“Well, cheer up, because you won’t be going alone. I already talked to Emile, and he’s cool with me taking some vacation time to drive out with you.”
“Oh, that’s awesome. And what about your new lover boy? Is he okay with you going away for a few days?” She’d told Lily she’d smelled Declan all over her the instant she’d walked into the hotel room.
“Actually, he encouraged me to go. There’s something going on between the leopards and jaguars. He’d feel better if I wasn’t around when it happened.”
Emelise propped her hands on her hips as she turned to her. “What happened? And don’t you dare give me this ‘nothing’ bullshit either.”
Lily saw the look of determination on Emelise’s face and groaned. “I should have known I couldn’t hide anything from you.” She sat cross-legged on the floor in the living room area and took a deep breath. “Last night, a little before closing, those jaguars from Baton Rouge, the ones I told off, showed up at my work. I let my mouth get my ass into trouble, and I’m not entirely sure what they were planning, but the one implied he intended on raping me. When they first walked in the door, I sent Declan a text, discreetly, telling him they were there and that I was in trouble. The only thing that saved me from being hurt right then was a group of tourists coming in for a late evening cup of coffee. Declan and Remy showed up right after they left, before anything could really happen but…it scared me. Badly. I asked Declan to stay last night because I just needed to be held, and yes that’s all we did last night. This morning, that was a different story. He rocked my fucking world, Eme. I have never had such an intense orgasm as the ones he gave me. I’m still a little sore from it; it was that intense. Somewhere along the way he almost lost all control of his wolf and…I pulled him back from the edge. I submitted to his wolf’s need to dominate and, if I’m completely honest, I never felt more in tune with myself than I did in that moment.”
Emelise stared at her. “Oh, wow. Damn, girl, that’s some scary shit, that they showed up there. That means they had to have been watching the shop already to know where you worked. It sounds to me like the sex was beyond mind-blowing. Lucky you. Me, I’m settling for a mediocre orgasm compliments of my vibrator. I am not getting into a relationship with that arrogant leopard; I don’t care if he is my mate.”
Lily laughed. “You sound like me not too long ago. Enough about that. So, we head out first thing tomorrow for Phoenix?”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
“Good. I’ll get out of here and let you get back to the club. I noticed the cleanup is coming along nicely. Oh, you do realize Caine will raise hell about you taking off, and you know he’ll hear about it since some members of the Pard are helping you get the place in order, right?”
“Don’t remind me. He can raise hell all he wants; he doesn’t own me.”
“I’m just saying.” Lily headed for the door. “See you in the morning. We’ll take my car since it’s better on gas than your gas guzzler.” She waved and left. On her way home she debated on waiting until she got back from Phoenix to call her father but…maybe it would be better to just get it out of the way. Then she could focus on enjoying the road trip.
Lily sat on her sofa and tucked her feet beneath her before she finally dialed her father’s number. She sat there nervously waiting for him to answer.
“Magnis Quinn.”
“Hi, Daddy.” Lily hadn’t planned on calling him Daddy; she hadn’t called him that since her mother died, but all of a sudden she missed the closeness she’d once had with her father. When she heard his voice on the phone, she felt tears stinging her eyes. She hadn’t realized, until that moment, just how much she’d missed her father. After her mother was killed, they’d leaned on each other in order to cope with the loss and heal from it, and they’d become close. She missed that closeness.’’ The silence on the other end lasted for several seconds, and Lily began to wonder if her father was all right. When he finally spoke, she relaxed.
“Lily? It’s so good to hear your voice, sweetheart.” His voice was thick with unshed tears.
“It’s good to hear yours too.”
“I’m so sorry, Lily. I’m so sorry I was too stubborn to listen to reason six years ago. I know if I’d just listened to you, you never would have run. It’s been hell not knowing if you were dead or alive. Ever since Declan told me he’d found you there in New Orleans, I’ve swung back and forth between the urge to come down there myself and letting you be the one to reach out first.” His voice broke ‘on a muffled sob.
“Don’t cry, Daddy. If you do, I will too and I don’t want to do that.” Lily took a deep breath. “I know you were only doing what you thought was best for the pack, and I forgive you. I don’t hate you, I honestly don’t, but Slatefall isn’t home for me anymore. You have to know that.”
“Yeah, Declan has made that pretty damn clear. He claims to be your mate, is that true?”
“Yeah. I fought it like crazy. I know, I know, there I was bemoaning how you were lucky you and Mom were mates, and you were trying to force me into a relationship that didn’t have that connection, and then I turn around and fight it once I find my own mate. I was involved with someone that I cared about and I didn’t want to let instinct control me. I know now that it’s more than just animal instinct.”
“Is he good to you? Before you let yourself get too involved with him, you need to ask about his past. It’s dark, Lily, really dark. You need to be prepared for that.”
“It’s a little too late for that.” She closed her eyes at the memory of how it had felt to be in Declan’s arms. She’d had a few relationships, even before she’d gotten together with Keith, but none of them ever made her feel the way Declan did. He overwhelmed her senses. She felt everything more deeply, more intensely, and it was a little scary. When she realized she’d gotten lost in her own thoughts, she shook her head and cleared her throat. “I’m already in deep with him,” she explained. “But I’ll still talk with him about his time away from the pack. How is everyone? How are Casey and Jacob? I’ve been thinking about them a lot lately.”
“Jacob is getting big. He started shifting not long after you left, which took a lot of stress off Casey because she was worried he wouldn’t be able to. He wouldn’t have been shunned by our pack, but you know how some other packs are.”
“That’s good he shifted. I know she was really concerned so I’m glad she was able to put that to rest. Some of them are real bigots. And Casey, how is she?”
“It’s hard to say, really. She keeps to herself a lot; she’s focused on raising her son and doing right by him, which means she doesn’t really get out much. She gets together with the pack on the full moon but other than that, we don’t see much of her. You should give her a call. Maybe you can get her to come out of her shell. She always did look up to you.”
Lily felt a bit guilty when she heard that Casey had withdrawn from everyone. She’d been slowly opening up about the rape, that had led to her being a mother at the tender age of fifteen, when Lily up and left, and Lily blamed herself for the relapse. “I’ll call her, I promise. Maybe I can get her to come down here for a visit. I think both she and Jacob would really like New Orleans.”
“That might be good for them. I hope you’ll come back home for a visit, sometime. I know Slatefall isn’t really home to you anymore, but traveling is a little more difficult for a pack Alpha than it is for a lone wolf.”
“I’ll figure out when I have some free time and let you know. I should get off here; I have an early day tomorrow, but I wanted to call you and reconnect with you. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too, princess. It’s so good to hear your voice again. You take care of yourself, and you tell that mate that if he fucks up with you I’ll have his hide.”
Lily laughed. “I’ll pass that on to him. Take care of yourself, Daddy.” She hung up the phone and wiped tears from her eyes she hadn’t realized she was crying. She wanted to go ahead and call Casey, but she was already emotional; talking to the younger wolf while in that state wouldn’t be good. She would wait until after the trip to Phoenix was over then she would have time to really talk with Casey and try to get to the heart of why she’d become so withdrawn.
She couldn’t help but wonder if Casey was having trouble with the bastard who’d gotten her pregnant. Was he trying to be a part of Jacob’s life despite the fact he’d denied sleeping with her when she was fourteen, much less drugging her and raping her? Lily pushed the troubling thoughts away for the moment. She could speculate all she wanted, but until she talked to Casey, that was all it would be: speculation.
