08 admitting the truth

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When I wake up the next morning I can't find Lily anywhere, her bedroom door is open and her bed is unmade. She's completely covered the spare room in her scent and just being near it has my eyeballs turning into dinner plates without even needing to look at them.

I search through the living room and the kitchen, all the places that I think she could be but she's not. My hand runs through my hair and I give it a quick scratch, maybe she went for a run without telling me.

But then I remember her ankle. It might still be sore from yesterday, if she done any damage to it.

Then I start searching the rooms that I know I haven't introduced her to but she could have gone for a stroll, found herself intrigued with the house and started investigating through the rooms.

I don't blame her if she has, she's kept mostly to herself so she must be out of her goddamn mind. Especially as she barely speaks to me, she must be going through blazing hell in her mind with not much to do.

My fingers push against the last door in the hall, it doesn't even creak and as soon as I peek my head around the corner, I instantly see the back of Lily's head. She's looking at something, touching something.

She twirls a small golden globe ornament in her hands, gingerly holding onto it. She places it back onto the shelf but then takes it back again. I lean on the door hinge and cross a foot over the other, folding my arms across my chest.

"I hope you're not doing what I think you're doing with that stuff."

Lily's shoulders shoot up and she almost drops the globe but she catches it last minute and slams it down onto the shelf. As she faces the wall she takes a breath and after a couple of moments she turns to look at me over her shoulder.

"No," she straightens out her hoodie. "I was just looking."

"You sure?" I quirk an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"Okay." I bow my head and glance up at her again, her eyes slowly trail from my face down to my stance and then back up again. "Well if you want to talk about it. We can talk about it."

Lily purses her lips and then relaxes them. "I don't want to talk about it."

"That's fine," I shake my head and offer her a warming smile.

She stares back and her eyes narrow at my answer, I know she's expecting me to accuse her or start yelling but I do neither. Then her arms cross her chest and she stabalises her feet, shuffling them once.

"Alright," she grumbles and slaps her hands to her sides with defeat. "You caught me."

I push off the door hinge and straighten my spine. "Have you actually taken anything?"

"No."

"Are you lying to me?"

"No!" She exclaims with a little fire that I was not expecting. "I was just looking at the globe thing, okay?"

My head nods in her direction. "Okay. Did you have a bad night?"

Lily rolls her eyes and looks anywhere else but me. "No."

I hum and step closer into the room. "Then is there a reason why you wanted to steal today?" I question openly.

"Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know." Her words come out in a jumbled mess, then her eyes clamp together like she doesn't even know what she's saying herself.

"You can talk to me about it," I offer softly. "I will not judge, I will just listen. Try to understand you because I want to help you, Lily. That's all I want."

She twists her hands in front of her and picks at the skin around her fingers, something that she does when she's anxious or she can't control the direction of the situation.

"I'm not ready," her quiet and cautious voice makes me want to wrap her up in my arms.

"That's okay," I smile. "When you are ready, I'll be here to listen to whatever you have to say."

Lily doesn't respond but instead nods at my words.

"You want to come and watch a movie with me in the living room?"

If she doesn't want to talk then that's fine but we can still be near each other, that should help our bond grow. It should help Lily to become comfortable with me without words and without touching. Just at the pace that she needs.

"Okay."

I try not to let my face become too animated and scare her away but inside I am throwing an absolute party. "Come," I beckon my head out of the back room and head straight for the living room where it's peaceful for once.

Lily throws herself down onto the grey sofa and snuggles up into the corner, I reach for the remote and sit down on one cushion over from her. Not too close but not too far away. She doesn't flinch or attempt to move away when I sit down and I exhale a slow breath of relief.

"What do you want to watch?" I question as I press my finger onto the on button.

She shrugs. "Whatever you want."

I frown and turn away, maybe she hasn't seen a movie in a really long time and she doesn't know what's good or what's popular. So I do it for us, save us the trouble of going back and forth until neither of us want to watch a movie anymore.

As soon as I click on a comedy from the nineties I turn to Lily but her eyes are fixated on a spot on the wall.

"Lily?"

Her eyes don't move, she doesn't blink.

"Lily?" My voice is softer.

"Hmmm," she turns to me suddenly, eyes wider than usual and I find her reaction weirdly suspicious.

"Can I ask how old you are?"

She ponders for a quick second and then clears her throat. "Twenty-two." I hold her stare and smile, then she takes me by surprise and says, "How old are you?"

"Twenty-eight."

"I see," she turns her head away and I can't help but frown.

I rest my arm on the back of the sofa and place my face onto my fist. "Is that a problem?"

Lily shakes her head vigorously. "No, it's not."

My mind tells me to let the matter go so I do. "Can I ask you another question?"

