Ascended (War of the Covens 3)

He’d kept the photo in his wallet ever since and showed it to Caia once they had gotten together, teasing her about how she looked at him in it, gazing up at him shyly. He’d been thrilled to see a look akin to love in her eyes as she stared at him.

Since kicking Caia out of the pack, Lucien gazed at that picture every day, trying to make sense of what had happened.

“Whatcha looking at?” Rose grinned as she strode into his bedroom without knocking. He really should reprimand her for that, but she was smiling so endearingly, he couldn’t. When Lucien didn’t answer her question, her gaze fell to the photo as she rounded the sofa, and her smile instantly dropped.

“Lucien, what are you doing?” she moaned.

Frowning, he tucked the photo back into his wallet. “What do you mean?”

“You.” She gestured to his wallet. “Mooning over her when she’s betrayed you.”

His jaw clenched. “You don’t know that.”

“I know she left to do something you specifically told her not to. That’s not how a pack works.”

“It’s complicated.”

“That’s the problem.” She smiled sadly, coming around to sit beside him. “It’s too complicated.”

He shrugged.

After a minute of silence, he felt Rose tense before she cleared her throat. “It’s been awhile now. Weeks, actually.”

Yeah, he was painfully aware of that.

“Lucien, I wanted to give you time. But I can’t wait anymore. Love doesn’t have to be complicated.”

Uh-oh.

He glanced up at her, and suddenly, she was pressed against him, her hand running up his thigh. “Love can be easy and good. Like with us.” And then she kissed him. Not just a sweet peck on the lips. Rose grabbed his head hard and kissed him, tongue and all, with as much passion as she could summon. Like an idiot, he now thought, he’d been totally surprised by her attack, and it had taken him a minute to pry her off. He did, though, and stood from the sofa to put some distance between them.

“What?” she whispered.

“That can’t happen ever again.” He gestured stupidly at the spot where he’d just been sitting.

Rose gazed up at him, hurt. “Why not? You kissed me back.”

“No!” he argued vehemently, fearing what such a sentence would do to his relationship with Caia if it ever got back to her. “No, I didn’t. I was surprised.”

“Surprised?” She snapped up off the seat. “Lucien, how can you be surprised? It’s obvious I’m in love with you. Everyone knows it.”

“Rose. I care about you, I do. But I love Caia. She is my mate.”

“She has a funny way of showing it.”

“Our problems are between us,” he warned. “I don’t want anyone bad-mouthing her.”

“I’m not bad-mouthing her—I just don’t get it. I don’t get your relationship with her.”

“You don’t have to get it.” He ran a hand through his hair, trying to brace himself for her reaction to his next suggestion. “Maybe we should try to contact the Center and see if it’s safe for you to go home. Or maybe see if you can stay at the Center.”

Rose shook her head, looking frightened. “I don’t want to. I feel like part of a family here. I’m sorry I’ve made you uncomfortable, Lucien, I really am. I promise I won’t cross the line again. I just had to tell you how I felt—”

“Yeah, but it could be a problem—”

“It won’t. Jeez, Lucien, the female members of the pack who aren’t related to you are all half in love with you anyway. I’ll get over this … but not if I lose your friendship.”

He sighed. “You never have to worry about that.”

So here they were, having dinner with the pack, and he hoped he wasn’t delusional about their circumstances. Rose believed they could make it work as just friends, and he really didn’t want to kick out one more female he cared about.

As he mused over this, Lucien felt a change in the air and was taken aback to see Jaeden and Ryder walk into the dining hall smelling of one another and holding hands. Lucien knew Ryder was heading out to find Jae and try to talk some sense into her, but Jae had been so adamant of late, he hadn’t thought his friend would succeed. His fault for not trusting the strength of a mating … probably because his own was going so well.

Lucien smiled at Ryder as they crossed the room toward the pack.

“You guys alright?” He grinned cheekily.

It was good to see Ryder smile back at him. His friend was generally a lighthearted person. It was tough seeing what the last few weeks had done to him. To them all.

Although, he had to admit that their time together as a pack at the hotel had helped them get through it. Draven and Kade’s suffering was different, having lost their children, but Draven’s brother, Isaac, and his wife, Imogen, were proving inseparable companions, having lost Sebastian last year, and subsequently understanding the hell they were going through. Lucien especially thought their nieces, Seana and Sunday, helped Draven and Kade. Nothing could ease the pain of losing those closest to them, but Lucien reckoned it would’ve been harder for them all if they hadn’t had this time together.