Chapter 27

LILY

Have you ever felt like the entire world is closing in on you? Have you felt so suffocated, but not from lack of air but from guilt?

That is how I’m currently feeling. The whole world around me is shattering, and I can’t do anything to stop it.

My surroundings are a complete blur. It’s as if none of them are there. Their voices are muffled, their bodies blurry.

It feels like I’ve been in this horrible state for a long time when in reality it’s only been a few minutes since Trinity revealed my big secret.

The secret that haunts me every single day. I can’t even look at them.

And then, voices begin to filter into my ears. I hear Talia asking me if I’m all right, sounding concerned and worried.

Hesitantly, I lift my head up and lock eyes with Talia. The worry in her eyes is undeniable. What shocks me, though, is that there’s no disgust or hate. She isn’t judging me.

Perhaps she doesn’t believe Trinity. She will see me as a murderer soon, though. Someone who let their parents die.

And then movement to the other side draws my attention away from Talia and to the person to my left. ~Arlo.~

I’m bombarded by the image of Trinity kissing Arlo. Her hands were on him, clutching his shoulders just like I did earlier. The image stains my mind—it refuses to leave no matter how hard I try to forget it.

I can’t look at him in the same way again. I can’t touch him without thinking of ~her.~

Arlo’s brown eyes plead with my own. He begs for me to listen to him—to let him explain what happened or to talk to me about what Trinity said.

I turn my head away and rise to my feet. Without another glance at any of them, I heave my dress up and leave. ~Like the coward I am.~

Barging past people, I pick up my pace and move faster in fear of them following me.

Right now, I want to be alone. I want to breathe.

The cold air nips at my skin when I make it outside. Goosebumps rise on my skin, making the hairs on my skin stand up. The moon is high up in the sky, not quite full.

Its brightness illuminates my surroundings. The stars also sparkle brightly, some brighter than the moon.

As I breathe in the cold air, my mind races.

It feels difficult to concentrate on one thought. I can’t help but want to scream from the overwhelming feeling. This night was going so well; it was perfect. But of course, Trinity had to ruin it.

~Of course, ~she had to butt in and make my life hell.

I wish my sister were here right now to calm me down, to help me out of this horrible situation. She would know what to say. She always knew.

She had this way with words—something she inherited from my dear mother.

I’m so caught up in my thoughts that I jump when I hear the noise. The…~crack.~

Straightening my position in alarm, my eyes dart around the woods, searching for any signs of life. Unfortunately, all I can see is darkness.

~It was probably just my imagination.~ I try to reason with myself. ~I’m only being paranoid.~

But when I hear the snapping of a branch again, closer to me, I begin to panic. After seeing that wolf here a few weeks ago, my brain immediately assumes that it’s back.

Of course, I could be wrong—it could be anything—but my gut is telling me otherwise. For once, I trust that gut feeling.

This time, I stiffen and hold my breath.

I catch sight of something that will haunt me for a very long time.

A pair of red eyes. Vicious and deadly red eyes in the woods, between two large trees.

My body goes immobile. All I can do is stare at the beast with wide eyes and listen to my heartbeat thrumming in my chest.

Behind me, footsteps march over. Too frightened to look away from the pair of glowing eyes, I wait until the person arrives.

Much to my surprise, Kacey comes into my peripheral vision.

She comes to a halt beside me, her stance wary and alert. Her eyes land on the pair of eyes and narrow into slits. She doesn’t appear shocked or nervous about the pair of eyes. Instead, she is angry.

~No, not angry, furious.~

“Lily, I want you to step behind me,” Kacey commands, reminding me of how Arlo was a few weeks ago when we saw the wolf.

As if the creature heard us, it takes a few steps closer, away from the trees and into the light of the moonlight.

The wolf glares at me, its eyes full of hatred. It’s almost…human-like.

Gulping, I keep my eyes trained on the wolf.

“What do we do?” I whisper to Kacey, leaning in closer to her. The tremor in my voice is undeniable. I am petrified—that ~thing~ is giving me all sorts of bad feelings.

Kacey doesn’t reply. She clenches her fists, glaring back at the wolf. Subtly, I move further behind Kacey, somehow knowing she would be able to protect me. It’s a silly notion, but I truly believe it.

I don’t know why I think she can fight off that thing; it’s not like she’s superhuman or anything. Yet, there’s a ~feeling~ in my bones. A feeling I am beginning to believe. Beginning to trust.

“Kacey, what do we do?” I repeat, more insistent.

This time, Kacey does answer. “Stay where you are, Lily. Let me handle this.”

I have no idea how she is going to ‘handle’ this. The wolf is slowly creeping closer and closer to us.

It opens its mouth and gives me a glimpse of its dangerous teeth. Soon, it’s going to be too close to run away from.

“What do you want?” Kacey asks, directing her question to the wolf.

Internally, I give her a dubious look, concerned that she might be going mad. Surely, she can’t be talking to a wolf. That is ludicrous.

Wolves cannot understand English. They cannot verbally communicate with us.

Does she think it will communicate with us some other way? That too sounds insane.

“Answer me!” she hollers, aggressively.

The wolf comes to a halt and growls at us. Well, more specifically, ~me.~

It completely ignores Kacey as if she is invisible.

The next few moments occur in slow motion. The wolf bends the back of its knees, ready to attack. It growls louder and then lunges at me, intent on killing us.

ARLO

Everything was going so well.

I was finally becoming a part of Lily’s life, the rogue hadn’t attacked anyone in weeks, and my parents were fine with my mate. It was going perfectly. I couldn’t have asked for more.

