Page 62 of The Last Ultimatum: Part 1

I had to appease myself with reminders of why I was doing this and why she had to stay behind. It had to be enough.

Forcing myself to get up, I kissed her without disturbing her and then quietly left the room.

“Lachlan, I fixed you some brekkie. Have a bite before you leave.”

“Mom, you didn't have to.”

“I know. I wanted to. You're still my baby.”

“And don't worry about Tilly, son. Your mother and I will protect her as if she were one of our own,” Dad assured me.

“As far as I’m concerned, she is one of our own,” Mom insisted.

“Thank you.”

“Take care of yourself and come back to us,” she said.

“That's the plan, yeah.”

I hugged them both and thanked them again before leaving the house with nothing but the backpack I'd brought with me. That had always been enough, but this time, it felt as if everything that mattered to me was being left behind in that house.

Walking away from her was the hardest thing I'd ever done in my entire life, but I was focused and determined. I knew my mission and the sooner I completed it, the sooner I could come home to my mate and family.

There was no way I was calling a cab and leading a trail straight home. So I spent the first hour wandering through the city until I was confident there was no chance someone could retrace my steps. Then I hopped the light rail to take me even further away. It was only then that I finally got a cab and took it back to the airfield where the plane was waiting. Only when I arrived, the pilots were not alone.

“Everything sorted?” Michael asked.

“Yeah.”

I wasn't ready to talk to him or any of them. They had broken a trust between us and I wasn't sure how to repair it or if I wanted to.

“Load up. We're out of here,” he announced.

I hated the thought of being stuck on that plane with them. I was pretty sure they all knew it too.

No one spoke until we were in the air. I wasn't even sure where we were going, but I also didn't want to ask.

“The tension in here could be cut with a knife,” Michael finally said. “This is a team, a family. We need to start acting like it.”

I snorted before I could stop it.

“Lachlan, do you have something to say?”

“No, sir,” I said. I gritted my teeth to keep from saying anything more.

“Are you sure? Because I think you do.”

I tried hard not to let him goad me into exploding with all the frustrations I'd been carrying around since our trip to Campbell. But he kept pushing. They all did.

“Lachlan, we know you're pissed. Let's talk about it,” Colin said.

“Yeah, that's what you'd tell us,” Walker said.

“Shut the hell up!” I finally exploded.

“Walker tranq'd you,” Colin said.

“Don’t put that on him. We all agreed it was for the best,” Linc said.

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