“Oh wow,” Lily said, with a soft scoff. “It’s got to be something really bad for you to lie to me.”
“I’m not…” he started.
“James,” she said, tapping her nose. “You’re sweating, your heart is racing, and you look as nervous as a crook in a room full of cops. What is going on?”
“Lily, the vamps are coming. We really should keep our focus on them,” he said, trying to stall her but the look she gave him told him she wasn’t going to be stalled by anything. James sighed and deflated. Well damn. “Alright, but if I tell you. You have to promise me you won’t maim or kill the kid. Got it?”
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.