Chapter 4
1179 Words
Lily’s POV
Neutral Grounds
“He didn’t touch you?” Irina asked for the umpteenth time in the hallway of the Lycanthrope Academy. We were in the parking lot, me on my bike and her leaning on my father’s car. The same one she rode yesterday.
I shook my head, pulling my backpack closer to me. “He just asked me to leave. God, I feel like such a fool.”
She drew closer then. “Why? Lily, no one from our pack has ever wandered in there and returned alive. I was so scared that he would harm you and now…”
“That’s not it,” I sighed. “I… I just left when he asked me to, Irina. I didn’t even ask about Phil. How could I have forgotten about the man I claim to love? And he must have heard me come in…”
“You seem to have forgotten about the fact that Andre could have killed him already.”
My lips parted and then closed again. It was strange, especially since I didn’t have a reason to defend Andre. Hell, I hated every inch of him, that power that he lorded over everyone, that fact that my father was scared of him but wouldn’t admit it.
But at the same time, I knew that Andre wouldn’t have killed Phil. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he wouldn’t hurt me.
It was a strange thought. There was no reason for me to think that way. But I just knew it. It was hard to explain, but I knew it.
And I had a feeling that it had something to do with that blinding pain from last night.
I turned to Irina again. “What do you know about wolves and heart aches?”
She tilted her head. “What?”
I licked my bottom lip, then shook my head. “Never mind.”
“Lily? Is there something you’re not telling me?”
“It’s nothing, Irina. I can handle it.”
“Did you feel any form of pain when you were with Andre last night?”’
“Don’t say it that way,” I mutter suddenly.
“Say what that way?”
“People might get the wrong ideas.”
She rolled her eyes. “I still think…”
“Does Dad now let you go out with his car?” I asked, needing to change the topic, but at the same time, genuinely curious. “I know how protective he gets over it, but the other day…”
“The other day, he just wanted me to get to you on time, and we both know his sports car is the fastest in his fleet.”
I didn’t say a word. “And today?”
Irina shrugged. “Let’s just say I didn’t hand in the keys the last time.”
It would have been really funny if it weren’t for the look in her eyes. I’d been friends with Irina all my life. I could tell when she was hiding something. And right now, she had that look in her eyes.
I opened my mouth to speak, but the loud roar of an engine had me swallowing the rest of the words. Every head in the parking lot jerked to the direction of the sound. It was a bike. A very rare make.
I was sure of it.
In another second, he bounded into the parking lot in all of his darkness and insanely attractive broodiness.
Andre.
No one could pull their eyes away as he parked under a tree far from the rest of us, pulling off his helmet. His fingers messed with the curls as he ran them through the strands, hooking his helmet to the bars of the bike before striding away from it.
I drew my gaze away when he looked straight at me, our eyes meeting for a quick second, almost as if he’d known I was watching.
And I could have sworn I saw the slightest smirk on his lips.
“I have to get to class,” I told Irina, leaning away from my bike and hurrying away before Andre could cross the parking lot. It was one thing getting mad last night and going into his pack. Relating to him in public was totally forbidden by my pack, even if this was a neutral territory.
The hallway was quiet as my feet shuffled through it, intent on going anywhere. I didn’t have classes for an hour, but I needed to put as much distance as I could between myself and Andre.
Just as I turned around the hallway, I bumped into the last person I expected to see here.
Phil.
"Oh, my God!" I breathed, my feet slowing. "Phil! How are…I thought you…"
“Lily.”
All the high in me suddenly vanished at his tone. That was when I noticed. He looked fine. No bruises. Nothing.
“Phil, I was worried about you,” I whispered, inching closer, my hands hovering around him. But he stepped out of reach in another second, like he hated the thought of my hand on him.
Hurt crossed my features. “Is this about the Bloodfang?” I asked, shaking my head. “I’m so sorry, Phil. I didn’t want you to get involved in all of this. I tried … God! I feel so bad right now. I don’t know what Andre wanted, but…”
“Lily…”
"Oh, my God! I'm so sorry, Phil."
“It doesn’t matter.”
My eyes snapped up. “I went there to look for you.”
“None of that matters, Lily,” he sighed. “Just…did you get the gift?”
My gaze perked up at that. “They were both from you? I recognized the writing in one of the boxes but not the other…”
“There were two boxes?” He sounded surprised, and it made me halt.
“Yeah… the one with the bracelet, with the wolf pendant.”
Phil arched his brows in confusion, but just then, his eyes met someone behind me before he brought his gaze back. “I have to go. Have a nice day.”
A part of me thought he would pull me into his arms like I’d been dying to do since he was taken. Or at least, a pat on my shoulders to reassure me that it was only a phase that we would get through. Even talk about the gift boxes.
But he just walked past me, like I didn’t mean a thing to him.
And it was all Andre’s fault.
Without thinking, I took a detour, storming out of the building and around the side to the back, where the bikers loved to hang out.
I knew I would find the fucker there.
But the minute I saw him from across the grounds, my wolf stirred for the first time since last night.
And I heard that word ring through my head. The word that had me halting abruptly.
- Writer
