19. Killian
19
Killian
It took two days to get our ducks in a row. Then, I returned to Melvin Rehabilitation, Oliver by my side this time.
I hadn’t expected Oliver to give in so easily when I told him we were bringing Lilah back. I had expected him to give me a little bit more pushback, and the entire speech I’d created in my mind to convince him that I was in the right had faded away when he had so easily acquiesced to me.
It was unsettling, but at the same time, I’d seen the moment that Oliver realized how badly he had hurt the two of us. I hadn’t expected Emmett to be so clearly on my side, but he’d always held his cards close to his chest, so it didn’t necessarily surprise me that he’d been hurting and keeping it to himself. It was how he’d been basically the entire time we had known each other.
Today was the day, though. I had called Katrina that morning and got her verbal consent for Oliver and me to retrieve Lilah—assuming I could get her to shift back to her human form. Katrina’s consent wasn’t strictly necessary—Lilah was an adult, and technically, Oliver, as her prospective Prime Alpha, had more authority regarding her release—but it made Katrina feel better to know she had an active role to play.
Katrina wasn’t looking any worse than she had been. She seemed to be in some sort of holding pattern, and I couldn’t help thanking whoever watched over her for giving her this little bit of a reprieve while I went and got her daughter out of her own mental prison.
Lilah would never forgive me if I let her waste away long enough that she wouldn’t have time to say goodbye to her mother.
Oliver was quiet as we drove to the facility, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw him fidgeting with the sleeves of his suit jacket over and over again. He was dressed to the nines, presenting the formidable image of a perfect Prime Alpha, as he always did. I had to admit that it was effective, especially compared to the T-shirt, jeans, and leather jacket I wore.
I didn’t need to be dressed up fancy. I would be stripping out of my clothes as soon as we got there to shift into my wolf and help Lilah return to human form. Emmett and I had decided it was probably the best way to get her to shift.
I was convinced that, at least in part, she wasn’t able to shift because the medication she was being drugged with was preventing it, but I had been assured by Director Marcus—multiple times, over a number of phone calls—that Lilah had slowly been weaned off whatever medication she had been on.
I was convinced that the only reason that he was going along with our plan was because I had scared the ever-loving shit out of him the last time I was there. Oliver also followed up with a phone call. He still hadn’t told me exactly what he had said during it, but the smug look of satisfaction on his face had told me that the Director had probably walked away from the interaction with a puddle of piss underneath his computer desk.
By the time we pulled in front of the facility, energy was humming under my skin, and I couldn’t wait to go inside and find our girl. I was desperate for it.
Oliver reached out and gently touched the back of my hand before I could pull the keys out of the car’s ignition, and he leveled me with a meaningful look as I cut the engine. “Hey,” he said quietly.
There was a sincerity to his voice that I hadn’t expected to hear, and it took me aback for a moment. “Hey,” I replied, equally quietly. “What’s up?”
If he were having second thoughts...
A small smile touched Oliver’s lips as if he could sense the direction of my thoughts, and he shook his head. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m sorry,” he answered, still speaking quietly as if he didn’t want to spook me.
The apology surprised me, and I couldn’t stop myself from leaning away from him a little bit, his scent bitter in the small cab of our car. True regret pulled at the corners of his mouth, and he let out a shaky sigh before running his hand through his hair, mussing the blond strands for a moment before smoothing them back into place.
“I made a bad call,” he finally admitted. “I should have spoken to you guys first.” He grimaced and continued, “I’m still not entirely sure she’s the right omega for our pack, but I shouldn’t have made that call without you. And I certainly shouldn’t have made that call when I was so emotional. I should have waited to get all of the facts. Even though...” He swallowed, his throat bobbing. “Even though she’s the daughter of the Slicer, that doesn’t mean that she’s guilty by association, and it was wrong of me to assume that she was.”
My jaw dropped momentarily before I snapped it shut again, and I jerked my head in a nod. It was exactly the apology I had wanted from him, but now that I had it, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it.
“Yes, well,” I finally said, shuffling a little in my chair. My stomach squirmed uncomfortably, and I was torn between the feelings of discomfort and camaraderie that were filling the air between Oliver and me and the desire to go into the building to get Lilah.
The latter desire won out, and I nodded at him, pulling the keys out of the ignition and tucking them into my pocket. “We can talk more about this after we go get our omega. She’s been in there long enough, don’t you think?”
Oliver’s expression hardened, and a truly feral smile spread across his face. “I couldn’t agree more,” he said.
