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Lily's first few days at the pack house have been moderately average. She's continuing not to give too much away about herself, about her life or anything at all. No matter how many questions I ask, sometimes it's like talking to a brick wall and I have no clue how to combat this.

She's mostly been keeping to herself when I've had duties to attend to. Including training the pack in which she didn't want to join in with. I couldn't force her, she'd run straight out of that door.

I told her that she is free to do what she wants. She can leave and she can come back. She is not a prisoner to me and I hoped this would help her to learn to trust me but things are proving a lot more difficult.

With the training done for today we all filter back into the house, sweat and dirt covering our bodies. I walk to the sink and tip my head under the cold running tap, letting the water drip down the side of my face.

"Have you seen my ring?"

I turn my head to see Poppy staring at the kitchen counter, scratching her head with her hand. "No, I haven't." I shake my head. "Where did you leave it last?"

"Here." She prods the counter with a red fingernail. "I'm sure I did..."

My hand twists the tap and I wipe my mouth. "Did you not leave it upstairs or anything?" I fold my arms across my chest.

She huffs out a sigh and runs a hand through her hair. "Maybe, I'm gonna go check."

"Alright," I call after her.

When she exits the kitchen I go upstairs and head straight for the shower, letting the cool water drench me and lower my body temperature. Once I'm clean I throw on some comfy clothes and walk to my bedroom door, when I swing it open Fran is already standing there with a hand on her hip.

"What's up with you?"

"My watch and my earrings are gone!"

"What?"

"From my room, my jewellery is gone, Everett!"

I blink at her words and then think back to Poppy and her ring. My face falls into a frown because I don't want to believe that Lily has stolen their stuff, maybe that's why she's been so quiet and I have been oblivious to her stealing.

"It's her, isn't it?" She scoffs in my direction and folds her arms over her chest. "She's the one who's stolen it."

"We don't know anything for sure," I shake my head. "But we will find them and we'll get them back. Alright? Leave it with me."

Fran huffs out a breath and walks back down the hall.

I close my eyes, praying in my mind that Lily hasn't stolen from my pack but fingers are pointing to her in my mind. We've never had a theft inside the house, ever and then I bring home my mate who I met whilst she was stealing. The probability seems extremely likely.

Moments later I find myself outside her door and I knock loudly.

"Yeah?"

I press my hand down on the handle and push the door open wide, Lily is sitting on her bed. Book in hand, laying on her front as her feet swing in the air.

"Give them back."

"Huh?" Her eyebrow shoots up.

"All the stuff you've stolen from the pack, give it back," I keep my voice calm and my tone neutral. "If you think stealing is a good way to settle in then you're completely mistaken."

Lily holds my stare then after a few moments she rolls her eyes and climbs off her bed. She tucks her head under the mattress and pulls out a black bag, she opens the top to reveal dozens of items.

Phones, rings, necklaces, watches.

My mouth falls open at the sight of what she's done. "Jesus!" I shout. "What were you going to do with all this stuff? Try and sell it?"

"No," her voice is harsh. "I don't even want this stuff. I would have given it back eventually. I wouldn't have just kept them."

I can feel a twitch between my brows, trying to grasp the concept of this conversation was making my head thump.

"What?"

Lily sighs and looks down to the carpet. "You wouldn't understand."

I step closer into her room and kneel down beside her. Maybe she can open up to me if I'm on her level, physically rather than standing over her like a patronising parent.

"Oh wouldn't I?"

"Nope." Her response is imminent but her voice is distant.

My gaze flicks over her face but she refuses to look at me. "Then help me to understand."

Lily's jaw clenches and she grips her hands together in front of her tightly. "Go Google 'kleptomaniac', you'll find all your answers there."

Kleptomaniac.

I've heard that word before but I'm not entirely sure what it means. Thoughts race through my mind and I try to grasp the word but I cannot place it.

My brows drop and I try to get her to look at me but she continues to stare at the floor. "Or you could talk to me about it?" I offer.

Lily shakes her head and pushes the bag full of stolen items towards me. "You can give them back to your pack," she mumbles and climbs onto the bed, allowing her light blonde hair to cover her face. "I didn't mean to upset anybody."

My heart cracks at the sound of her voice and I know she never meant any harm.

Whatever this 'kleptomaniac' thing is, it's clearly destroying her from the inside out.

There is genuine sincerity in her words and that's how I know she isn't a threat, not to me or to the pack. And deep down I believe her when she said she would have given them back, what would she have done with them really?

Pawned them off at the local market she's probably stolen from previously? I can't seem to place her in a situation like that. And I doubt she's a master in eBay either.

My hand clutches the bag and I nod. "Thank you for being honest with me."

Lily's icy blue eyes peek at me through her long strands of hair. Maybe she's not expecting me to be nice to her after what she did but we can't progress and move forward without giving her a chance to open up.

She might not want to speak about it now but admitting to what she did is a step forward in my eyes.

"I'll be downstairs in my office if you need me," I stand from the floor and she hides her eyes away from me again.

When she says nothing in response I take this opportunity to leave with the bag of goods. I head to my office and I search for Fran's watch and earrings, I'll give everyone their stuff later and tell them there was a misconfusion with the items.

