Filed To Story: In the Shadow of the Past Luna (Lily & James)
Of course, that was the moment that Lily finally walked in.
(Lily POV)
Leaving the girls’ home for the last time was bittersweet. I had not worked there long, but those girls left a mark on me. I was sad to leave them.
At the same time, I was excited about James and I agreeing to finally mark each other. I felt ready to move on to the next chapters of our lives. I also felt ready to return to our pack and face our families together.
Wanting tonight to be extra special, I made a last-minute decision to stop by a lingerie store on the way back. I knew James would be irritated with me taking extra risks by not coming directly home, but I hoped that he would be nevertheless pleased with the outcome of my shopping trip.
I was practically sk ipping when I walked up the stairs to my apartment.
My excitement faded as I heard the voices of James and Brady arguing with one another. And my excitement morphed quickly into anger as I walked in and saw James holding Brady in a headlock.
“What the Goddess is going on here?”
I demanded angrily.
James let go of Brady and gave me a strange look that conveyed both guilt and male pride.
Once released, Brady stood up straight and came running over to me. He wrapped me in a hug and lifted me off the ground. James immediately began growling.
Meanwhile, realizing that I was not hugging him back, Brady placed me back on the ground and looked at me in confusion.
“Lily, I am here. We can leave. You do not have to stay with this a&&hole anymore. I can protect you now. My dad is looking after the pack so you and I can go anywhere you want.”
I walked over to a chair and dropped my purse and shopping bag down as I tried to collect my thoughts.
Although I was angry and confused about what I had walked in on, when my eyes landed on the candles and roses everywhere, I softened a bit. I looked at James and gave him an appreciative smile.
“Thank you. It looks beautiful in here,”
I told him via mind-link.
“You are late,”
he responded.
I pointed to the shopping bag. “I made a quick stop on the way home.”
James stepped forward so that he could see the name of the store. He then gulped. “For me?”
“Only for you,”
I confirmed as I felt myself blush a little bit.
“Lily?”
I turned around to face Brady again.
“Why are you here, Brady?”
I asked.
“The results of the testing on the chocolate came back. Rose was right. The chocolate had been drugged. But not with the normal thin you would expect to find. It had drugs in it that tell us that whoever is after you knows exactly who you are and why you are so special.”
James stepped closer to me and put his arm around my shoulders. “Why couldn’t you just tell us this by phone?”
James asked Brady.
Brady’s eyes darted to James’ arm and then back to me.
“Lily is not safe with you,”
Brady said through clenched teeth. “I know that you have been leaking
“What are you talking about?”
I asked.
“Andrew. His cousin Andrew. I know that James has been sharing information with him. James does not care about you, Lily. He cares about power and his cr appy family, but he does not care about you. Please, come with me. We can go somewhere. Anywhere. But I will keep you safe.”
I felt James tense up next to me. Brady offered his hand to me, but I ignored it.
“Brady, James has been with me almost every waking moment since he got to Ravenswood. I do not know what you think that you know, but James has not talked to Andrew and he has not leaked anything.”
Brady looked at me in disbelief. “Lily, you cannot tell me that you actually believe this a&&hole? That you trust him? After everything that he has done to you?”
I studied Brady’s eyes, and I saw the fear and hurt in them. I suddenly realized that in trying to avoid being part of a love triangle, and in trying to avoid hurting Brady’s feelings, I had actually made things worse. 1
I put my hands over my face and took a deep breath. I then turned to James. “James, can you please give me and Brady a few minutes?”
James tensed up even more, and I felt his possessiveness taking hold. I gently cupped his face and looked into his eyes, trying to reassure him. “Please. We just need a few minutes.”
James shot Brady a warning look and then nodded at me. “I will be in the bedroom.”
“Thank you.”
I then turned back to Brady. “Brady, why don’t you sit down. You and I need to talk.”
(Lily POV)
Brady and I sat down on the couch, leaving a decent amount of space between us. Brady ran his hands through his hair, and then put his head in his hands.
每
“You know that James will be able to hear everything we say. The walls in these human apartments are really thin.”
I sighed.
“I know. And if it really bothers you, we can mind-link. But James will never agree to leave me here alone with you, and I assumed that you would be more comfortable with him in the bedroom than sitting here with us while we talk.”
“Mind-link it is then,”
Brady conceded.
“But you should also know that James and I do not keep secrets from one another.”
“Meaning that whatever I say to you right now you are going to tell him anyway?”
“Yes.”
Brady looked up at me, clearly hurt. It made me second guess whether I should have said it, but it was the truth. And I needed to say it out loud not just for Brady’s benefit, but also for James’ as well. I did not want James to think that I was going to hide anything from him.
“Lily, what happened to you? Are you even listening to yourself? It was not that long ago that I had to beg you to meet with James in Hawaii. You were adamant that you never wanted to see him again. You fought me tooth and nail about going on that trip. And now… now you are defending him, telling him your secrets, and you are practically at the hip to him. How does that make sense?”
I looked down at my hands. “People change, Brady. Things change.”
Brady reached over and grabbed one of my hands. “People change, Lily, but not that fast. You are just confused. The mate bond is strong: I get that. But you do not have to be with someone who has hurt you just because of a mate bond.”
“I am not with him just because of the mate bond, Brady.”
“Then why?”
I hesitated, knowing my next words were going to hurt him.
“I love him.”
Brady shook his head and squeezed my hand. “No, Lily. You don’t. It is just the mate bond making you think that you do.”
I looked Brady in the eyes, wanting him to see how serious I was.
“No. If it was just the mate bond at work, I would have felt this way from day one. Or in Hawaii. I didn’t. It was only recently that I realized how I felt about him.”
“The mate bond is just messing with your mind, Lily. It is trying to heal itself back together, and it is making you think you feel things that you do not really feel.”
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?