Chapter Nineteen
They road in silence in the Hummer. Leif had called ahead to the men and let them know what had happened. It was better for everyone if they were all accounted for and on the land if the Council got involved.
There was nothing to be done about Hall at this point. If the Council determined that he’d gone rogue, they would likely order his death. Erik didn’t want that, but his priority was to make sure that everyone else was safe. Part of the balance of power in the supernatural world was that individuals were kept in check by their leaders.
Erik still couldn’t figure out what the hell the pup was even doing with a vampire. Most never even came into contact with them outside of work. Despite their similarities in not being fully human, that was about all they had in common. The vampires had made it very clear that they found themselves to be the superior beings and werewolves were just a pain in the ass.
When they’d dealt with the vampire nest a few weeks ago, Hall seemed agitated, but when Erik thought about it, it wasn’t clear if that was from being around vampires or just from being around vampires who were trying to pick a fight.
His Nan would say it was because the werewolves were the protectors of man. That Odin had made them to protect his people. It was a nice story as a child, but not so believable as time went on. Man had done just fine protecting themselves well enough from the bloodsuckers. They didn’t need wolves to protect them.
Erik glanced over at Lillian. She had sat in silence since they pulled away, and he wasn’t really certain what to say to her. There were still so many things he didn’t understand himself.
It had been a strange night, starting with him nearly stripping her naked on the dance floor. Even now as he thought of it, Erik shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Her sweet curves fit so well with his.
He hadn’t expected her to respond like she had. It might have been better if she had slapped him. Then he wouldn’t be sitting there semi-hard thinking about the next time he’d be alone to touch her again.
"So all this stuff seemed to be pretty serious," Lillian said as she stared out the window.
Erik glanced up to the front seat hoping for some help from Leif, but the other man had been oddly quiet since the club. He’d not gotten the story on what exactly Gwen was doing there, but Erik trusted Leif to make sure she was safe.
“The blond guy, Hall, he’s one of us,” Erik said.
“I remember him from the basement.” Lillian turned in her seat, her pale blue eyes fixed on his. “He didn’t really seem like you though.” He watched as a shiver slipped over her despite the heat coming from the vents. “The way he looked at me…”
Twice now Hall had tried to go for Lillian. Erik couldn’t explain it. None of them could. There were so many questions and no answers.
“He’s not normally like that,” Erik said. He reached across and took her hand into his. “We’ll protect you,” he said softly. “I’ll protect you.”
He grazed his thumb across the soft skin on the top of her hand. It trembled as he held it, and Erik wondered if it was from fear or something more.
Leif cleared his throat, and Lillian pulled her hand away.
“The pack is meeting us at the edge of the land,” he said.
Erik glanced out the window. The moon was low tonight, which was a blessing. It was one thing the vampire had been right about. They’d killed their chance to hunt on full moons. So they wouldn’t have the light to help guide the search, but with their sight, it wasn’t everything.
As they turned the corner, he spotted several dozen sets of eyes reflecting light from the car.
“There are so many of you,” Lillian said as she stared out the window in wonder. “Are there more of you out there?”
Erik debated on what to tell her. She was immune to the vampire’s mind shine, which meant he would have to trust her with their secret. Still, it wasn’t exactly like people were willing to believe in werewolves these days. Granted, the Council didn’t want people running around talking about those kinds of things.
“There are a few packs out there these days,” he said. “We tend to keep small so as not to attract attention.”
Lillian nodded. He wondered what was going through her head. She’d just had all these things dumped on her but had taken it all in stride.
“This must all seem a little strange to you,” he said, trying to figure out just where she stood.
She shrugged her small shoulders and played with the hem of the sweater she was wearing. “It’s surprising,” she said quietly. “I’ll not even try to say it’s not, but I don’t know how to describe it. For some reason, I feel like it’s something I always knew. I can’t really explain it because I didn’t know any of this, but it’s more like I should have.”
Erik opened his mouth to respond, but the car came to a stop.
“I thought she should stay at your place since it’s so late,” Leif said.
Erik glanced over at Leif in the driver’s seat and nodded. Nan would have gone to bed ages ago, and luckily the woman slept like the dead, or they would all be in deep shit.
He climbed out of the car and held the door open for Lillian as she climbed out behind him. The ground crunched loudly under his feet. New snow had fallen, which could both be a blessing and curse when hunting.
“Let me get things settled here, and we’ll meet at the far end of the lot,” he said to Leif.
The other man raised a brow. “Maybe you want to spend the night in?”
Erik’s eyes flicked over to Lillian. Her heels sank deep in the snow. She’d not even taken a step, and he could hear her teeth chattering.
“We need to secure the land,” Erik said firmly. “He might come here. He might bring that vampire with him.”
