Chapter 35: Chapter 35

Lily

Lily knew she had to leave.

She splayed her fingers across the worn blanket. Her hand – the skin darker than usual from prolonged exposure to the sun – blurred into the dark reds and oranges of the fabric. Tears gathered in her lashes and made her throat swell.

Elijah had been kind to her. No, it was more than that – Elijah made her feel. He’d held her hand as he’d brought her to his cabin, to his home, and as they’d brewed a pot of tea he’d welcomed her with a warmth that she was unaccustomed to.

His kisses were sweet, and his arms were safety. Elijah wasn’t the problem. She was.

Lily stood suddenly, knocking aside a cushion with a hand-stitched wolf on its front. “Sorry,” she muttered, brushing it off and placing it upright against the pillows.

Elijah had left to speak to his second and third in command, which Lily had understood. The bond, however, had not. Since they’d accepted their link, something deep and writhing within her had latched onto him. Her heart ached at the mere thought of his smile. She longed to feel his touch. And, alone in his cabin at last, she’d thought it would be a chance to breathe.

Instead, her ears yearned to hear the latch on the front door lift. She could imagine with perfect clarity the way he would enter, unlacing his boots and hanging his coat on one of the hooks in the hallway. He’d wind up the stairs, one hand on the banister, and she’d run to him. He’d open his arms, and into them she would jump. He’d pepper her face with kisses, and then, at last, their lips would meet.

“Shut up,” Lily hissed, taking two firm strides away from the bed. Every reason she’d had to leave before seemed insignificant now – ridiculous, even.

Lily knew she had to leave, but she didn’t want to.

They’d kissed in the entryway to his home, hands intertwined at their sides. Lily’s mind had emptied, bright notes of peace and joy swelling so quickly that they’d shoved her worries and fears aside.

Barely separating, he’d pulled her into his arms. Holding her close, he’d carried her through the doorway, her body snug against his chest, her arms wound around his neck. Elijah had tensed at the contact, but once her fingers had strayed to toy with the hairs at the nape of his neck he’d visibly relaxed. Carrying her straight down the short hallway to the kitchen, he’d set her on the countertop before filling the kettle and placing it heavily on the stove.

Treading carefully, Lily crept to the bedroom door. She’d hardly looked around before Elijah had left, preferring to spend their limited time entwined atop the bed sheets. A balcony stretched out from the front of the room, but a curtain had been pulled across the glass doors leading to it. She remembered a wide, winding staircase jutting from the hall, and she peered out curiously before stepping out of the room.

“Make yourself at home,” Elijah had said. “It’s yours as much as it is mine now, my mate.”

Tingling all over at the memory of those words, Lily padded down the hall. Twinkling lights lit up the stairs, beckoning her back down them. But first, she wanted to explore upstairs.

He’d pointed out the rooms as he’d led her up the spiralling staircase. “Bathroom, spare bedroom, office, and this one is my – our – room.” He’d drawn her a bath before leaving, and the bathroom had revealed none of his secrets. Lily doubted the spare bedroom would, either. But the office was promising.

She didn’t want to pry. Not exactly. But she wanted to know more of the man she was now irrevocably bonded to. She needed to find a reason to go; Elijah had only given her reasons to stay. He’d kept the fact that he was the Alpha of the Sea Pine pack from her. Surely, surely there was something else – some other secret he was hiding that would give her the incentive she needed to go, to leave him behind.

Finding a cure for lycanthropy had been enough before. But now, she had a home. She had a second chance at life, after Atticus had taken the last of her hope at Blood Moon. She’d found herself wanting to meet Elijah’s pack, his people, and even as the darkness had drawn in she’d been entranced by the beauty of the abundant nature that swept through his territory.

The office was at the very end of the hallway, the door half open to reveal a bookcase dotted with plants, globes, and rolled-up maps. Lily stole furtive glances at it all as she passed, her gaze lingering even as she hurried her pace.

There were no photos. There had been none in the bedroom, either – not of Elijah, nor of his family. The room was practical, with a simple wooden desk and a comfortable looking chair behind it, but it gave no suggestions as to the man that worked there.

Suddenly ashamed, Lily took an uneasy step back towards the still open door. Elijah would tell her anything she wanted to know. Prying like this… it was wrong. Tempting, but wrong.

She turned on her heel and left. Breathing heavily, she rested against the window seat in the hall. Her heart thumped, every pound of it reminding her that Elijah was her mate, her mate, her mate. They were joined now, and it was dishonourable to steal information like a spy. This was his home, and he had allowed her to share it.

Would it ever truly feel like hers?

Lily sat heavily on the window seat. She stared at her own reflection in the dark glass, unable to make out anything beyond her own eyes. She traced the new nicks and marks that marred her skin, and she wondered who she’d become.

Could she go home now? It had been only a matter of weeks, and yet it felt like a lifetime since she had awoken in her own bed, in her own Warrior Wolf’s cabin with her father.

All she’d ever wanted was a mate. Elijah was more than she ever could have wished for. He blurred away the scars Atticus’s rejection had left. And, more than that, he gave her hope.

Staring at her wavering image in the window, Lily saw the dark clouds shift outside, giving way to a streak of glittering stars.