Chapter 17

Lilly

"Alpha Blake ordered me to stay away from

Dana," I announced, my voice was soft.

Dads eyes blazed with fury.

"That son of a bitch!" Hie yelled as his fist pounded on the table, jolting me and my mom.

"Dad, it is fine," I say trying to calm him down. "He told me if I needed him, I could still see him just not to get caught and not to smell like him and he said there are things I don't know but I don't know what he meant, but I'll be fine. It will all be fine," I spoke again trying to console them.

This was a happy day, my brother would be here any minute and I didn't want to ruin it for everyone.

His hard eyes found mine. "No its not okay.

None of this is okay Nova, I'm going to have a talk with Blake, he should have told me about this. Nothing gets hidden from me and he knows better than to tell you something that's not ran by me first," dad said as a growl emitted from his chest, shaking me.

I huffed, dredging over to the familiar brown suede couch and flopped down on top of it and mom was beside me in an instant.

"Sweetheart, maybe you should move back into our home instead of staying at the pack house, have you thought about that?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around me.

Her arms felt good around me, that comforting scent of vanilla and grass calming my nerves again.

Dads anger had me angry too because Alpha didn't even talk to him about it before he talked to me, not only is he my father but he's the beta so he should have known.

"I don't know mom, maybe I'll think about it," I replied her and her gentle smile soothed my soul.

We were alerted when the door swung open, heavy footsteps pounding into the hardwood.

I looked up and saw it that it was Nic, standing there with a huge grin plastered on his face.

"Nic!!!" I shouted as I got up, running towards him and jumping into his arms and he swung me around, pressing his cheek into mine.

"Hey little sis," he said as I ran into his arms. "Man look how much you've grown!" He commented as he squeezed me before letting me down.

I felt something I haven't felt in a while.

I was happy.

My lips pulled up at the corners into a smile, something I haven't done lately.

My real smile.

"My son, I have missed you," mom cooed, latching onto him as if she hasn't seen him in years and dad and I rolled our eyes.

Mom was always overly emotional but a fierce wolf when she had to be and very protective of her family but emotional when it came to us.

Nic was able to break out of her hold, giving her a kiss on the cheek before he hugged my dad, both men slapping each other on the back.

Nic was grinning ear to ear, a lopsided grin on his face. His teeth showing but out of happiness to be with his family again.

"Oh! Were having a homecoming for you Nic!" Mom said to Nic as her face brightened and he smiled.

"I know, I could smell that roasting pig from a mile away," he said as he let out a small laugh.

We all caught up on everything that Nic has been doing and the training he had gone through.

His excitement during his stories were contagious and I found myself forgetting my sorrows for just a moment.

Men who wanted to fight for the Beta position with the new upcoming alpha, would leave and spend two years training at other packs, a bit like the future alpha's but not as rigorously.

This was Nic's first year and he had one more until he was ready to fight the others, he was 21, the same age as Zain.

They have always been best friends and this was going to be hard on him.

We weren't going to tell him yet.

We wanted to wait until after his celebration, since Zain and Dan were still in recovery, the Alpha agreed Grace should not attend and we would wait to tell him.

He would fight Zain for my honor, we all knew it.

He wouldn't be punished for it seeing as how this was Zain's punishment for what he did, dealing with the men who wanted to fight for my honor.

"So little sis," he called out, "have you found your mate yet? How was your shift?" He asked as he plopped next to me, his arm bringing me into a side hug.

Nic was so much bigger than I, the same height as my dad.

They both dwarfed me and mom.

I avoided his first question, my parents looking at each other with wide eyes.

"The shift was good, I spent hours with my wolf. I can pretty much stay in the forefront of my mind now when I shift and I have only done it twice now though so I still need practice," I replied him as I gave him a gentle smile.

"Well, it looks like you and I are going to have to have a run together tonight! Maybe catch some game," he said happily as he gave me a toothy grin.

Showing teeth in a grin is usually meant to be a warning or a challenge but with family or friends, scenting the happiness coming from them, it was meant to be just... Happiness.

I gave him a challenging grin. "I'd like that.

Hope you can keep up," I replied and a playful growl came from his chest.

"Oh little pup, you have a lot to learn from your big bro," he said to me.

Being with my family and Nic made me think less about what my life is like now, it made it bearable to breathe... Maybe I should just move back in my parents home...

"Nic where are you going to stay? Here or the pack house?" I questioned and my eyes found his emerald green ones.

Hopeful.

"Why? Want me to stay in the pack house with you?" He asked as he smirked.

I pursed my lips, not wanting to make any definite plans yet.

"I was thinking of actually coming back home. If you were going to stay here too..." I started saying before trailing off.

Nic hasn't found his mate yet which made him want to be around unmated she wolves.

We had a code though.. You could associate with the opposite sex, have girlfriends or boyfriends in the pack and do things with each other but no one is allowed to sleep with each other.

Sex between unmated wolves was a horrible thing because a girl was expected to have her virtue to present to her mate.. It wasn't so bad for the men and it did happen but not in between the wolves in this pack.

The alpha didn't tolerate it, if a man and woman mated in our pack and neither were mates, they would be punished.

So the men or women who were a bit more easy, they sought out another male or female from another pack, which is why no one looked down on Zain for sleeping with another wolf because she wasn't one of ours, they looked down on him for getting her pregnant.

We all decided to go ahead and make our way to the barbecue, Nic was getting antsy wanting to see his friends.

I walked down to pack house with Nic while mom and dad stayed behind to gather the pies she made and they would follow shortly.

"So I noticed how you skipped over my question earlier," Nic said as he smirked down at me.

My face paled but I kept myself calm. "What?"

"Did you find your mate?" He asked yet again.