“I will warn you for the last time, Evelyn. Watch your words,” James said in a menacing voice. “You do know that Stephanie is alive, right? Your mom called Andrew and let him know. They are preparing a large welcome home slash engagement party for her and you. You do not have to settle for second-best anymore.” James let go of me and took several steps towards Evelyn. He looked like he was ready to attack her. However, Brady stepped in between them. Evelyn clung to Brady and started to cry once again. James ordered Brady to move, but Brady refused. “She is pregnant, James.” “I am not going to hurt her, Brady. But I am also not willing to let her sit here and disrespect Lily without consequences.” “Please calm down, James,” Brady pleaded. Suddenly, Charlotte came up and slapped Brady across the face. Hard. The slap caught Brady off guard, and he looked at Charlotte with hurt in his eyes. “What was that for?” he asked her. “Have you forgotten what Evelyn did to you?
(Lily POV) “I have already told you everything that I know,” Evelyn protested for what had to be the twentieth time in a row. James, Dr. Hyder, and I exchanged looks. Without saying anything, we all agreed that it was time to lay out our cards. “Evelyn, I know that were you were offered $200 million for Lily,” Dr. Hyder said matter-of-factly. “I also know that you helped the imposters break into the security positions guarding Lily; I know you helped with the attack on the pack; and I know that you hired a tracker to find Lily when she left Black Moon.” Evelyn paled. “No, I would never do such things,” she said adamantly. “My parents, brother, and nieces still live here. I would never do anything that might hurt them….” Dr. Hyder slammed his fist on the desk. “I want the truth, Evelyn,” he said coldly. Evelyn looked at Brady, tears welling up in her eyes. “Brady, please… you have to believe me,” she pleaded. “The truth, Evelyn,” Dr. Hyder repeated. “I AM TELLING YOU THE
“Then why did you stay with me? Why not break up with me and be with him?” Brady asked, the pain evident in his voice. “BECAUSE I STILL LOVED YOU! I NEVER LOVED ANDREW! I LOVED YOU!” Evelyn whisper-yelled. “Andrew begged me to spend my 20th birthday with him in Canada, because he wanted us to be together when I could first identify my mate. But I insisted on being at Black Moon because a small part of me hoped that you would be my mate and not him. And then you were. And I was so happy. But you were not. Instead, you panicked. I wanted you to have the same excitement about marking each other that Andrew would have had, but you did not. He made me feel special, but you made me feel like an obligation or a burden.” Brady frowned as Evelyn paused. “I moved to Andrew’s pack as soon as I could after the rejection. Andrew was relieved that I came back to him. He said it did not matter that we were not fated mates, because he knew that the Moon Goddess wanted us to be togethe
(James POV) “We need to talk to Andrew,” Lily told the group. “Now.” After she said that, Dr. Hyder and Brady stepped to the side and began mind-linking. They were presumably making arrangements to determine Andrew’s location and bring him to the office. It impressed me that they were willing t
Andrew had been really angry when Evelyn chose to spend her birthday at Black Moon, and they had multiple fights about her plans. During the last fight, he told her that he was only letting her get away with staying in Black Moon for her birthday because of how "special” she was. After the reject
(James POV) We decided to adjust our seating arrangements before Andrew was brought in. Charlotte and Lily were now sitting in the back corner of the office, where they could not be seen right away. I sat in the guest chair closest to them. This would allow me to partially block them from Andrew’s view, and it would also keep Lily fairly close to me in case I began to lose my temper. Dr. Hyder sat in the guest chair on the other side of the room, leaving Brady to sit behind the alpha desk. Dr. Hyder insisted that he was not ceding control to Brady, but rather acknowledging that there were benefits to having a large desk separating Brady and Andrew. In other words, Dr. Hyder wanted to make sure we interrogated Andrew before Brady killed him. The center guest chair in front of the alpha desk was, of course, reserved for Andrew. When Andrew finally arrived, he walked in as though he did not have a care in the world. He gave a passing glance at Brady, and then greeted me wit
I ran my hands through my hair. “Who are you working for, Andrew?” I asked, trying to get back on topic. “Like you care.” “WHO ARE YOU WORKING FOR?” Brady said using an alpha command. Feeling the weight of the alpha command, Andrew started laughing. “You want to try that again, Brady? Go ahead. Give it all you got.” Brady looked at Andrew and the rest of us with confusion. He gave the command again. Andrew still did not talk. Instead, he laughed. “Just now figuring it out? Most alpha commands do not work on me.” Dr. Hyder and Brady looked at Andrew in confusion. “How?” “Oh, it was easy. I asked a friend on the werewolf council to order me to NOT OBEY any alpha commands given to me. His order trumps your order,” Andrew announced proudly. “The council member’s order does not trump my order,” Lily said, stepping forward. Suddenly, the confident and menacing look on Andrew’s face vanished. “You must be Lily?” “Yes.” He stood, smiled at her, and reached out to touch h
(James POV) I took a step back from Andrew. “It did not have to turn out this way,” I told him sadly. Andrew glared at me. “You spent years pretending to be something that you weren’t,” I continued. “You acted like a loving, devoted husband and father. You acted like someone who really cared about others.” “I did what I was supposed to do,” Andrew replied coldly. “No, what you were supposed to do was actually BE the male that you were pretending to be. Imagine how different your life could have been if only you had tried…. if only you ACTUALLY cared about someone other than yourself.” “Would it have gotten me any further?” he asked bitterly. “I don’t know. I would like to think so. But I do know this: if you made different choices, you would be going home to your mate and family tonight. Instead, you will likely spend the rest of your life in the dungeons.” “My choices were taken away from me the moment that the Moon Goddess decided to punish Stephanie. The Moon Godde