“Where the fuck have you been?” Tate whisper-hisses.
He wouldn’t get it, neither of them would. I know they care about Lily and her brother, but this felt like a repeat of my previous failures. Something I don’t want to talk to them about. The only person I’ll be delving into my sordid history with is her.
“I killed three more Wraiths, snuck into the compound, and brought back the van with all our shit in it, and the goddamn dog,” I clarify, pointing my chin at the door where Winnie is crying. She wants in, but there’s just no way I can have her sitting in the corner while we all fuck Lily’s brains out.
“What’s the situation at the warehouse?” Tate asks.
“Thirteen Omegas, not including the two from the raid and all the guys who went with us to get Lily,” Axel chimes in. “It’s pretty fuckin’ crowded,” he informs. I can tell he’s stressed, and I feel guilty for leaving him to do that on his own, for leaving all of them to do what I had to do.
“Do we have a backup plan if anyone comes snoopin’ around the warehouse?” Tate asks.
“Ink’s old trailer, but that’s gonna be an even tighter squeeze,” Axel answers.
“I gave Maverick access to my cameras; he should know if anyone’s coming,” I tell them. I knew I couldn’t just leave them without any protection. “If shit goes south, he’ll take them to the trailer until it’s safe again.”
I should have done more, but I did the best I could with the memories present. When I saw Lily on the floor, next to her brother’s dead body, I lost it. Well, I lost it before then but I feel in control now.
“You back to yourself?” Axel asks.
“Yeah, I’m good. I wouldn’t miss this.” I look over at Tate. Part of me trusts him. I have this whole time. But it’s clear his secrets run deeper than I imagined. “We need to clear the fucking air. If we’re going to be a pack, no more fucking lies.”
Tate nods. There’s guilt clearly written on his face.
“I know; no more lies. We need to get through her heat first. After that, all of us, allfourof us, are goin’ to sit down and figure this out. Was anything off at the compound?” he asks me.
“Not that I could tell. I still have the camera feeds active. We could use those to check in on things when all of us aren’t there. You know Prez is going to suspect shit,” I point out.
Tate shakes his head. “No, he’s known well before then.” He looks over to Axel. “Tell the guys to not let anyone else go to the compound. We’ll bring them here if we have to as a last resort,but no one can go back to the compound, not till my dad is taken care of.”
“What are you goin’ to do?” Axel asks him.
“I’m goin’ to kill my old man,” he declares. Neither of us says anything after that. I hold Lily tighter in my arms, each of the other men touching her in some way too. “I’m going to run into town, get some more food, and probably pick up some Plan B or shit,” Tate grumbles.
“You need to make sure none of her scent is on you if you’re going out. Plus, she’s on the pill. Just have the food delivered,” Axel suggests.
“Can we trust someone to do that?” Tate asks. Axel rolls his eyes.
“I don’t think the Instacart driver is going to know that we just uprooted our club, committed murder, and are hoarding our Omega here durin’ her forced heat,” he chastises Tate like he’s fucking stupid. The Alpha must be exhausted because he doesn’t clap back; instead, he just nods his head at Axel’s idea. “I’ll handle it, you go do a perimeter check,” he directs Tate.
“And take the dog out too,” I call out.
Tate throws his head back, groaning, but nods, knowing the Beta is right and that we need to keep up on security.
Lily was kidnapped, taken off our own fucking compound with little resistance, and who knows who the snakes are within the club itself?
I hold Lily in my arms, unable to sleep, but finding a small bit of comfort in the fact that she’s safe and warm in my grasp.
Even when my knot goes down, I keep my cock inside of her warm pussy, not daring to move her even an inch. I need as much of her skin against mine as possible.
Eventually, she stirs on my lap, and my chest aches, knowing how fucking tired she must be. Her skin is feverish and sweaty asshe looks up at me. Her pretty brown eyes are half-lidded as she touches my face, making sure I’m really here.
Her fingertips graze over my body, checking for new wounds. She merely grazes over the scars that have been there for over a decade. Her touch is soft and gentle, that is… until she gets to the female name buried in lotus flowers tattooed on the back of my forearm. She stares at it for a long minute, her eyes blinking rapidly.
“Lily, let me explain,” I try to reason with her, but she’s off my lap in a flash.
She paces the room completely naked, and I stand up to trail after her. I’m behind her, and I go to reach for her as she spins and pushes against my chest. She doesn’t move me, which frustrates her even more, and she starts to smack at my chest.
When she doesn’t get the reaction she wants, she opens the bedroom window, and I’m immediately terrified about what she might do next. Thankfully, she doesn’t jump out or do something crazy, but she does start ripping the bedding off and tossing it outside.
