Chapter 119
0119 “Did Stephanie do something to you?” Brandon checked the time on his phone. “Sorry, James, but my mate and pups will be home soon. You need to be gone before they get here. I do not want you to upset my mate.” “I don’t want to upset her Brandon, I promise. I just want to understand.” “Just seeing you will upset her. You and your parents no longer have any say over our lives. Please leave.” “Tell him again that we are mated to Lily,” Luke suggested in the link. “Brandon, please. I am here because I am trying to fix things. I want to make things better, and I want to make things safe for my mate. My real mate, Lily. Not Stephanie. Lily. I cannot fix anything if no one will tell me what happened. Brandon’s face suddenly softened. “Your mate… is Lily? As in, Beta Robert’s youngest daughter?” “Yes.” “Wow. And you are okay with that?” “More than okay. “Is she okay with being mated to you?” “I am working on that part.” “How… how is she doing?” he asked, sounding genuinely concerned. “She is okay,” I responded as I silently prayed to the Moon Goddess that I was telling the truth. “Please tell her…. please tell her that we said thank you.” I looked at Brandon in confusion. “Brandon, Lily would have only been 12 when you left the pack. What could you possibly be thanking her for?” “You really do not know, do you?” Brandon asked. “No!” I exclaimed. That is why I am here. I need to figure out what happened.” Brandon sighed. “She tried to stop it. She was the only one who tried to stop it.” “Stop what, Brandon?” Just then, we heard the garage door open. “My mate is here. Please, James, just go. Please.” This time, I did not fight him on leaving. I could tell I was not going to get much more out of him, especially now that his mate and pups were home. ***END OF FLASHBACK*** By the end of the fifth meeting, I was ready to pull my hair out. I had absolutely no idea what could have happened to explain the hostility I was getting. One thing was becoming increasingly clear, though: what Stephanie and Sheila did to Lily was only the tip of the iceberg. At one point as I was wracking my brain, trying to put the pieces together, Luke reminded me of what Alpha Brett said the night that he broke the alliance with our pack: “…Red River Pack will never condone the abuse of females and other vulnerable people. In addition, our pack considers the mate bond to be sacred, and we condemn any and all who would use that bond as a vehicle for torture. The information that my uncle shared with me this afternoon is sufficient for me to conclude that West Mountain Pack’s values no longer align with ours, and that they have not aligned for some time.” My gut told me that Alpha Brett’s words were directly linked to what caused the five wolves and their families to leave the pack. But how? What could Stephanie and Sheila have possibly done? Neither of them were old enough to find their mates before Stephanie died. And how could they have done it right under my nose? Whatever it was, why would my parents ignore it? Why would they tell pack members to talk to Margie? And how was Lily involved? Nothing made sense, but once again, I knew that Dr. Hyder was telling me that I needed to find out. As much as I hated his riddles and (mostly) hated his son, I trusted him. It was time to head back to West Mountain. Not for my father, definitely not for Sheila, but for me and for Lily. But first, it was time to let Luke out for a long run. We had a lot of built-up tension that we needed to release.
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