Chapter Twenty-Three
Declan
Declan was in shock. Caine had asked him to come out to the compound because he needed to speak with him. He’d figured the leopard wanted to formally thank him for the help he and his team gave the Pard with the Red Moon Clan. He was right, but he’d not expected the form that thank you took. He walked into the apartment he now shared with Lily and heard her in the bathroom.
Lily stepped out of the bathroom in her robe. She’d hopped in the shower while Declan went to talk with Caine because she had to work and figured she could get ready while he was gone. They had plans to get something to eat together before she went to work. “Hey, you’re back. What’s wrong?” she asked at the look on his face.
Declan glanced up at her, and his dazed look slowly turned into a grin that threatened to split his face wide open. “Wrong? Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s perfect. Caine wanted to thank me and my team for our help.”
“O-o-kay?” She was still confused by the look on his face.
“We’re officially the Ghostpoint Pack, and a chunk of Black Water Pard territory now belongs to us.”
Lily stared at him. “Wait, what do you mean ‘belongs to us’? Us, who?”
“Us. You, me, my team. We’re officially a pack and allies with the Black Water Pard, part of New Orleans, and the area northeast of the city is now ours.”
“Oh my gods,” Lily squealed and pounced on him where he sat on the sofa. “Wait, how much of New Orleans is ours now?”
“Everything east and northeast of the eight hundred block of the French Quarter.”
“What? Son of a bitch. That means we have to move. Fuck. I like my apartment.”
“It is cute, but it’s also a little small, don’t you think?”
Lily sighed. “I suppose you’re right. It was fine for one person, but not two. I guess I get to start looking for a new place to live.”
“We should look at houses. For sale.” He watched her face.
“You want to buy a house? Are you serious?”
“Yes, I do, and yes, I am.”
“Okay.”
Lily
Lily was stunned. Not only did they have their own official pack, complete with territory, but Declan wanted to buy a house together. Things really were working out. When she got to work, she found that they had too many people scheduled, and since, out of all the staff, she needed the pay the least, she decided to take the day off. She was going to have to fix the schedule though to make sure that didn’t happen again.
Since she had the free time, she decided to make a phone call she’d been meaning to for days but hadn’t had the chance to until now. She sat in Emile’s office and settled back in his chair. Hell, she was starting to spend more and more time in that office, taking care of things her boss should. He was dealing with some family drama so she was fine with that.
She dialed the number her father had given her and sat there drumming her fingers on the desk while she waited for the other end to be answered.
“Hello?”
Lily arched a brow. The voice on the other end came out tentatively. “Casey? Hey, it’s Lily.”
“Lily? Oh my God. Your father told me he gave you my number, but I really didn’t think you would ever call.”
“Why in Goddess’s name would you think that? Wait, don’t answer that. I took off without a word to anyone six years ago; of course you’d think that.”
“Yeah, something like that.”
“I’m sorry I disappeared like that. There was so much going on and…gods, I feel like such a horrible person because you were still working through what happened and I abandoned you.”
“It’s okay, Lily. I mean, it was rough, yeah, but…we all knew he gave you an ultimatum. I knew that if you’d had a choice, you would have stayed. You wouldn’t have taken off like that. And you couldn’t call me or contact me because, if he’d found out, he would have ordered me to tell him where you were, and I would have had no choice but to obey.” Her voice cracked a little, betraying her emotions.
“I still feel like a horrible friend,” Lily said softly. “But thank you for that. How are you doing, Case? I mean really. Don’t give me this ‘I’m fine’ bullshit. Tell me the truth.”
