Page 4

Chapter

Four

Everyone thankfully didn’t bring up the incident at the party, though I could see they were curious.

Tony and I went to the square of our clan territory where several shops were open with delicious food and handcrafted items for sale.

My first stop was Kieran’s store where he, his mate, and his mate’s other mates baked delicious pastries.

Kieran lifted his eyes when he heard us come in and they widened when they saw me. “Lily! I didn’t realize you were back already.”

“Lily!” Kieran’s mate, Sheila, yelled in excitement and raced towards me to hug me tightly. “You’re back!”

I squeezed her and smiled with a nod. “I am.”

She ran back behind the counter, grabbed a bag, and put a cinnamon roll, chocolate croissant, and two sweet purple yam rolls inside. “Here! Your favorites!”

Gasping in excitement, I grabbed the bag, pulled out a chocolate croissant, and bit into it. It was still warm! “So good!” I moaned. “You can’t find pastries as good as this near my college. I tried a couple and it just made me cry and miss home and your bakery.”

She put a hand to her chest and tears built in her eyes. “That means a lot to hear from you, Princess.”

“Here,” Kieran said and held out a bag for Tony. “I just baked some buttermilk biscuits, since I heard you were home.”

“Thank you, Kieran!” Tony shouted and took the bag.

This was a very familiar scene, one that had happened at least a dozen times as we grew up. It felt nice to still experience it, even though I was an adult now. Hopefully, there were other things like this that wouldn’t change as I got even older.

A familiar presence pressed upon me from the side, alerting me in advance of his approach. Sometimes it was good to be able to sense alphas and the signature auras of those you were familiar with. Though I wished I’d been able to sense them last night. Why hadn’t I sensed them last night? Was it just because there had been so many alphas at the party?

“I hate to leave so quickly, but I’ve?—”

“Oh, you don’t have to explain to us!” Sheila said. “We know you’re busy with all your duties. Thank you for coming to see us.”

“I’ll come by again soon,” I promised as I backed out.

I closed the door just as Kayden and Mason entered the square. Tony turned me towards the house, in the opposite direction as Kayden, and pushed my lower back. “Go, I’ll distract them. It’s the least I can do after yesterday, but you and I are going to talk about why you’re avoiding them later.”

“Thank you,” I whispered and walked confidently and calmly away, like I hadn’t noticed them coming.

“Lily!” Kayden called out.

“Kay!” Tony yelled. “Where have you been, man? We have got to catch up. Where’s Trey?”

“Not now, Tony. We need to talk to?—”

“Kayden!” Kieran yelled. “Come inside! We’ve got a bag for you. Wow, it’s been so long since we saw you. How have you been?”

Thank you, Kieran for the assist!

Branson, stepped out from behind one of the buildings, following me. “Let’s talk, Daughter.”

“Um, could we not?” I asked and cringed.

“If you want help avoiding them, then you’ve got to talk to me,” he said. “Also, you’re twenty-four, almost twenty-five years old. Why are you acting like a teenager?”

Ouch, that was Bran Bran, straight to the heart of the problem.

“I don’t want to discuss it,” I said. “I just need a bit more time away from them to collect my thoughts. Okay?”

He sighed. “Fine, whenever you’re ready, I’ll listen, okay? Now, do you want me to chase them away?”

“Tony said he was?—”

“Lily!” Mason snarled.

I yelped.

Bran Bran growled softly. “Go to the house. Your mother has some questions about your party that you need to answer.”

“Love you,” I whispered and ran towards the house.

“Branson,” Mason growled. “We just need?—”

“You need to rethink your approach to me, pup,” Branson growled.

The door safely shut behind me, I raised my eyes to meet Mom’s wide ones. “Uh, Bran Bran said you needed to ask me some questions?”

She stood at the island, eating a breakfast sandwich. Flipping around a tablet, she tapped it. “I need you to answer these questions so I can finalize your party details.”

“About that, do we really need a party? Maybe we could just go out to dinner as a family or?—”

“Lily, what is going on? You’ve been acting strange ever since the party yesterday.” She folded her arms and said, “Your hair has been glowing almost nonstop.”

