The hot shower I took when I returned to Luca's house wasn't enough to soothe my aching body.

My muscles and joints were screaming at me. The webbed skin in between my fingers was rubbed raw by the gloves I had worn.

Good luck trying to hold a paint brush for the next few days, I told myself.

I knew that I wouldn't be able to lift my arms over my head for a week. But, despite the major soreness and discomfort, I felt satisfied. I had done something for myself and it felt rewarding.

It was this feeling of accomplishment that drove me to the kitchen for lunch instead of Luca's bed for a nap.

I cut up strips of chicken breast and sautéed them in a frying pan, then I moved on to cutting up a head of lettuce for my salad.

When I sat down at the countertop after pouring the dressing over the chicken and caeser salad that I had prepared, I heard a door open and turned to see Luca strolling in.

"Did you make lunch?" He asked, nose in the air.

I dropped the fork in my hand back down into the bowl.

"Is that the best way to get your attention? Food?"

"You could walk around naked," he suggested.

I stared at him blankly.

"Too soon," he commented to himself.

Luca walked around the island to the stovetop where extra chicken was laying on a plate.

"Can I have the rest of this?" He asked, although he was already pulling a fork and knife from the drawer.

"I don't care," I said honestly, picking my own utensils up to eat.

Luca sat down next to me with a glass of water, his plate of chicken, and a large bottle full of barbecue sauce.

"Appetizing," I said sarcastically, watching Luca pour the sauce over each piece of chicken before he ate it.

"Better than your rabbit food," he said, mouth full.

"I'm actually quite satisfied," I told him, gesturing towards my salad empty bowl.

Luca raised an eyebrow, but I pretended not to notice.

I got up from my chair and rinsed my dishes before walking towards Luca's bedroom.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"To take a nap."

"Probably a good idea."

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion but I didn't press any further. The only thing I could think of was how exhausted I was.

I fell asleep almost immediately after collapsing into Luca's bed.

- - -

Waking up wasn't as easy as falling asleep.

I laid there for several minutes before finally sitting up, an action I regretted instantly.

My back was so stiff. My shoulders felt like they were locked in place and my legs were shaking as I tried to stand up from the bed.

God, I hate Fallon, I thought.

The stiffness subsided slightly as I walked through the house, eventually wandering outside where I could hear someone talking.

I stood under the breezeway, watching Luca as he paced the driveway while he talked on the phone.

As soon as he saw me, he winked.

I smiled awkwardly before Luca ended the call and approached me.

"I was just about to go see Lincoln, if you'd like to come," he offered.

"Sure."

After grabbing my shoes, I followed him to the truck, where he opened the passenger door for me to climb in.

I tried not to wince as I lifted myself into the cab of the truck, my legs burning as I did so.

I hate Fallon, I thought again.

"How was your nap?" Luca asked.

"Not long enough."

I heard him chuckle before he closed the door behind me.

"You could have slept longer," he told me, getting into the truck. "I'm sure you need the rest."

My eyebrows furrowed.

"Why are you so concerned about my sleeping schedule?" I asked him, remembering that he had made a similar comment earlier that day.

He looked offended by the question.

"Am I not allowed to be?"

"It's weird if you are," I said honestly.

"It's weird that I care about how much sleep you're getting?" He asked.

"Yeah, kinda," I answered, laughing awkwardly.

Luca didn't say anything else, although I could tell he was annoyed.

"Is it because I get up early that you think I'm not getting enough sleep?" I pushed.

"I don't see why you have a problem with me caring," he said after a few moments.

I shrugged.

"I just don't see why it would matter to you."

"Because I'm your mate and I'm allowed to care about you..."

"I get plenty of sleep; there isn't anything to care about," I said.

"I'm not going to argue with you. I shouldn't have to defend myself for being concerned about your wellbeing."

I shook my head, turning to look out the window.

We drove in silence for a few miles, going the opposite direction of the training field to a part of the pack land that had houses lining each side of the road.

"Are we not going to Lincoln's office?" I asked, not recognizing the area.

"We're going to the meeting house," Luca answered. "There's an elders meeting there today with our security team. Lincoln said he would bring his phone so you could call your dad."

I nodded, a pit forming in my stomach.

I wasn't so sure anymore that I wanted to talk to my dad. I was already anticipating the earful I was going to get if he had truly lost his shit, like Mady had said.

A few minutes later we pulled into a driveway where several other cars were parked. Luca drove up to park next to the large brick house that sat far off the road. With rose bushes in the garden and petunias in the window boxes, it looked more like a residence than it did a workplace.

