Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Milo

It was surprisingly difficult to leave Harridan House knowing what was about to take place, and knowing that it wouldn't involve me. Since Lily and I forged that bond my thoughts bounced back to her constantly, with no small amount of lust attached. She described it as an itch, and that feels accurate. No matter how many times we scratch it, the relief is temporary, and the itch creeps back up quickly, demanding another scratch.

Even though we slipped a hot and heavy quicky in between dinner and the midnight run with no one the wiser, I was already aching for her by the time I came home. I lay in my bed, the scent of her clinging to my pillows, and alternated between remembering what we had done and imagining what the three of them were getting up to. Then what it would be like if I were there. It didn't take me long to relieve myself once again.

The thought of her between all three of us had always been a delicious one; we didn't discuss it much, especially after Lily arrived, but I know we were all thinking about it. Not wanting to push her any further than she wanted, but definitely looking forward to the day she claimed all of us.

Then she had to tell me that Derrek is her fourth mate.

What was I supposed to do with that? My emotions have been all over the place and even though I'm not happy with the idea, there's nothing I can say that will change what she wants.

And apparently she wants him.

No, needs him is how she put it.

It's a problem we'll have to face, but first we still have to figure out how to get Derrek back from Montrose. I mean, I could live without him, but if Lily needs him, then there's no more to say.

I wake up surprisingly early and get ready with an excess of nervous energy. As I drive toward Harridan House, little scenarios flit through my head. Perhaps I'll arrive and they'll all still be asleep, tangled in the sheets and the air thick with the smell of sex. Or maybe I'll walk in and they'll be in the midst of yet another round, Lily making those little breathy moans that drive me absolutely wild.

Of course, in that scenario, she'll turn to me with pleading eyes and beg me to join them, spreading her legs for me to feast on her. She'll be so wet, probably laying in a puddle in the wake of so much sex. And so sensitive that when I run my tongue over her, she'll shudder and moan my name, her fingers clenching my hair.

Shit! The road grows bumpy and I'm drawn back to the present just in time to realize I'm veering off the side of the road and about to pass my turn. I crank the wheel hard to the left, narrowly making the turn to Harridan House. Best to not continue having filthy fantasies about my mate while operating a moving vehicle.

I need to get my shit together, for real. I've never had a difficult time controlling my hormones before. Even during my experimentation with heavy petting of other girls solely for the sake of learning how to please my mate, I never lost control and went further than I intended. My mind only turned over racy thoughts when I chose to enjoy them, typically at home, in bed, alone.

Now it seems as if all I can focus on is the taste of Lily, the scent of her, the way it feels to be inside her, the sounds she makes when I bring her to new pinnacles of pleasure…

My hands grip the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turn white. Holy goddess, something is definitely wrong with me. There's no way this is normal.

Clenching my jaw, I force myself to review everything I ever learned in our boring Pack History class in the hopes there may be something useful buried in the back of my brain.

When I finally, mercifully, arrive at Harridan House, I suck in a deep breath before climbing out of my car. Whatever happens when I walk through the door, I have to avoid making any sort of assumptions at all. I have to keep my cool.

I affect the aloof air that's served me so well before, and let myself in the front door.

Now, I'm not under any delusion that the staff at Harridan House starts their days at a leisurely hour. In fact, I know they rise pretty early just for the sake of food prep, maintenance, and other household activities. Given that it's not quite eight in the morning, I expected people to be up but for things to just beginning to move.

Instead, I walk into a scene of organized chaos. Mrs. Dowling is directing a pair of the security team to carry some sort of picnic basket out to the garage, seeing as they're on their way to pull an SUV around. Three of the Montrose members are scattered around the open area, chatting with Roxanne, Dom, and a few other pack members. Even Amber is here for whatever reason, bouncing on the toes of her pink sneakers and listening with rapt attention to Lily.

And then, as if she feels my eyes on her, Lily turns, a wide smile spreading across her face and her eyes alight. My heart throbs in response, and she walks swiftly toward me, launching herself in my arms and claiming my mouth in a powerfully hungry kiss.

My body responds instinctually, arms snaking around her body and squeezing her tightly. The room full of people around us fades away. Sounds are muted, and all I am aware of in this moment is Lily and the deafening pounding of my heart.

I could stay here forever, but she eventually breaks off the kiss, leaving me breathless.

"Hey." She grins up at me, her arms still wrapped around my waist. "Missed you last night."

"You did, huh?" I am indescribably pleased to hear that. "Well, I'm sorry to hear my brothers weren't up for meeting your needs, but I'm sure I won't let that happen again."

Her head tips back and she laughs, swatting me on the chest. "Not what I meant. We had a… thoroughly excellent night. I just know it would have been even better with you there, too."

Some of my pride withers at her correction, but I understand what she means. I lift a hand to toy with a dark, bouncy curl near her face. "I'll always be here if you want me, Lily. Just say the word."

"Look who finally made it, the legend himself." Jared's voice is practically booming, and he's grinning from ear to ear as he approaches us, Landon at his side.

