?<strong>Chapter 986:</strong>


    Before Lucas could finish, the door cracked open. A hand, sharp with muscle, shot out and grabbed him by the cor.


    The force pulled Lucas forward, causing him to step into Rnd’s room and nearly spill the fruit he was holding.


    Once the door mmed shut, Rnd shoved him to the floor with one swift motion.


    Upstairs, the muffled sound of a struggle sent Molly rushing to the door. “Hey! Are you okay? What’s going on in there?”


    Rnd, on top of Lucas, growled, “Get lost!”


    Molly had never liked Rnd, but his indifference to her had always made her think he was harmless.


    Now, she realized she’d underestimated him. No one, not even Adrian, had ever yelled at her like that. She froze, her face draining of color.


    Aurora, calm andposed, stepped forward. “Lucas, are you alright? What was that noise?”


    Rnd continued to hold on to Lucas’ cor while ring down at him with contempt. Lucas’ back ached from the impact with the floor.


    He met Rnd’s eyes, endured the pain, and replied calmly, “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”


    Aurora and Lucas shared an unspoken understanding, a quiet trust that the other could handle whatever came their way.


    With that, Aurora gently urged the others to head downstairs.


    Inside the room, Rnd’s forehead was pressed against Lucas’. The anger in his eyes wasced with something darker, something uncontroble. “You sure love to talk, don’t you? Keep going. Let me see what you can do besides running that mouth of yours.”


    Lucas gave a smile. “Are you mad? You better not hit my face. If they see any bruises, you know what that’ll mean, right?”


    Rnd’s jaw clenched, his teeth grinding as each word from Lucas seemed to unravel him a little more.


    He was an outsider, and his status in this family wasn’t even equal to that of an outsider.


    A cold wave of unease swept over him, drowning him in an ache he couldn’t escape.


    Rnd wanted to find Wade, but the home he once knew had vanished along with Wade’s death.


    He paused, his throat tight as though something invisible was choking him from the inside.


    Taking advantage of his moment of weakness, Lucas grabbed his hand and used his core strength to flip the tables and switch their positions.


    “Let go of me!” Rnd growled, struggling like a lion being restrained. “Don’t think I won’t actually beat you up!”


    Lucas, still a child, had been in diapers when he and Wade went hunting in the hignds.


    Lucas’ eyes were bright as he kept his limbs still. “There’s not enough room here, and if they hear anything, they’lle running. If you really want to fight, I know a better ce.”


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