Carolina Moon

Chapter 12

Lucy

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There was no chance in hell Lucy was letting him get away without some questioning.

She hadn't seen Finley since Cam had chased him off, but they both sat inside her apartment after that in quiet contemplation, trying to understand what they'd just witnessed. Lucy couldn't up and explain that she believed him to be an actual werewolf, so Cam came to the conclusion that the guy was just ridiculously good at taking a fall, and Lucy let things be.

She wanted to beat the literal crap out of Cam for chasing him off. He hadn't really had the chance to thoroughly explain himself, and she wanted to know more—wanted to know if he was seriously the wolf she'd hit with her car or if she was losing her damn mind.

All she knew was that he was right about David.

That night, as Cam slept on her couch, too tired to drive home, Lucy laid in bed on her laptop. She pulled up David's Facebook to find he was not only just fine, but his relationship status had changed from single to complicated as of two hours ago.

Lucy felt the spikes in her heart. Already? He was moving on already?

Probably with the girl she'd found in his bed.

Then a thought occurred to Lucy. The David that had visited her in the cafe...was that also this weird thing Finn had destroyed? Because if the real David was already moving on, there was no reason for him to show up at work, begging to be heard out.

Which meant whatever that thing was...it was watching her.

She couldn't sleep after that. Eventually, she gathered her werewolf novel and tiptoed out of her room, finding Cam awake on the couch, the TV light reflecting off of his face.

"Hey, ugly," he said. "Can't sleep? Me neither."

Lucy frowned at the way ugly had, at some point, turned to a term of endearment. She slipped onto the couch beside him and they shared a blanket. Cam watching the evening news while Lucy read her werewolf novel in the light of the lamp beside her couch.

Two chapters in, her eyes roved over the word mate and she felt the strange, uncalled-for lurch of her heart.

I'm your mate, love.

He had said it, right? She wasn't going crazy...right?

If it weren't for this book, she would have never even questioned it. But it was written so clearly on the pages. All three-hundred of them.

A mate was a fated love.

"You okay?" Cam asked. "Your face is red."

Lucy slammed her book shut and fanned herself with the pages, looking around for any excuse to change the subject. She spotted Cam's phone on the coffee table and asked, "So, did that guy ever call you back?"

"Yeah," Cam said. "I ignored it. No point in telling him anything now that the freak dipped. Seriously, Lucy. What were you thinking?"

Lucy frowned. "I told you, if you're just going to lecture me, I'm going back to my room."

"No, it's just—" Cam let out a deep sigh. He was exhausted—Lucy could tell by his fried voice. "I wish you would take care of yourself. Look out for yourself, you know?"

Lucy kicked her feet up on the table and grunted, "That's what you're for."

She'd only meant it as a joke, but the way Cam's expression turned all ridged and edged made her stomach drop. Lucy was childish, but she wasn't stupid. She knew she was a burden to Cam. She knew that one day, she'd be too heavy for him to carry.