The sarcastic grin spreads easily across my face. "Hey guys, you have a good night?"

Landon's cheeks immediately color pink, but Jared has no shame. "You know it. Hey, what did the tree say when spring finally arrived?"

The three of us groan in unison, but Jared continues grinning as if he doesn't hear. "It said, ‘what a relief'! Like re-leaf! Get it?" And goddess love him, he chuckles at his own lame joke, every time. The rest of us make a collective ‘ah' sound and search for a change in topic.

"Alright that's enough fun and games." Lily's voice is devoid of the playfulness of a few moments ago. "Milo, I'm going to catch you up to speed. The Montrose guys are far more helpful now that I've proven I'm not some useless little girl. One had to leave because he's on shift for—get this—guard duty over Derrek! We've literally got a man inside, and he gave us a lot of good intel. We know exactly where Derrek is, how many guards there are at any given time, and how the schedule works.

"However, that's the end of the good news. Billy confirmed Derrek is being… that he…" distress washes over her face, and as if her throat was closing up she seems to choke on the words she can't get out.

Landon wraps an arm around her shoulders and pulls her tightly to his side. "They're torturing him."

Indignation burns in my gut. Not necessarily for Derrek, but I'm not a huge fan of hurting other people, regardless. And that it's making Lily this upset makes me want to rip that alpha's throat out. "Why the hell are they doing that?"

Jared takes over somberly. "According to Billy, Pack Montrose has difficulty with their people actually manifesting the shift. So they have a whole ‘program' to ‘encourage' the shift to take place." He lifts his hands and makes air quotes along with the heavily sarcastic tone. "Since Derrek is his son, Nielsen needs him to shift before he can claim Derrek as his heir."

"But what if he can't shift? I don't know about you, but I've never heard of a half-breed before. We don't know what they can or can't do."

"That doesn't seem to matter to Nielsen," Landon answers gravely, hand still sliding up and down Lily's arm in comfort. "According to Billy, he's intent on forcing him to shift, no matter what it takes."

"So why doesn't he do some magic mumbo-jumbo and get himself out of there?"

"That's where Azalea comes in," Lily answers in a tremulous voice. Clearing her throat, she explains, "Azalea made some sort of magical collar that she put on Derrek. It can't come off. And any time he tries to speak, or even makes a sound, it does some sort of magical shock to him."

"A collar?" Heat rises in my chest, creeping up my neck. "Like a dog collar?"

"Yeah, exactly," Lily answers in disgust. "Exactly like a dog collar. It even has a leash."

My stomach churns. "That's sick. I don't care who you are. That can't have been Nielsen's idea; he wants Derrek to be his heir. You can't expect a pack to follow someone you've dragged around like an abused pet in front of them."

"According to Billy, Nielsen didn't specify. He just wanted something that would keep Derrek from accessing magic to use against him. But he doesn't care, either. The pack is used to this sort of torture tactics to force the shift, and he's keeping the circle of people in the know small, too. Probably for that reason."

My lips twist in disgust. "They're fucking animals, doing that to other people."

"Yeah," Landon agrees.

"Fucking right," Jared snorts.

"It's terrible. That's why we have to help them." Lily's voice is low, but powerful.

"Wait, help them? I thought the plan was to rescue Derrek?"

"It is, but the majority of that pack are innocent victims too, Milo. We can't just take Derrek and run."

"Woah, we need to slow down here." Landon's eyes widen as he holds his hands up for emphasis. "I know Derrek is your friend, but we're not trying to burn the world down to get him back, Lily. We need to be smart about this."

My eyes dart to Lily sharply, and she gives me a very subtle head shake.

So she hasn't told Jared and Landon that Derrek is her fourth mate yet. Goddess, help me.

"Regardless, that's not what we're doing today, so we can shelve this for now," Lily states firmly. "Today we are going to visit Derrek's grandma to see if she can help us come up with a solution for the collar. Given that a spell fixed it onto him, it'll probably take a spell to remove it."

"Yeah, and something tells me Azalea won't help us out," Jared snorts.

"Agreed."

"Yup."

"So what exactly is this plan? It looks like we're going on a three-week vacation here." My timing couldn't have been better; one of the house staff looks at us apologetically, silently requesting us to step aside so she can push a large trunk on wheels out the front door.

"Well… we have a couple of things going on. We assume Montrose has spies watching our territory, so we're going to send some mixed messages in the form of decoys."

"Decoys?"

"Yeah. Maxwell is going to drive the car I normally ride in south toward Knoxville, and we're faking a meeting there with the alpha from another pack. He's gonna pull over at a gas station at some point and have a ‘private' phone conversation outside the car to leak some false intel."

"Okay, that seems solid."

"And while he's doing that, a couple of other cars will go in different directions just to muddy the waters. The other Montrose guys will be slipping back over to North Carolina, and we'll be on our way to visit Shuya."

"And what, exactly, will we be driving for this top secret trip?"

Lily's eyes turn to Jared, who grins. "You know how I have four sisters, right?"