Tears flowed and she couldn’t stop them. She’d hurt Karn and he’d probably never forgive her. He’d tell Mac what a monster she was. He’d have to, so the others could be protected. This had to be why her father had insisted she stay at the compound. She was flawed in some way, a killer if not controlled by a stronger, dominant personality. Andrei hadn’t been protecting her, he’d been protecting everyone else.
“I’m a monster, Daddy,” she wept. “Why didn’t you tell me? If you’d told me the truth I would have listened to you. The Praetorians aren’t there to protect us, are they? They’re there to protect everyone else from us!”
She felt her father’s presence in her mind. He had the most powerful aura she’d ever encountered.
“You are not a monster, Liliana. You’re a wilful, disobedient child who clearly needs to have her backside paddled to bring her in line, but a monster is the last thing you are,” Andrei answered, his mental tone laced with disapproval. “I don’t know what put the foolish notion into your head but you can get rid of it immediately. Tell me where you are and I’ll come pick you up.”
Oddly, his voice and words soothed her and she felt his strength seeping into her. His threat of paddling her backside even brought a slight smile to her lips. Her father had never laid a hand on her in anger her entire life. As if he’d ever do so now.
“I’m waiting, Liliana.”
She met Karn’s gaze and saw him watching her expectantly. She frowned, expecting him to be angry or even maybe a little afraid of her.
“You can let go now, Lily. The wound has healed.” His calm words surprised her and she looked down at their joined hands. He was right the wound was fully healed now. She sat back on her heels and bit her bottom lip.
“Well, this has been an interesting morning,” he continued sitting up slowly. “We’re going to have to work on containing your emotions. I was thinking about this earlier, but now I see we’ve got a panicked wolf to deal with too. I’ll have to factor that in.”
Lily’s mouth dropped open and she struggled to speak.
“I’m starting to get very annoyed now, Liliana. Where are you?”
“Fuck!” she hissed, frowning at Karn.
He wasn’t angry with her; in fact he wanted to keep training her. He didn’t think she was a monster and neither did her father. She could go home, back to the safety of the pack or she could stay with the Praetorians and be with Mac. She had to decide on the safer course of action and her father was becoming very impatient.
“My father wants me to go home, Karn. Maybe he was right all along. I lost control and hurt you. I didn’t mean to do it. I’m scared that I — I’ll do it again. Maybe it would be better if I went home.”
Karn stared into her confused face as he considered their options. The wolf attack was a cause for concern, he couldn’t deny that. But hiding within the pack wasn’t going to solve that problem for Lily. She needed to be taught to control her wolf.
It hadn’t been pleasant being shaken like a rag doll but it had been unintentional, he was certain of that. Lily would never deliberately hurt an innocent if she could avoid it. He knew her well enough by now to be certain. Neither Andrea nor Lily was the monster she thought she was.
“Mac will come looking for you,” he finally said. “He’ll do his damnedest not to but he’ll fail. If things come to a head before you’ve learned control then something terrible could happen if he and your father go up against each other.”
He didn’t think Lily could cope with being forced to choose between the two most important men in her life. His job was to protect her and not just from the physical things that could hurt her.
“Liliana, enough of this! Tell me where you are now!”
Her father’s loud roar startled her so much she flinched. It also helped her choose. “I’m sorry, Dad, I can’t come home right now. There are some things I need to do first. Tell Mom and Kal I’m fine and I’ll be in touch again soon.”
She shielded her thoughts instantly to avoid the backlash from his fury. She’d probably have to leave it a few days before contacting him again. She hoped her mother could soothe him.
“I owe you a debt I can never repay, Karn,” she said solemnly. “I wounded you. It doesn’t matter that it was unintentional, I still did it. I don’t deserve your help but I need it badly. Teach me. Please.”
Karn’s eyes never left her face. He saw fear in her eyes and it made his gut clench hard. He’d had the opportunity to hand her off to her father and he’d talked her out of it. He was now officially as crazy as Mac.
“Shut up!” he growled, reaching out and pulling Lily into a tight embrace. “You just told Andrei Romanov to go fuck himself. Anyone with balls like that just can’t do humble and get away with it.”
Her startled gasp turned into a hesitant laugh, and then her body began to shake as she tried to contain her laughter. Her arms tightened around him. “I’m so dead when he gets his hands on me,” she choked out.
“I’m booking a ringside seat for that one,” he grinned back. “Payback is such a bitch! Now let’s get back to the house before anything else can go wrong today.”
To be continued…