She squirms against the sofa, her face hiding from my eyesight. "I'd prefer it if you spoke about yourself." She whispers.

My eyes shoot wide at her suggestion, if that means we can have somewhat of a conversation then I'll take it. I didn't think she was interested in my life whatsoever, so this is news to me. News that excites me more than it should.

"Okay, well do you have a question for me?"

Lily's little fingers play with the edge of the pillow, flicking over the tassel material. For a few moments I think she's going to be silent again and focus on the movie but when her lips move I don't breathe because I can't express my relief of this step forward.

"You're the Alpha?"

"Yes."

Her nose scrunches up at my answer but she already knows I am. "Aren't Alpha's meant to be mean and cold?"

I tilt my head. Is she speaking from experience?

"No, Alpha's can be whoever they want to be," I tell her honestly. "Some Alpha's are hard pieces of work, sure but not all of them are nasty. I'm kind to my pack because that's how I get respect and it's just not in my best interest to be a horrible leader."

Lily hums softly. "Do you let people get away with things?"

I shrug and push a hand through my hair. "Depends what they have done but I punish people if they deserve to be punished. I have an order in my pack and my pack takes my orders. I respect them, they respect me."

"Punish?"

"Yes. If someone has wronged me or anyone I care about, then they will be punished."

I notice how Lily's throat clenches and I dip my brows. Does the idea scare her?

"I don't think your pack like me," she comments and sinks further down the sofa.

"Why'd you think that?"

Lily turns to me with a deadpan look. "I stole their stuff."

I hum in response. "Yeah but you gave it back."

Her eyes close for a brief second and she covers her face with her hand. "They don't trust me," she says into her skin.

My shoulders raise and drop quickly. "Then that's a them problem. I know you wouldn't hurt my pack." There is a tingling sensation in the tips of my fingers and I want nothing more than to reach over and cup her hand with mine.

She feels so far away and I hate this distance but if she feels comfortable over there then I'll give her all the space she needs until she trusts me.

Lily's eyes sparkle for a quick moment but it's blinked away within a second. "Do they know I'm your mate?"

"Only Fran and Milo."

"Ah," she wraps her arms around her legs and rests her head on top of her knees.

I angle my head at her. "What?"

Lily bites on her bottom lip and flicks her eyes between my shoulders. "You didn't want to tell them?"

I can hear the slight tone of worry or was that disappointment in her voice? Either way it has me wanting to wrap her up in my arms and push away all those fears and concerns she has because watching her face crumble like that fucking hurts.

"I wanted to tell everyone on your terms, I wouldn't push you in the limelight like that if you weren't ready. I wanted to talk to you about it first and hear what you wanted to do," my hand slides across the sofa closer to her.

"Really?"

My eyebrows crease together. "Yeah, of course. We can tell them whenever you want, if you want to do it today we can do it today. If you want to wait then that's absolutely fine."

Lily's throat clenches and then she clears it. "I think I'd rather wait," she tells me. "Just a little bit. I don't know if I could handle all that attention right now."

"Then we will wait." God, I want to cup her head and feel her hair through my fingers. "We'll do whatever you want to, Lily."

She studies me for a good few moments and then she shuffles closer, the tiniest bit closer but I noticed it. I can feel the warmth from her body and the growing static of our bond between us and I know that she can too.

My fingers move closer to her body and then her hand falls down beside mine, centimetres from my skin. So fucking close and I can feel her, I can hear her own heartbeat. I gaze up at her face and she's looking down at our hands, almost touching.

I shuffle my little finger impossibly closer until I touch hers, my whole arm burns as soon as our skin touches. Lily's little lips part but she doesn't move when I wrap my little finger around hers.

There is no denying that touching her yesterday has allowed her to become comfortable with this, she's still looking at our hands and it warms my heart that there is evidence of a soft smile on her face.

"We're missing the movie," she whispers before glancing up at me.

I can't help but grin. "Sorry," I whisper back and we turn our heads back to the screen at the same time but neither of us move our hands.

I'm sure there is still a small smile on her lips when I glance at her out of the corner of my eye.

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Author's Note

Hello my loves, what did you guys think of this chapter?πŸ’˜

Everett is trying and Lily is trying, I love how patient he is with her and that she didn't lie to himπŸ₯ΊπŸ₯Ί

I need to know what you guys think of Everett!! I know some of you disliked him/was suspicious in TEC. So now I'm intrigued to know what you think of him nowπŸ‘‰πŸΌπŸ‘‰πŸΌπŸ‘‰πŸΌ

Please don't forget to leave a vote. It takes two seconds and means the world!πŸ₯°

See you all on the next one. Love Savanna x

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