Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Lilliana

When we walk into Harridan House, Mr. Carson rushes to welcome us.

"Dinner has just been served, Miss Lilliana. Everyone's already in the breakfast room." With a grave face, he motions for us to walk ahead.

My gaze darts to Milo, but he just shrugs. What exactly does he mean by ‘everyone'?

As we get closer, some familiar voices reach my ears, and my heart gives an involuntary leap in response. Laughter from several people echoes down the hall. The anticipation makes my steps quicken, and I lengthen the distance between myself and Mr. Carson a good deal by the time we pass through the doors.

"…you know, I've never been a fan of facial hair," Jared pauses in the middle of his joke. He has a captive audience, the knowing grin on his face a telltale sign that he's having a good run. "But it's growing on me!"

Another round of appreciative laughter from the staff milling by the kitchen door and the group seated at the table.

"You really should get some new material," Milo teases loudly. "You told me that one last week."

"Yeah, and you laughed last week," Jared fires back, hopping out of his seat and crossing to greet us. He's handsome as ever with his warm brown skin and dark, shining eyes—even wearing a slightly muddy sweat suit.

"Woah, woah, hold on just a minute," I press a hand to his chest to stop the oncoming hug and affect a serious air. "What on earth is on your head? Is there something you need to tell me, Jared?"

He's confused for just a second until he reaches up and snatches the bright orange cap off his head. "There's a reason for it, and it's not that I'm transferring to UT, promise." His thick lips split into a pearly grin, and he holds his arms wide for me, waiting patiently.

I duck into his chest and enjoy the warm vibration that flutters across my skin when his lips touch my forehead.

"I missed you today, gorgeous."

"We missed you too. And you too, Landon," I add, peeking around Jared's muscular shoulder to grin at my other mate who's waiting his turn.

Landon grabs my hand with long, delicate fingers and tugs me away from Jared. "Not as much as I missed you, I guarantee it." His light brown eyes sparkle with joy, the sexy dimples appearing on his cheeks as he leans in for a kiss.

My heart does a little pitter-pat when his fingers caress my jaw and his lips touch mine. I still maintain that if he had the inclination, he could easily become the lead singer of a band and break a million girls' hearts. However, he is extremely shy about his music and vehemently uninterested in any girl but me.

I pull back, slightly breathless, and gaze up at him dreamily. It takes me a minute to notice he's in a hoodie and track pants, also coated with a fair amount of dirt.

"What did your dad have you guys doing, rolling around in the mud?" My gaze sweeps between them, and their sheepish expressions ping my instinct that something's up.

Eyes narrowing, I cross my arms and take a step back. "Obviously, you guys aren't telling me something. Out with it."

Jared pipes up. "We'll tell you everything, but why don't we sit down and have dinner before it gets cold? We can talk and eat." He doesn't sound worried; in fact, he sounds rather pleased with himself.

I raise a brow in disbelief. "Mrs. Dowling is fine with you two sitting at the table like that?"

They both glance down in unison, as if only now realizing how dirty they are.

My uncle's stern voice calls out from behind my mates, silencing the room completely. "Mrs. Dowling is off tonight; I told them it's okay, so if she wants to lay into someone she can talk to me."

The boys split apart, so I have a direct line of sight with Dom. He's got an odd sequence of expressions crossing his dark features, as if he can't decide whether he's amused, embarrassed, or annoyed. Roxanne is beside him, and after a moment elbows him subtly in the ribs.

"I mean," he adds gruffly, "if that's okay with you, of course. It's your house."

My gaze darts to Roxanne, who nods slightly and shoots me a small smile. When I refocus on Dom, his expression is now solidly uncomfortable.

I decide to let him off the hook. "Alright, they might as well eat since the food's ready. Just… put a napkin on the chair or something, guys. You know Dowling will notice a solitary speck on those embroidered cushions."

Dom's face relaxes, and the four of us head to the table to claim our seats. Dishes of tender beef, whipped potatoes with thick gravy, fragrant, fresh-baked rolls and brown sugar carrots make their way around the table.

My stomach rumbles loudly, and Milo glances my way with that sexy smirk. "Hungry, are you? You must have really worked up an appetite earlier."

