Luca’s Inferno by Karima Sa’ad Usman

Chapter 27

27 End Of The Vacation Luca. I knew Emma wasn’t joking when she requested to be my mistress. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that, but it had. I could see it in her eyes. She was battling her emotions just as I was. I wasn’t angry at her when I walked away. I was mad at myself for putting her in a situation she would think so low of herself. Aldo sensed something was wrong, but I hid it from him. When Teressa approached us, I was surprised, but I chose to pass away the time by hearing what she had to say. She claimed she saw us by accident, but I knew my mother was behind it. My mother wanted me to start courting Teressa immediately, and I was mad at her. Teressa told me that Emma and her friend were partying with some men, knowing how easily I got jealous. It got to me, but who was I to get jealous? As much as I wanted to go to where she was and drag her away from the men, I knew she would be free to do as she liked in a couple of months. I also knew that my reaction to her request was what led her to do that. When I returned to the room, I was surprised to see her sleeping in bed. I figured the party was what it was, just a party and nothing more. She was faithful. I lay next to her. I wanted to wake her up and make love to her, but I doubted it would be the right thing to do after the awkward moment we had. So I leaned to kiss her. Her scent filled my sense, and I was suddenly overcome with the urge to claim her as mine. My inner wolf wanted to own her; my heart was hers. I knelt over her and stared at her. My body was moving on its own, and I fought with all my might. If she hadn’t woken up, I might have sunk my teeth into her flesh, and everything would be history. It took a bit to calm down, and i knew she knew; she saw it, but to my surprise, she acted as if it were nothing. We had fun at the Gazebo. When Teressa interrupted us and asked Emma about her time with me, it hurt to hear her answer it so freely. I began to suspect she was over me. After all, she had gotten over Thomas, who was her first, and they dated for three years. Why can’t she get over me, whom she had been with for only eight months? As much as Teressa pretended she wasn’t interested in me, her action showed otherwise. I did not want her spoiling our holiday, so I told her to leave us. Since Kyle was going back the next day, we decided to stay up partying. Aldo seemed to be taken by Heather, but I chose to mind my business. Heather did not know, and neither did Emma.

SEVEN DAYS LATER. The vacation was fun. Emma never had any serious talk with me and avoided us having profound moments altogether. I was grateful for her effort, and I was glad that she allowed us to have fun and create memories without complications. Aldo and Heather were spending a lot of time together, leaving Emma and me most of the time. I could not complain; in fact, that was what I wanted. I wondered if they would ever have anything serious or if Aldo would decide to let Heather go like me. How and where they chose to take their relationship was entirely up to them. Emma and I retired early and spent the rest of the evening making love before we fell asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. I finished what I was doing and was about to exit the bathroom when Emma linked me. “There are three human men in the room with guns,” she said, and I was on alert. I remembered I kept my gun by the nightstand. I was grateful it was loaded. Humans were not as fast as us. Whatever I needed to do had to be quick I exited immediately, and Emma was naked and on her knees. As she had told me, there were three of them, and they had masks on. “What do you want?” I asked the men, gearing to aim for the nightstand where my gun was. They laughed, but my alpha aura intimidated and confused them. I had that effect on humans too, and it was to my advantage because something told me if it wasn’t for it, both Emma and I would have been dead. The one holding a gun to Emma’s head was about to pull the trigger when I moved quickly and knocked him out of the way, pushing both of us towards the nightstand. Shots were fired, and Emma shifted and attacked them. I broke the neck of the guy I struck and reached for the nightstand. The instant I picked the gun up, I heard a gunshot and a whimper. I turned quickly and fired two shots at the other two men. My aim was good, and I got them in the head. I was very fast, so they could not compose themselves and shoot me. They fell, and I saw who whimpered; it was Emma. She had blocked a bullet meant for me with her body. I screamed immediately, carried her wolf, and placed her on had come with silver bullets. So I knew it was a werewolf that sent them. She was unconscious, and this was a human establishment. I could not take her out in wolf form. Aldo and Heather entered our room, and Heather ran to her friend wrapped in bedsheets while Aldo was in shorts.