We climbed out of the car and marched up the front steps of the facility, and the doors swung open before I even touched them. I couldn’t help but feel a little amused at the change in the atmosphere when we walked in, heading immediately for the front desk. The last time I was here, it had been almost painfully quiet, uncomfortable in a way that had made me want to crawl out of my skin.
Now, though, there was a hum of energy, and I couldn’t deny that I was ready to rip out a couple of throats for getting in the way of me and my omega.
The same uncanny valley receptionist from before was sitting in the chair behind the desk, but instead of greeting us, the door to the right of her desk immediately swung open, and she gestured us forward. Director Marcus stood behind the door, his arms folded over his chest as if bracing himself for a battle. This time, he was wearing a perfectly tailored suit, his tie neat and snug at his throat.
“Mr. Vega,” Marcus said, addressing Oliver. He stepped up to him, sticking out his hand and shaking Oliver’s firmly, his expression almost painfully placid and agreeable. “Very nice to meet you. I’ve heard quite a bit about you from my associates.”
His eyes shifted over to me, and I could see the dislike in them, but I didn’t respond to it. I just offered him a wide, feral grin, cocking my head to the side and taking a tiny step forward.
“Yes, yes,” I said, my voice low and aggressive. “Enough of the pleasantries. Take me to Lilah. We’re here for her, not to gossip with you over tea.”
Oliver rolled his eyes at me slightly, but I was done. This man had initially kept Lilah away from us for more than a week, and then it had taken two days longer than I would have liked to get everything set up so we could come get her for real. She had spent far too long within these four walls, and I was fucking done.
Marcus grimaced a little, but he didn’t bite back or argue with me in any way. He merely jerked his chin in a nod and turned on his heel, starting to walk away. “Yes, of course. Follow me, if you will, gentleman.”
We followed him and finally reached the hallway where Lilah’s ward was. Immediately, her scent filled my nose, and I relaxed a little. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Oliver relaxing in a similar manner, and I felt a bunch of satisfaction in my chest at the physical proof of how wrong my Prime Alpha had been about Lilah.
Yes, I was still holding that over his head. And no, I wouldn’t forget it for quite a while. He would be lucky if I weren’t reminding him about the mistake he’d made about our scent-match ten years from now—and that would be getting off lightly.
Marcus pulled out the little card that opened the door at the end of the hallway as we drew level with it and held it up to the reader. The buzz of the door opening made both Oliver and I flinch. My ears seemed to be even more sensitive than usual, and Marcus didn’t say anything more before he stepped away, pushing the door open so I could step in.
The full strength of Lilah’s scent hit my nose, and I relaxed as I walked into the room. As promised, she was no longer bound and gagged, and her eyes were bright and alert as she looked at me from the spot she had taken up in the corner of the room. Her hackles were raised, and she let out a low growl as I approached her, but I couldn’t stop myself from grinning at the sight.
“Hey, baby girl,” I said, shrugging my jacket off my shoulders and dropping it onto the ground. A quick glance over one of my shoulders showed that Oliver had hung back, not entering the cell that Lilah had been kept in, though his eyes were glued to her shifted form with something akin to horror. I remembered the gut punch it had been when I saw Lilah for the first time here, and I couldn’t blame him for being overwhelmed by the sight of her in such a vulnerable position.
His horrified expression only lasted for a moment before he snapped his gaze over to Marcus and growled, “Walk with me. We’re going to leave them alone, and you’re going to tell me what the actual fuck is going on here.”
The fury written all over his face and voice both surprised and warmed me, and I found myself softening towards my Prime Alpha in spite of myself. I hadn’t forgiven him for rejecting Lilah by any stretch of the imagination, but if he was this upset seeing the way she was being held...well, maybe there was hope for him yet.
For now, though, I had an omega that I needed to focus on, and as the door swung most of the way shut behind me, I returned my attention to her.
She hadn’t looked away from me while Oliver spoke, though I noticed her hackles had raised even further at the sound of his voice. There was a flash of pain in her eyes, too human to be fully wolf, and hope rose inside me. I knew I could reach her—I just needed a little time.
“Lilah, hey, baby,” I spoke softly to her, keeping my voice at a low croon as I stripped out of my shirt and then kicked my shoes off one at a time. I didn’t want to spook her or startle her, especially now that she wasn’t bound or sedated. Her eyes flicked over me as I stripped out of my socks and tucked them into my shoes, and my own gaze wandered, landing on the scabbing wounds where the cuffs had been bound too tightly around her legs.
I bit back a growl. Whoever had been in charge of that particular decision was going to pay; I would make sure of it.
