“Xavier Thompson?” James repeated, unable to believe what he was hearing. “But he’s been friends with your father since they were kids. He’s the beta and the pack’s doctor. Back when I escaped, he helped me recover.”
“Apparently, Xavier has had something against my dad for a long time, and this is his plan for revenge. From what Greg tells me, he wants to be the alpha,” Tony explained.
“How can you be so sure he is telling the truth, Tony? Maybe this is the psycho’s plan to divert our attention from him. If it’s Xavier and he wants to be alpha, why didn’t he attack you or Lacy instead of me, Greg, and Lily? Greg and I have no sway over Andrew and Lily may be like his daughter, but she was only a human. Why would he plan a trap for himself and head a search party for Lily?” James
He could’ve found her and taken her home, James reasoned. With one final deep calming breath, he ran back towards the alpha’s house as quick as he could. “Alpha, we have to talk,” James demanded as soon as he saw Andrew. The alpha gave him a worried look.“What is it?” Tony asked, having overheard James. Before he could answer, Chris came out of the woods and walked towards them.“Alpha, we have searched everywhere the doctor told us too and still no sign of Lily or anything out of the ordinary. What do you want us to do now?” He asked, and Andrew looked at him, confused.“Why aren’t you asking, Xavier? I left him in charge,” the alpha told the younger werewolf.“I haven’t seen the doc since he
Lily attempted to move her wrists as little as possible. That way, the silver didn’t burn her nearly as badly. She licked her dry lips and kept her head down with a feeling of defeat. Several “what ifs” were running through her head, plaguing her with the ever pressing question of could she could have avoided this situation?Lily glanced at Xavier through her eyelashes and clenched her fists as her rage flared. How could he do this to the pack, his friend, and her? When the Robers adopted her at thirteen, he’d become her doctor. He saw her through a broken wrist, vaccinations, colds, and even when she needed birth control for the first time. Now he had violated her, making her something she was never meant to be, and he was just getting started.She looked up into the tops of the trees; it would probably be the last time she would see th
Xavier looked down at Lily with something that looked almost like admiration. “You are something special, you know that? Not only are you intelligent, attractive, but incredibly strong. You keep getting up no matter how many times you get knocked down. Your parents neglected you and you had to climb out your own bedroom window in the dead of night to escape some of their more unmoral guests,” he started, and she looked at him in shock.She told no one about the men that would creep into her bedroom during those parties that her biological parents had thrown, except Andrew. “Yes, the alpha told me the story. Many people become hateful, bitter creatures or timid, fearful ones with experiences like that, but not you. You fearlessly faced Kyle, even though he could have killed you more easily than you can imagine. I forced you to change into one of us and yet you have embraced what you’
James and the others closed on the brick building with caution. There was nothing stopping them from approaching the building and that made him worried. Andrew opened the plain metal door; it wasn’t locked. “Okay, this is just creepy dudes,” Chris said. Obviously, he shared James’ worry, looking around for some kind of sign of a trap or ambush. The alpha didn’t seem concerned by the lack of activity and waved them on. All four men stopped at the sight before them.Two human men lay dead on the floor. One lay in a pool of his own blood with a gaping hole where his throat used to be, while the other had died from a broken neck. “You know what? I think I forgot something back home,” Greg said, turning towards the door and James stopped him, giving him another “man up, dude” look.“Who do you think did this?” Chris asked as they stepped around the blood and entered
“Please,” Lily said, her voice coming out in pants as her eyes snapped open, looking at Andrew. James stared at her eyes; they weren’t the same color anymore. Her once brown eyes were now a golden brown and outside the iris was a thin blood red ring. What did that mean? His eyes were never like that.“Make it stop, please,” she pleaded, and Andrew gave her a helpless look. “Kill me,” she whispered and James felt those words stab him and by the look on Andrew’s face, he felt the same way. The alpha pulled her against him as she resumed screaming.“We’re too late, aren’t we?” Chris asked, his face looking pasty and pale. James nodded; his voice seemed trapped in his throat.“Yes, she is going through the change now. It’s like being injected with acid that starts eating at your insides, which are set on fire. Your skin
“Okay then Chris, go with James and both of you return as soon as you leave Lily home,” he insisted and both Chris and James nodded. He held the limp form of Lily and tried not to focus on how nice it felt to hold her against him. He followed his own scent to find his way out of the maze of a building, with Chris following behind him. Every now and again James would steal glances at Lily, fearing she might stop breathing again, but she kept breathing deep, even breaths.They found their way out and into the forest. Lily groaned and turned herself towards James, snuggling close against him, causing his heart to beat a little faster. Once more, he felt unfamiliar emotions swirl inside him as the edges of his mouth turned upward in a hint of a smile, but he shoved them aside. Now was not the time for such things. He had to get her back home so they could find Xavier.
