Chapter 29

Harper POV

“Hi,” I say, setting my plate down. Logan’s head pops up, his eyes widening when he sees me. It’s like he didn’t expect me here, which I guess is fair since I ‘ve been eating in my room or office.

“Hey, Harper.” He smiles and scoots over to give me more room. Again, the feeling of being watched finds me, but I try to ignore it. Ever since I moved back, I’ve felt people watching me. It’s a constant feeling, and I guess it’s one that won’t go away yet.

“How did you sleep?” Logan asks.

“Alright. I’m still adjusting to being back,” I tell him, taking a bite of my breakfast. This is only the second time I’ve eaten in the dining hall in several days. I’ve been avoiding Lucas for so long that I’ve mainly been eating in my room.

“That’s to be expected,” Logan says with a nod. “I guess you were probably tired from our date, too.”

Tired from our date? We didn’t do anything except walk around, and I didn’t do much except try to pay attention as he described the designer brands and talked about how luxurious they were.

Expensive items don’t interest me, but again, I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.

“Would you like to go out tonight?” Logan asks.

“I—”

“Harper.”

Looking up, I find Lucas standing over us, his eyes moving between me and Logan. The dark flare in his eyes makes me sit up a bit straighter, a sliver of something coiling in my stomach. He’s so close, within reach, and I shouldn’t want to reach out and touch him, but I do.

The hot spark from the other night reignites inside me, and I bite the inside of my cheek while digging my fingers into my thighs.

“Can I help you, Alpha Lucas? My mate and I are eating breakfast,” Logan says, standing and bowing out of respect.

Lucas’s eyes don’t move from me as his jaw ticks. I try not to notice how his hand clenches into a fist at his side. Is he angry?

“I came to remind Harper about my weekly checkup,” Lucas grits, nearly growling.

Logan looks between the two of us and smiles, “I’ll bring her to your office when we’re finished with breakfast. I’ll make sure she gets to you safe and sound.”

My heart flutters at Logan’s offer. He wants to walk with me, which means he wants to spend time with me even though it wouldn’t be going on a date, hanging out, or really doing anything.

He wants to be around me.

“What are you doing now?” Sierra asks for the millionth time.

Sighing, I pull away from Lucas and glance at my stepsister, “I’m checking his heart. Is that okay with you?”

She huffs and sneers down at me, “And you have to take his shirt off to do that?”

Sierra has been monitoring me throughout the checkup, asking questions and bothering me at every step. If she would’ve left me alone, I’d be done by now, but because she keeps bothering me, I’m going slower than usual.

It makes me wonder; does she know about what happened between me and Lucas the night of the mating ball? Is that why she’s keeping such a close watch?

I glance at Sierra again, and she’s still glaring at me. Does she know that Lucas kissed me thinking I was her?

I doubt it. If she did, there’s no way she would merely be watching me instead of clawing my eyes out. I shiver at the thought. Sierra doesn’t need another reason to come after me, and if she knew that Lucas had touched me, much less kissed me, she would probably implode.

So, instead of thinking about Sierra, I focus on Lucas’s checkup. I check his vitals, heart, reactions, his muscle mass, and a few other things before drawing some blood.

“I’ll have your blood tested to make sure there’s nothing in your system that shouldn’t be there,” I announce, standing. Sierra’s hawklike gaze follows me, and I sigh. I wish she would just leave. She’s making me a bit nervous by hanging around.

“Good. What can you tell me about my condition currently?” Lucas asks. Sierra moves to his side, wraps an arm around Lucas’s waist, and leans into him.

Lucas doesn’t really react, which again, I find a bit strange. When Logan touches me, I feel the tingles and my heart flutters. I can’t help but react, but Lucas doesn’t seem to even notice his mate’s touch.

Once again, I wonder if Lucas and Sierra are having issues. This isn’t the first time I’ve noticed that he doesn’t react to her much, and then, there’s the incident at the mating ball. The fact that she continues to stick closer to Lucas than he does to her is interesting.

“I need to speak with the Alpha alone, Sierra. I’m not allowed to disclose patient information with anyone other than my patient,” I say. My stepsister clearly doesn’t like my request, but before she can argue, Lucas tells her to leave.

“But, Lucas, I—”

“If you don’t want to wait in the hall, then leave and go about your day.”

Sierra gasps at his sharp tone, but she doesn’t argue. Instead, she huffs, glares at me, and storms out of the room. I wait a moment to let the door close behind her before turning to Lucas.

“The good news is that you’re in pretty good health,” I tell him.

Lucas leans back on the edge of his desk and crosses his arms over his chest. “What’s the bad news?”

“I figured your wolf response would have gotten stronger since I healed you and gave you supplements. However, as I checked you, I tapped into your wolf’s energy,” I explain, looking up at him. “Your wolf hasn’t gotten any stronger since I’ve been checking on you, which is why I took a blood sample. I’ll test it to make sure there’s nothing that’s affecting your wolf…”

“What?”

I shake my head, “I just… I figured your wolf response would also grow since you clearly got through your heat with Sier—”

Lucas gets to his feet quickly, grabbing my wrist and stopping me from saying anything else. “I didn’t let Sierra help me with the heat.”

“I rode it out in the confines of my bedroom. Alone. Is that why my wolf is weakening?”

He didn’t… they didn’t… I try not to read into what he said too much. Why wouldn’t he go to his mate to get through the heat? Everyone else does, so why doesn’t he?

“It could be,” I answer, biting my lip. “Putting off mating for a year can bring unwanted side effects like this, but I’m not completely sure. I’ll do some research and find out more before you make any changes or move forward with treatment.”

“Alright, Healer. Let me know what you find when you come back at next week’s checkup.”

I want to ask why he and Sierra haven’t completed their mating bond after a year, but I bite my tongue. It’s not my business, and I don’t care about the Alpha’s relationship.

His love life is not my responsibility or concern.

“I will, Alpha. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Logan is waiting outside to take me back to the medical wing.”

“Logan,” Lucas mutters, his eyes narrowing on the door. He doesn’t say anything else, but the expression on his face can’t be taken as anything other than disgust.

I hadn’t heard anything before, but now I wonder, does Lucas have a problem with Logan?