Filed To Story: In the Shadow of the Past Luna (Lily & James)
(Lily POV)
“Brady, you cannot be serious! Do you really want me to meet with James?!?!”
“I do not WANT you to meet with James, Lily. But… I think that you should.”
“Why? What possible reason could there be for me to meet with him? That chapter of my life is closed. I do not want to see James or anyone else from that pack ever again!”
Brady looked at me sympathetically. 1 know that you do not want to see him, Lily. I cannot blame you for that; I would feel the same way if I were in your shoes. But he is feeling desperate. If you do not agree to meet with him, he is going to try to find you anyway. And that is going to bring attention that we do not want right now. It is unsafe.”
“Unsafe how?”
Brady took a deep breath, obviously debating his next sentence. “Please, just trust me on this, Lily.”
I groaned. I trust Brady and Dr. Hyder completely, but I do not like that they keep secrets from me. Why I am in danger and who I am in danger from are chief amongst the secrets.
“Look, Lily. Consider this an opportunity to get some closure.”
“I do not need closure, Brady.”
Brady gently cupped my right cheek with his hand. “Are you sure about that? I saw how upset you got when my dad said his name.”
I pulled away from Brady and went to look out the window. “Just because it still hurts does not mean that we have unfinished business. I rejected him; he accepted; I rejected the pack; I left… somehow. It is over and done.”
Brady shook his head sadly. “It does not work that way, Lily. Until you mark and mate someone else, the bond between the two of you is still there. It is damaged and badly broken, but not gone.”
“So if I find some other wolf to mark and mate me, can I skip the meeting?”
I asked, only half-kidding.
“You are not going to mark and mate anyone else,”
Brady growled. I glanced at him over my shoulder. From the look on his face, I think we were both surprised by the amount of possessiveness in his tone.
Brady seemed to take a moment to collect himself.
“Look… even if there was not a bond between the two of you, from what my father told me, James would one of the only ones able to help him get the answers that he needs. Do not do it for him; do it for the pack members. You have told me before that there are at least a few good wolves there; I know that you still care about them.”
I wiped a couple of tears from my cheek. “I do not know if I can do it, Brady. I am not strong enough yet.”
Brady walked over and wrapped me in a hug. “Lily, you are the strongest she-wolf that I have ever met.”
I I buried my face in his chest. “I do not feel strong.”
I said as my tears continued to fall. “I mean, every time I think that I have gotten over what happened to me in that pack, something else happens and I feel like I am right back to where I started. Just hearing his name today brought back so many bad memories and so many of my old insecurities.”
“You are not going to do this alone, okay? I am going to be right there with you the whole time. We will pick the location and invite James there. You can consider it a well-deserved vacation of sorts.”
“A vacation?”
“Sure, why not? We can go a couple of days early and leave a couple of days later, Seeing James will just be a small part of what we do while we are there. Is there anywhere you have always wanted to go?”
I gave Brady a half-smile. “Well, actually….”
(Alpha Brady POV)
“Hawaii? Really, Son?”
I am in my office, giving my father a recap on my attempt to convince Lily to meet with James. He, of course, is sitting in my chair behind my desk.
“It is actually perfect. We can go to the island of Kauai. Not that many people live there, and tourists are largely limited to just a few areas of the island. The airport is really tiny, and so it will be easy to control security in and out. We will fly in and out of the island on a private plane, so it will be impossible for anyone to follow us without us knowing about it. Plus, no one will think twice about James or us being there; they will just assume we are going for a vacation.”
“How is Lily doing with the idea?”
“She is not happy. She cried,// She trusts us, but she is worried about seeing James. She also does not understand why we will not tell her about the dangers that she is facing. At some point, we are going to have to tell her.”
“Yes, but not yet.”
I sighed. As much as Lily wants to know what the dangers are, I desperately want to tell her. My father, however, has remained adamant that we not overwhelm her with it until she is ready.
“I told her that we could treat the trip as a vacation. That is how the possibility of Hawaii came up. But, really, Dad… I do think it is perfect for what we need. There are not any packs on the island, either, so it is the definition of neutral territory.”
“Fine. I will call James and make the arrangements. In the meantime, while I am using the office, why don’t you go ahead and see if Lily and Rose will go on a run with you.”
“In wolf form?”
I ask, surprised.
“Yes. She needs to re-build her strength. The exercise will help with that. I also think that it is time that she see that she is not the only one.”
(James POV)
I stare at the phone in disbelief. Dr. Hyder has just proposed that I meet Lily in Hawaii. Is that where she has been hiding this whole time? Well, I suppose there are worse places to hide.
It has been two long, agonizing weeks since my world imploded; perhaps I myself could benefit from some Hawaiian sun. Life certainly could not get any more complicated or confusing there.
Nor do I seem to be finding any answers staying where I am at. Since my world imploded, my mission to make sense of everything has run into a frustrating series of roadblocks and dead ends…. most of which seem to be caused by my own mother.
The roadblocks started on the night that I read through Lily’s file.
FLASHBACK
My mother continues to knock on my bedroom door, begging me to let her and Nick in. At first, I ignore her. However, the incessant knocking and begging eventually irritates me to the point that I relent.
When I open the door, Nick and my mother have worried, panicked looks on their faces. Actually, correction: Nick looks worried; my mother looks panicked.
My mother immediately snatches Lily’s file out of my hands. I am already done going through it so I do not resist.
My mother studies my face, as though she is trying to figure out what it is that I now know. I am not sure what she is looking for or what she thinks that I have figured out, but she takes a deep breath and tells Nick and I that she has another confession to make. This one, she says, will help me understand what I have probably seen in Lily’s file.
I have to stop myself from openly rolling my eyes or mocking her. Just an hour ago, she assured me that she had told me everything. I guess truth is relative in her world.
I must be a glutton for punishment. Despite being overwhelmed with the fireworks that I have already seen tonight, I cannot help but be curious about what it is that my mother wants to confess now. I gesture to my mother and Nick to enter my bedroom. We all take a seat on my couch and side chairs.
My mother begins with an apology. “Please forgive me for not telling you this sooner, James. You have to understand that Margie and Robert understandably wanted me to keep this a secret. However, after thinking about it some more, I think you both have a right to know.”
“Okay.”
My mother then looks at Nick and I seriously. “Please do not tell Margie and Robert that I told you. They are embarrassed and ashamed, and I do not think it is fair to make them feel even worse about the situation.”
“What are you talking about, Mother?”
My mother looks down at the ground and begins wringing her hands. “I know who Lily’s first mate was, and I know how she got hurt the morning of Stephanie’s memorial.”
My ears perk up. “Do tell.”
“Lily has been having an affair with a rogue off and on for years. The morning of the memorial, she snuck into the woods to meet him. It turns out that he was her mate, and that is one of the reasons that she had been drawn to him.”
2
“She is lying.”
Luke mindlinks me.
“Of course she is. I saw the picture of Lily on the day she was born.. She had the mark of
Luke? You are back?”
Wait-
Luke does not respond, but his sudden appearance causes me to almost miss the rest of my mother’s story.
“Somehow Lily discovered that her rogue mate was the one who killed Stephanie all those years ago, and that caused an argument between them. Lily felt really guilty about the situation, and she decided to reject him despite their years together. The rogue was offended and angry, so he beat her up before accepting the rejection. That is why Lily was so badly injured and passed out before the memorial.
Realizing that you were her second chance mate must have been what awakened her wolf.”
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?