Page 4 of Hidden Pain

Kingsley nodded. “I’ll give you that. Did you see Isobel’s face when she realized she and Jessica were the only people not eating meat at her wedding?”

“Zain will have his hands full with your sister. But then again, I guess he’d prefer salmon and honey over a full-grown stag any day,” Hunter laughed.

Lily pulled back the covers of her bed while continuing to listen to the conversation between the two friends. Her sensitive nose once again picked up the smell of the meal they’d brought her, and she crept quietly across the floor to sample it.

“Do all bear shifters like honey?” Kingsley asked out of the blue, and both of the men looked over at her expectantly, presumably waiting for her to reply.

“Lily?” Hunter questioned. She didn’t answer—she just stared back at them.

“Well?” Kingsley placed his wounded hand on the table, and she winced knowing the discomfort it must cause him. The nightmare of the first beating she’d received at the hands of Frederick was still vivid in her consciousness. Her back beat out a rhythm of memorized throbbing pain. She retreated slowly into the corner of the room.

“Lily?” Hunter’s deep voice commanded her to explain what was wrong, but she wasn’t able to focus any longer on the two men. The bad memories were taking over:the way her parents had become performing monkeys after her beating—going out night after night and doing whatever Frederick asked of them. Her mother had suffered the most. Any maternal instincts she’d had before evaporated, and Lily had been left to nurse her own wounds. Eventually Lily had escaped and ended up on the streets, fending for herself at only fifteen. If it hadn’t been for Nuka Lincoln finding her and bringing her into his pack, she’d have probably died.

“Lily?” Kingsley repeated, sounding concerned. Both men were now kneeling down by the edge of the magical barrier that prevented her from attacking them or escaping. “Hunter, there’s something wrong with her. I think we need to find Jessica and get these barriers taken down.”

Hunter held his hand up. “Wait.”

“What for?” Kingsley looked confused. He was a human, and like all of his kind, he didn’t understand what it was like to be a shifter. He had no comprehension of the power shifters possessed, because of their ability to change into a wild animal, but also how vulnerable it made them in a world dominated by those who wanted to destroy anything different.

“Lily hasn’t changed for a while. Not since she’s been here, anyway. It’s building inside her.” Hunter allowed his outstretched hand to change into a wolf’s paw. Lily growled at him, a low rumble emerging from her throat.

“Building inside her?” Kingsley questioned.

“When shifters haven’t changed in a while, for whatever reason, the pressure the animal exerts to be allowed out can become overwhelming. Lily is feeling vulnerable and is refusing to change, but she needs to shift,” Hunter informed Kingsley before focusing his attention back on her. “Come on. You can do it.”

Lily shook her head not wanting to give the two men the satisfaction of seeing her in bear form.

“You can change. I’ll join you,” Hunter offered again.

Kingsley stepped back. Ever the fearful human prepared to run at the first sight of the beast.

“No!” she shouted at them. The first words she’d really spoken since being brought here.

“We won’t hurt you, Lily. Listen to your body’s needs.” Hunter held his other hand out and allowed it to change into a wolf’s paw as well.

“No,” she repeated adamantly.

“Why?” Kingsley asked. “Are you ashamed of being an animal?”

“Never.” Her response was different this time: it was quieter, and there was a hint of pride in her voice.

“Then show me. I’ve more reason than most to hate shifters and this entire world full of magic, because of this...” Kingsley held up his bandaged finger to show her. “But I’m still here, and I’ve given my sister in marriage to a bear shifter I’m proud to call a friend. Whatever you can change into will be just as beautiful and magical as all the other shifters I’ve seen. I admire what you’re able to do.”

Lily didn’t move.

“I haven’t got time for this. I’m going back upstairs.” Kingsley flung his hands in the air and turned his back on her.

Lily didn’t know why, but the fact he’d given up on her that easily, angered her. In an instant, she’d shifted and was standing in the center of the room, growling at him. She wanted to attack him to show him she wasn’t weak and feeble, or the victim he was making her out to be. She was strong and would survive whatever they threw at her until she found a way to escape. Her bear raged, roaring and clawing at Kingsley, desperately trying to seek access to the human in the room. Humans needed to die because they’d hurt her. They were a species that had to be destroyed, and in their place, shifters needed to rule. That’s why she’d helped Nuka try to expose Selene for what she was. Lily’s rage was growing out of control—her heart was beating quicker and air filled her lungs, preparing her for a fight. Her eyes searched around desperately trying to find a means to reach her enemy. She looked toward the object of her hatred, then down to his hand, and back up to his frightened face, and as she did, everything she was feeling ceased with the sudden realization that Kingsley was suffering because of her. She shifted back to a human and collapsed onto the floor in a tight ball.

Hunter, still in human form, and Kingsley pushed past the magical barrier and approached her from either side. She could’ve attacked them, but she didn’t. Instead, she cried. Then she heard Kingsley gasp behind her and saw Hunter move around to her back. She knew exactly what they were looking at…her scars. The scars that meant she’d never be capable of giving or receiving love again.

Chapter Three

Hunter strode purposefully into the wood-paneled boardroom filled with the senior members of his pack. The room fell silent as he took his seat at the head of the table. His beta, a wolf named Christian, sat beside him and motioned for the meeting to begin with a flick of his hand.

“What is our first order of business?” Hunter asked, glancing down at the piece of paper in front of him. Not all packs held formal meetings like this, but he liked to involve everyone in the pack’s running. It was one thing he’d learned from his father, and it had stuck when he’d become alpha after his father’s death.

“The intruders have been back on the lands to the west of the property,” one of his security officers informed him.

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