Chapter 16
Chapter 16 - Dex Pov.
When Lucy came home, I asked as casually as possible how Lilly is doing at the daycare and her working days. Under the guise of being the boss and wanting to know what I have to pay her. Luckily, she didn't seem to think anything of it, and I discovered that she would not be at the daycare tomorrow. I quickly decided to move our meeting from next week to today, I don't have it in me to wait another week before seeing her. I informed my Beta and Gamma that I am working from the pack house today, and that I expect a briefing tonight about what happened at the office.
As long as I still have to decide what to do, I don't want anyone to know about our mate bond. Especially not Lucy, it would break her. And although she is not my fated mate, I care about, her a lot. Although I cannot deny that I was a bit put off by the way she snuggled up to me in our bed last night. I could barely stop myself from pushing her away.
As the time of our meeting approaches, I feel myself getting more and more uneasy. Bruce coming with her doesn’t sit well with me. He said she’s nervous, not knowing what to expect, and that she’s afraid I’ll send her away for the safety of my pack. But deep down, it stings that she’s turning to him for comfort.
It makes me wonder if I’m already feeling this way, maybe I should just give in? I run a hand through my hair as I try to imagine how the pack will react to a human Luna. Every pack member has learned about the big war, and what it cost our species. And then there’s the matter of her having a child. Can I bring myself to raise a child that isn’t mine? I put my face in my hands and let out an irritated sigh.
"Alpha, we're approaching the pack house." I hear Bruce say through the mind link.
"Come straight to my office," I reply. I take a few deep breaths and move my shoulders, hoping to relieve some of the tension I'm feeling.
When this meeting is over, I need to let Drake out. Or maybe spar with Bruce, that might be a better way to let out the tension.
I walk to the door, take a deep breath, and open it.
"Alpha Dex," Bruce says, bowing his head respectfully. Lilly stands awkwardly next to him, with Claire in her arms.
Bruce wraps an arm around her waist, and I have to stop myself from growling. I step aside so they can come in. I frown when I see her grab his hand as they walk past me. The gesture irritates me. It's clear she's doing it for more than just calming her nerves. Drake tries to push his way forward, to pull Bruce away from our mate.
While we agree that we need to make a considered choice about accepting our mate, he can't stand Bruce touching her like that. And honestly, neither can I.
"Is there anything I need to know?" I ask in an icy voice through the mind link.
"No, Alpha." He answers. "Not yet, at least." He adds.
A growl escapes me at the last comment, which I try to hide by clearing my throat. I gesture with my arm for them to sit in the two chairs in front of my desk.
I try to keep my face neutral as I take a seat on the other side. "So, Lilly," I say with a forced smile.
"Dex." She says shyly, her gaze fixed on Claire, who in turn continues to stare at me, fascinated. Lilly looks up, startled. "I'm sorry. I mean Alpha, Dex." Her face turns red as she corrects herself. I chuckle at her clumsiness. "It's okay. Technically, I'm not your Alpha, you can call me Dex." I try to reassure her, smiling at the baby in her lap.
Bruce places a hand on her leg, and it takes all my strength not to jump over the desk and rip his arm off his torso.
"So Lilly, how are you? Have you settled in yet?" I ask, breaking the silence.
She finally looks at me, and I memorize every part. Her beautiful ocean blue eyes, those full lips. I wonder if they taste as wonderful as her scent. She smells like summer, my favorite season. I push down the longing that wells up inside me. But my gaze keeps going to her lips. I see them move, but I don't hear what she says. I can almost taste the sweet orange flavor.
I just caught her saying she's grateful for the opportunity Lucy gave her to work at the daycare. And that she's glad she's met such sweet, helpful people. Out of the corner of my eye, I glance at Bruce, who's smiling at her.
I have to push my feelings and desires away to keep from lashing out at him.
It's the first time I've been around her for more than a few minutes, and her beauty and sweet scent are already driving me crazy. I wonder if I've made the right decision.
"We can always tell the truth and accept her as our mate," Drake remarks.
"No, we can't. We have to think about the best interests of the pack." I reply. "And I could be wrong, but it seems like she has feelings for Bruce," I add as I see her smile at him.
"That'll be over soon once she finds out she's our mate," Drake argues.
"You know as well as I do, that's not true. She's human, so she doesn't feel the bond like we do." I point out.
"Alpha, are you okay?" Bruce pulls me out of my conversation with Drake. "Yeah, Drake had something to say." Is all I say.
Lilly pov.
When we drove to the packhouse after Claire's morning nap, I had a huge knot in my stomach from the nerves. But as time passes, and I'm around Dex longer, it slowly but surely disappears. At first, it was uncomfortable, to say the least. Luckily I had Bruce and Claire to distract me from his devouring gaze. At least, that's what it seemed like for a while, until Bruce asked if everything was okay. After that, it was fortunately not so bad, and he mainly wanted to know how we liked it here. Not once did he ask about my family, or Brent. Claire was again very interested in the man in front of us who was strange to her.
At one point, she leaned forward and held her arms out to him. He gave her a loving smile.
Claire tried to wriggle out of my lap, and was not amused when she realized I didn't want to put her on the floor.
"She can crawl around for a bit, there's nothing here she can hurt herself on." he says when Claire starts whining.
Somewhat hesitantly, I put her down. She immediately stops crying. I roll my eyes, she's already a little drama queen. Bruce and Dex try to hide a chuckle. For a moment, it seems like Claire is staying where I put her, but then she quickly starts moving. She crawls straight to Dex without hesitation. He doesn't even have a nanosecond to give her attention before she starts tugging at his pants. If he hesitates, he doesn't show it.
He picks her up and she gives him one of her sweetest smiles. "I guess I got some competition." Bruce chuckles.
"Yeah, she seems to have a thing for you guys," I reply with a laugh.
Dex opens his mouth to say something, but seems to think twice and instead he gives Claire a beautiful smile.
With Claire on his lap, we resume our conversation. Well, conversation, he mainly asks questions and I answer. It feels a bit like an interview. Then he asks about Brent and what it was like for me as a human to be mated with a werewolf. I'm a little taken aback by his question.
I don't know why, but for some reason, I get the feeling that there's more to that question than it seems. I glance at Bruce out of the corner of my eye, but he doesn't seem impressed by the question.
He notices my reluctance, "We don't have to talk about it if it's too painful for you."
I ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach and look at him. He has a pained look in his eyes. "No, no. It's okay." I manage to say, swallowing the lump in my throat.
"She looks like him," I say with a small smile, looking at Claire, who is still sitting triumphantly on Dex's lap. Bruce takes my hands that are on my lap and gives them a small squeeze. I glance at him quickly, hoping he understands that this gesture means a lot to me. When I look back at Dex, his face seems tense for a moment. His jaw is stiff, as if he's biting down on his teeth and his gaze is on our hands. As soon as he sees that I see it, it disappears, but this time I know for sure that I have seen it. Weird.
I hesitate to say anything. Curiosity eventually gets the better of me and I say, "Bruce, would you take Claire with you? She gets restless if she has to sit still for too long." I make up an excuse to be alone with him. I want to know what's wrong, whether it's better to leave if it's bad. Plus, I don't want to embarrass him. As a bonus, I won't embarrass myself if it turns out it's all in my head. I don't want to give Bruce the wrong idea. Not when I've just said that I'm open to seeing where our relationship can go, but that I need time.