CHAPTER 84: 84-LUCA MIGHT NOT BE TOO BAD

Iris:

Yet I felt a twist in my chest too. I didn’t want Kash to go inside either. But unlike Lara, I had no right to stop him. He wasn’t my man, he was hers.

So I got up awkwardly, staring into the cave and wondering if I should be the one to go instead.

Luca went in there for my children. I should be the one to follow him.

"Lara, are you fucking kidding me? Who do you think I am?" I heard Kash yell in frustration from behind me as I reached the cave entrance.

Taking a deep breath, I prepared to step inside and survive for as long as I could.

"I don’t care who you think you are. All I care about is that your life will be in danger if there’s some kind of vine monster in there," Lara hissed.

As I lifted my foot to step into the cave, a hand grabbed my arm tightly. I turned and saw Kash holding onto me, his grip firm enough to let me know he wouldn’t let me go in there.

"And what do you think you’re doing?" he demanded, glaring harshly.

"I have to go, Kash. Luca’s in there."

At my words, a flicker of emotion crossed his face.

"Let her go. If she wants to chase after her man, let her," Lara muttered, rolling her eyes and stomping her foot in annoyance.

"No, I’ll go. You don’t need to risk your life there," Kash replied, his tone sharp.

"Kash, you should stay here with Lara. I’ll look for Luca. He went in there for me. I’m not leaving him," I argued, hoping he would understand.

"I’m not sitting out here and letting you go when I should be there too," I said firmly, then turned toward the cave.

My eyes widened as I saw Luca sprinting toward the exit.

Before I could move, he crashed into me, lifted me off the ground, and threw us both backward, away from the cave.

We hit the ground hard, with him landing on top of me.

While Luca landed on me, Kash realized what was happening. Vines were spilling out of the cave, chasing after Luca.

That was why, when he came out, he grabbed me to keep me from being attacked as well.

At the same time, Kash pushed Lara out of the way to save her too.

Now Luca was on top of me, his hands planted on the ground beside my shoulders, his body lifted in an almost push-up position.

"Hey, gorgeous," he remarked with a smirk.

It took me a moment to steady my breathing before I realized he still hadn’t moved off me.

"You survived?" I asked between heavy breaths.

"Yeah. I realized my beautiful girlfriend was getting worried about me, so I came out," he replied, making me realize he’d heard my earlier conversation with Kash.

I rolled my eyes, trying to play it off and pretend I didn’t care.

"Well, that was because I was worried about the herbs," I said awkwardly.

That wasn’t entirely true. I honestly believed I was the reason he’d gone in there, and I was definitely worried about him.

"You can get off her now. She’s safe."

Kash’s voice snapped us both back to reality, and Luca finally moved away.

I sat up and immediately noticed the scratches covering him. He was badly injured and bleeding.

"What the fuck happened to you?" I exclaimed, getting on my knees in front of him as he sat down, a bag in his hand full of herbs.

Kash crouched and snatched the bag from him. Luca didn’t resist; of course, he’d brought it for us.

"I’m fine," Luca muttered. "But those vines weren’t too happy about me taking their little siblings." He joked, nodding toward the herbs.

"Wait—tell me what happened. Did they hurt you worse?" I asked, worried he might bleed out.

"What’s all this fuss about? So what if he got scratched? He can transition. It’s not like he’s like you, who doesn’t have a wolf. I’m sure he was a rogue, but he must have one, right?"

Lara burst in all at once, speaking without pause or breath.

I guessed this was the first time she wasn’t the center of attention, and it didn’t sit well with her.

She always had to insert herself somehow.

"That’s enough," Kash announced, pointing at the bag. "You brought way too much," he remarked.

I noticed the tension in his muscles, but every time he looked at the herbs, his expression softened.

That was Kash for you, the man who never let his ego take a hit, now quietly surrendering to the love for his children.

He didn’t care who had brought the herbs; he just looked relieved that they might work.

"Yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry. Let’s go back. The sun’s going down, and the kids will start getting fussy," Luca said as he stood, extending his hand toward me.

Kash, who had been focused on the bag, suddenly froze. His eyes landed on Luca’s outstretched hand.

I wanted to react differently just because Kash was watching.

So when I reached for Luca’s hand, I saw Kash close his eyes, bow his head slightly, zip the bag, and sling it over his shoulder.

"Yeah, we should head back now," Kash murmured, his tone restrained.

"Wait—why won’t Luca transition right now and heal himself?"

Of course, Lara had to speak up again, adding to the chaos.

Luca and I exchanged a brief, knowing glance.

Both of us understood that if he transitioned here, our secret would be exposed.

"It’s because I’m fine. These are just scratches," Luca told her sharply.

Lara turned to Kash, hands on her hips, probably waiting for him to tell Luca to be polite, but since the mess was her own fault, even Kash ignored her.

"Come on. We have to go," was all he said before we began heading back the way we came.

The whole time it had been so hard for me to descend, but I was able to do it with the help of Luca and Kash.

The two of them were like a shield but a little annoying at the same time.