Page 35 of Mates: Posy

Luke moved to the side and a pair of mismatched eyes - one brown and one blue - stared at me in stark terror. Under her heavy freckles, her skin turned milk white, making all her bruises stand out. She had two black eyes and a thick band of bruising around her neck like a grotesque necklace. She seemed to be wearing her brother's shirt, which covered most of her, but I could see dark fingerprints on her forearms and also on her legs where her pajama shorts ended.

It made me angry to see that, and I had to work to hide it. She was shaking hard enough without me adding to her distress.

Just like our Posy, Quartz growled.Another innocent broken by her alpha.

Sounds like King Julian needs to send undercover inspectors out to the packs more often,I thought to myself.

"Hello, Lilah." I smiled, but stayed where I was. "You don’t have to speak if you’re not comfortable. I know a man’s word probably means nothing to you right now. Still, I give you mine that no one will harm you here. I swear by the moon that you are safe on our territory."

She bobbed her head in a quick, bird-like movement and dropped her eyes to the ground as her fingers twisted into the hem of her shirt. There was little I could do to reassure or comfort her, though, so I took another step back and pointed to my SUV.

"Follow me, Luke. It’s a short drive."

"Sure, alpha."

#

On the way over to the guest house, I linked my brothers and caught them up on everything. They, too, were furious over the revelations of what had been happening in the Tall Pines pack. We had an alliance with Alpha Halder.

Not any more, Cole growled.It’s dissolved as of right now.

We all agreed, and Wyatt volunteered to have the severance paperwork drawn up and delivered by the end of the week.

I’ll contact King Julian as soon as I get out of this effing meeting,Ash offered.

Mase didn’t say much, which was normal. He only promised he’d do his best for dinner since we had company coming.

As I pulled up to the guest house, I told my brothers I’d see them at lunch and closed my side of the link.

Jumping out of my SUV, I ran up the porch steps and unlocked the door, then ushered the MacGregors inside. It was almost as hot in here as it was outside, and I frowned.

I should have had someone come over and adjust the air conditioning.

Going over to the thermostat, I cranked it from 85 to 72 and heard the unit kick on.

"It should cool down fairly quickly," I told Luke as I handed him the house keys. "You can set it to whatever you want. Treat this place like it’s your own home."

He nodded and thanked me again, and I had to admit that I liked his manners.

Through the whole tour of the place, Lilah hid behind him with her fists balled up in the back of his shirt. He didn’t complain or appear irritated by it, either. He talked to her gently and gave her first pick of the two bedrooms.

More and more, I liked this guy for our pack.

And if he can fight,Iwill like him, too, Quartz said solemnly.

We ended up back in the kitchen, where I was proven right about there being no food in the house. I linked my beta, Crew Myers, and told him what I needed. A thought hit me and I paused my conversation with him.

"Luke, does Lilah have a phone?"

"Not anymore. Alpha Halder destroyed it."

I nodded curtly, and linked Crew to pick that up for her, too.

Luke and I were discussing what other necessities they needed when Lilah fell to her knees and squeezed her head between her palms. I glanced at Luke, and saw he understood what was wrong, too.

Alpha Halder was linking her.

"Can you tell if Kestrel’s awake?" I asked him.

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