After Luca had parked his truck, I followed him inside the house through the empty garage. As soon as we walked inside, we were met by Bates, Blaine and Lincoln.

Lincoln reached out to me, holding a phone and a small piece of equipment.

"When you dial the number, plug this into the bottom of the phone, through the charging port. It'll buy you about ten minutes but not any longer than that."

I nodded, taking the phone from him.

"Thank you."

I turned to Luca.

"I might need to go outside for this," I told him.

He nodded, not saying a word, before turning to speak to Bates about something unrelated.

I walked back outside and pulled down the tailgate of Luca's truck to sit on.

Once settled, I took a deep breath. I then followed Lincoln's instructions and waited for the call to go through.

It rang for a few moments before sending me to voicemail.

I couldn't help but be somewhat relieved.

Next, I tried his work phone. No answer. Then I called the clinic directly.

His receptionist told me he hadn't been into the clinic in nearly a week. He told her he was taking a few days of vacation to focus on pack business. She hadn't heard from him since.

She did say that mom was still working in the clinic. She had been in that morning and was on her lunch break.

I decided to call her.

Again, no answer.

"What the hell..." I mumbled to myself, pulling the phone away from my ear.

I had never had that much trouble getting in touch with my mom or dad, even while I was away at college.

Making a last attempt, I called his cell phone again.

To my surprise, he answered.

"This is Dr. Blair."

"Dad, hey, it's me," I stuttered out.

When he didn't respond, I spoke again.

"I've been trying to call for a few days. Mom said you weren't able to talk the last time I called..."

No response.

"Hello?"

I pulled the phone away from my ear to see that the call had been ended.

He hung up on me.

This was worse than being reprimanded.

I felt my throat close up and my eyes begin to burn.

I knew this would happen, I thought. I knew he'd be mad. He hates me for leaving our pack. He hates me for being with Luca.

Breath shaky and heart heavy, I sat on the tailgate for a few minutes with my head in my hands; watching tears as they fell, dropping to the concrete below.

I couldn't let myself go back inside crying.

Several minutes passed before I pushed myself off the tailgate. I walked back towards the house, using the pad of my thumb to wipe away any tears that were still welling up in my eyes.

When I went through the garage and back inside, I was surprised to walk into an empty room.

There was no one to be found.

I could hear the faint sound of voices, which I followed through the house.

It was ornately decorated in a posh, old money kind of way. I knew immediately that whoever lived there didn't have any children.

Everything was in its proper place, not a speck of dust or dirt to be seen.

Pillows were fluffed neatly on the couch and chairs were pushed in perfectly under the dining room table, which was set with expensive-looking plates and silverware.

As I wandered around, I noticed an unsettling fact: there were no pictures anywhere.

Despite the extensive staging, I began to think that no real person lived there. To confirm my suspicions, I walked into the kitchen and opened the butler's pantry.

It was completely bare.

Weird.

I followed the voices out of the kitchen and towards a room that looked like it was set up as a library.

One wall was made entirely of shelves that held books and other trinkets. The voices were coming from behind it.

Maybe think about soundproofing your secret meeting room, Luca, I thought.

I had begun to look for a knob or switch that would somehow open an access door when one suddenly opened in the center of the wall.

Bates peeked his head out.

"Stealthy," I commented.

I saw his expression soften when he looked at me. Clearly, he could tell I had been crying. Shit.

He surprised me by smiling.

"What's the password?" He asked.

"Let me guess... Is it 'Bates is awesome'?"

"Close."

"'Bates is annoying'?"

"You're getting colder."

"'Bates is a six-year-old'?"

"You're freezing."

"'Bates is a moderately entertaining person'?"

"You're warming back up."

I sighed.

"Is it 'Bates is amazing'?"

"It's not, but I'll let you in for guessing so well," he said, winking as he opened the door fully.

"Just for future reference," he said, "the password is 'Bates is perfect'."

I laughed as I walked through the hidden door.

"What do Luca and Blaine think about that password?"

"They usually just push me out of the way," he said honestly, closing the door behind us.

I walked down a narrow iron staircase that was lit underneath by fluorescent lighting. The staircase turned sharply to the right where I could hear the voices of those speaking become louder.

It didn't take long for me to realize they were arguing.

When Bates and I turned the corner, I was met by a spacious room with a high ceiling and concrete walls, the room filled with at least twenty men and women.

They were gathered around a long table that was illuminated by several hanging lights.

Documents including maps, reports and pictures were scattered along the table. A few people walked back and forth between a map that was plastered against the wall behind them, marking it with highlighters and attaching sticky notes.

Looking at it, I could tell they were marking the borders of different pack territories. Some of the districts had sticky notes attached to them, others were completely filled in with different shades of highlighter.

