Don’t come back here, Lily

Chapter 3

Lily’s POV

The Other Side Of The Border

I met Irina waiting the moment I got to my bike. She had a worried look on her face, her arms crossed around her frame.

“Lily, don’t….”

“You heard what he said,” I muttered angrily, mounting the bike. “He isn’t going to do a thing about it. Phil is going to be murdered, and I am going to have to live with the guilt.”

She placed a hand on the bar as soon as the engine roared.

“This is not about Phil, Lily, and you know it. Andre is the most ruthless Alpha in this region. And we are at war with the Bloodfangs. The agreement is that neither of us are to get into each other’s territory. We won’t be able to fight against whatever they decide to do to you.”

“I don’t care, Irina,” I snapped. “And if you think Andre is fierce, then you haven’t met me. We are both in the Lycanthrope Academy. I’ve seen him. He doesn’t scare me.”

“Lily…”

I knew she was going to try to stop me. Irina was a witch. She always had a bad feeling about things, especially when it had something to do with me. And my father was always so quick to accept her words as law.

But I didn’t care tonight, because the bloodfangs disregarded the pact the moment they came onto our side and took Phil.

I took the corner around the bridge.

It was quiet in the Bloodfang pack. Too quiet. I had heard a lot of rumors about how they lived, and none of them included this false sense of peace.

I should have known that something was up when no one attacked me on the way. Instead, the pack members gave way for me to go through, looking at me with amused expressions. They literally laughed in my face.

Bringing my bike to a halt in front of the pack house, I got down and took off my helmet, shaking my hair out. My eyes took in the other bike parked next to mine.

It was the same make, but a higher version. I’d told my father I wanted it, but he said I needed to do more girly activities.

Urgh!

The doors leading into the pack house were lined with soldiers just like ours, but they simply stepped aside to let me through, like they were under strict instructions not to touch me.

It made me wary for the first time since I got into their territory. I stepped inside the dimly lit living area, so wide that it could be used for an outdoor meeting. Andre’s favorite colour had to be as dark as his soul if the pack house was any representation of that.

I didn’t hear the door in the distance open, but the moment he strode in, I felt every inch of his presence, even with my back turned.

It was strange, the strong scent of cedar and earth wafting over to me. The sudden thud of my heart, the near-pain sensation creeping in my chest.

“I’ve been expecting you, Lily.”

There was something about his voice. Something that made every inch of me freeze. I turned around slowly, coming face to face with the one man I was never supposed to as much as wave at.

He was standing in the center of the room, like he’d been there all along, one hand wrapped around a glass and the other in his pocket. Strands of wavy brown hair danced into his eyes, and for a split second, I was overwhelmed with the strange urge to move them out of the way.

I took a deep, shaky breath. He didn’t move.

“I…” I had a speech all rehearsed before I’d gotten here, but now, I couldn’t even form one thought. And it didn’t help that I knew the chances of me walking out of here alive were slim.

“Sit, Lily,” he murmured, stretching his hand to the dark couches in the living area.

I shook my head. “I just want to get what I’m here for and leave.”

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “There’s a reason I am considered the most ruthless Alpha in the region. You didn’t think you were just going to stroll out, did you?”

“Where is Phil?”

Andre arched his brow, like he actually couldn’t remember who that was. The worst thoughts crept into my mind, and I felt tears sting the corners of my eyes.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?” I whispered, hearing my voice break. “You killed him. Phil didn’t…”

“He’s fine, Lily.” Andre moved to the corner of the room and poured a second glass of bourbon. He moved closer and handed it to me.

“Drink.”

“I don’t…”

“You just turned twenty-one today. Drink.”

I knew I shouldn’t. Hell, I shouldn’t even be here. But I took the glass from his hand, determined not to show the slightest fear. The tears that had pooled in my eyes strayed down my face, and Andre’s gaze followed them.

He moved in that moment, planting himself right in front of me, the overwhelming scent intoxicating every sense in me. My eyes fluttered closed as I struggled not to take a whiff, not to breathe him in.

And then, I felt his thumb on my face, catching the beads of tears. When I opened my eyes, he was right there, his face too close, his eyes watching me intently.

It was hard to breathe with him that close. My lips parted on their own accord, and Andre’s eyes strayed to them. I could have sworn they lingered for a second, but then again, I couldn’t be so sure, as I felt something else.

A scent, beyond that of the earth. Strong and possessive.

And the ache in my chest grew more blinding, almost making me clutch the space above my heart.

Andre withdrew his hands so fast, as if I had burned him. I couldn't hear my wolf. It was like she had disappeared, leaving me alone with him.

“Andre…”

He took the glass from me. “Go home.”

“What?”

“Now, Lily!”

“I came for….”

“Now!” He yelled, his voice reaching every corner of the pack house. He seemed scared of something; something he’d seen or felt the moment he touched me. Something he was scared of. “And don’t come back here.”

Perhaps it was the look in his eyes or the fear that never left mine, but I turned around, racing out before I had a rethink.

I got on my bike, struggling with my helmet. It fell from my hands, but the front of the pack house was getting surrounded with more soldiers, as if they had been summoned.

Without enough time to make for the helmet, I leaned forward on the bike and rode out with the speed of lightning, not stopping until I was back in our pack house.

And even then, I didn't allow myself to look back until I had scaled the walls of my bedroom, climbing in through the window.

I made to shrug off my jacket when I saw two boxes sitting on my desk, one with a familiar handwriting and the other with one I couldn’t place.