Lila didn’t seem to pay much attention to me until I hooked my thumbs into the waist of my jeans, and then she lifted her head, her ears perking up as she watched. The interest in her eyes was far more human now, and I couldn’t stop myself from grinning as I shed my pants, my soft cock gently swinging. And then I stood there in the middle of the room, letting her look at me for a moment in my human form.
“I’ve missed you, baby,” I breathed.
Then I cracked my neck from side to side, letting my head fall back, and I allowed the shift to overtake me. My muscles and bones stretched, crackling and popping, and the deep ache of my entire body changing was comfortable and familiar.
I fell onto four paws, and then I shook my head, fully shifted, looking up at Lilah. Her ears perked up even further, and she cowered into the corner, her eyes wary as she looked at me. Her tail flicked back and forth, and I couldn’t tell if she wanted to bolt.
She seemed much less feral than she had the last time I had seen her, which I took as a good sign. I was convinced that the only reason she had stayed in wolf form for so long was that she had been sedated most of the time that she had been in this God-forsaken facility. Now that I was with her, I would do everything in my power to help her return to her human form so I could get her out of here.
I couldn’t talk to her anymore—not in words—now that I was wearing fur. So, slowly, I rose my feet and padded over to her, broadcasting every action before I took it so that she didn’t try to flee from me in the small, cramped room.
She didn’t move as I approached her, and finally, when I was only a few inches away, I sat on my haunches and looked at her, flicking my tail back and forth. Our scents were so much stronger in my nose this way, and I took a moment to breathe her in, my wolf growling happily as her scent flooded my senses.
She flinched a little at the sound of my growl, but she didn’t pull away from me. Instead, she looked at me curiously, and then slowly, so slowly, she leaned forward and gently nudged her nose up against my paw.
My heart fluttered, and it took everything inside of me to suppress the animal instinct that wanted me to pounce on her, to roll around with her and give chase. Now was certainly not the time nor the place.
But we were going to do it someday, soon. I was going to chase my omega, and she was going to run until I caught her and could claim her properly.
For now, though, I allowed her to inch a little closer to me, her fur standing on end as she slowly nudged her nose through my fur, then along the scruff of my neck. Her breath was warm and sweet against my fur, and it took everything inside of me, every ounce of human instinct, to suppress my wolf nature. I couldn’t scare her, and I stayed as still as I possibly could while she carefully explored me and became acquainted with my scent all over again.
I could tell that, even if she was still in wolf form, a big part of her recognized me because, after a moment, she let out a low, soft whine of contentment. She pressed up against me, her wolf’s body so much smaller than mine, and I couldn’t stop the way my heart flipped at the warmth of her body, so close to me for the first time in days.
That’s it, baby. That’s it.
I nosed my snout along hers, licking along her jawline, and her eyes half closed as a low growl escaped her. It was a sweet omega sound, and I growled in return, encouraging her.
Her eyes widened a little, and then, slowly, her body relaxed. Her jaw stretched in a wide, canine smile, and her tongue lolled out as she bumped her nose up against mine, a glint of pleasure and amusement lighting her eyes.
She wanted to play.
The idea was tempting, and for a brief moment, I considered nudging the door open so we could make our way down the hallway and scare the shit out of some of these attendants in our wolf forms. I knew that was probably a very quick way to get both of us sedated all over again, though.
So, instead of giving in to the urge to take Lilah and go out and wreak havoc, I relaxed my body even further, nudging my nose against hers. I pressed close to her, laying my paw along hers, and for the first time in days, I prodded the fragile bond that had formed between us, trying to get her attention.
She flinched a little at the touch, and I felt her trying to pull away. I gently leaned over and sealed my jaws around her neck, though, gently shaking the scruff of her neck to get her attention as I probed the bond again.
Baby. Pay attention. Feel me.
It was agony waiting for her to respond, to see if she could even sense me trying to connect with her through the bond we hadn’t even fully formed. The thread between the two of us was so fractured and strained that I was almost afraid trying to touch her in this way would snap it entirely. It was a risk I had to take, though—I didn’t know any better way to get her to realize that she was safe enough to change back to human form.
Several long seconds passed, and I could feel her entire body stiffen even further. She wanted to pull away from me, and I tightened my teeth around her neck. I didn’t like holding her still in this way, and I made a mental note to apologize to her as many times as she wanted me to once we were both back in human form. She had already had her bodily autonomy violated so many times while she’d been here, and now I was inflicting it on her, too.
I didn’t have a choice, though.
Lilah seemed to realize that I wasn’t going to let her out of my sight or away from my touch, and she slowly relaxed under me. Another few seconds passed. I applied increased pressure along the bond, and finally, finally, she gently touched back.
