Chapter 16
Tilly
Home? He took me home to his family? I was going to have to meet his mother and see the disappointment in her eyes?
He'd already blurted out that we were mates to his brother. I figured it was safe to say he wasn't going to try to hide the fact from the rest of his family either. That meant I was going to have to explain to them how he was my true mate, but I was promised to someone else and couldn't take him as my mate.
I was sure that would go over great.
His family was going to hate me.
"Are you okay?" Lachlan asked.
I stared up at him trying not to panic.
"You didn't tell me the plan included meeting your family. This is a terrible idea."
"Babe, there's few people on this planet that I trust more than my family. I know they will keep you hidden and safe here without feeling like a prisoner."
I sighed. He was so thoughtful and seemed to know what I needed without me even trying to explain it. I hated comparing him to Aiden, but in contrast when Aiden was around, I felt trapped and smothered. He'd only let me roam free that one time where I met Lachlan. He hadn't cared one bit about my feelings. Lachlan acted like my needs came first even though I knew we were here only because of him.
Everything had happened so quickly that I needed to stop and think if this was even something I wanted.
"Come on. At least meet them. If you are truly uncomfortable then I'll find other arrangements. I promise."
I nodded and let him help me from the car.
"They're gonna love you," he whispered while opening the front door and guiding me inside.
"Lachie. I didn't know you were coming home so soon. I thought Michael said at least a week."
"I'm not staying long. Is dad around? I need to talk to the two of you."
"Who's this?" a young girl asked, even while she launched herself into his arms.
"Hey princess. This is Tilly. Tilly, this is my baby girl, Hannah."
"It's nice to meet you," I said, offering her my hand because I didn't know what else to do.
She took it and exaggeratedly shook it.
"Lachie's never brought a woman home before."
"Leave them alone, Hannah," Toby warned.
"Yeah, Lachlan never brings anyone home."
"Lachlan doesn't even bring Lachlan home anymore."
He groaned. "You've met Toby and Hannah, these are my other brothers Tom and Jack."
"Hi."
"She's too pretty for you, Lachie," Jack said. "You're probably in the market for a real man."
He took my hand and bowed as he kissed it.
Before my mate could react, Hannah giggled. "Let us know if you see any real men around here."
"Hannah. . ."
"Children, that's enough. I swear the whole lot of them still act like a bunch of anklebiters when they get together," his mother said before turning to Lachlan. "Your father's about to take his lunch break. We'll talk then. Take your things up to your room."
"Yes ma'am."
He grabbed my suitcase and both of our backpacks and disappeared up a flight of stairs. That left me stranded, alone, with all five of them staring at me.
"So, Tilly, how do you know my brother."
"Uh. . ."
"Save the interrogation for later when Mom's not around," Tom said. At least I thought he was Tom. They all looked just similar enough for me to be unsure.
"Come on Tilly. You can help me make lunch."
"Okay." I didn't dare confess that I rarely set foot in the kitchen. I still lived in the Alpha house and we had a full staff there including a cook. If I wanted something, I simply picked up the phone and called in my order and it showed up sometime later.
Looking around, I didn't think Lachlan's family had a cook, or a maid. The house wasn't dirty or anything, just a little cluttered with stuff, though I supposed having six people living in one small home would do that. To be fair, it wasn't that small, just small compared to what I was used to.
It looked lived in and well loved.
Not knowing what else to do, I followed her to the kitchen.
"My children didn't mean to be rude. I apologize for that, it's just that Hannah was right. My son has never brought a woman home to us. You must be very special to him."
"It's not exactly like that."
"Grab that loaf of bread. We'll just whip up some cheese toasties."
"Okay." I hesitated a little, but found the bread and passed it to her.
She seemed to know that I was clueless and helped walk me through the process. Together we managed to make lunch for everyone.
"Grab those two plates for you and Lachlan and I'll take these for Aaron and I. Come on."
I did as she instructed and followed her to another part of the house, one I hadn't seen yet.
"Lunch has arrived," she called out as she opened the door.
I followed her once more.
"Hello. Who do we have here?"
"This is Tilly, Lachlan's lady friend."