There was no time to think about anything else. He had a job to do, and at the moment, Hall was a threat to them all.
Leif nodded.
Erik turned and watched as Lillian struggled to step away from the vehicle. He sighed loudly.
With ease, he lifted the small woman in his arms and closed the door. When he turned back around, he could see the smirk on his friend’s face. It was hard to seem like he was taking a hard line when he was holding the object of his obvious desires in his arms.
Leif rolled further down the road before making his way down the path to his own house.
The layout of their land was simple. The center held many of the homes, much like its own little werewolf subdivision. Each family got their own home. If new families started, a new house was built. Although that wasn’t often these days. There were fewer and fewer people in the pack.
“This is your house?” Lillian looked up at the cottage-style home.
Erik followed her gaze. He’d know the small house even if he closed his eyes. It was one he’d run through a thousand times. It filled him with warmth.
“This is my Nan’s house,” he said. “I’m out back.”
Lillian shifted in his arms to look around. He wondered just how much she could see with so little light out, but the reflection of the moon on the snow created a silvery glow.
Carefully he tromped through the snow, trying to stay on the path that he knew was under all the snow. If he trampled the roses, Nan would hand him his ass.
Once they reached the back, Erik sighed at the sight of his house.
It stood near the wooded grove, far enough away to grant a little privacy while still being a part of the community.
“It’s very pretty,” Lillian said as they approached his place.
He filled with pride. It wasn’t like his apartment in the city where he had every type of electronic gadget known to man. No, this was simple. It was rustic, and he’d helped to craft it with his own two hands.
Erik grunted in reply, not sure how he felt about sharing something like this with her. They weren’t together. Hell, he didn’t even know just what she was. And yet he couldn’t seem to stop his heart from pounding in his chest at the idea of getting her into his home.
They stopped outside the door, and he pulled down the key from the top ledge. There wasn’t much concern that someone would steal anything. It was more to keep any kids out of trouble.
Erik turned the lock and pushed open the door. He stepped in and kicked off his shoes before carrying Lillian into the living room on the left. He placed her carefully on the floor.
A blush passed over her face as she untwined her hands from around his neck. “Thank you.”
Erik busied himself making the house warm. He pulled some wood from the stack that sat on the hearth and placed it on the grate in the fireplace. After adding a bit of paper on the bottom and lighting things, he soon had a roaring fire. He stoked the fire a little before adding a few more logs.
No telling how long he’d be out that night, and it would take some time for the heater to warm the place enough.
“There,” he said as he dusted his hands on his jeans. “It should warm up real soon.”
He noticed that Lillian had moved in closer to where he was. She was looking at the pictures he had framed around the room.
“You were a cute kid,” she said.
Lillian pointed to a picture of Erik, Leif, Tyr, and Brant. Seemed like forever ago the four of them had been together like that. Then Brant formed his own pack, and that ended that. It wasn’t as if they stopped being friends, but the two packs were working toward different goals.
“That was a long time ago,” Erik said gruffly.
Lillian moved away as if she’d been struck, and Erik felt the guilt as it worked its way through him. He ran a hand through his hair.
“Sorry,” he said finally. “I’m just not used to being around people in my private spaces.”
He was surprised when a tender hand landed on his arm.
“I know you didn’t plan to tell me all of this,” Lillian said, “and I still don’t get why all this is happening, but you need to know, I’d never betray your people.”
It was exactly what he needed to hear. He couldn’t say how she knew, but somehow Lillian always knew exactly what to say.
Unlike before, Erik knew exactly what he was doing as he leaned in and pressed his mouth to hers.
This wasn’t like the club. There was no pulsing music. He wasn’t fighting off his wolf for once. Erik was kissing her because that was what he wanted to do.
Lillian placed a hand against his t-shirt as he kept the kiss light, just enjoying the feel of her soft feminine body against his own. When he pulled away, he stared down at her half-closed eyes. Her cheeks were now soft and pink from the glow of the fire.
He could get used to this.
Erik shook his head. It was thoughts like those that he couldn’t afford to have.
“I have to go and check the grounds,” he said, taking a step back from her. “I don’t know when I’ll be back, so take the bed and get some sleep.”
Lillian opened her mouth and then closed it. Clearly he was confusing her as much as he was confusing himself. He needed to get out of there before he decided other things sounded like more fun.
Erik turned and made his way back out into the cold. At least outside he could focus on what he needed to and not the pretty blonde headed for his bed.
He took off his clothes and placed them next to the door. With ease, he shifted.
One last glance at the door, and he could tell his wolf wasn’t thrilled about how they were spending the evening, but even he seemed to get the importance. He padded off to meet his pack.