Relief flooded me, so intense that I nearly collapsed from it, and I growled softly and encouragingly as I pressed along the bond again. She returned my emotional touch, then gently pulled away, whining.
I let her go this time, and she looked up at me, her eyes big and dark and a little scared, and the humanity hadn’t been so strong in them since I first saw her here.
I could feel her fear and her hurt. I could feel the amount of pain she was in from the unrealized bond resulting from Oliver’s rejection. Bond Rejection Syndrome was no joke, and I knew it would take a long time before Lilah was able to forgive him—to forgive us —for putting her through this.
But first, she needed to shift.
I could feel her magic close to the surface, her human form straining and begging for me, and I took a risk. I shifted back into my human form and gently wrapped my arms around Lilah’s wolf body.
“It’s okay, baby,” I said softly. I pressed my lips to her ear, the warmth of her fur against my skin tickling as I shifted closer. My cock twitched and started to stiffen between my legs at the contact, the scent of her in my nose, but I ignored it, focusing on the current moment. Lilah’s little wolf body was stiff in my arms, and she looked up at me with a combination of desire and mistrust. She wanted to believe me, and she wanted to trust me; I could see it in her eyes.
“That’s it, baby. Come on, you can do it,” I whispered. I glanced over my shoulder, seeing that the door to the room was still slightly open, and I could hear Oliver’s voice approaching from further down the hallway. Whatever he had dragged the director off to do, wherever they had gone so that Oliver could read Marcus the riot act, he had finished, and I wanted Lilah back in human form for him by the time he made it to the end of the hall. We had to work quickly.
I turned my full attention to Lilah, and she looked up at me with a combination of hope and mistrust, her tail wagging slightly as I leaned closer to her and brushed our noses together, mine human and hers animal.
“Come on, Lilah. I’m sure you have a lot you want to tell me,” I whispered, my voice fervent and intense as I spoke to her. I reached up and brushed my fingers along her neck, touching her and lending her my strength. “I’m sure you want to tell me what a bastard I am. I’m sure that you want to tell Oliver off, don’t you? You deserve to have your say. You deserve to tell us how much we hurt you. But baby, you can’t do that unless you shift. Come on, I need to be able to look you in the eye again. Can you do that for me?”
She gazed at me, her tail twitching, and I could see how badly she wanted to. She was right there, right...there...
Oliver’s voice grew louder, and I could tell he was alone this time, and then suddenly, between one blink and the next, Lilah’s entire body tensed and shifted.
The shift looked painful, as if it were unpracticed and unexpected, and by the time Lilah was in human form again, all quivering limbs and slim, scared girl, I had already made a mental note that I wanted to practice her shift with her more. I wasn’t sure how many times she had ever shifted when she was growing up, but it was clear that she needed to practice if she wanted to make it a habit—more of who she was rather than just letting it be something that she did.
She was a wolf, an omega, not just a girl. And I was going to make sure that she understood that.
“Killian?” Lilah’s voice was rough and scratchy with disuse, and my heart melted at the sound of it.
“Hey, baby,” I said softly. “I’m right here. I’m here for you.”
I wrapped my arms around her, and she sank into my touch, letting out a little sigh. Her body shook, and I reached blindly for the shirt I had pulled off, crumpled on the floor behind me.
“Here,” I said quietly. “Let’s get you dressed a little bit, yeah?”
My shirt dwarfed her when I pulled it up and over her head, and she seemed even smaller than she had when I first met her. She seemed infinitely more fragile now, and it took everything inside of me not to let out an awful growl and vow to harm anyone and everyone who had ever hurt her.
Oliver pushed open the door after pausing outside the room for a moment, probably listening to make sure that there wasn’t a bloodbath happening inside the room. I glanced over my shoulder, shielding Lilah from his view as I did so, and his eyes were wide as he took us in.
“It worked?” he asked softly.
I nodded. “It worked,” I confirmed roughly. “She’s back.”
Lilah’s entire body stiffened at the sound of Oliver’s voice, and I could feel her pain flooding the bond. It made me grimace, and when I glanced over my shoulder again, Oliver’s face was twisted in pain. He could feel it, too.
I was petty enough to feel a small sense of satisfaction that he was hurting just as much as Lila was. He deserved a little bit of pain after what he had put her through.
But that was a conversation for another day. After Lilah had recovered a little bit, she and Oliver could have it out and decide what kind of relationship the two of them would have now that we were bringing her into our pack.
Because now that I had her in my arms, there was no way in hell I would ever let her go again. Oliver was going to have to work through his feelings about her father in his own time.
Lilah was our omega. She was mine , and I would slit his throat before I let him reject her again.