shift was painful but familiar, my human form surrendering to the primal one beneath. My muscles expanded, spine lengthening until I was fully wolf.

Ares shook out our massive black fur, and we bolted into the woods. The fresh night air filled our lungs as we ran, trying to outrun the turmoil in my mind. Our senses heightened, paws pounding against the earth, every sound and scent amplified. But even as we patrolled the pack lands, Teresa never left my thoughts.

By the time we returned to the house at 2 a.m., I was exhausted. I collapsed into bed, but Ares wasn't done.

"We're checking on her first thing in the morning," he ordered.

"Yeah, yeah, I promise," I muttered before passing out.

Tuesday morning, I was up at dawn, ready to leave my Beta, Rylan, in charge. But naturally, Rylan held me hostage in a mind-numbing security meeting. By the time I broke free, I was antsy, and Ares was pacing in my head again.

"Something's wrong," Ares growled, his voice urgent. "She's in trouble."

My grip tightened on the conference table, and without warning, I ended the meeting, leaving Rylan to handle the rest. He called after me, but I was already out the door, heading straight for my car.

When I reached Teresa's apartment, I practically banged the door down, only for her nosy neighbor to tell me she had left early. Perfect. Now I was spiraling, standing outside her rundown building, wondering if she was crying somewhere or worse.

I called Kenneth, my secretary. "Find Teresa," I barked. "The woman I went to the ball with. I need to know where she is. Now."

"Uh, Mr. Blackwood, do you know her last name?"

I paused, glaring at the ground. "Just find her, Kenneth. I don't care what it takes."

Hours passed, and with each minute, my patience thinned. By 4 p.m., Kenneth finally called.

"She's at a bar downtown."

I drove there like a madman, forcing myself to sit in the car for five minutes to cool down. When I finally walked in, I saw her sitting alone, crying. My heart sank, and rage boiled under my skin. Whoever made her cry was going to pay.

She spotted me, and I plastered on my usual annoyed-with-the-world look, "Do you make it a habit to cry everywhere, or is it just when you see me?" I said without thinking.

"Can you stop being such a jerk to our mate?! " Ares shouted in my head, his anger bubbling up. I sighed, offering him a silent apology.

As she shared bits and pieces of her day, I felt my own anger start to simmer. Every word stirred something inside me, a rage I barely kept under control. On the surface, I tried to play it cool, telling her to toughen up, but inside, my blood was boiling. I needed space, not just for myself, but to calm Ares down before he took over.

"Order whatever you want," I told her casually, masking my frustration. "I've got a meeting here," I added, lying to create some distance and I also told her to wait for me.

Stepping outside, I took deep, steady breaths, trying to keep Ares from tearing the place apart brick by brick. But after watching her sit there, drink, and cry for another half-hour, I couldn't take it anymore. Without another word, I led her to my car and brought her home, my frustration still simmering beneath the surface.

Once we made sure she was safe inside, I called Kenneth again. "Find everything you can about Teresa. Her father and ex-boyfriends. I want names."

No one was going to hurt her again. Not on my watch. Because Teresa may not know it yet, but she was mine.