It was everywhere; no matter where Lily turned, blood was everywhere. It oozed from the walls; it flooded the floor, threatening to drown her. Lily ran down the hallway, trying to escape the wave of blood that chased her only to reach a dead-end. She begged and pleaded, hitting her fists against the wall. There had to be an escape!“Why should you escape it, when I didn’t get that chance,” a rough voice demanded, and she turned to see Fluffy or Kyle, which was his real name, standing there with the gaping stab wound in his chest. “I was only trying to help you and look what I got for it!” he shouted at her.“I was only doing what the doc told me so I could put food on the table for my children,” another rough voice called out to her and she turned to see the human who she killed accidentally by tearing out his throat. &
Lily returned to the bed and though the house was relatively quiet, she was being slammed with a variety of sounds. She could hear mummers of people talking throughout the house though she didn’t know what they were saying. Lily heard their heartbeats, like rhythmic beating drums that never stopped. She heard water dripping in the bathroom and running through the pipes. Lily heard a radio in the kitchen and a television in the living room.Then there were the smells that flooded her nose and brain. She smelled the paint on her walls. The pain was the same as when she moved in, but the smell stank as if the paint were new. Lily smelled the laundry soap and fabric softener that Sandy used to wash her sheets. She could smell Lacy’s fading scent. Lily could smell the dusty smell of her aged old books and the posters that clung to the wall. She could smell everything!
Lily sat in the little cafe sipping on her hot coffee, enjoying the warmth it provided her as she listened to detail what Veronica wanted to do and the offer of a job with the Aequivalere. “Honestly, ever since I heard of James Lacrosse, I’ve wanted to get my hands on a genetic sample, but he never stayed in one place too long and when he was in town, I only found out after he left. Though, I’m kind of glad if everything they said is true,” Veronica told her.Lily couldn’t resist the small smile appearing on her lips. “Well, first Veronica I’m going to check you out,” Lily started, and she nodded. “If you’re lying, I will probably kill you,” she said, intending to scare the vampire. “When I confirm that you’re with the Aequivalere, then you have yourself a little lab rat,” Lily told her, and Veronica smiled.Lily sighed, looking out the window. It looks
For the next few hours, everyone sat at the dinner table, eating one of Sandy’s gloriously delicious meals. James was there, staying in the guest bedroom until he decided what he wanted to do. Or at least, that was what Andrew told her, because James didn’t speak three words to her or look in her direction.Tony explained to her about the shift of power from Andrew to him and Lily looked over at Andrew. He was looking very proud as he listened to Tony. She smiled as she saw the powerful man she knew as father had returned. He may not be the alpha anymore, but he seemed happy and back to his old self again. Once Tony finished, he exchanged a look with Liz, who had a large ear to ear grin clearing her throat.“Tony and I wanted to let you all know that in six months we will be expecting our first,” she announced.
