Page 60 of The Last Ultimatum: Part 1

“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.”

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