CHAPTER 7

LILLIAN POV

The hotel door slammed behind me, the sound like a prison gate locking shut. My hands trembled violently as I tore through the room, yanking drawers open and throwing clothes into my suitcase with no care for folding. Silk blouses wrinkled, shoes tumbled disorderly—none of it mattered.

The letter was leaked.

The whole city knew.

They would know everything now.

My breath came in sharp, uneven gasps, my vision blurring with unshed tears as I gripped the edge of the dresser. Ten years. Ten damn years of carefully constructing a new life, a career, an identity—gone in an instant. Because of Drake’s broken promise.

“Your secret is safe. Consider this gone.”

A liar. A deceiver.

I choked back a sob, my fingers fumbling with the zipper of my bag. It didn’t matter that Sharon had been the one to leak it. He had sworn to destroy it. And yet, here I was, running again—just like I had at sixteen, with my tail between my legs and my heart in tatters.

My phone buzzed violently on the nightstand.

Josh.

I snatched it up, my voice raw. “I need a ride to the airport. Now.”

“Lily?” His voice was tight with concern. “What the hell happened? The news is everywhere. Drake’s pack is in damage control, but—”

“I don’t care about damage control,” I hissed, throwing my toiletries into the bag with a clatter, not a care in the world if they are arranged properly or not. “The conference is over. I need to be gone before this gets worse.”

A pause. Then, carefully, he asked. “Is your secret really that bad?”

I froze.

Josh didn’t know. No one knew. Except Drake.

My throat burned. I had to tell him, to tell someone. “Josh….my father wasn’t just…gone.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “He was a rogue. Executed as a spy by Drake’s father when I was little.”

The silence that followed was deafening.

Then—“What?” He croaked. His voice was barely a whisper.

“The former Alpha took pity on my mother. Gave her the cottage. Made her the Luna’s maid. But if this gets out—” My voice cracked. “No hospital, no research facility, no pack will trust me. Who wants a rogue’s daughter near their sick? Near their children?”

“Lily…” Josh sounded broken. “I had no idea.”

“Of course you didn’t.” I said briskly and laughed bitterly. “Because secrets were the only thing keeping me safe.”

Another pause. Then he asked softly, “will your job be okay? If word spreads—”

“I don’t know,” I snapped, slamming my suitcase shut. “But I am not sticking around to find out.”

Another pause.

Then I croaked. “Then there is Andre.”

“And….what about Andre?”

My stomach twisted.

Mate.

The word sent an unwanted shiver down my spine.

I squeezed my eyes shut and said shakily, “He is my mate, Josh.”

Silence—Then “Andre? As in Drake’s Beta Andre?”

“Yes,” I hissed. “The universe has a sick sense of humor and I don’t want him. I don’t want any of this!”

Josh exhaled sharply. “Does he know?”

“I don’t care if he knows!” I nearly shouted. “I just want to be out of—”

A knock at the door and my blood turned to ice.

Nyla howled inside me and a surge of electric heat flooded my veins.

Mate. Mate. Mate.

I barely heard Josh’s confused voice on the telephone. “Lily?” As I turned toward the door, my pulse thundering in my ears.

The scent hit me first—leather, freshly cut grass.

Andre.

Another knock.

I swallowed hard, my fingers curling into fists.

Run. Hide. Fight?

But my traitorous feet carried me forward.

With bated breath, I yanked the door open.

And there he stood.

Andre Blackwood. Beta of the Luxembourg Pack.

His amber eyes locked into mine and his usual playful smirk were being replaced by something far more dangerous….intense.

One hand was raised mid-knock. The other tucked deeply in his trouser pocket.

His lips curved into a slow knowing smile.

“Hello Lillian,” he murmured slowly, his voice rough. “We meet again.” There was a pause. “Mate.”

I stood frozen. My breath trapped on my lungs and my eyes wide with shock…or confusion.

Andre’s gaze flickered to the half-packed suitcase behind me, then back to my face in shock. “Going somewhere?” He asked concernedly.

I tightened my grip on the door and muttered, “Away from here.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw as he shook his head in dismay. “Running won’t help.”

“Neither will staying!” I shouted angrily and my voice cracked. “That letter just exposed my family’s shame to the entire shifter world!”

Andre didn’t flinch. He walked in with slow stead steps and gave the room a sweeping glance before resting his eyes back on me. Then he said solemnly, “I know about your father.”

The floor tilted. “What?” I gasped.

“Drake told us years ago.” He said calmly. “After you left.”

Ice flooded my veins as I stared at him, dismayed, “So you all knew? Laughed about it over beers, did you?”

His expression darkened. “We were kids. Stupid, cruel kids.” He took a step closer. “But I am here now as your Beta. Not just your mate.”

The title struck like a stab to the chest. “Don’t!”

“I have to.” His voice dropped. “Because whether you accept the bond or not, you are pack. And pack protects its own.”

I barked a laugh and asked sarcastically, “Since when?”

“Since today.” He pulled a flash drive from his pocket. “Every media outlet that ran your letter will retract it by morning. The original has been destroyed.”

I stared at the device and asked. “How?”

“Beta privileges.” He replied with a grim smile and shrugged. “Also, blackmail.”

Before I could respond, my phone crackled—Josh’s voice, tiny and distant sounding very worried. “Lily? You still there?”

Andre’s gaze dropped to the phone in my hand and his lips twitched. “Tell Josh he doesn’t need to pick you up.”

I glared. “I am leaving.”

“Not tonight, you are not.” His voice dropped and a hint of Alpha command slipped through—not enough to force me, but enough to make my wolf listen. “We need to settle this.”

I opened my mouth to argue….then his fingers brushed mine as he pressed the drive into my hand.

A spark.

And it was Electric. Burning.

I jerked back instantly, but it was too late….the mate bond reacted with a surge of heat flooding my veins.

And Andre’s eyes glowed amber as he whispered, “Mine.”