Filed to story: In the Shadow of the Past Luna (Lily & James)
-and therefore me- really went. Was Margie the one that Dr. Hyder was warning me about? Had
Margie been manipulating things behind the scenes?
I dismissed the thought almost as soon as I had it. Questions about how much of my life Margie may have manipulated… especially with respect to my life with Stephanie.. were at the top of the list of questions that I was not ready to confront.
Thankfully, as I replayed Alpha Brett’s words in my head, my next thoughts offered me a brief distraction.
“No, it does not fit.”
“What?”
Nick and my mother both looked at me in disbelief. That is when I realized I said my last comment out loud.
“Sorry, I did not mean to say that out loud.”
“What does not fit?”
Nick asked, not letting it go.
I sighed
“Alpha Brett indicated that he is ending the treaties because his pack does not condone the abuse of females and the use of the mate bond for torture. The story about Tyler does not involve either of those things. Either there are pieces of the puzzle that we are still missing, or Dr. Hyder wanted me to ask about Tyler for some reason completely unrelated to the reason that the treaties were broken.”
“What else could there be?”
my mother asked. 1 have told you the entire story.”
“No, there is something else you aren’t telling me, or there are things that you do not know. Either way, there has to be more.”
Before my mother could say anything else, I suddenly remembered the second thing that Dr. Hyder said on his way out the door.
“Hey, Nick, when is your sister’s birthday?”
Nick gave me another strange look. “January 23, but you already know that.”
“No, not Stephanie’s. Lily’s.”
“Oh. Well… I am not sure.”
“What do you mean that you are not sure? Don’t you all celebrate it every year? Get her a cake, give her some presents, sing happy birthday, that sort of thing?”
Nick shook his head. “No, we have not celebrated Lily’s birthday in a long time. I do not remember the last time that we celebrated it.”
“Why not? I know your family celebrates birthdays. I have been there when you have celebrated your birthday and your parents’ birthdays and Jenny’s….”
“I don’t know, Dude. I guess I never really thought about it. Ever since… well, Stephanie died… none of us have really paid that much attention to Lily.”
“But she is still your sister….”
“James, back off of Nick,”
my mother chastised me. “You know how hard it was on their whole family when they lost Stephanie. And it is hard to want to celebrate the life of someone who contributed to the death of someone you loved.”
Wow I cannot believe my mother was just able to make that argument with a straight face. Does she have any idea how hypocritical she sounds?!?
“You are right, Mother,”
I responded sarcastically. “And that is why it clearly does not make sense why single one of your birthday parties that they have missed….”
My mother recoiled as though I had just slapped her. Good.
Maybe it was just lingering mate-bond effects messing with my head, but hearing that Lily’s family has ignored her all these years to the point that Nick does not even know when her birthday is- bothered me. And hearing my Mother defend Margie and Robert’s actions towards Lily bothered me even more.
I know that I wanted the Little Brat to be miserable and pay for her role in getting Stephanie killed, but for some reason, I had always just assumed that she was still being loved and taken care of at home. In fact, that was one of the reasons that I made sure that she was tormented at school, and why even now |
believed that she deserved further punishment.
Of course… if Nick told me three months ago that his family had been ignoring Lily for the past six years, would I have cared? I do not know, but I do not think so. So maybe it really is the mate bond. making me soft.
Urgh.
Either way, I was starting to realize that I have made a lot of assumptions about a lot of things… and I was also starting to wonder whether Dr. Hyder may have been on to something when he accused my parents of putting their heads in the sand.
Double urgh. Okay, time to focus.
“Mother, where does Father keep the files on pack members? I want to look at Lily’s file.”
“James, please let this go. You have already rejected Lily and she left the pack. She
“I want the file, Mother,”
I said firmly.
“James…”
“Mother, after the story that you just told, you are not exactly in a position to be giving a lecture or advice about anything. Where is the file?”
My mother flinched at the second jab, but then pointed to a set of cabinets in the corner of my father’s office. Like the human world, pack business had gone almost entirely digital. However, my father still preferred to have a paper file with basic information about each of our pack members. He likes the nostalgia of it, having learned to do it that way from my grandfather, who learned it from his great-
grandfather.
I went over to the cabinets and located Lily’s file. I quickly glanced through it until I found the information that I was looking for. It took a few seconds to register the import of what I was looking at, but when I did, the second bomb that Dr. Hyder had set for me exploded.
(Lily POV)
I looked at myself in the full-length mirror. I was wearing a short green party dress that somehow managed to accentuate my eyes and my legs at the same time. I half-wondered if the image in the mirror was really me.
“You look ravishing.”
a deep voice behind me said.
I turned around and took in the handsome male wolf standing before me. He was wearing a long sleeve button-up shirt and dark jeans, and he was towering over me; even though I was wearing heels, my head only barely reached his shoulders. Meanwhile, his fiery red hair was loose, instead of its normal half-up man-bun, and it fell a couple of inches below his ears, revealing his beachy waves.
“Hi, Brady,”
I smiled. “Do you think it is too much? I feel a little overdressed. I do not want to look like I am trying too hard.”
“I think you look perfect. But if you are feeling uncomfortable, the easiest solution is to take the dress off. I would definitely be willing to help you with that if you want,”
Brady responded flirtatiously.
I rolled my eyes and gently hit him on his arm. “Are you ever going to stop with the sexual innuendos?”
Brady rubbed his chin and thought for a moment. “Perhaps I will once you finally agree to sleep with me.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“Ok, fine, you are right. I probably will not stop even then. But at least then I will have better material to work with.”
I laughed and grabbed my purse. “At least you are honest. Okay, Alpha Hyder, are you ready to keep your promise?”
“The promise to f&&k you senseless until you forget the name of that awful ex-mate of yours?”
1
“Brady!”
“What? You did not clarify which promise you were referring to. I have made a lot of them to you, your know.”
“I meant your promise to take me to the party tonight and help me start to make some new friends.”
“Oh, that one. Of all the promises to hold me to, that is the one you want me to keep? That is so boring! Can’t you at least consider my promise to f-“
“Brady Hyder!”