Filed To Story: In the Shadow of the Past Luna (Lily & James)
The moment I opened the door, he silently grabbed me and wrapped me in a tight hug. He hugged me so tightly that I could barely breathe, but I really did not care. As soon as I felt his arms around me, any remaining fear or panic left in me immediately evaporated. James smelled amazing, the sparks between us felt stronger and comforting, and Rose and I were both really happy to see him.
I did not know what the future held for us, but at least at that moment, I knew that being in his arms was exactly where I wanted to be.
After a minute or two, James loosened his grip enough so that I could let him into the apartment. As I let him in, I noticed that he was wearing a tuxedo shirt and jacket, with his tie loose and the first few buttons of his shirt unbuttoned. His hair was a little messy, and it appeared he had not gotten much rest on the flight here. Despite his exhaustion, James looked s**y as hell.
“Old Lily never thought about Old James that way,”
Rose linked me.
“GET OUT OF MY THOUGHTS, Rose!”
Rose laughed and then happily laid down in my head.
As soon as I closed the door behind him, James pushed me against it, grabbed my face with both hands, and kissed me. I immediately melted, relishing the feeling of his lips against mine.
“Hi,”
he whispered breathlessly once we broke apart.
“Hi,”
I responded back with a smile. “Are you tired? It looks like you have been up all night.”
James nodded. “I am exhausted. But I am so glad to see you. I was scared to death.”
I shook my head dismissively. “I am fine. I promise. I am safe here.”
James sighed. It looked like he wanted to say something, but I knew that he needed to get some sleep. I grabbed his hand and led him towards my bedroom.
“Here. Why don’t you go ahead and lay down. We can talk when you wake up.”
James took off his jacket and shirt and climbed under the sheets onto my bed. I turned to leave, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him. “Stay?”
he asked.
I was too tired to protest, not that I would have wanted to anyway. I slipped under the blanket next to him.
A thought occurring to me, I reached for his left hand and looked at his ring finger.
“I take it that you are not married?”
James shook his head. “No. I told you I would not marry her. And I will not marry anyone until you agree to be mine.”
I felt myself blush a little bit as he pulled me closer so that my head was laying on his chest.
“Are you going to tell me what happened? You were a little….frantic… earlier, so you did not tell me very much.”
“Well, your sister showed up and made a public scene with Sheila. Embarrassed both of them. Jenny was involved too; I guess Jenny was the one staged everything to make it look like Stephanie had been murdered. Sheila and Stephanie only intended to fake a kidnapping. It was crazy, and I did not even stick around for it all because we heard that Black Moon had been attacked and I was worried you were there.
Which thank Goddess you were not because the attackers were definitely looking for you. They even made their way to the room you had been staying in.”
I raised my eyebrows. “Wow. It sounds like there is a lot more to both of those stories.”
James kissed my forehead. “Oh, there is. I will tell you everything, I promise. But first lo us sleep. I need to just hold you for a while and catch my breath.”
He did not have to tell me twice. I had barely-slept while waiting for him.
Soon, both of us were fast asleep.
(James POV)
I woke up to the smell of eggs and bacon. I rolled over and realized that I was beside myself in Lily’s bed.
I stretched and looked at the clock on Lily’s nightstand. It was 12:30 in the afternoon. I got up and walked into Lily’s kitchen, where I found her cooking.
I smiled as I went up behind her, kissing the nape of her neck from behind. She shivered as she turned around to face me.
“Good morning,”
she said.
“Good morning, beautiful. Thank you for letting me sleep.”
“I hope you are hungry,”
she replied as she began to put the food on plates.
“Starved.”
Lily put the plates on the kitchen counter, and she gestured for me to have a seat on one of her bar stools. Instead of sitting down, I pulled her close to me and kissed her again. Kissing Lily was quickly.
becoming one of my biggest addictions. I simply could not get enough. I was relieved and happy that she seemed just as happy to kiss me as I was to kiss her.
Suddenly, I heard coughing behind us. “Just friends, my a&&,”
a female voice said.
Without letting go of Lily, I turned around. Lily giggled softly in my arms.
“James, meet Charlotte. Charlotte, meet James.”
I nodded my head at Charlotte in greeting.
Lily pointed to a few shopping bags on her couch. “James, I noticed that you did not bring any luggage. with you, so Charlotte agreed to pick a few things up for you from the mall. She is an amazing power shopper, able to get in and get out with tons of good stuff in seconds flat.”
“Thank you. That was very nice of you.”
Charlotte looked at me a little suspiciously. 1 did not do it to be nice. There is a cost involved.”
“I am happy to pay you back. Just tell me what I owe you.”
“I do not care about the money. You and Lily-are going on a double date with me tonight.”
I looked at Lily with a raised eyebrow.
“A double date with Derek Ab bott,”
Lily clarified. “I know we have a lot to talk about, including whatever
I could not help the huge smile that immediately took over my face. Kissing Lily and going on a double date with Derek Ab bott. i was already in heaven. 1
(Stephanie POV)
It feels really good to be home.
It also feels really nice to see evidence of how much everyone missed me. I love how many of my pictures and mementos are hung everywhere. If I knew that I was this loved and this missed, I would have come back years ago. While I was gone, Sheila told me some of what the pack did for me, but her descriptions really did not do it justice.
For her part, my mother was so happy to have me home that she immediately demanded that the pack host a large welcome-home banquet in my honor. Alpha Randall and Luna Jane were not happy with the idea -Luna Jane even had the audacity to complain about how much money they had already spent on
Sheila’s cancelled wedding- but they eventually relented.
We would have held the banquet this Friday, but the werewolf council is making life difficult, so we decided to delay the banquet until James’ birthday. That timing should give the werewolf council plenty of time to get out of our hair, and it will also give James and I plenty of time to reconnect. I have the perfect dress in mind that will allow me to show off the mate mark that James will give me before the event.
Speaking of the werewolf council, they are really annoying me right now. They have placed Sheila and I on house arrest, and they have also started to sniff around and ask a ton of questions. I really do not understand what they are doing or why they are punishing me
I mean, nean, it is not a crime to take an extended vacation. And really, that is all that I did. I did not lie to anyone and I did not fake my death. I even wrote letters for Pete’s sake! It is not a werewolf crime to travel the world or sleep with a human. It is also not my fault that Jenny was upset with me and that
Sheila wanted to steal my mate.
Okay, maybe my fault that Jenny was upset with me, but if the Moon Goddess had paired t was SORT-OF
Sheila and Nick as mates like she should have, none of this would have happened. After what Jenny did to Nick and our family, I feel validated. Jenny never deserved my brother. It is disgusting that she let Nick, James, the rest of my family, and the pack mourn my death, knowing all the while that I was alive. How could she live with herself knowing how much pain she was causing everyone?
I know that Sheila did the same thing, but at least Sheila had a reason I can understand: she wanted
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?