And then, of course, Trinity, my nightmare in the flesh, came and ruined it all. She waltzed in like a bulldozer and destroyed every foundation I had built.

It all came crumbling down in seconds, leaving me feeling hopeless and angry. ~So~ angry.

I don’t think I have hated anyone so much in my life.

“That was long overdue.” The irritating voice of Trinity brings me back to reality.

Her comment sends Talia into a state of anger. She lunges at Trinity, only to be stopped by Arden sliding an arm around her slender waist. That doesn’t stop Talia from continuing to try, though.

“How could you be so cruel?” Talia asks Trinity, attempting to fight Arden off.

Arden refuses to let her go, though, knowing there will be hell to pay if he does. The pack would be outraged if they found out their future luna attacked a pack member.

Sure, she is well-loved, but if they found out she hurt a pack member, they would flip. The luna is a protector and someone they trust. She doesn’t physically hurt people.

Trinity shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly, not caring at all that she caused so much trouble. “I was only telling the truth. It needed to be said and there’s no way she was going to say it.”

Talia shakes her head in disbelief.

Her eyes are murderous: she ~really~ wants to hurt Trinity. So do I, though. I want to kill this girl. I want this girl gone from my life. Forever.

Then, Talia swings her eyes to me and glowers at me. “And ~you~,” she spits. “What do you have to say for yourself?” she demands, referring to the kiss she saw.

I bow my head, ashamed for a moment that I didn’t try harder to explain myself earlier.

“I was cornered,” I defend myself, desperately wanting them to know that I didn’t ~want~ Trinity kissing me.

“She told me she had something important to say and pulled me over to the side. Before I knew what was happening, she had me pinned down and was kissing me. The reason I didn’t pull away sooner is that I was in shock.”

Everything I say is the truth.

The shock of having Trinity kissing me meant I didn’t push her away sooner. ~Of course,~ Lily had to see it and assume I wanted Trinity kissing me. Lily might not be certain, but she knows Trinity and I have history.

We didn’t date or anything, but we did hook up on several occasions. For all I know, Lily could be thinking I am getting back together with Trinity.

Talia’s eyes narrow as she processes everything I say.

I look to Arden helplessly, hoping he will talk some sense into Talia using the mind-link.

Talia knows Lily is my mate and that I’m serious about her. She knows I wouldn’t risk losing Lily now that I finally have her.

Plus, Talia could help me with Lily. Talia can try to reason with her if I can’t.

“Okay,” she eventually says, to my relief. “I believe you.”

I release a sigh of relief, happy I have Talia and Arden on board.

They can help me explain to Lily that it was a mistake, that Trinity caught me off guard.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” Trinity moans beside me angrily. She clenches her jaw and crosses her arms over her chest.

“Don’t you want to know about Lily’s parents?”

Talia is the one to answer. “No, not from you. I want to hear the truth from Lily. And until I know what happened, I will not judge her.”

Arden and I grunt in agreement with Talia’s response. I don’t believe for a second that Lily killed her parents; she is not a murderer.

Like a child, Trinity stomps her foot. Her face twists into something ugly and vile.

At that moment, she reveals her true self. She shows us that she might have a pretty face on the outside, but on the inside, she is far from pretty.

For a moment, I worry she is going to shift in front of everyone.

The last thing we need—~I need~—is humans asking questions. “You are all pathetic like ~her.~” She snaps her eyes to me and says the next thing to me. “I don’t know what I saw in you, you’re an imbecile.”

She then takes her leave, barging through the crowds. Her two sidekicks join her and attempt to comfort her. Eventually, they disappear, leaving the rest of us to mull over what just happened. I relax and turn to Arden and Talia.

“That girl is too much trouble. She needs to be put in her place,” Arden mutters, loud enough for us all to hear.

I nod my head in agreement, wishing we could get rid of her.

Unfortunately, she hasn’t broken any pack laws, though, so we can’t kick her out.

“We should find Lily,” Talia tells us all grimly. My heart pangs at the thought of Lily. I need to fix this for us. I don’t want to lose her.

Not when I finally got her. “Wait, where did Kacey go?”

I glance at the space Kacey occupied a few minutes ago, concerned. Kacey is on our radar right now, under suspicion. I don’t want her anywhere near my mate.

She could be dangerous. She knows Lily is my mate—making Lily a target.

“Did she follow Lily?” Arden voices out into the open.

As much as I hate the thought of it, it’s very possible Kacey followed.

For all I know, she could be spreading lies about me. She could be filling Lily’s head with how much of a monster I am.

~“We’ll find her,”~ Arden reassures through the mind-link, giving me a promising look.

Inhaling, I clear my mind of all my anxieties and focus on Lily’s delicious scent. I follow it, with the other two behind me. People part for us, sensing the power we let out.

The wolves subtly bow their heads in respect while the humans avert their eyes.

Lily’s scent leads us outside, where I pick up on two new scents. One is Kacey’s and the other…is a rogue’s. ~The rogue.

My whole body tenses and my eyes search the area in alarm.

When my eyes first land on Lily, I feel relief. But that is short-lived when I look beyond her, at the gray wolf that is in front of her, and I panic.

My wolf takes over at that moment, ready to protect his mate.

Just as the rogue is shifting, I do the same.

Lily snaps her head to me as if she knows I am staring at her in worry and watches me completely change into a different creature.

Shock and horror cloud her face, making me want to take away those feelings and replace them with something nicer.

She opens her mouth and releases an ear-piercing scream just as I dive into the air, aiming for the rogue.