“We? I don’t know what you are talking about! I went for a walk last night then spent the night in my room. I never even saw you, James,” She replied with an evil grin. He growled with a mix of irritation and attraction as he watched her walk off with a confident stride.
“So you’re going to just leave me to hang then?” He asked her sternly when he caught up to her.
She smiled at him giving him a pat on the shoulder and he barely resisted the urge to toss her to the ground and make love to her yet again. “Better you than me, plus you deserve it after what you did,” she told him as they reached Andrew’s backyard. He watched her run off towards a large tree, she climb up it jumping easily from a branch to the roof later to disappear through a window, leaving him most definitely to hang.
“Damn woman,” he cursed pacing back and forth. What the hell was he going to do now; the alpha would demand an explanation. When he thought of one idea, he quickly discarded it; the alpha would never buy it. He thought of another then discarded it too. After several minutes of repeating of discarding ideas, he decided to just go with his first idea, blame his disappearance on the beast! Since he completely lost control when he shifted into his monstrous beast it was his best shot.
With a sigh of a condemned man he walked into the house, as expected he was greeted with a very angry alpha. “James, where have you been?” Andrew demanded when James entered the living room.
“Sorry Alpha,” he stated, trying to not look as nervous as he felt. “Last night I couldn’t pick out Lily’s scent very well since it’s different now,” he lied and the alpha nodded sternly. “So I decided to shift but the beast decided he rather do his thing,” James finished.
Andrew’s stern face turned softer for some reason. “The beast, huh?” he asked with a smile and James nodded. “Seriously that was the best you could come up with? I hope you don’t really expect me to believe that?” The alpha demanded.
“I was hoping,” he replied honestly with a small smile and Andrew started to laugh again.
“Son, you couldn’t fool anyone walking around with her scent all over you like that. I can’t wait to tell Sandy, she now owes me one of her apple pies. She said you two would wait until it all of this was over. I was sure it’d just speed things up and of course, I was right.” Andrew told him laughing and James looked at him confused which only made Andrew laugh harder.
“James Sandy and I’ve known for a while that Lily and you were mates,” he replied and James got even more confused.
“How?” he asked, how could anyone possibly know something like that when he didn’t? The older man smiled.
“It was obvious if you looked at the little things. She didn’t fear you the way she feared other werewolves and you were showing hints of protectiveness for her without reason to do so. Plus I saw the look on your face and how you hit the wall until your fist was bloody when we thought she was dead,” Andrew explained.
James fidgeted in his seat feeling a little uncomfortable with the fact that not only did Andrew and Sandy know about him and Lily but they had made a bet on it! “I’m glad you two are together now because she is going to need your help, especially with King Silvano’s vampires spying on her,” the alpha told him. “It won’t take much for him to call out a command of elimination for her. Hell, he was close to issuing it already if I didn’t call on him of a favor he owes me she’d already be a target for a kill on site,” Andrew told him and James gawked in surprise.
She was telling the truth, he realized and anger flared up inside him. There was no way in hell James would allow those leeches to touch a hair on her head. “Don’t worry Alpha, I will help her in any way I can,” he started then smiled brightly. “Even if she doesn’t want it,” he added and they both started laughing. They got up and Andrew patted him on the back.
“I hope you realize what you have gotten into James,” the alpha told him and James looked at him confused. “Lily could make even Gandhi go into a psychotic rage, but I have to admit I’m glad it’s you and not someone else,” Andrew admitted. “Now get yourself cleaned up unless you want everyone to know about it,” Andrew finished as they left the office. James nodded to the alpha then tried his best to avoid anyone else as he walked towards his room to grab fresh clothing and rushed to the bathroom to wash away the evidence of last night.
It’s not that he was ashamed, just the opposite, but it was clear Lily wasn’t ready for everyone to know just yet that they were mates. As James arrived at the bathroom he was assaulted with a black tennis shoe right on the side of his face. “What the hell?” He exclaimed turning to see Lily stomping up to him with a furious glare. He resisted a smile, wondering what she was going to yell at him about now.
“What is this?” She demanded pointing to his mark on her shoulder. He started to explain to her that it was his mark and they were now mated, but she interrupted him. “Don’t you even dare utter the “M” word, do you understand me! How dare you,” she complained.
“That’s a little like the pot calling the kettle black don’t you think,” James replied lifting his shirt to reveal the bite mark on his chest where she had not only bitten him but drank from him. Her eyes widen but quickly narrowed them at him again.
“That is not the same, James Lacrosse, not even close,” she demanded, punching him in the shoulder.
“How is it not? I have heard some pretty intense stories about vampires and who they choose to bite,” he replied, leaning against the door jam, and she narrowed her eyes at him. “And I remember my name perfectly you don’t have to keep calling me James Lacrosse all the time!” Lily glared at him and hit him again.
“Don’t you dare mock me! I’ll call you how I like, James Lacrosse! Though right now I think a more fitting name for you is Jackass,” she shot with another punch and James suppressed a quiet growl of arousal, she was so damn sexy when she was angry. “Call me whatever you like, it doesn’t bother me one bit,” he teased then added in a quiet whisper, “because you’re mine.”
Lily growled at him, “Like hell! I hate you, James!”
“You forgot the Lacrosse,” he teased then quickly disappeared in the bathroom as she picked up the shoe and threw it at him again. This was going to be fun; he thought with a smile as realized he was going to have to win her over. Lily may try to push him and run, but she couldn’t hide and he was up for the chase.
Lily grabbed her shoe and stomped back to her room. She swore when she was done dealing with Xavier she was going to pump James with so much silver that people would think he was the silver surfer. She looked in the mirror of her bedroom once more viewing the horrendous mark upon her skin.
“No way in hell,” she demanded then adjusted her t-shirt making sure it wasn’t visible; she didn’t need someone to see it and think the wrong thing. After an attempt to hide the mark, she decided to put on a sweater to be safer and walked downstairs. Her mother pulled her into a hug when she walked into the kitchen and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Good morning to you too Sandy, what was that for?” She asked and the older woman smiled warmly.
“I am just happy for you,” she replied and Lily looked at her confused as she sat down at the table.
“Happy for me, what are you talking about?” She asked once more and Sandy looked a little hesitant for a moment then smiled.