“Please you’re what like thirty… that’s like middle age and that is getting old,” she replied.
“I may be thirty, but I’m not anywhere near middle age kid,” he snapped and she gave him a mischievous grin with a look of disbelief. “Nick! Get your daughter before I do something I regret,” James shouted at the alpha.
“Aw I was just joking,” Wendy whined. “Geez can’t take a joke… old man,” she teased and James frowned at her with a quiet growl.
“Now would be a good time Nick!” He added and Wendy started to giggle.
“Wendy, what are you up to?” The alpha asked coming up to them and her mischievous expression turned into a sweet look of innocence.
“Me? Why nothing daddy, I have no idea why he’s growling at me like that,” she told him with a pout. James glared at the teen balling his hands into fists.
“Wendy I’ve lived with you for all of your thirteen years and I’ve come to learn that when you use that tone, it means everything but nothing,” the alpha told her with a smile but had a stern expression. “This is James Lacrosse and it’s best not to push his buttons like you do everyone else,” he told her and James grinned seeing the alpha take his side.
“I know dad, do you know once he put five werewolves in intensive care over a drink in Florida,” she replied and James grimaced as Nick gave him a pointed look.
“That’s not exactly what happened. We argued over the drink, but they started the fight… I just finished it,” he started and Nick gave him an, even more, pointed look. “But… I was wrong… I should have… found a more… pacific way of solving our disagreement,” James finished clumsily. Wendy rolled her eyes and Nick shook his head at him.
“It’s clear you’re not around children much,” the alpha said before turning to his daughter. “I want to hear what happened to you,” he told her.
“I’d like to hear that myself,” James added and followed them to Nick’s car.
At alpha’s office in the police station, Wendy explained how Xavier tricked her into coming with him and her time with the doctor. He would make her listen to hours-long speeches about the new world order he intended to create and make her a part of, watch as he experimented on rogue wolves and vampires, threatening to let them rip her apart if she ever left her room. “Then today he came and got me out of my room looking panicked,” she explained getting to the part James wanted to hear most.
“He pulled me into one of the rooms he used to test on people and held a needle to my neck when Lily came into the room though she was different than she was now,” Wendy went on.
“What do you mean?” Nick asked with curiosity.
“She was… different. I don’t know really how to describe it. She was bigger and taller than she is now. Her eyes were different, they were reddish gold color, but it was more than her appearance. Her face was more… wild,” Wendy explained and James saw her shudder slightly. “She saved me from Richard or Xavier or whatever his name is,” she added quickly.
“How?” the alpha insisted and Wendy glanced at James then looked back to her father.
“He wanted to trade her for me and she pretended to accept. When he let me go, she shot him,” the teen explained. From what Wendy had let escape earlier in the hotel room, James knew there was more to it than that.
“Then what?” Nick asked once more accepting Wendy’s invented version.
“She told me to wait outside while she… took care… of him,” Wendy told him swallowing and looking at her feet. “It took her a long time to do that,” she said in a quieter voice. James could see the muscles of the alpha’s jaw clench tightly with a furious expression on his face. He couldn’t blame him, it sounded like Lily lost it a little bit.
“Then what?” Nick questioned again clearly trying to keep his anger in check.
“She came out and led me out. You know she killed one of the meanest hybrids that freak had! This thing was monstrous and killed a lot of people according to Xavier but not her,” Wendy told them beaming, but Nick didn’t look impressed and gave James a hard look.
“I’ll talk to her,” he told the angry alpha getting up from his chair.
James returned to the hotel room, feeling tired himself. Lily was sleeping on the bed; he sat down in one of the chairs so he didn’t disturb her. With a sigh, James leaned back in the chair and turned towards her. He couldn’t help but wonder what had happened when she found Xavier. He had wanted to ask Wendy, but the alpha didn’t give him a chance. He knew better than to ask her when her father was around.
Nick was already extremely pissed at her and if James suspicions were correct Lily had threatened to bring harm to the girl to get to Xavier, that would not go over at all well with alpha. With a yawn, he got up from the chair and laid down on the bed next to her. She rolled over and nuzzled up against his chest. With a small smile, he wrapped his arms around her allowing himself to enjoy the moment.
He ran his hand down along her back, feeling so relieved that finally it was all over until his hand rested on her hip. He felt something in her pocket and curiosity got the better of him. James removed a small glass vile filled with brown liquid from her pocket. He turned it over examining. It had a small white label with “MBKR” written on it with familiar handwriting. James would recognize the handwriting of Xavier anywhere.
With a soft growl, he wondered what the hell was it and, more importantly, why did Lily have it. At first, he thought of destroying it and asking questions later but it may have something to do with her mutation and he didn’t want to ruin her chances of going back to what she was because he suspected something else.
He continued to look at the vial, turning it over several times feeling more and more unnerved by the idea that Lily had it. James nearly woke her up a few times, but he simply placed it in the back corner of the nightstand drawer deciding to get some sleep himself and talk to Lily when she wakes up on her own.