Mated to you

Chapter 4 - At my command

Reign stood at the head of the table; he was in a mission brief with Cael and Lillian. The order had been set. He knew waging war on Helwren would make Thea hate him more, even though he had every right too, he decided against it, a tactical decision for wanting to gain Thea’s trust back. So, instead he decided once the ball and week guests were gone, River would meet him at the airport. They would go in alone.

Cael’s elite team would move only after Reign breached Helwren’s borders, extract Thea, bring her straight to the plane, and hand her over to him.

Reign wasn’t asking. He wasn’t negotiating.

She was his mate, and he will bring her home, whether she liked it or not.

“Everyone is on standby and ready to move at order.” Cael confirmed.

“Good.” Reign said, rising to from his chair.

“And restrictions?” Lillian said from the side.

“Lifted.” Reign replied before leaving the two alone in the council room.

They waited for him to be completely out of ear shot before Lillian spoke. “I’m so glad restrictions and duties have resumed as normal.” Lillian said, leaning back in her chair, legs stretched crossed over, resting her boots on the table. Cael wanted to tell her to get her boots off the council table, but it wasn’t really an issue, more a generational miss understanding. She was young, didn’t know the rules he grew up on, if he dared to place his feet on the table when he was her age, he would have been beaten by his commander. He sighed at the thought. “Yeah, me too, actually.” He agreed. It had been hard not being allowed to do his duties as a commander. If Reign had just allowed him to continue to command, Helwren would have never been able to sneak out with Thea. Though, he hated to admit it but the way they got her out without a trace was impressive. Their commander knew what he was doing, he’d give Viktor that.

“I couldn’t handle pretending to be this cute little pack for that human’s sake.” She said and Cael shot her a knowing look. Lillian rolled her eyes; lately he had been kinder to her, which was weird because he was usually an ass, maybe pretending to be kind for Thea’s sake had softened him a little. She rolled her eyes again at the thought. “Idiot.” She mumbled and Cael shot her another look. “I’m still here.” He replied and she smiled. “Oh.” She said sarcastically, as Cael shook his head in amusement.

“Just have your team ready to go, you’ll leave soon, when you get there wait my orders.” He said, before leaving.

Lillian watched as Cael disappeared. She thought Reign’s original plan to hide Velmira away from Thea was stupid, but nobody agreed with her. To them she was still a pup, although she made her way to the top of the Elite team, it still wasn’t enough to for any of them. But she did respect Cael for standing up to Reign and her mother, arguing against their temporary demotions for Thea’s sake.

She couldn’t imagine being that pathetically strung on by a mate. If she found hers, she’d tell him to get f****d and leave her alone, because her life was great, she had everything, nothing else needed to change.

Lillian sat in the chamber a little longer, enjoying the moments peace before her mission. As she was about to leave, Lillian heard Reign’s voice in the distance, he hadn’t left. Then Cael replied. “Viv has Di…” He said, and then paused, stopping their conversation completely and continuing their conversation away from the council chamber.

She huffed, she was going to her mother’s place, because Di, would have to mean Diandra. Especially since she hadn’t seen or heard from her since she had left for the ball and week, and usually wherever Reign was, she was never too far from him.

“Mother!”

Lillian’s voice carried through the house as she stormed inside, boots striking the floor with far more force than necessary. Viv knew why she was here and it had nothing to do with their shared laughter over ball and week gowns or whispered gossip about wolves being caught with other packs.

“In here, my darling,” Viv called, her voice calm as she poured herself a cup of morning tea.

Lillian’s footsteps thumped closer, heavy and familiar, like she was once again a child outraged by the smallest injustice. Viv leaned against the kitchen bench, lifting the cup to her lips just as her daughter rounded the corner, eyes bright with fury.

“Is it true?!” Lillian blurted.

Viv didn’t look surprised. She sipped her tea instead.

“What, exactly?” she asked mildly.

“That you have my friend locked away,” Lillian demanded, hands clenched at her sides. “Like some kind of criminal. Like trash.” She finished.

Viv lowered her cup slowly, studying her daughter with something between pride and exhaustion.

“I taught you too well,” she admitted.

“Mother!” Lillian snapped. “Don’t do that. Answer me.”

Viv sighed and rubbed at her temple, the ache there sharp and unrelenting. “My dear… my head hurts, my body aches, and this is not a conversation I can have.” She took another measured sip of tea. “You know that.”

“That’s not good enough,” Lillian said, voice cracking now. “Diandra hasn’t done anything wrong. She’s—”

“Enough,” Viv said quietly.

The word carried weight. Not command—authority.

Lillian froze.

Viv set the cup down at last, meeting her daughter’s gaze. “I need you to trust me,” she said. “And trust our Alpha. There are reasons you are not being told. And those reasons keep you safe.”

Lillian’s jaw tightened. “Diandra’s my friend.”

“I know,” Viv replied gently. “And that is exactly why I will say nothing more.”

For a long moment, Lillian looked ready to argue, to push until something broke. Then her shoulders sagged, defiance giving way to reluctant faith. She trusted her mother. She trusted Reign.

“I don’t like this,” she muttered.

“I know,” Viv said softly. There were orders she carried out and never looked back on, but this order from their Alpha, it made her feel too much, more than she would ever admit to anyone and even to herself.

Lillian turned away without another word, retreating down the hall, anger replaced with helpless uncertainty, she’ll be back to check on her friend, but now, she had to prepare her team.

For Lillian’s sake, Viv chose restraint, as always. Only her daughter would get away with speaking to the beta the way she did. She took a breath in and out, Diandra’s claims would be revealed soon.