That night, there was a celebration for the rescue of the children. Also, even though no one dared say it out loud, they were also celebrating the doctor’s death. Wendy led Lily around the center of town, talking almost nonstop. With a smile, Lily let the teen pull her around and introduce her to all of her friends. Besides the weirdness of it all, she felt almost back to herself and that felt good. She could almost forget what had happened earlier with James. It made her feel awful things ended like that, but at least now he could think for himself.Pushing away her dark thoughts, she enjoyed herself. When she was finally free from Wendy, she looked around the crowded park where most of the celebrations were taking place. She smiled at Crocell and Karya. She bet they knew how to have a good time. “To the victory,” Karya cheered, handing her a drink as soon as Lily walked up to them.“To the victory,” Lily repeated, downing her drink, earning a look of approval from Crocell. They fill
With a wild look in her eyes, Lily continued. “I guess you want to hear how I continued to lose it to the point I enjoyed all the pain I caused Xavier much more than any good and sane person should! Or how when I was finished, and I found that Wendy was still waiting for me, I was tempted to do the same to her.” She turned away from James to throw herself into a chair. “It’s a miracle I managed to come back... but not completely,” she said, the anger suddenly gone from her face. “I’m not the good person I thought I was. I have darkness inside me,” she finished.“You’re a good person. The darkness comes from your vampire and the wildness of the beast,” James told her, wanting to comfort her, but she glared at him, her anger returning.“You don’t know anything, James Lacrosse,” she snapped, shooting up from the chair. “You want to know what that is,” she said, looking at the vial he still held. “It’s what Xavier gave to Lacy, so she wouldn’t be mated to Chris anymore,” she told him, and
At the alpha's office in the police station, Wendy explained how Xavier tricked her into coming with him and her time with the doctor. He would make her listen to hours-long speeches about the new world order he intended to create and make her a part of, watch as he experimented on rogue wolves and vampires, threatening to let them rip her apart if she ever left her room. “Then today he came and got me out of my room looking panicked,” she explained, getting to the part James wanted to hear most.“He pulled me into one of the rooms he used to test on people and held a needle to my neck when Lily came into the room, though she was different from she was now,” Wendy went on.“What do you mean?” Nick asked with curiosity.“She was... different. I don’t know how to describ
James watched Lily walk past him with the alpha’s daughter clinging to her waist. As much as he was glad to see she was okay, he was furious she had done something so stupid as to go off on her own. If that wasn’t bad enough, she didn’t even have the tiniest amount of courtesy to at least apologize for worrying him, no she had thrown it in his face how little she cared for him and his concern for her safety.Once they arrived back at the hotel, all the vampires practically ran to their homes, except for Bianca and Dorin. “So what happened Lily?” Nick demanded.“Xavier is dead. I killed him myself. Can the rest wait until I can recover some?” Lily replied, and James noticed her typical sardonic tone was gone.“No, no, it can’t!” Nick barked right back at her
Lily turned away from her, taking deep breaths. Neither the beast nor the vampire wanted to go back. They like being this in control and fighting against her. She growled as she attempted to dig deep inside herself to find her humanity and herself forcing the others back down into their cages within her. Little by little she grew stronger than them. With a sigh of relief and exhaustion, Lily felt herself return to normal as her body gave out from the exertion.The teen grabbed her around her waist. “Are you alright?” she asked, worried, and Lily nodded without looking at her. “What are you?” Wendy asked again, sounding curious. Lily couldn’t help but laugh as she leaned against the wall.“That is a good question. I don’t think they have a name for me since I am not really a hybrid,” she replied. “I sort of h
“No,” Lily told Xavier, and he looked surprised and insisted that he would be good at his word. “I said no Xavier, tonight you die. You see, I’ve got silver bullets loaded in this gun. I am going to fill you with so much silver they will make silverware out of your ass when I am done. Now you can be a good guy. Let the girl go so I don’t have to take her down with you because quite honestly I am not a very good shot,” Lily explained, in turn ignoring the girl’s anguished sob.“Nice try Lily, but you’d never hurt her,” he replied with smug arrogance.“Yeah, normally you’d be right, but not this time. I have to take you down here and now. I would hurt one girl to keep you from hurting hundreds, thousands, and maybe even millions of people,” she replied in turn with cold seriousness in h
Xavier’s arrogant expression told Lily he knew exactly what was going on in her head. What the hell am I doing? She scolded herself. “Screw yourself, Xavier, I will never help you. Not even with the bribe of getting rid of James,” she snapped at him.His face twisted into a furious rage. “Foolish woman, I don’t need to get your blood from you alive,” Xavier screamed at her, and one of the black metal doors opened. An enormous creature slowly entered the room; to say it was hideous was an understatement. It looked similar to James’ beast, but there were bald spots on him everywhere. Fur covered one arm and clawed while the other was smooth and more humanlike.“This is one of my many attempts to recreate what you are. As you can see, he is a clear failure, but he does serve for other purposes. He has proven to be qu