When they arrived at the Robert’s home, an unhappy Liz was waiting for them. Tony wasn’t out of the house, but an hour at best and Liz was already getting upset. Lily glanced at him with a see what I mean look before she got out of the car. Liz immediately ran up to Tony, wrapping her arms around him and gave Lily a cold look. “How are you feeling Lily,” she asked. Her tone icy sounded like she wished Lily stayed in the hospital.
“I’m feeling better thanks, Liz,” she told the territorial she-wolf. She gave her a quick smile before dashing into the house. Lily was sure it was a good idea to put as much distance as she could between the unhappy she-wolf and herself. Sandy came out of the kitchen and gave her a warm motherly hug. She repeated the same question Liz had just made. “I am having one of the worst days of my life and Andrew isn’t making it any better!”
“Maybe you should stop and listen to him. Lily, you always want to do everything by yourself. You know not even an alpha does everything alone. He has the beta, the enforcers, and other elders to help him,” Sandy said, concern painted upon her face.
Lily let out a tired sigh, feeling as if the world had settled on her shoulders. “I can’t live my life waiting for someone to come and save me every time the forces of nature decide to screw with me!” She loved her family, but they couldn’t understand why she needed to be independent and do things on her own. Life had taught her one thing: the only person who would always be there for her was herself and only herself.
“I’ve got to talk to Andrew,” Lily told the older woman and left Sandy could say another word. So lost in her dark thoughts she completely forgot to knock and walked in. Unfortunately, he was meeting with the pack doctor, Xavier Thompson, and James. God damn that man! Lately, she couldn’t take a step without seeing James! The Alpha’s expression was stern. He raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to explain her unannounced intrusion.
“Sorry Mr. Roberts, but I wish to speak with you… now if it is possible.” She told him and noticed his jaw muscles tightened with irritation. She was pushing him today but was pushing her too.
The doctor got up from his chair, “I could use a little break.” He nodded at Andrew before turning to leave. Lily gave him an appreciated smile which he returned with a gentle, kindness.
James got up as well following him out of the office after giving her an odd look. He may be able to kill her in less than a second but if he kept giving her odd looks she was going to have to punch him. “Lily Nawassa what have I told you about just walking into my office?” Andrew snapped when the door closed.
Her anger began to surge to the surface. “I don’t really care right now,” she snapped back before she could stop herself.
His eyes flashed a golden hue with his anger. “Young lady I am the alpha of this pack. You may not be a werewolf or a member of the pack, but you will obey me when I am in such company!”
“I was nice! Look, I am not a little girl anymore Andrew! I am not a mutt groupie of yours either so I will not bow down to your every whim like everyone else,” she shot back.
He slammed his fists onto the table and stood up, glaring at her. She could feel the anger coming off of him in waves. Part of her wanted to start screaming I am sorry but the other part needed to challenge him. Needed to prove she could stand on her own. She wasn’t that scared little girl that came running to him late at night for asylum. “Do not insult my pack, Lily! You will obey me while you are in danger. I don’t care if you like it nor not!”
Lily stomped up to his desk angrier than she had ever been in her life. “I am not in danger; he wanted the pills not me! If the guy wanted me dead, I would be dead! You and I both know that! I’m sorry but I refuse to give you anything, and I refuse to have your son follow me around. That would put me in more danger than ever! You know how Liz is, and she’d freak out!”
She took a deep breath and looked at her father, hoping to convey her need to him. “You can’t force me into obedience Andrew, and I need you to understand that I can handle things on my own!”
“No Lily. You think you can handle everything by yourself, but you can’t handle this. You are just a human and seemed to have forgotten even the weakest among us can kill you without any effort at all! You may not be of my blood, but you are my daughter all the same. Until I’m sure you’ll be safe, someone will be coming over to keep watch,” Andrew argued.
Disappointment assaulted her. It would always come down to that: she was just a human and that was a synonym of weak and incapable. Not this time, she vowed. “No Andrew I put my foot down! I refuse to have some needless bodyguard!”
He growled at her, stomping around the desk before grabbing her arm, startling her. “You have no say in this matter! As my daughter you’ll do as I say. The end,” he snarled at her then dragged her out of his office and down the hall.
She attempted to free herself from his grip, but he was much stronger than her. This was a side of him she’d never seen before and it scared her a little. Lily considered apologizing. Yet when she noticed everyone staring at them, she scowled even more with embarrassment. She demanded he let her go, but Andrew ignored her as he pulled Lily down the hall.
Andrew opened the front door and pushed her out onto the porch. “Stop trying to act like a one-man army,” he demanded in a harsh snarl. “You’ll do as I say! A pack is as strong as its weakest member, and you are our weakest member! Now go home and get some rest! Someone will be over soon,” he shouted at her then slammed the door in her face.
Lily stood there for a moment in surprised shock. Closing her gaping mouth, Lily turned around and walked down the stairs. She’d never felt so embarrassed or hurt in a long time.
James could hear the alpha shouting at the woman in his office. “Here they go again,” Doctor Thompson said, shaking his head. James gave him and questioning look. The beta nodded his head. “Yes, they do this often. They may not be related by blood, but they both are cut from the same cloth,” he told him with a chuckle. His curiosity flared once more and almost asked the beta about her when the door suddenly flew open. Andrew stomped out of the room with the human in tow. Both were glaring at each other and the anger filled the room making everyone, even him, tense.
The human tried to break free from the alpha’s grip as she demanded that he let her go, but the alpha simply ignored her. He opened the front door and pushed her out onto the porch. “Stop trying to act like a one-man army,” he demanded in a harsh snarl. “I will tell you once more that you will do as I say! A pack is as strong as its weakest member and you will be protected! Now go home and get some rest!” he shouted at her then slammed the door in her face.
James shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. For some reason, it bothered him to see the alpha treat her like that and part of him was tempted to step forward ask the alpha to ease up a bit. However, he also couldn’t help but wonder why she was refusing protection. The human had to know that if she was attacked by a werewolf she’d probably die. She couldn’t be stupid enough to think she could actually fight off such attack by herself.
“Let us continue,” the alpha demanded and ordered them to follow him back into his office. With a shrug, Xavier followed Andrew back inside. James glanced at the front door for a second before following the other two into the alpha’s office.
“So then what do you think we have on our hands?” Andrew asked, directing his question towards the pack doctor, once everyone had taken their seat.
“I still am not sure that this is all connected,” Doctor Thompson replied, knotting his fingers together and resting his elbows on the edges of the chair.
“I am afraid we have strong evidence to believe that is in fact connected. Jake Addams was nearly abducted exactly like James. Also, James informed me this morning that the mad man contacted him admitting to being the one who caused his particular way of shifting and attacking Lily,” Andrew explained.