I almost snort water straight out my nose, but manage to swallow the mouthful and set the glass down before I injure myself. Milo reaches over and pats me gently on the back as if he hadn't just made a comment laden with innuendo. A few small coughs and my windpipe clears, so I shoot him a warning glare. "I can't say I did. It was a pretty dull afternoon." Even though my tone is sharp enough to cut through stone, Milo continues grinning.

"My mistake."

If anyone else is curious about our brief exchange, they don't act like it. I'd been slightly apprehensive about returning, and not just because of Dom. Since I arrived in Smoky Falls, it's seemed as if everyone could tell exactly what was going on between me and my mates without a word from any of us. This occasion—which to me feels huge, even outside of the every-girl experience of losing my V-card—seems like a non-event as far as they all can tell. I thought for sure my other mates would notice something different, but they sure aren't acting like it.

I decide to tuck into my dinner since that's occupying everyone else currently at the table. The staff have long since retreated to the kitchen to eat.

Knowing that my mates are bottomless pits when it comes to food, I'm not really surprised that they're far too busy stuffing their faces to talk right now. However, I am surprised that Dom and Roxanne haven't spoken a word, particularly since they normally consider meals the best time to catch up.

It occurs to me that things aren't all sewn up between them following Dom's sudden arrival last night. Also that they might be hesitant to talk in the wake of my outburst earlier.

Everyone continues eating silently, and the scrape of knives and forks on porcelain grows unbearably loud in the uncomfortable silence.

"So, let's hear it, you two." Everyone glances up from their plates, and Jared and Landon realize my gaze is focused on them. "What were you up to today? I'm getting the feeling you weren't ‘doing something for your dad', as I was told."

They glance at each other, volumes being spoken between their eyes. I can practically hear the silent conversation, each of them trying to convince the other to answer.

Finally, Jared returns my gaze. "You're right, that was just an excuse so you wouldn't ask what we were doing."

"You realize I'm asking now, right?"

"Yeah, we just didn't want you to know until we got back."

Landon swings a backwards fist at Jared's arm and lands a solid blow, making Jared wince and rub the afflicted spot. "It's not that we didn't want you to know ; it's that we didn't want you to worry."

"That's fine, but somebody needs to tell me what you did and why I would be worried if I knew."

"We went to Montrose territory," Landon forces out at double his normal pace.

"You what ?" My incredulous question is echoed across the table in my uncle's disapproving voice.

Jared takes over. "We thought—since we're not officially mated yet—it would be easy for us to slip into town and just see if we could figure out where they're holding Derrek. We knew you were worried about him, and we also knew it would be a long, drawn-out process to come up with a plan. So we just went for it. And we found him!" He adds in a rush, noting the furious expression on my face.

His last-minute comment completely derails me. "You did?!"

"Yeah," Landon nods, grinning. "Turns out Montrose has a ‘mayor's house' that's kinda set back in the woods, and there are some hiking trails nearby. So we found our way to the house and just kind of snooped around outside, hoping to hear or see something. And these two guys showed up whining about having to do guard duty."

My fingers clutch Milo's under the table. "That's… that's great! So he's at this ‘mayor's house,' you're sure? Did you hear anything else?"

A wide grin spreads across Jared's cheeks. "Sure did. They said Derrek is in a magical prison cell that Azalea made, and that their alpha doesn't want the entire pack to know what's going on, so he's keeping his circle tiny."

Landon pipes up. "And that Azalea killed her own mom to take her powers."

"She what ?" This time, the interruption comes from Roxanne. "That's impossible."

Landon shrugs, refocusing on his food. "I dunno. That's what they said. They also said she's crazy."

Well, that tracks.

My eyes seek Dom's across the table. "I guess we know where he is now."

My uncle nods slowly. "Sounds like it. It's definitely a good starting off point." He turns his focus to the guys. "What else can you tell me about this house?"

"We didn't get inside, and we don't know exactly where Derrek is. But the house itself is on top of like a little hill, there's one driveway up to it, and about fifty yards out from the house a giant hedge lines the drive and surrounds the entire thing. Short of bringing a chainsaw, you won't get through it. The only options are going over somehow—it's over eight feet and impossible to climb—or going up the main drive where you'll be completely exposed to everyone in that house. Easy pickings for anyone with a rifle."