I blushed and opened my mouth to protest but Lachlan walked in. He walked right up to me and ran his hands down my arms affectionately. I should have pushed him away, but I didn't have the strength to.
"I see you've all met then."
"Sort of. It's really nice to meet you Mr. and. . ."
"I'm going to stop you right there," his mother said. "Aaron and Maxine."
"Okay. I'm Tilly, or Matilda."
"Tilly," Lachlan said. "She prefers it."
"So Tilly, how did you and my son meet?" Aaron asked.
"Well, I guess we just sort of ran into each other the other day."
"Ah. True mates then."
I shot Lachlan a look for help.
"Yes, but there's more to it than that. It's complicated."
Maxine smiled as she turned to her mate for a shared look. "It always is."
"This time, he means it," I assured them.
"Yes, she's my true mate, but she's also promised to another."
"So what?" his father said. "True mates top that."
"Normally, maybe," I agreed.
"She's promised to the Alpha heir of Campbell to secure alliances between them and the King's."
"You're a King then?"
"I am."
"When is this mating to occur?" Maxine asked.
"On the next full moon."
"Do the Campbells know you're here?"
"No."
"No one knows she's here, Dad. And we need to keep it this way."
"Lachie, do you have any idea of the shitstorm you're going to rain down on us if anyone finds we're harboring her here?"
"I know, but this is important."
Aaron motioned for all of us to sit down as Lachlan launched into the story of the Collector's taking my sister and threatening all the dingoes.
"So you think she can hide out here in the city?" Maxine asked.
"I'm counting on it. Look. I have a job to do. If I could get out of it and just take her home with me right now, I would, Tribe's be damned. But I can't. I need to find her sister, shutdown the Collector's auction, and save the dingoes."
"Lachlan, that's a lot to put on yourself."
He shrugged. "It's what I do."
His mother hugged him. "We're so proud of you. Tilly will be safe with us. I promise you that. If we get word that the Collector's come into the city, we have an evacuation plan already in place."
"You knew?"
"Alpha called a meeting last night and put us all on high alert," Aaron admitted.
"That's good. So you understand the importance of this and how important she is to me. I can't go out there halfcocked to do my job while worrying about her safety."
I couldn't stop myself from reaching for him and squeezing his hand.
"We've got her," Aaron assured him.
Lachlan turned back to me and waited for my response.
Slowly, I nodded.
I could do this. I had to. There was far too much riding on it. If this is what it took to calm him down enough to find Chelle and save my Tribe, then I could do this. The rest would have to be sorted out later. For now, this was all that mattered.
"I'll be fine."
"Okay then. I'll get her sorted and stay through the night. First thing tomorrow morning I have to report to the airport and meet back up with my unit."
His mother hugged him.
"We'll take all the time we can get with you. We can watch footie and have dinner in. A family night," she said, reaching out to squeeze our conjoined hands as if she was welcoming me to the family.
I didn't pull away or deny her the moment, but after we ate lunch, Lachlan and I excused ourselves and headed upstairs where I realized he was taking me to his bedroom.
"They still keep my room, sorta like a guest room, I guess. I think it's in hope I'll visit more often," he admitted.
"You don't make it home often?"
He shook his head. "I live half a world away. I haven't been back here in years and I don't know when I'll get back again."
"What if you do find Chelle and she mates Aiden instead? Where would that leave us then?"
I didn't want to ask, but I had to. I needed to know. I understood the life Aiden would provide for me even if it would be a loveless mating of arrangement. But I had no idea how mating Lachlan would change me.
"I live in San Marco, California, in a wolf pack run by Kyle Westin. I have a house and friends that until yesterday I thought were as close as family. Now, I don't know anything. If we were to mate, I suppose we would need to have a lot of heavy conversations and decide what is best for us, including where we would live."
"You would include me in that discussion?"
No one else had ever asked what I wanted. My life seemed to be chosen for me, right down to who I should mate.
"Of course. It's your life too. I never really considered moving back to Australia, but maybe it's time. I don't know. I'm very angry with the guys right now so I'm not of sound mind to be making these sort of decisions. So how about we take it just one day at a time."
"I can do that," I told him.
The thought of moving halfway around the world terrified me, but not as much as being forced to mate Aiden and lose Lachlan.