“Come on. We walk from here.” Lucas grinned at me, and butterflies fluttered in my stomach. Lucas shoved his door into the dirt wall next to the van.

One smile, and I was mush. This was pathetic.

Laughing at my own ridiculousness, I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened my door. My foot was outside before I realized there was nothing below but air.

Lucas jerked me back into the car. “Whoa. Not that way. You have to climb over to this side.”

My heartbeat throbbed in my ears. “Right.” I panted. I’d almost died. Holy shit. I’d nearly just fallen down the side of the mountain. “Not that way. Of course. Not that way.”

He cupped my cheeks in his hands. I stared into his dark eyes as his aura flowed over me. It was beautiful—bright and pure, like a sunny day. He was so strong. So kind. Being with him was like being surrounded by sunlight. I never wanted the touch to end. “Deep breath.”

I followed his order and took a shuddering inhale.

“Good.” He let out a long breath, too. “You’re doing fine. Just watch where you’re going. I’m not as young as I look, remember? You almost gave me a heart attack.”

I nodded. “Right. I’ll be more careful.” He really was making me lose my concentration. One smile and I almost fell off a mountain.

***

We spent the next few hours huffing it up the mountain. Or at least I was huffing. Lucas made carrying two packs look easy. If he didn’t have a leg up from being a wolf, I would’ve felt bad. But as it was, I didn’t. Even with the two packs, he was slowing down for me.

“Let’s take a break.”

“A break?”

“Yes.” He kicked a log, and stared at it for a second.

What on earth…

“Sit there.”

I followed his command before I knew what I was doing, and boy did sitting feel good. I hadn’t realized how tired I was already.

Lucas set down the packs and dug around in his. “Here you go.”

He handed me a plastic bag filled with some sort of jerky. “What is it?” After yesterday with the guinea pigs, I needed to know exactly what I was eating.

“Beef jerky.”

Thank goodness. I took a piece and chewed. “How much farther do you think?”

“We’ll get to the mine right before the sun sets.”

I nearly choked. My feet were already killing me, and it was just past midday.

“That’s why it’s important to take breaks. I don’t want to have to carry you back to the car.”

I thought he was joking until I saw his face. “Could you?”

“What? Carry you back? Yes.” He handed me a water bottle. “With the packs, it’d be cumbersome. But yes.”