I looked back over to the table to immediately meet Luca's gaze. He stood in the middle of the table, arms crossed. The people around him were engaged in discussion, but he just stared at me.

I felt like he was staring right through me.

Luca raised a questioning eyebrow and I turned away, my attention diverting to the chaos around me.

People were talking over each other loudly, pointing at the various documents in front of them as if they were using them to prove their point.

I overheard the conversation of the two men standing closest to us:

"How much longer do we have to wait until we do something about it? Until the entire population of high school girls in the area have gone missing?"

"We have people looking into this already," the other said in exasperation.

"They've been 'looking into this' for three months with no success. We need the issue to be reassigned."

My interest piqued, I walked a little closer to see what they were referring to. Scans of driver's licenses and yearbook photos of teenage girls were clipped to folders that laid on the table in front of them.

Dates were written on sticky notes that were attached to each picture, some going back to the beginning of the spring.

As I got closer, one of the men turned to me, noticing my eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Who are you?" He asked rudely.

"Who are they?" I asked, pointing to the files.

"They're missing, that's what they are," another man said, folding his arms.

"Who the hell are you?" The rude man reiterated.

Before I could answer, Luca answered for me. Hearing his throat clear, the whole room went silent.

The man turned his attention to Luca, who was leveling a glare in our direction from the other side of the table. Everyone else in the room followed his gaze to stare at the rude individual whose ears were now tinged pink with embarrassment.

Luca turned to walk towards the back of the room, the man following him, not having to be told.

I gulped and turned my attention back to the files on the table, not wishing to watch the chastening conversation that ensued.

Slowly the room around us returned to its chaos.

I reached out to shake the hand of the man who was still standing in front of me.

"I'm Carrie," I told him.

"Robert," he replied, shaking my hand. "Don't take offense by my friend, he's like that to everyone."

"What were you talking about?" I asked, changing subjects.

"These girls," he said, picking up the folders. "They are all missing. There are five total, so far."

"For how long?"

"The first one disappeared two months ago. The last one was reported missing by her parents last week."

"Do they all live within the borders?" I asked him.

He shook his head.

"That's why no one will do anything," he told me. "If these girls belonged to a leader or someone else important enough to live within the gates they would have started searching immediately."

I picked up one of the folders.

"My friend, Matt, over there is in charge of three of the girls' subdivision of the pack land," Robert continued. "The first girl belonged to my subdivision-but since Matt has more at risk, quantifiably speaking, he got the case. I just don't think he's doing enough with it."

I put the folder down.

"I can talk to Luca for you?" I offered.

Robert's face immediately lit up.

"Thank you so much," he said earnestly.

I nodded.

"Good luck," I told him. "Let me know if can help in any other way."

He nodded quickly.

"I will, thank you," he said again.

I offered a half-hearted smile before walking over to where Bates was standing with Blaine and a few other men.

Before I could get to where they stood, I felt a hand grab my arm and tug me gently. I turned to see Luca pulling me towards the stairs.

As soon as we were out of earshot from those around us, he pulled me around to stand in front of him with his back turned to everyone, shielding me from their view.

"What's wrong?" He asked in a low voice.

"Nothing," I said quickly.

"You've been crying."

I faltered, refusing to look him in the eye.

"No, I haven't."

He placed a hand under my chin and pulled it towards him, forcing me to look at him directly.

"Don't lie to me, amore."

My jaw tightened as I felt the tears return to my eyes, his face becoming blurry.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said through clenched teeth, my bottom lip quivering.

"What did he say to you?" He demanded, his tone growing darker.

I pulled my face from his grasp.

"He didn't have to say a word."

I turned and made my way back up the stairs before Luca could say anything further.

Bates can give him a ride home, I thought to myself as I got into the truck and pressed the ignition. I backed out of the driveway and swerved out onto the road, narrowly missing the mailbox. I drove quickly back to Luca's house, feeling like I was going to shatter into a million pieces at any moment.

Fortunately, I made it to his house and inside before I collapsed onto the couch.

It was then that I finally let myself cry the way I wanted to.

All of my life I had tried to be the woman my parents created instead of myself.

Now, the part of me that was truly, wholly, authentically a large part of my future-my mate-was cause for rejection from the people whose opinions I valued most.

And I felt crushed by it.

- - -

Okay, but really, bless her heart :(

I'll be posting two chapters today! Chapter Twelve will go up at 8:30pm EST (New York time) tonight, so be sure to come back then for more!

As always, don't forget to vote on the chapter and comment your thoughts below!

See you this evening!

MaybeManhattan .x