Lily jaws clenched together as she seemed to think about it. “I’m really not going to like what you’re about to tell me huh,” she replied. He shrugged with his shoulders and his eyebrows, refusing to say another word until she agreed. “Okay. Fine. I agree not to maim or kill Rebel or at least until the vamp threat is over with. Now spill it. What’s he done?”
“You know that he was taken with Wendy and the other kids when Xavier went on his kidnapping spree,” he started. When she nodded he continued, “Nick told me that Wendy said Xavier showed a lot of interest in him when they were with the doctor. If he wasn’t with Wendy he was with Zander, or he would have both of them with him.”
“You think Xavier experimented on him?” Lily asked, her eyes widened a fraction in surprise.
“Nick says Wendy never saw him do anything to Zander but you know Xavier. He loved playing matchmaker and pairing up his subjects to be his Adam and Eve,” James told her, remembering that was one of the reasons he’d chosen to change Lily. “Nick says that when they returned, Zander had changed personality wise. He was angry at his mother, which can be understood, but he also pulled away from all his friends and the pack.”
“Besides from a few questionable and Omegas, Zander pretty much stopped associating with anyone. He refuses to shift with the pack. Nick said he nearly went into a panic when he tried to insist once,” James explained.
“Damn,” Lily breathed. “Just how many more of us are there!”
James shrugged then hesitantly continued, “It’s not just that. Zander also has been know to disappear a lot and only at night… Nick has suspected the vamps had inside help.”
“Are you freaking kidding me, right now?” Lily demanded. “What is he doing guarding Wendy and much more, Tristen?”
James held up his hands to calm her down. “Nick thinks they’ve got something on him. He says the kid is drowning in his whole guilt. Also, there is… that other thing…”
“More? Oh God, what is it? He’s not like Nick’s bastard son or something?”
James laughed and shook his head. “No nothing like that,” he said then took a breath, hoping to hell Lily wouldn’t decide to maim him. He totally should have made her promise not to hurt him as well. “Zander is… um…” he started, rubbing his neck again. “Tristen’s mate,” he finished quickly and in one breath.
Lily stared at him for one long moment. “Excuse me,” she said, sticking her finger in her ear and jiggling it. “I’m sorry I must have heard you wrong. I thought you said he was her mate,” she said with a forced laugh.
“I… uh… did,” James replied.
Lily stilled and any trace of humor fell from her face as she stared at him. “How do you know?” Her voice now icy.
“Just little things really,” James said evasively.
“Like…” She demanded.
James let out a breath. She wasn’t going to let him off easy. “Like the looks he gave her when he thought no one was looking, the way he always seemed to be around her despite how much he claimed to hate humans… you know, how you basically treated me after the first mark,” he replied then with another breath. “And yesterday he kind of lost it a little and nearly marked her,” he finished, his voice getting quieter and quieter as he spoke.
“He did what?” She shouted. “Oh I’m going to kill that little punk! I’m going to rip his arms off and beat him with them! He’s dead! He is so dead!” She started pacing back and forth, opening and closing her fists, looking very much like a wild animal.
“Hey, hey, hey!” James said with his hands raised to his shoulders. “Remember you promised, Lily. No maiming or killing!”
“You knew about this and are only telling me this now?” She said, stopping in front of him. “You are so lucky I’m kind of fond of you or I swear I’d de-man you in a second flat,” she went on, making a cutting motion that had James covering himself with a cring. “You are so not getting any sex before your fiftieth birthday!”
“What? Wait! That’s not fair,” he complained.
“It’s more than fair. You held out on me! I don’t care if it was to save that little punk’s life. If you really loved me, you’d let me kill him!” She shot back, with a hint of a smile. “Instead you trapped me in a promise! I’ll keep it. I won’t kill him, but I swear after the vamps are dealt with, he’s going to be my new rug!”
The night was cold, but beast liked the cold. It reminded her of home and the woods there. She missed them almost as much as she missed her pup. Beast knew the old alpha female would keep pup safe no matter what, but she would’ve liked to be the one with pup instead. Beast let out a breath through her snout.
Older pup needed her help more, despite what she wanted. The Older pup was human and much weaker than Beast’s little pup. This brought a grin to her wolfish face. Little pup was strong. Strong like mate is. At the thought of her mate, she looked over where, like her, he stood guard. He was a good mate, iron-willed and strong. Beast was pleased that her human side wasn’t being so stupid anymore and making mate wait for her like some hungry pup.
