Mac spun on his heels and headed back downstairs, forcing himself not to react to the further hurt he saw in Lily’s eyes. He needed time to think things through and work out what they were going to do about the issue of children as well as what the impact would be of some unknown Alpha appearing in the future. But before he could do that he needed to address the threat to the Vârcolac.
Lily wasn’t the only one thrown completely off-balance by the events of the day. Granted, he was older and should have been able to deal with everything better but for so many centuries everything had been work related to him. Nothing had touched him on a personal level. Nothing had ever been so important and yet so totally incomprehensible that he just didn’t know how to react to it.
Walking away from Lily was hard when every instinct within him demanded he turn around and protect his mate but how did he protect her from himself? When all was said and done his Lily was getting the worst of the bargain when it came to their mating. He didn’t deserve her and she sure as hell didn’t deserve the pain he was about to inflict on her.
Lily watched Mac walk away, swallowing down the hard knot of pain lodged in her throat. She had no idea what Mac thought he was protecting her from and she was angry that he hadn’t listened to her earlier. Was it really only a handful of hours ago that she’d made it clear to him just what she was willing to accept from her mate? It felt like a lifetime ago. And he hadn’t listened to her.
Spinning on her heel she marched into her room and threw her pack onto the bed. She was aware Mac expected her to take her things up to his room and it had been her intention of moving in with him when they returned from the pack visit, but if he wasn’t willing to treat her as an equal then she wasn’t willing to take that final step until he did.
Uttering a frustrated curse, Lily unpacked and hung her clothes in the closet before she changed out of her dress and into a pair of comfortable jeans and a red tank top. Pulling her hair up into a ponytail she headed back out of the room and went looking for Liam and Kallum.
She found them easily enough; Liam was only two doors down from her own room. It was a subdued Lily who joined them on the bed where they were sitting discussing the news Andrei had imparted to her brother as he’d said he would.
Both males dwarfed her in size and immediately sensed her mood. Kallum reached out silently, pulling her between them. The need to comfort her was a tangible thing as they tried to digest everything they’d learned. Liam moved closer until she was curled protectively between them, their wolves reaching out and connecting on an inner level that excluded everyone bar the other Vârcolac.
Dara joined them first, closely followed by Cassia. Elina arrived, her aura moving to Liam instinctively. Kothari joined them last, a remoteness to his mental touch which hinted at darkness.
“We will not let this happen.” Kallum’s firm mental tone was implacable. “No one threatens our families or our mates.” His gaze turned to Lily and she nodded silently.
“They will seek to overprotect us,” Kothari answered. “They don’t have the first clue of what we’re capable of despite recent events.”
“Do any of us know what you’re truly capable of, Kothi?” Dara’s words held a bite to them which was unmistakable. They sparked mocking laughter with a cruel edge to it.
“Little girls should be careful of what they wish for, Dara Romanov.”
“Enough,” Kallum sighed wearily, keen to stop any petty bickering before it began. Sometimes dealing with Kothi challenged even his patience.
“Everyone stay in close touch with at least one other. No going off on your own. That includes you, Kothi. No vanishing acts. We’ll see what course of action Rafe and the others come up with and work out what we’ll do once we have more information.”
“What if they won’t let us help, Kal? Elina asked. “My mother will most likely speak on our behalf but the rest of our parents still view us in terms of what they know of pack and vampires.”
Silence greeted her words for a moment. There was no denying that any action they tried to take would be met with strenuous objections.
“We’ll deal with that if or when it happens, Elle. For the moment we watch and listen. I’ll let you know when we need to act. Hopefully our parents will understand that we don’t need protecting anymore.”
One by one, the Vârcolac agreed with Kallum’s words, Liam’s mental voice being the last to give his assent, his tone clearly unhappy at the possibility of any conflict with the pack and their parents.
Lily extracted herself from her brother’s embrace and moved to wrap her arms around Liam. “It’ll be okay,” she whispered. “We’ll make them understand.”
Secretly she wondered just how she would be able to make Mac understand anything he didn’t want to. Her mate was proving to be particularly obstinate about most things already, hence her current irritation with him.
Still she soothed her friend as the other Vârcolac dropped from their mental link leaving the three of them alone once more, quiet and introspective.