Filed To Story: In the Shadow of the Past Luna (Lily & James)
“Who is Evelyn?”
I ask.
They both ignore me.
Dr. Hyder stands up and puts his hands on the desk angrily. “You were raised to respect the mate bond. You were taught that females are to be valued and respected. You had no excuse for your behavior. You!
knew better.”
Brady lets go of my hand and stands up to face his father. They are now standing eye to eye, glaring at each other. The tension between these two alpha wolves could be cut with a knife. I have no idea what is going on.
“Was I misguided and st upid? Yes, I admit that. I will regret the decision that I made every day for the rest of my life. But James made mistakes that are unforgivable, no matter who his parents are. He should not need to be taught that intentionally cheating on his mate to cause her pain is wrong. Nor should he need to be taught that blindly supporting people who beat their own child is nothing short of blasphemy!”
I gasp. I have never talked to Dr. Hyder or Brady about what my mother did to me. Did they somehow find out, or is Brady referring to something else?
I
“Stand down, Son, I am warning you. This does not concern you.”
“YOU STAND DOWN, FATHER. I AM THE ALPHA HERE, NOT YOU. LILY IS IN MY PACK, AND AS FAR AS I
AM CONCERNED, SHE IS ONE OF MY PACK MEMBERS. THAT MAKES WHAT HAPPENS TO HER MY
BUSINESS.”
This is quickly getting out of hand. I am worried that one of them will throw a punch. I gently place my hand on Brady’s arm. “Brady….”
The small gesture seems to snap Brady out of a trance. He looks at me with surprise, as though he had forgotten that I was there.
“Lily, sweetheart, why don’t you go upstairs and relax for a while. My father and I need to talk, alone.”
“But Brady, I-“
“It is fine, Lily. We are not going to do anything. We are just going to talk. I promise, it will not go further than that,”
Dr. Hyder says in a reassuring tone.
I look back and forth between them. “If this has something to do with me and James-“
“No, Lily. It doesn’t. We do need to talk about that a&&hole’s request, but we can do that later. Right
I now, it seems that my father and I have another fight that we need to finish.”
I still feel unsure, but I can tell neither of them want me here anymore. I reluctantly head upstairs to my room.
(Alpha Brady POV)
“What the hell was that?”
I yell at my father.
“Watch your tone, Boy,”
my father responds coldly.
“Watch my tone? Watch YOUR tone. I am the alpha of this pack. I do not know why you constantly force me to remind you of that fact.”
My father stays silent.
“Was it really necessary to bring up Evelyn, AGAIN? After all this time, I would think you would have forgiven me. You are clearly capable of forgiveness, given that you brought up that a&&hole James today.”
“1 forgive no one.”
“Clearly.”
We continue to glare at one another. Our silent stand-off lasts several minutes, until finally I sit down exhausted. There is no point in continuing it. He will never back down.
Once I sit, my father sits as well.
“What is going on with James?”
I ask, in an irritated but much calmer voice. “Tell me everything.”
“The last time that I talked to him, I planted a couple of seeds. He watered them, they sprouted, and the sprouts broke his world apart. Now he is trying to understand what happened so that he can piece things back together again.”
“Good for him. How does that have anything to do with Lily? Or us?”
“Lily is his mate, Brady.”
“No, Lily WAS his mate. She is entitled to move on, just like Evelyn did.”
I choke up a little as I say that last part, and my father notices. To my shock, his face softens a little bit.
“Do you remember how upset you were when you realized the mistake that you made by rejecting Evelyn?”
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“Yes.”
“And do you remember how you reacted when you found out that she had marked and mated with
Andrew?”
“Yes. I wanted to kill him. The only reason that I didn’t is that you stopped me.”
“If you had realized your mistake before they marked and mated, would I have been able to stop you?”
“Not a chance.”
“And if Evelyn had disappeared
“—I would have burned down every house and pack in my way until I found her.”
My father sighs, “That, Brady, is my point. I do not believe that James deserves to be with Lily. But the Moon Goddess paired them for a reason. If they want to be together, there is nothing that you or I will be able to do about it. Ultimately, they are going to have to decide their own destiny.
In the meantime, I want to make sure that we keep Lily safe. She is more important than she knows. We cannot risk a feral alpha wolf out going out there burning down houses and packs in a quest to find her. It will draw attention that is unnecessary and unsafe. At some point, Lily and James are going to have to see each other again. I want that to occur in a safe and controlled setting”
“What are you saying?”
“We need to take her to see him. Not here, and not anywhere close to here. We will pick a neutral location that is safe and secure. And then we will let the chips fall where they might.”
I put my head in my hands. “Lily is the first she-wolf who has caught my attention since Evelyn. I am already falling for her. You know that.”
“Yes. That’s why I asked you earlier if you loved her.”
“And yet you are asking me to voluntarily take her to the alpha wolf with the most potential to take her away from me.”
“Yes, I am.”
I take a deep breath. “Fine. But I am doing it for her, not for that a&&hole.”
I get up and start to walk away. I have to find Lily and then somehow explain all of this to her. I just hope she does not hate me.
Just before I leave, my father says something that shocks me to my core.
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“Brady, I want you to know that I am sorry.”
I spin on my heel and look at him. “What?!?”
“I handled the Evelyn situation poorly. I should have helped you realize your mistake and fix things before it was too late. Instead, I got angry and left you on your own. For that, I am sorry.”
My jaw drops. I have never heard my father apologize to anyone, for anything, ever.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?