“Something stressful is happening, but I’m going to deal with it soon, I promise. The hair is just reacting to my stress, that’s all. No anger. Promise.” Taking a deep breath, I reminded myself that this wasn’t a problem and would be fixed soon. I drew in the scent of my house, my mom, and let the anxiety drain away. When my eyes opened, I could see the strands, no longer glowing. “See?”

Mom continued to scowl, but just tapped the tablet. “Answers, please.”

Giving in, I looked over the questions, mostly about colors and theme, and answered them so the party planner could set things up for the party. Normally, we wouldn’t have had such a big one, but it was a dual birthday and graduation party, so they were going all out.

“Do we need to edit the guest list?” she asked with an arched brow.

I flinched. “No, it’s fine.” As much as I wanted to avoid talking to them, I knew I needed to. I knew we would have to hash out our issues soon. I couldn’t keep running from them. I was an adult, after all. But even though it had been years, I hadn’t prepared myself for how to respond to them when my heart still hurt.

“Okay. Now, how about you bring that bag of delicious pastries this way and share with your mom?” she wiggled her fingers at my bag.

Clutching it against my chest, I backed up. “No, these are mine! Go get your own.”

“Oh, come on. Don’t be stingy. Just one?” She walked around the island, hands out.

“No!” I snapped and ran out of the kitchen, but she wrapped her arms around me just before the living room, making me squeal.

“Share!” she yelled. “Why are you and your brother so stingy and never share? I thought I raised you better than that?”

Tony opened the door, saw us struggling for the bag, and slowly backed out.

“He has a bag, too!” I yelled.

Mom gasped, released me, and ran out the front door. “Tony! Come back!”

Shaking my head while laughing, I made my way up to my room, sat on my bed, and ate my pastries. I spent the remainder of my day hiding in my room, catching up on emails and watching the local news to find out the most talked about things. Often, the human newscasters discussed things that the other races didn’t, so I felt it was good to know as much as I could.

The demon problem was spreading and the humans were starting to get scared. Was there a way to stop them?

My phone beeped and I opened it to a message from Maya.

Maya: Club. Tonight?

Me: Yes!

Maya: Pick me up at 8.

Me: It’s a date!

Jumping to my feet, I rushed to my closet to pick out a dress for the club. My club appropriate attire was severely lacking though. Heading to Mom’s room, I knocked, but she didn’t answer.

“Mom?” I called loud enough she should have heard me from anywhere in the house.

No answer.

Shrugging, I opened the door to her room, peeked to make sure no one was inside, then hurried to her closet to borrow a dress.

She had tons of dresses, many gifted to her by Great Aunt Leona and Nana Jolie. A bright green dress in the back caught my eye. It was long-sleeved, had a lowcut front, and was styled to look scrunched on the sides. It was thigh length and absolutely perfect for the club. Grabbing it, I spun around, and screamed when I came face to face with Dad.

His lips twitched as he fought a smile. “Going out?”

“You scared ten years off of my life,” I gasped, bent over, and panted. “Why did you sneak up on me like that?”

“I didn’t sneak up on you, you should have heard me, but clearly were too absorbed with picking out a dress.” Leaning a shoulder against the wall, he asked, “Are you ever going to talk about what’s going on with you and your former best friends?”

“No,” I said as I straightened. “Thanks for asking, though.”

He sighed and shook his head. “I don’t know what those boys did, but try to remember that being an alpha, especially one who is out fighting to protect others, makes your emotions run high at times and can cause you to say things in a heated moment you don’t mean.”

Looking up at him, I asked, “If Mom had ignored your calls and messages for more than a few days, more than a few months or even years, what would you have done?”

“Gone to find her and demanded to know why she was ignoring me,” he said without hesitation. “Apologized for what I had done wrong or tried to find a way to fix it.”

I nodded. “That’s what I thought. And that is not what they did.”

He frowned and said, “There are times when duty makes doing things like that difficult.”

Sighing, I set my hand on his shoulder as I stepped up next to him and said, “Don’t try to give them an out, Dad. They are adults, grown males, who will have to live with their consequences. They had plenty of time to reach out, to try to mend the break in our friendship. To find me at the college they knew the location of and talk to me. It’s not your job to try to convince me to give them a second chance, not that they want or deserve one.”

