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CHAPTER 41
RAIDEN
It was only Gunnar and me in my office as we savoured the silence after an excruciating meeting. I was exhausted, although relieved that it was finally over.
“I think that went pretty well,” Gunnar said, lying back in the leather chair clutching a glass of expensive whiskey in his hand.
Picking my forehead up off the desk, I glared at him. “Pretty well?” I huffed, straightening myself up and gulping down the last contents of my glass. Gunnar chuckled.
‘Pretty well’, were the last words I would have used to describe how the meeting had gone.
“You’ll have to be the one to break the news to her, you know?” he said after a few moments, staring blankly into his glass.
“I know,” I sighed, “and it will probably have to be today before word gets out.” I slumped down onto the desk again, slamming my head a little harder than necessary onto its wooden surface.
I loved Lily with all of my heart, but that didn’t mean I was unfeeling towards everyone else. Breaking a woman’s heart with the snap of my fingers wasn’t something I looked forward to, even if we hadn’t really been in any kind of romantic relationship to start with. Yes, it was agreed that we would be wed in the future, but we never socialised or went on long romantic dates as normal couples did.
The landline on my desk rang, bellowing obnoxiously in my ears, toying at the last sliver of patience I had left. I didn’t want to talk to anyone and groaned when I grabbed the earpiece. “What?” I barked, pressing the phone to my ear.
“Lily is in trouble,” a deep male voice exclaimed on the other end of the line. There was an urgency in the man’s voice which had me jerking my head up, lifting it off the desk and flashing a worried look at Gunnar.
He shrugged, confused.
“Raiden! Did you hear me? Get to her now!” The voice yelled, this time much angrier.
I stared at the phone for a split second before dumping it and bolting out of the room. Gunnar, still unaware of what had been said, followed close behind, loyal to his Alpha.
My mind raced as I sprinted through the castle and up the stairs towards my room, taking the steps two at a time. I skidded to a halt in front of the door and tugged on the handle without bothering to knock. It didn’t budge. The two guards outside looked at each other, at me, dumbfounded.
“Alpha, uh-we,” one started to say, but I had no interest in listening.
“Lily,” I yelled, “Open the door!” Gunnar came to a halt next to me and slammed his shoulder into the wooden barricade. I yelled out again, trying to get her attention, “Lily! Can you hear me? Open the door!”
A piercing scream resonated from inside the room, instantly draining the blood from my veins. Gunnar took only a second to lunge his large frame into the door, busting it open and ripping it off its hinges.
I stormed in, my eyes landing on Lily as though they knew where she would be. The room was icy cold, with wind ripping at the curtains and portraits. Behind me the two guards cursed filthily. I ignored them, rushed towards her, my boots crunching over scattered stationary, broken glass and other debris strewn about. She’d curled herself into a tiny ball, hugging her legs to her chest, sobbing. Her fingertips had turned white from clamping her ears. She didn’t see me, didn’t look up, but puffs of vapour came from her mouth as she mumbled something under her breath.
Other than the cold, the air in the room felt strange, the atmosphere unwelcome. We were not alone, and warm air brushed across my neck. A reminder and promise of death. Rushing through it, I crouched before her, reaching out and brushing my fingers over Lily’s hair. Bedsheets and magazines came crashing down around us, sending the two guards falling over each other to get outside. Without having to look back, I knew Gunnar would be linking for backup already.
Please, please tell me I wasn’t too late. My fingers brushed along her temple where there had once been a horrific bruise. My Flower finally looked up, shaking her head with tears rolling down her pale, tired cheeks, “he’s here, Ray, h-he’s found me,” she said over and over again. "He’s come for me.”
I’d carried Lily back to the guest room and stayed with her the rest of the night. She didn’t want to eat, and I didn’t press her to do so either. She was exhausted and curled up into the covers, burying her face in the pillow as soon as I sat her down.
Gunnar and Carter had stayed behind, checking on my room and clearing it out. I couldn’t risk leaving Lily again to do so myself and knew she’d only sleep when her wolf could smell me close by. If I had to be honest, I preferred it that way. Staying by her side and making sure she was safe was practically built into my DNA. No, I couldn’t leave her, not with that thing still hounding after her. I had to mark her, something I couldn’t exactly do until I told Tanya about her. I did consider myself an honest, loyal man, even if I’ve been making a pack’s worth of mistakes when it came to Lily.
Sighing, I slumped in my chair, jotting down dates and reminders onto a piece of paper. I was juggling too much and couldn’t risk dropping a single one of the balls. Fuck. I was. I was dropping balls all over the place. Sending a quick mind-link to Tanya, I scheduled a meeting with her first thing in the morning. She didn’t sound upset or suspicious, hopefully everyone had kept their mouths shut so I could be the one to tell her. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
With a heavy heart and jumbled mind, I took a long hot shower thinking of people who might be able to help us with the entity. People who could find out what he wanted and how to possibly get rid of him. I knew no one, and ended up latching on to rumours of witches, vampires and other beings I’ve only ever heard of around campfires. How many of it could have been true?
Lily had spoken about beings in the forest of Marillia. Unseen, shadowy figures she claimed the Alpha knew personally. Shadow Folk, apparently. She’d also said the Alpha didn’t believe them to be connected to the entity in any way, which was yet to be decided.
Stepping out of the shower, I dried and wrapped a towel around my waist, quickly going back to my piece of paper. Call Alpha Mathew, Blade Rock. I needed answers and he seemed like the first place to start.
Gunnar? I linked, staring at the scrap of paper, pen still in hand.
Yes, Ray?
Find out who the person on the telephone was, the one who called us about Lily being in trouble.