Dom's eyes cloud as he considers their assessment. I poke at my food, appetite suddenly gone.

It's not like I'm some kind of battle strategist, but that doesn't sound good. Milo squeezes my hand in encouragement and lobs a question of his own.

"You guys never told us why you look like you fell out the back of a truck."

Jared's chin ducks, his expression distinctly embarrassed. "We got kind of freaked out when we heard those guys pull up and we dropped to the ground. I guess it was kind of muddy there. We didn't really think about it until we were almost here and didn't want to turn around and go home first. We have some stuff here, after all. And then they said dinner was ready right when we walked in the door, so we figured, might as well shower after."

"I'd say that's a solid plan. Why don't you two get cleaned up and then we'll all convene in the library to go over this new information." Dom winces as if in pain, then adds, "If that is alright with you, Lilliana?"

Once again my eyes dart to Roxanne, who's stroking her bundle of neat black braids with downcast eyes and an unmistakable smirk.

"I think that's a great idea, thank you," I answer with a benevolent smile. "But dessert first."

LANDON

Even though I know we're going to be her mates soon and involved in these decisions, it still feels weird to be sitting at a table with the alpha, the beta, and a former alpha, discussing plans of this magnitude. Milo's been glued to Lily's side since we arrived, and Jared and I sit on either side of them. Even though it's meant to be a team working together, the thick tension in the air makes me wonder if Jared and I didn't miss something major during our outing today. Lily and her uncle are clearly doing their best to behave civilly, and only achieving it half the time.

"We know where he is now, for certain. We should at least try to get onto Montrose lands and see if it works. You don't know that he's banned me from the territory. It's just speculation." Lily's voice is razor sharp.

"Just as it's speculation that we'll be able to march up to that house and find him," Dom retorts. "We don't know what's laying in wait inside; there could be any number of guards, hazards, or traps."

"But Landon and Jared said-"

"I know what they said, but we have to try to verify more before we plan an attack."

Milo slams his hands on the table, standing to his full height and leaning forward with a sneer. "Don't forget who you're talking to, Dominic . You're lucky Lily is still including you in this conversation at all. If you want to continue to be a part of this discussion, I suggest you apologize to my mate for interrupting and listen to your alpha." His voice is a throaty growl, and I'm shocked; I've never seen Milo lose his cool like that before.

Jared and I exchange a wide-eyed glance, and even Lily looks up at him in surprise.

"Thank you, Milo," she soothes, placing a light hand on his forearm to coax him back in his seat. "I'm sure Dom didn't mean any disrespect."

Dom's face has turned a deep shade of red, as if he wants to shout but knows better, so he's holding it in.

Roxanne decides this is the opportune time to speak up. "I know we all want the same thing: to rescue Derrek as quickly as possible, in the safest way we can. The information Jared and Landon provided is extremely helpful, but I do agree with Dom that it's not enough to launch a full-on attack and just hope for the best."

Dom blows out a breath, and the color in his face gradually returns to normal. "Yes, thank you. That's what I meant. I apologize for interrupting, Lilliana. I think we've accurately covered the information we know, but we need to figure out what information we still need, and how we're going to get it. That should be decision number one."

Lily's eyes close for a few seconds and she draws in a deep breath, then releases it. "Okay." There's another handful of heartbeats before her eyes open and she speaks again, her gaze laser-focused on her uncle as she runs down her thoughts like a list. "We need to know if we can cross the boundary into Pack Montrose. We need to know how many people are in the house at any given time. We need to know where Derrek is exactly, the properties of this magical prison they said Azalea has him in, and what it takes to get him out."

Dom nods in agreement. "Yes, to all of that. We also need to know how many of Nielsen's pack are actually involved or know what's going on, and why he's suddenly so keen to have Derrek under lock and key."

"Agreed. So now that we have our list, how do you propose we get these answers?"

At this, the former alpha's lips curl into a grin that looks distinctly devious when combined with his dark beard and flashing eyes. "From the enemy themselves, of course."