Filed To Story: In the Shadow of the Past Luna (Lily & James)
“And if you do not like what you learn about me, then I will continue to work on myself until I earn your respect and your love. And if I can’t… well then I will wait until you change your mind.”
(James POV)
“I cannot promise you anything more than friendship right now,”
Lily tells me.
“I can accept that,”
I respond. I can more than accept that. In fact, I have to try desperately to keep the excitement out of my voice. Friendship is far better than anything I could have hoped for this morning.
“I also have to be honest with you. Brady is part of my new life.”
“Okay.”
“I have feelings for him, James.”
Ouch. Well, there goes my excitement bubble. But it is okay; I can deal with Brady separately.
“I understand,”
I force out.
“Friends?”
Lily asks as she sticks out her hand for a handshake. 1
“Friends. For now,”
I respond as I chake her hand.
I glance at my watch. “So… frierid… we missed breakfast. Can buy you dinner tonight?”
Lily looks at me apologetically, and then I notice her eyes glance past me. I turn around to see Brady walking towards us. Seriously what is this guy’s problem? It has not even been 45 minutes yet. I was promised two hours. We have barely scratched the surface of what we need to talk about.
“James, I would consider it, but I already have plans with Brady tonight.”
Yeah, we will see about those plans. I pull out my phone and step away, just as Brady approaches Lily.
J Lady Gwen Author
Buckle up your seatbelts…. in two or three days, more big secrets will be revealed. Some you may have seen coming some I am 99% sure you have not.
(Lily POV)
James gets on his phone and walks away just as Brady comes up to us.
“Hey.”
“Hey, Brady. What are you doing back so soon? Surely it has not been two hours yet.”
He reaches out and rubs both of my arms. “No, it has only been about 45 minutes. But the guards let me know that you were crying and yelling, and so I was worried.”
My face turns a little red; I had not realized that my emotions had been so obvious to bystanders.
“I am okay. Thank you for worrying, but I promise that I am fine. I actually think you may have been right.
It was good that I met with James. I did not realize just how much I had bottled up that I wanted to say and ask him.”
Brady looks at me curiously. “So are you all done then? You have the closure you need?”
I shake my head. “Not quite. Almost. I feel like there is so much more to talk about with him. I haven’t even told him about Stephanie, Sheila, or what happened that night Stephanie died.”
“But do you need to tell him any of that? I mean, at some point, he has to figure these things out for himself. That has been what my father has said from the beginning.”
“I don’t know. Maybe I don’t need to tell him everything. But is it wrong that I kind-of want to?”
Brady looks at me sympathetically. “No, it is not wrong. But it also may not be the wisest thing to do.
You have to remember that your safety is the number one priority. And right now that means not spending any more time with him or his pack than is absolutely necessary.”
“No, I know that you are right. But…. I did agree to be friends with him.”
Brady gets an angry look on his face. “What? Lily, why would you do that? How could you do that? After all that he did to you?!? After all that his pack did to you?1?|?”
I sigh and turn so that I can look at the ocean again. “I don’t know how it happened exactly. One moment
I am yelling at him and crying, and the next moment I am asking him how he can say that he cares about me if he does not know me. And after that, he said he wants to get to know me, and I sort of felt boxed
In. So I offered to be his friend.”
Brady ran his hand down his face. “Lily, you did not offer to be his friend: you just offered to let him court e you were supposed to be closing this chapter of your life with him, not offering to have him write new ones with you. We have to think about your safety first and foremost. The more people who know are, the more dangerous things will be.”
I look down. “I know Brady, and I’m sorry. It just sort of came out of my mouth. But I did tell him that you were a part of my life now, and that I have feelings for you.”
Brady grabs my shoulders and gently spins me around. “You did?”
he asks with a silly grin on his face.
“It’s amazing how quickly his attitude just changed,”
Rose comments in my head. “I know, I link her back.
I nod at Brady. “Yes. I wanted to be sure I was being honest with him, and not setting up false expectations. He may have hurt me, but I am not interested in revenge and I do not want to hurt him. I am better than that.”
Brady continues to smile at me. I gently hit his arm.
“You know, you need to wipe that silly grin off of your face. I am still not going to sleep with you. I am feeling really confused. And you should know that I feel something for James too. I do not know what it is, but I feel it. I do not want you to get hurt either.”
Brady pulls me into a hug. “Lily, you are worth risking getting hurt for.”
Just then, James comes walking back up. He looks upset to see me hugging Brady, but to his credit, he does not say anything.
“Alpha Brady.”
“James.”
“I was promised two hours. It has been 45 minutes.”
Brady shrugs.
“I suggest that Lily make up the time by having dinner with me tonight.”
“James, I already told you that Brady and I have plans.”
James looks directly at Brady. “Yes, but I am sure that Alpha Brady would agree that, if he has to bail on your plans for tonight, he would rather you be with me than be alone.”
Brady scoffs. “Hardly. But it doesn’t matter. I have no intention of bailing on Lily. Unlike you, I saw her value from the moment I met her.”
“If you are so sure you won’t bail on her, then there is no harm in agreeing with me, is there?”
Brady rolls his eyes.
“Fine, whatever. I’ll play your stupid game. If lightning strikes and I am forced to bail on Lily tonight, I will not prevent her from having dinner with you… provided you take some of our security detail with you.”
“Deal,”
James smiles. “So now tell me, how long are you all planning to stay in Hawaii?”
“We leave tomorrow. I need to get Lily back to where she is living, and then I need to get back to my packhouse and catch up on the work I have been neglecting while being here.”
“Fair enough. I suppose I will leave tomorrow then too.”
For a moment, listening to the two of them, I wonder if they fell on their heads while my back was turned.
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?