There was no better mate for them than him. Bored and tired of waiting for stupid vampires Beast walked over to her mate, making an affectionate whine. She nipped at his nuzzle playfully. He licked hers in return but returned his vigil. She let out a snort, wishing they could run tonight, but knew her duty so instead she pressed her side against his, laying her head against his shoulder and waiting.
Dawn was only a few hours away when they both caught the scent of vampire. Finally, Beast thought with excitement. She was ready for the hunt. She heard howls from the other wolves in warning of the coming attack. Lifting her massive head, Beast joined their howls, letting her joy of the hunt enter hers. Her mate nibbled her cheek, and she licked his then stood up on two legs, observing as well as scenting the air.
Suddenly a familiar scent tickled her nose just before the buzzing sound of a motorbike reached her ears. Beast’s mate growled, his hackles rising. The rider and bike came into view, skidding to stop sideways in front of them. The rider took off their helmet, letting out a wave of dark hair. “Hello Lily, James,” Jessie Heart said with a smirk on her full lips.
Beast growled and tensed her muscles preparing to jump. “Don’t look at me like that Lily. I had to do it,” she snapped, referring to her betrayal a couple of months ago. Jessie had turned her back on the Aequivalere and Lily, when she decided to kidnap James and possibly helped kidnap their son. The only reason the vampire king figured out they had a son was probably thanks to Jessie in the first place.
Beast didn’t care about the human’s reasons. Jessie betrayed them, and that’s all she cared about. She roared out in fury at her. Jessie threw her helmet back on and raced off into the woods. Beast started after her but jumped in front of her, snapping at her. She knew what he meant. That they were supposed to stay put, protect the older pup. The only the problem was that Beast couldn’t and didn’t want to stay put.
The human pup would be okay. She couldn’t let that human get away again! Beast snapped back at her mate and leaped to the side and moved around him, chasing after the noisy human. Her mate growled back at her with a yap, but she didn’t stop or even slow down. Unfortunately, she was unfamiliar with the terrain so the beast wouldn’t be able to cut her off. She would have to catch up to the human instead.
With a snort, Beast forced herself to run faster and even faster when she saw the little red light on the human’s bike. The human weaved through the trees almost as good as Beast could, and it was making hunting her down difficult. Beast roared out her frustration in a loud, mighty roar. It must have startled the human. Her bike served, and she hit a tree hard. Beast roared again but this time with triumph. Her prey was now caught and all hers.
Beast grabbed the human, ripping her from the twisted pile of metal her bike now was and tossed her against another tree. The smell of blood and meat made her mouth water. She roared at the betrayer once more and lifted her clawed hand for the killing blow when she was hit from the side. Scrambling to her feet, Beast stood only to be shoved to the ground again by a massive form that could only be from her mate.
His jaws gripped the scruff of her neck, holding her in position as he growled. With her growl, she struggled to buck him off her so that she could finish the human, but he weigh much more than her and his hold on her neck too strong. Realizing she had no choice, Beast made a small whine of submission and relaxed her muscles. After a moment, he released her, licked her snout then gave it a nip.
She watched curiously as her mate walked over to the human. He ripped off the helmet, making her shout in surprise then wince, holding her left leg. Her mate roared at the human, bearing all his sharp teeth. Beast let out a breathy laugh when the smell of the human’s urine tainted the air. Amusement filled her as she watched her mate. He was as smart as he was strong, proving he deserved to be her alpha.
He grabbed the human by the back of her jacket and dragged her back towards the hotel. The human cried out, holding her injured leg, but her mate ignored her. Pleased and satisfied that the human was going to suffer for her betrayal, Beast joined her mate.
The stench of vampire grew as they came closer to the hotel. It made Beast sneeze. Instead of going back to where they had been before, she followed her mate around to the front. There was fighting between the wolves and the vampires all over the place, but her mate didn’t join into her disappointment. Instead, he walked over to the little alpha that wasn’t alpha any more thanks to the vampires.
With him was the vampires that joined their hunt, the fairy, and Lily’s father. Beast growled at him, but her mate nipped at her to behave. With a disappointed and bored whine, Beast laid on the ground. There were fighting and hunting around them, but they were all just standing there. “What are you two doing here? I thought you were supposed to be keeping a lookout on the back?” Lily’s father asked.
Beast’s mate tossed the human towards him, growling at her for a final time.
“Jessie Hart,” Dorin said, the anger and bitterness in his voice easy for Beast to hear.
The human glared at all of them, still holding her leg. “Go to hell! All of you,” she shouted at them, but none seemed to in the mood to do so.