Chapter 15

Lachlan

I already knew that Tilly had never really been in the city before, so instead of making this frightening and filled with paranoia, I was choosing to make it fun.

The odds of anyone following us were slim to none. We landed in a private airport and had a private car awaiting us. Most likely I could have given the driver the address and had him drop us off there. But that was never going to placate my dingo, and I would spend our upcoming days apart stressed and worried we'd somehow been followed or that our path was traceable.

Fortunately, my mate had packed light with only a backpack and one carry-on roller bag. I grabbed my own backpack and her bag as we exited the plane and met our driver.

Instinct had me sweeping the area looking for anything out of the ordinary. There was nothing. Yet this didn't relax me in the least. If anything, it made it worse. I didn't have my team with me to ensure I didn't miss something, and the stakes were far too high for any mistakes.

"Where to?" the driver asked.

"Sydney Opera House," I said.

Tilly looked at me in confusion but was smart enough not to say anything.

"It's too early to check into our hotel, babe. I figured we'd get in a bit of sightseeing instead."

It was all an act, and somehow she realized it enough to play along.

"I've always wanted to see the opera house."

"I know."

She shot me a side-eyed look but continued with the charade.

"Perhaps we'll venture over to the zoo later. Can you recommend a good place to eat? I'm starving," I said to the driver.

He was relaxed as he drove, nothing alarming as he rattled off his favorite places to eat near our drop off point.

When the conversation came to a natural lull, I nuzzled my mate and whispered, "We can do whatever you want while we're here." I made sure my voice was loud enough for him to hear me.

She giggled. "Anything?"

Her suggestive reply caught me off guard and I almost forgot we were putting on a show.

"You dirty girl," I said before kissing her.

When I pulled back I caught the driver watching us through the rearview mirror with a smile on his face. Everything was going smoothly. If anyone were to try to interrogate him, he would simply say he picked up a couple in love here on vacation and dropped them off at the harbor to explore before checking into their hotel. Which hotel? How would he know, because we didn't go straight there and never mentioned it. End of story.

I tipped him well after the car came to a stop and we gathered our things to leave. I told myself that I reached for Tilly's hand as a continued show to our rouse. But in truth, I needed that contact to ground me and keep me from doing something stupid.

Having her in the city was harder than I thought. Everywhere I looked there were unmated men. Sure 99% of them were human, but that didn't seem to matter to my dingo.

"Are you okay?" she whispered after the driver pulled away.

"Fine," I replied, a little too quickly.

"What's wrong?"

I gave her a sheepish look. "Nothing. We're good."

"Are we really going to walk over to the Opera House?"

"Do you want to?"

"Yes."

"Then of course we will."

"Don't we have to be somewhere?"

"Not just yet. I have all day to get you settled and it's still very early. Things haven't gotten too crazy around here yet so you can probably get some pictures if you like."

"That would be okay?"

"Yeah."

She practically squealed with excitement. I wasn't prepared for the slap of joy that hit me knowing I'd just pleased my mate.

We walked around and I was grateful that she naturally steered clear of the crowds. The last thing I needed was to lose it right here in front of hundreds of humans with camera phones at the ready to record me.

"Want me to take your picture?" I offered.

"Yeah. That'd be cool."

After snapping a few for her, a stranger walked over.

"Would you like me to take on of the two of you?"

I looked over to Tilly who nodded happily. "Please. That would be kind of you."

I handed her the phone and walked over to pose with my girl.

"Lovely," she said before handing the phone back.

"Would you like a picture?" Tilly kindly offered in returned.

"No thank you. Have a nice day."

Tilly scrolled through the photos smiling. I couldn't help but look over her shoulder to see how we looked together. It was picture perfect as if we were made for each other, probably because we were.

"You have to send me a copy of that."

"I don't even have your number."

I snatched the phone from her hands and input my contact information before handing it back.

"You do now."

"What's next?"

"Food. I really am starving."

Instead of taking our driver's advice, we grabbed a bite at the first place we saw.

"I know you weren't keen on planes. How do you feel about boats?" I asked as we finished our meal.

"I don't know. I've never been on one."

I contemplated a dozen different ways it could go badly before deciding it was worth the risk.

