Welcome To Hell, Dear Wife-Chapter 49: Scaring her

Chapter 49: Scaring her
Mira’s body went limp so suddenly that Lucas had to lunge forward to catch her quickly before she hit her head on the floor.
One moment she was staring at him so scared shitless and the next she was a dead weight in his arms.
He adjusted his grip by putting an arm under her knees and the other supporting her back only to realize that she was lighter than usual.
Idiot
, he thought as he felt a bit of anger.
What on earth was she doing out here at night?
Her breathing was getting uneven as short and panicked gasps came from her in ways that were obvious that she had not yet settled into true sleep.
Why was she even allowed into these woods? No one thought to stop her?
Someone should have stopped her before she even came to the woods, they should have warned her that no one came into the estate’s woods, especially at night. There was a reason it’s off-limits.
But then, knowing her stubbornness, she might not have listened anyway.
He shifted her weight slightly to be able to wear his robe to cover his naked body before calling out.
"Callis."
Lucas could hear her wolf form dissolve as bones cracked and reformed with sounds that he was sure would have made Lorena faint a second time if she’d been conscious enough to hear them.
Callis soon stood there naked and completely comfortable in her own skin with that smirk that she always wore when she knew she’d intentionally caused trouble.
Lucas looked away immediately, irritated at the way she just transformed right in front of him without bothering to put on her clothes first.
"Why were you scaring her like that?" he asked immediately in a tone that said he wasn’t joking.
But Callis just shrugged while a faint mocking smirk played on her lips. "The little rabbit wandered where she doesn’t belong and it’s been a while since I chased something. I was merely scaring her a little, because I found her fear quite... amusing."
"The woods are dangerous enough for a human like her without you playing these games, Callis. She could have hurt herself running like that."
"Then maybe she should have just stayed where she belongs?" Callis countered. "Or are you growing fond of your toy, Lucas?"
Silence only followed as Callis’s smirk widened as if wanting to see him react.
Challenging him to yell, threaten or give her some sort of satisfaction.
But Lucas ignored the bait completely as he adjusted Lorena’s weight in his arms again and got up, then turned toward the mansion without another word.
Behind him, he heard Callis chuckle softly before disappearing, possibly to continue her run.
The mansion’s back entrance was lit with very harsh security lights that made his eyes water after the soft darkness of the woods.
He kicked the door open with more force than necessary as if to announce his presence to anyone still awake.
Aurelian and Jack were at the edge of the staircase talking yet looking like they had been waiting for him. Which they probably had been, given how long he’d been gone.
Their expressions shifted immediately when they saw Lorena in his arms.
Aurelian’s lip curled with disgust he was trying so hard to disguise. "What happened to her?"
Jack on the other hand could not care less to hide his own disgust. "Don’t tell me that she saw you shift?"
He glared in Lorena’s direction as if her very existence was an insult. "Yeah right. That’s what we need right now. A human like her screaming about monsters to the press, so the government finds us and tries to take what we have then kill us again."
Lucas however ignored them both. He didn’t even break his walking step as he walked past both of them as if they were somehow a part of the furniture in the room.
The climb to the second floor felt longer than usual as Lorena’s shallow breathing followed them.
He pushed open her bedroom door with his shoulder and then carried her to the massive bed that dominated the center of the room.
The moonlight that streamed through the windows was enough for him to see as he laid her down on top of the covers and arranged her so she would not wake up with a stiff neck.
And that was exactly when he really saw her face properly.
The swollen eyes that looked red-rimmed like she had been crying for hours. He expected at least that given what had happened to her father’s company just hours ago.
But the unexplained crimson mark on her cheek. A perfect handprint that looked angry and red against her pale skin.
It was obvious that someone had slapped her.
Hard
.
He studied the mark as he suddenly felt so angry that it surprised even him.
He wasn’t supposed to care about what happened to her beyond how it served its purposes. After all, he had married her for revenge and for control, yet this particular red mark pissed him off.
A lot.
Even his wolf snarled at it.
While he wondered what could have happened, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket and broke his thoughts.
He brought it out to check, only to see a number he didn’t recognize.
He answered in a controlled voice and calm baritone. "Yes?"
"Lucas." The voice on the other end came with pure civility. Lucas could immediately tell it was Damian.
"We need to talk as soon as possible. In person."
Lucas’s gaze remained fixed on Lorena’s bruised cheek. "Why would I grant you an audience?"
"Oh please! Cut the crap," Damian snapped, obviously on his very last nerve. "We need to talk."
Lucas rolled his eyes ignoring what he said to ask the question in his own mind. "Did you hit Lorena?"
There was a short pause on the other end. "What? I would never do such a thing. It’s just a little misunderstanding between she and mom. That’s all."
"A misunderstanding," Lucas repeated. "One that involves red cheeks, huh? If your mother also bears a matching injury, then perhaps I’ll consider it a fair exchange. Does she?"
"Stop this! Just stop! I told you that you need to stop acting like you care!" Damian snapped with frustration. "We both know you don’t, so let’s talk about what’s more important."
"Well, if this is about Sanders Media, that ship has sailed. It’s at the bottom of the ocean even," Lucas said nonchalantly.
"I never took you as a coy man who goes back on his own words," Damian shot back, obviously enraged.
Something close to a smile touched Lucas’s face though there was nothing warm in it. "I learned from a particular person. His name is Gregory Sanders."
He then ended the call without waiting for Damian’s response.
For a moment, Lucas stood there in the darkness staring down at Lorena’s sleeping face.
He could already tell that she came into the woods to look for him, definitely to yell at him even.
Yet instead, she had only seen something that would change a lot now.
Well, it’s better that way,
he thought with a dark satisfaction.
No more pretending.
He stepped out of the room quietly only to find Jack waiting in the hallway as he leaned against the wall like he’d been there the whole time.
"She’s lucky you were the one who found her out there, because I would have chased her so much if she met me." Jack grunted, as he fought between his loyalty for Lucas and his contempt for the woman inside the room.
Lucas didn’t acknowledge the comment as he only stopped beside Jack to speak in a low tone that showed that whatever he was about to say was only meant for his beta’s ears.
"We need to move to the next course of action now."