Chapter 4

Lani's POV

As I woke to the sun shining through the window, my mind wonders to thoughts of Lucas. Just thinking of him I begin to grin. I stand up and stretch before getting ready for the day. Excitement floods me as I remember our belongings will arrive today, but until my parents close on the house those belongings are being put in a storage unit. I sigh, knowing it'll be a few weeks until I can decorate my new room.

While lost in thought I hear a knock on my door. "Just a sec." I walk over to the door and see Gianna standing there. Her face is puffy and blotchy. Her eyes are red from crying, and she looks angry as hell. "Are you ok?" I ask with concern.

She raises her hand and goes to slap me. I brace for the sting, but it doesn't come. When I look back, I see Lucas is holding her arm in the air. What is going on?

"Why did you stop me? I have every right to slap this bitch!" Gianna shouts into Lucas's face.

I see his eyes darken a shade from her words. "NO! You don't Gia! It's not her fault! If you hurt her you will have to answer to me, do you understand me?!"

I see her cower down at his words, and realize he said it more as a command. She has no choice but to do as he says. She nods her head before he releases her arm. Gianna turns and runs down the hall starting to sob again.

I face Lucas and the confusion of what just happened is clear on my face. Did I miss something last night? I know that he and I talked in the forest but as far as I knew they were still together. He did say he would end it with her, did he do that last night after I went to bed? That would explain her behavior.

"Lucas?"

He slowly turns towards me, his eyes softening. "Hey Lani."

I give an attentive smile. "Did something happen that I don't know about?"

"Yeah…" He puts his hands in his front pockets and looks at the floor but doesn't elaborate.

"Would you like to come in and talk about it?"

He gives a single nod before I move to the side of the door to let him in. He walks to my bed and sits, after closing the door I join him.

"So, what happened?"

"I ended it with Gia… and now she's blaming it on you."

I'm shocked but also understand how it seems to her. I still don't get how she can place all the blame on me though? Ending a relationship isn't something that a person does on a whim. I can feel Lucas looking at me, trying to see my reaction. I look up and stare into his green eyes.

Neither of us speak for a few minutes, we just stare into each other's eyes, lost in our own thoughts. I feel the pull from yesterday, and my tongue trace's my lips and his eye's drop to follow the motion. Then his lips were against mine, it only took me a second to react. With our lips moving in harmony, Lucas quickly laid us back on my bed with him hovering over me. Not breaking the kiss once.

Suddenly my bedroom door opens. "Lani are you almost rea—" Nohea stops as he takes in the scene.

Lucas and I quickly break the kiss and move away from each other. When I look up my brother looks mad, at Lucas. Why?

"Get out!" He shouts at Lucas.

"No! Lucas doesn't have to get out. He was invited into my room you were not! You can leave Nohea!"

I can feel the tension in the air. Lucas clears his throat.

"No, I should get to school. I'll see you guys later." He leans over and kisses my cheek before leaving the room.

"What the hell Nohea?" I know my family is protective but even my brother has never responded to me kissing some one with so much hate before.

"Trust me one day, you'll be thanking me."

I rolled my eyes at him. "So, what do we have to do today?"

He sighed, "Well, we're supposed to be given a tour of the school, and then we need to help mom and dad put our belongings in storage until they close on the house."

I nod. "I'll get ready and met you downstairs in half an hour."

His eyes go wide, and I laugh. "No, you have 15 minutes, and that's me being nice before I tell mom you changed your mind and don't want a tour of the school."

I stick my tongue out before racing into the ensuite to start the shower. He'll do it to leave without me. So, a quick shower it is, I let my hair air dry and quickly toss on a pair of pants and a tank top. I race downstairs knowing the 15 minutes is almost up but stop once I reach the bottom of the stairs. I look down to see I'm not wearing shoes. I throw my arms up, of course I forgot to put on my shoes.

I turn to run back upstairs but stop when I see my mom carrying a pair of socks and shoes towards me. Ever since I was a little kid, I've had the habit of running off bare foot. Maybe it's cuz I like the feel of the earth beneath my feet. I take the socks first putting them on followed by my shoes. I give my mom a hug and hear my brother laughing at me behind my back.

"Ready to go?" Mom asks us. We nod and get in the back seat of one car, driven by a pack member since we don't know where we're going yet.

After Nohea and I are dropped off the driver takes my parents to retrieve our belongings from the docks.