Chapter 0278

“You’re actually buying this?” Zachary’s voice was sharp, disbelieving.

“Put her down, Zachary.” Alexander commanded.

“You’ve got to be joking. Look at her.” He gestured to the small girl clinging tightly to him.

I had looked. She hadn’t made a single sound. No tears fell. There was no panic. She had simply listened, absorbing every word, while holding onto the one person she trusted completely.

“Zachary!” I didn’t want to pull rank, but I would. I was getting better at it.

He stared at me for a long moment, his jaw tight. “She’s my kid.”

“She’s his, too.”

Reluctantly, he lowered her until her small shoes touched the grass. Charlotte gripped his hand, her wide eyes fixed on Lucas. Time seemed to slow as she finally let go. She ran straight into Lucas’s waiting arms.

“I’m here, sweetheart. I found you.” His voice was a soft, reassuring murmur.

Zachary turned to leave. A small voice stopped him. “Daddy, don’t go.”

He glanced over his shoulder. “I’m not going far, Lottie. Just checking on Isabella.”

Once Zachary was gone, Lucas turned his sharp gaze on us. His question was an accusation. Why had we let a Rogue near his daughter?

“You called her a Hunter,” Alexander reminded him, a cool smile on his lips. “She chose him. He’s her safe person. The only one she’ll talk to about what happened. Like it or not, he’s part of her life now.”

Alexander stepped closer. He gently placed his hands over Charlotte’s ears, blocking the next words.

“Point a gun at my mate again,” he said, his voice dangerously low. “I will pull your organs out through your ass and make you eat them.”

“Fair warning. But you’d need to be faster than a bullet,” Lucas shot back, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Then I suggest you never sleep soundly again.”

Alexander led the boys toward the house. He wanted me to follow. My feet felt rooted to the ground. I couldn’t look away from the strange Hunter.

“Charlotte, could you go help Alexander?” I asked softly. I hated to separate them so soon. But the way Lucas was staring at me… it felt like he knew a secret.

Sebastian appeared twenty meters away. Alexander must have linked him when I didn’t follow.

“Blondie has been watching for a while,” Lucas noted, not taking his eyes off me.

“He dislikes that name.”

“I’m not here to make friends.”

“Would you have really shot me?” The question left my lips before I could stop it.

“The instant your beast broke free.” He gave a single, firm nod.

“In front of Charlotte?”

“She’s a Hunter.” His answer was simple, cold.

I paused. I remembered what Zachary had said. Charlotte hadn’t reacted to the slaughtered humans in the bar. Her nightmares weren’t about them. They were about what was done to her.

“Thank you for keeping her safe.” His words shocked me. Minutes ago, death felt imminent.

“How did you know?” I asked.

“That you were close to shifting? I see it. I see the darkness circling you. My question is, how do you hold it back?”

‘What does that mean?’ Nyx pressed, her annoyance palpable. She was always angry, but Lucas provoked something deeper in her.

“Why do you want to know?” I countered.

“Never seen anyone do it like you. I’m curious.”

“I was given advice.”

“From the other Rogues? I’d take that with a grain of salt. There’s a difference between them and you. They’ve already fallen.”

“They shifted back. Brianna did it easier than Zachary. They’ve been fine.”

“In my experience, it never lasts.”

“They’re different.”

“Keep telling yourself that. Something will trigger them one day. Something will push them over the edge. They won’t come back from it.”

“You don’t know them.”

“I’ve been doing this a long time. Right now, I’m more concerned about the Rogue who’s attached himself to my daughter.”