MATED TO SERIES COLLECTION

44. EVA: SNEAKING AROUND

"Eva."

I groaned and blindly swatted at the hand that was shaking me awake.

"Wake up!"

"Go away," I growled as I turned away.

A sharp tug on my hair, made my eyes snap open. I blinked at the figure hovering a few inches above me. My eyes narrowed at Ariana.

"Something's wrong," she whispered.

I slapped her hand away and sat up. Leaning over, I flicked on the lamp before I turned back to her. Ariana was still dressed in the clothes she had worn earlier but her hair was messy and her shirt wrinkled. My irritation faded into concern as I took in her pale, sweaty skin and trembling body.

"What is it?" I asked, instantly on alert. "Is—"

"Lucas isn't back yet."

I blinked at her. "You woke me to tell me that? Are you—?"

Ariana grabbed my shoulders and shook me slightly. "He's in trouble."

The desperation and anxiety in her voice made me pause. She wouldn't have come to me if it wasn't serious. A wave of fear hit me when I considered the possibility of Oliver having captured Lucas, but I instantly shook it aside. Lucas could handle himself and if Oliver was here then he would've already made plans to get Ariana away. Her safety was his main concern; I had noticed when we were running after the Hunters found us.

"He said he was going home to let his stepfather know that he was okay and then drop in at work, but he promised that he would come back." She sucked in a breath. "I know that something happened. I can feel it."

I stared at her silently for a moment before I threw the sheets back and moved over to the edge of the bed. Reaching up, I pushed the hair from my face and then stood.

"I'll ask Grayson to drive us over to his house," I told her. "What time is it?"

Ariana shrugged, and took a step back as I moved forward. Switching off the lamp, I grabbed her hand and led her out of the room and down the hall. The first thing we should do was to wake Dad or Granddad but I had a feeling that neither of them would drive us around to search for Lucas.

A knock on Grayson's door went unanswered. I hesitated a moment before I opened the door and peeked inside. The bedroom was dark and clearly empty. Changing direction, we headed downstairs towards his office but found it empty as well.

Frowning, I tried the kitchen and then the living room.

"I can't wait until he shows up," Ariana whispered.

"We can't just leave without telling anybody!"

"Why not?" She clutched my hand tightly as she glanced over her shoulder in the direction we came from. "W-we can search through Grayson's office for his address. He's an Alpha so he would have records of every—"

"Not all Alphas are like Dad," I told my sister.

I bit my lip as I tried to talk myself out of doing what I was about to do. There were so many things that could go wrong if we left the house without informing anybody, and I knew that if Lucas was truly in trouble we would need Grayson's help. If it came to that then we would have to explain why we snuck out in the middle of the night with Oliver still out there.

But he could be in trouble. Lucas might need your help.

Forcing the voice aside, I huffed and then told my sister something I wish I hadn't. "I know where he lives."

***

Hotwiring a car was not as easy as Lucas made it look, but luckily for us Grayson had left his car keys in the car. I actually feared for a moment that somebody was going to storm out of the house and stop us, and maybe a part of me hoped that it happened, but nobody did.