They don't need a reason to despise Lily before they have a chance of getting to know her.

I've got your things. I'm in my office. I mindlink my sister.

It takes her about thirty seconds to walk through the door of my office whilst I'm sitting at my desk, her belongings at the edge.

I drag out my laptop and instantly head for Google, typing in kleptomaniac into the search.

Fran retrieves her watch and earrings and then loops around my desk. "She did take them then?"

I don't respond because I'm too busy reading the results of my search. This then catches Fran's eye too and she bends down to my level to read the screen.

"Kleptomaniac?" She cocks an eyebrow at the words.

Kleptomania is the recurrent inability to resist urges to steal items from family members, friends or shops that you don't really need and hold little substantial value. This is a rare condition but an incredibly serious mental health disorder that can cause emotional pain to the perpetrator and their loved ones.

Kleptomania is often a cause of severe depression and anxiety.

"Jesus," I whisper under my breath as I scroll through the endless words of the article.

Fran leans on my desk and folds her arms over her chest. "Why is she here, Ev? I can tell something is off about her and I'm not sure if I like it."

I lean back in my chair and twirl a pen in my fingers for no reason, just something to distract my mind from my current racing thoughts.

"Ev?"

My lips purse and I drop the pen before rubbing a hand across my forehead. "Because she's my mate, Fran. That is why she is here."

Her eyebrows spike and her little lips part. "Oh God," she stares at the wall, completely dumbfounded. "Okay, now it makes sense."

"But don't go telling everyone, or spreading it," I warn her with a pointed finger. "I told her that we would do things at her pace, to tell everyone when she's ready."

Fran holds her hands up to her shoulders. "I wouldn't say anything."

"She's troubled, but I don't think she's bad," I comment, speaking my mind. "She's just lost and she doesn't know where she belongs. I feel bad for her."

I've felt bad for her the second I saw her living conditions, she's battling with a mental condition and she has no family to rely on. She has nothing. She's just trying to live, to exist but she's only hurting herself with her own actions.

"She steals, Ev."

A sharp breath shoots through my nose. "But it's a condition, she's not doing it to be an ass."

"She could be lying," Fran shrugs simply.

"Why would she lie?" My eyes narrow towards her. "She gave me back all the stuff as soon as I went into her room. She doesn't want the stuff, she just likes the feeling it gives her. She's not lying about this."

Fran pushes herself off my desk and walks around it, facing me head on. "Whatever," she waves it off. "But if she keeps doing it, the pack are going to have something to say about it."

I press my hands into the desk and lean forward. "I am the Alpha, remember that."

"Yes," she hisses through her teeth. "But your pack are also important, you have to think about them and their safety."

My head burns from this conversation. I love Fran but sometimes she can never let things go.

"She wouldn't hurt anyone," I reassure her.

Because I know that she wouldn't. I might not know a lot about her but I know that she's just trying to find her purpose in life, she's not had a good few years living on the streets. She's never been given an opportunity to live a life she could love.

She was living each day as it came, never thinking of the future because she could only focus on surviving the now. And that shatters my soul to pieces, knowing she was out there. Alone, cold, damp. Trying to keep herself alive.

No wonder she's unwell. I don't even want to think of what she's endured in this time. But knowing that she's here and that she's safe gives me a light of hope that this will be a new life for her. She just needs time and patience before she can open up.

"How do you know that?!" Fran exclaims as she paces in front of me. "You barely know her. She could be dangerous, she has a mental problem."

I flinch from her words. "Just because someone has a mental illness, doesn't automatically mean they're dangerous. That's such a shitty stereotype for you to have. She's a young girl who has nothing! Cut her some slack."

"So you're condoning her stealing?" She arches a brow and crosses her arms.

My eyes roll and I shake my head. "Don't give me that stinking attitude, I never said I'm condoning her stealing. But if she's sick then I want to give her the help that she deserves."

"But you brought her to the pack house without even talking to any of us about it!"

I push up from my seat, letting the chairs scrape against the floor. "I couldn't just leave her on the street, Fran!" My voice booms across my office. "I saw where she lives, she's been sleeping on cardboard for the last three years. She's my mate, she's mine! Don't tell me what I should and shouldn't have done."

Fran tuts at my words and walks back to the door, she holds onto it with one hand before turning to me. "Maybe she's homeless for a reason... think about that."

She slams the door on the way out and my hands ball into fists, I stare at the spot she was standing in moments ago. I'm giving Lily the benefit of the doubt because she's my mate, of course I am but if this was happening to Jesse, Fran would act the exact same way.

I won't give up on her when it seems like she's been given up on before. It's time to give her a chance to redeem her actions, no matter how long it takes.

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Read up to chapter 48 and bonus chapters over on Patreon!

Author's Note

Hello huns, what did you guys think of this chapter?👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼

It's out that Lily is a kleptomaniac but I adore how much Everett backs her to his sister😌

Do you guys think Fran is being out of order with what she said?

Mental illness doesn't equate to being dangerous and I love that he stuck up for her! (I even wrote a whole paper on it when I was at University)

See you all on the next one. Love Sav x

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