There would be a credit card trail showing us moving about the ferry line, but I also knew that back home Archie would be watching for any transactions or identifiable trail and erasing it from all networks worldwide. I didn't know how he did it, just that he could and would. Besides, it would simply show further proof of our day in the city as tourists if anyone tried to pull it up and follow us.

I tapped my card twice before proceeding through the terminal and onto the first ferry already there and waiting. I hadn't looked to see where we were going. It really didn't matter. At this point we were on an adventure to get lost in a very big city.

Turned out to be a fun adventure as we took the ferry to the first stop and got off to explore before hopping on another and then another. We spent much of the day just walking around finding things to do and see.

After our forth stop on the ferry, I hailed a cab.

"Cash?" I asked before getting in.

"Preferred," the driver admitted.

I waited for Tilly to slide in before joining her.

"Where to?"

"Bondi Beach."

I knew it would be a bit of a drive and I could tell Tilly was getting tired. She leaned into me with her head on my shoulders. By paying in cash our trail would go cold from here, making it easier to move about the city undetected.

When my mate fell fast asleep, I kissed the top of her head and asked the driver to take the long way there and then had him drive around another twenty minutes just to let her sleep.

"Sorry mate, my shift's gonna end soon."

"It's okay. You can drop us off."

Carefully, I awoke Tilly.

"Where are we? Did I fall asleep?"

The driver chuckled. "We've been driving around over an hour letting you sleep."

"What? Why? You didn't have to do that."

"You were exhausted. It's fine."

"More than fine," he proclaimed as I paid him with a very generous tip.

"Welcome to the beach," I told her.

"It's beautiful. I've never seen anything like it before."

"Want to walk down and put your feet in?"

"No. I'm fine here. Maybe next time."

I didn't want to get my hopes up too high that there would be a next time. But I was also content to just sit and hold her as we looked out across the water.

"I'll be right back," I finally said.

"Excuse me. My phone died and I need to call my ride for a pickup. Can I use yours?" I asked a stranger down the beach.

"Yeah sure."

He handed me his phone and dialed my brother.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I need a pick up. Can you do that? Bondi Beach."

"Who is this?"

"Lachlan."

"Yeah, alright. I'll be there."

"Thanks. We'll be along the beach near the road."

"See you in a bit."

I was grateful he didn't ask any further questions and about twenty minutes later he pulled up to the curb and honked.

"That's our ride."

Tilly pouted like she wasn't ready to go. But she let me take her hands and pull her up to stand. I grabbed all of our bags and walked to the car.

"Thanks," I told my brother.

"Who's this?" Toby asked.

"Tilly, this is Toby. Toby, this is Tilly, my mate."

She shot me a horrified look that felt a lot like another rejection.

"Your mate, huh? Does mom know?"

"Mom?" she asked.

I nodded. "My brother, one of them."

"How many do you have?"

"In total there are four of us guys and one little sister," Toby told her.

I usually kept my personal life to myself. Didn't matter though. I was taking her home to meet the lot of them.

"He was an accident. The rest of us were planned."

I chuckled. "You sure about that? Because I was old enough to remember the shock and dismay your appearance caused."

"To you maybe."

I reached over the seat and smacked him in the back of the head.

"Hey. Not cool. You never hit the driver."

"Is that why you're always volunteering?"

"Maybe."

Tilly was smiling as she watched us interact. I wanted to know what she was thinking.

I was used to people sharing their innermost thoughts with me. Often it happened unsolicited. But not her. She was an enigma to me and I wanted to know everything I could about my beautiful mate.

"So where are we going next?" she asked.

"Home."

"Like your home? I thought Westin Force was stationed in America."

"It is. I meant my family's home."

"Just to visit?"

"No. I told you I need you to be safe. My family doesn't live near the majority of the Packs in our Tribe. They are integrated into the human world which will make it a lot harder for anyone looking for dingoes to find you. Plus I need people I can trust to look after you. There's no one I trust more than my family."

It pained me to say that. Before yesterday I would have ranked my team ahead of my family. But now I didn't know what to think. Some of Michael's subtle comments and his fast agreement to help made me want to believe they knew what they were doing. Yet, the way they'd handle things was making me skeptical. It would take time before I could fully trust any of them again.

I suppressed that thought to consider at another time. I needed to stay focused and do what I needed to do if I was ever going to have a real chance at being with Tilly the way I wanted.

Toby pulled up in front of the house and parked.

I smiled. "We're home."