“Everyone deserves a second chance, cub. If your mother hadn’t given me a second chance, we might not be mates right now.”

Rolling my eyes, I shook my head. “Everyone knew you were meant to be together. The trio and I aren’t soulmates or matches like you guys are.”

“Whatever is going on between you four, just do me a favor and give them one chance to explain themselves. If they shoot themselves in the foot with their explanation, or it’s a terrible one, then write them off and move on. I’m not saying I think you guys should be together, but I know when I was a prince, an alpha who spent a lot of years doing what was needed, that sometimes doing what you want isn’t easy. Okay?”

I gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, “Okay, Dad.”

“Do you need a driver?” he asked as I headed out of the room.

“Yes. I need to pick up Maya before we go out.”

He pulled out his phone and nodded. “On it.”

“You’re the best!” I called over my shoulder as I hurried to my room to get ready.

Maybe Dad was right. Maybe I should give them a chance to explain everything. However, tonight was a night for fun and the serious discussions could wait until tomorrow … or next week.

Running down the stairs, I yelled bye to everyone, ignoring their calls to come back so they couldn’t try to parent me when I was a grown adult. Outside, Ezio stood next to a black SUV wearing black slacks and a shiny black button-up shirt.

“You clean up nice, old man,” I teased.

He lifted his lip in a snarl. “Watch it, pup, or I’ll let you walk.”

Climbing into the passenger seat, I messaged Maya to let her know we were on our way.

“Which club are you going to?” he asked as he started the vehicle.

“That new one that just opened, Dynamite? Or Dynamic?” It was something like that.

“Dynamo,” Ezio answered. “Did you know that’s owned by your Great Uncle Gavin?”

Shit, if it was owned by Gavin, did that mean Trey would be there?

“I did not know that,” I admitted softly.

“When we get to Maya’s, I’ll message the bouncer to get you two on the list. He’s from our clan, so I can message him and ensure we don’t have any issues when we show up,” he said.

“Thanks, Ezio,” I said with a smile. “It’s been a few years since I’ve been out to a club. I heard this one was really nice and Maya and I have been talking about visiting for months.”

“It is a really nice place. The music is loud, but not so loud it hurts our sensitive ears. And, they have some really delicious drinks.”

I looked up from my phone to stare at him. “You’ve been?”

He smiled. “I may be old, but I’m not dead, Lily. Holly and I have gone a few times. Gavin actually invited the entire hybrid clan to opening night.”

He had? Maya never told me about that.

We pulled up to Maya’s house, but she was already outside, wearing a killer purple miniskirt and a top that tied around her chest, exposing her stomach and her cleavage.

“You look great!” I chirped as she climbed in and hugged me.

“You, too! That color looks amazing on you.”

“Ezio is getting us added to the list,” I explained when she glanced at Ezio with his head down, texting on his phone. “Why didn’t you tell me that our clan got to go for opening night?”

“I didn’t want you to feel bad or try to convince me to go since I’d already promised to go with you,” she said and smiled. “The wait will be worth it, I’m sure.”

“Okay, you two are on the list and he’s been advised that I’m coming as well. He said they’ve got an open VIP booth, if you want it?”

“Yes!” Maya and I shouted simultaneously.

Ezio smiled. “I thought so.” He typed again on his phone, waited until it pinged, nodded, and put it down to drive again. “Okay, VIP table has been secured. Let’s go!”

“Are you going to sit with us or act all bodyguard like?” Maya asked.

“My job tonight is to keep you two safe,” he said with a scowl. “Sitting in the booth with you, drinking and having fun, prevents me from surveilling the surroundings to keep you out of danger.”

“One of these days, we’re going to convince you to enjoy the night with us,” Maya said. “Maybe after Lily finds a mate who can take over guard duty.”

Ezio growled. “She’s got plenty of time before she needs to settle down.”

Maya scoffed. “You’re even worse than her dad!”

“What about you, hm? How’s the mate hunt going on your end?” Ezio asked, diverting the topic from me.

“Aren’t guards supposed to be silent?” she muttered, earning a hearty laugh from him.