He stared at her for a long moment before speaking. He knew Caleb worshipped the ground Annie walked on, would do anything for her. Lily had to be involved in something pretty big for Annie to be so certain that Caleb would be angry with her.
If there was some way he could get the information he needed without causing any dissent between the couple, he would take it. But Annie was his only link to Lily now, and he needed to track his sister down and make sure she was okay. Her voice had been filled with panic when she’d yelled at him, and their father’s news of her distress was worrying. He knew Lily needed to have someone she trusted unconditionally at her side. He wasn’t about to leave her all alone and afraid.
“Lila needs me, Annie. She thinks she’s so tough and can handle anything but she isn’t. She reached out to Dad yesterday, and told him she was a monster. Something has scared her so much that she talked to Dad even though she knew he would be furious with her.”
Kallum’s words brought a frown to Rhianna’s face and a sense of unease. Surely Lily would have contacted her if something was wrong? Lily knew she’d come to her if needed.
“She was fine when I saw her, Kallum. In fact, she was more than fine; she was ready to lead Mac in a merry dance. I would have loved to stay and watch the fireworks, but Caleb would have come looking for me and if he’d found her, he would have sent her home to the pack.”
She watched Kal’s frown deepen before he sat in one of the large leather armchairs close to the fire. She followed and took the seat across from him. “Maybe Mac is fighting the mating pull,” she murmured quietly.
The instant she thought of Mac, she could sense he was close. Her head shot up and she narrowed her eyes at Kallum. “Did you shadow yourself before leaving the pack?” she asked suspiciously.
Mac was almost at the door. He would not be approaching the house if any of the Praetorians were stationed nearby, not when they made a point of keeping themselves hidden from their charges. Kallum’s unrepentant look gave her all the answer she needed and she bit down a curse.
“Caleb, love, I think it might be best if you come home. There’s a bit of a situation developing.” She felt her mate’s immediate concern, followed by a quick kiss running down their mating bond. Her own mental tone had made it obvious she did not feel threatened.
“What have you gone and done now, my Annie?” Caleb’s rich, deep voice was laced with exasperation as it echoed in her head. “I’m not going to like it, am I?”
Rhianna’s lips quirked in a small smile and she shivered slightly at his tone. “Probably not, love,” she laughed.
“I’m on my way.”
Caleb disappeared from her head a second before the front door opened and Mac stepped into the house. Kallum had obviously sensed his approach as well, because he shadowed himself just before Mac walked straight into the room. Until Caleb arrived it was probably best for him to remain hidden.
“Mackenzie! I wasn’t expecting you today,” Rhianna said smoothly, rising to greet her additional guest. She saw a flash of irritation in his dark eyes before he quickly masked it. She sighed as she surmised that Lily’s secret was out.
“And here I was thinking you’re some kind of oracle, Annie,” he drawled softly before he bent to brush his lips against the top of her hair. “Or did you think I wouldn’t find out about Liliana Romanov so quickly?”
He watched her face intently, searching for some sign of remorse. Her light laughter raised his hackles and he frowned down at her in disapproval.
“It’s not funny, Annie. You must know what a nightmare this is? Andrei will not be happy to learn that his little girl has flown the nest and become a bloody Praetorian. You know he’ll personally come in and disband the lot of us… permanently. How could you leave us in this mess? What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking how remarkable Lily is that she managed to learn about the Praetorians, breach our defences, and become part of the elite team we had created to protect the Vârcolac.” She couched her words to ensure that Kallum gleaned as much information as possible through their conversation.
Mac’s frustrated snort was a testament to how annoyed he was. His hands raked through his hair as he glared down at the unrepentant woman in front of him. She might be his queen but he could quite cheerfully shake her right this moment.
“I suggest you take a few steps back, Mackenzie,” Caleb Cullen said coldly from the doorway, his eyes fixed on the vampire standing so close to his mate. He didn’t bother trying to hide his anger, his body tense as his eyes briefly flickered over Kallum before coming to rest on his mate.
Rhianna’s heart skipped a beat as she read the raw fury burning in his amber gaze. He was magnificent when angry, a golden avenging angel full of raw power. Even dressed in a dark grey business suit he looked wild and untamed. Her vampire was the epitome of an Alpha male: big and dominant… and right now very, very displeased with her.