“What happened?” he asked me, looking at Emma’s wolf on the bed and the three men that had attacked us on the floor. “She took a bullet for me; we need to find the wound and take it out now. She is unconscious.” I said and ran to the cupboard and brought the first aid kit Emma had forced me to bring. My hands were shaking, and my eyes were filled with tears. I began to search her white fur. Heather helped me, and we finally found the bullet hole on her side. My hands were shaking, so Heather took over and helped take it out. Emma’s heart was still beating, but she was unconscious, and I did not know what to do. Heather continued to check to make sure that was it. “What did they want?” Aldo asked me, and I was too distraught to respond. He shook me a bit, and then I yelled at him. “I don’t know! I don’t know! I went to the toilet, and they silently broke in and made Emma go on her knees. I rushed out immediately, and the man was about to pull the trigger when I pounced on him in my human form. Emma shifted and tackled the other two men to buy me time to get the gun I came with. It all happened fast. I think one of the men aimed their gun at me when I tried to pick my gun up, and Emma blocked it with her body.” I explained. I had never been distraught in situations like this before. I had always been able to keep calm no matter the problem. But here I was coming apart. Emma had taken my heart complete. I realised what I was afraid of had finally happened. I put her life in danger. “Just that bullet hole. She will be fine,” Heather said. She had been crying too because I saw her wipe away her tears. Aldo pulled her close, and I realised they were together when the incident happened, which explains why they entered together and why Heather was in sheets instead of a nightdress or pyjama. I looked at Emma’s wolf and prayed to the goddess to make her okay. This was why I did not want to stay with her. I will bring her nothing but death. My life is dangerous, and Emma does not deserve this. “Do you think it’s the Gallos?” Aldo asked, and I did not know. There were too many things going on at once. “It could be anyone,” I said, and Heather wiped away her tears. “Teressa,” she said, and I shook my head. “They wouldn’t have tried to kill me if it were Teressa. They wouldn’t have given me time to come out of the bathroom. They would have shot her and left before I came out of the bathroom. They were

skilled and came prepared. They let themselves into my room quietly, and their guns had silencers. It wasn’t Teressa. Whoever sent them wanted me dead. Killing Emma would have been a bonus. My alpha aura slowed them down and gave us a chance to act, “I said through gritted teeth and looked at Emma. She was regaining consciousness, so I linked her to shift back to her human form, and she shifted but remained asleep. They had got me on the shoulder, but the bullet had an exit wound. After Emma shifted, Aldo and Heather left us alone. We had men at the resort who came to my room to move the bodies and check them for evidence that might lead us to the person who sent them. I watched Emma sleep peacefully. I promised myself never to let my guard down again. This was supposed to be a holiday, but it had just turned sour. There was no point staying the full ten days. I called Gerald on the phone to make arrangements so we could leave the Island in the morning. I was grateful that I had obliged Emma and come with a gun and bullets. Those men would have killed us if the struggle had lasted longer than it did. I was grateful. We packed our bags the next day and left the Island. I held Emma all through the flight, knowing that if luck wasn’t on our side, she wouldn’t have returned with me alive. I was grateful and promised myself to find the bastard responsible for it. Emma’s healing wasn’t as quick as mine because she was an Omega, so she still had slight pain in her side, but I was glad she was alright. Aldo offered to take Heather to Celio while Emma and I went home. As Emma and I went up the stairs, I decided to let her go. Waiting for the four months to be over will be dangerous, especially when I did not know all the people after me and why. The heat was getting much, and she wasn’t built for this life. “Luca,” she said, snapping me out of my deep thoughts. “This is not your fault,” she whispered, pulling me back to bed. But I knew it was my fault, and I was the reason she almost got killed. It was time to set her free.