10. Mills
Chapter ten
Mills
Zaden’s orders to stay away from Lia has the pack in a furious standoff. Ranger is backing Zaden’s orders but very reluctantly. Ianto is watching in a surly silence that hasn’t broken in three weeks. While Valen has turned confrontational, picking fights with Zaden and Ranger to such a violent level that Ianto had to stop him from hitting Zaden.
I’m not taking it well; I’m dancing between furious and depressed. I keep finding myself on the porch, staring at her property, wishing she would come out.
She went on dates. Well, tried. That makes me ache inside. She’s trying to move on. In all this time, nothings changed, but now, Lia’s trying to leave us. That’s not okay, not even a little bit. Zaden is wrong.
What if she sneaks out with another alpha? What if she sneaks an alpha in?
The thought churns my insides.
I stop, finding myself halfway to her place. With a curse, I spin back the other way but just as fast find myself heading back in her direction. I glance back, wondering what Zaden will say, what he will do. I could just go and see her. The punishment would be severe, but I’m not scared of a little pain.
I never imagined this would be my life. My parents had high hopes I’d join an office pack and become a worthwhile addition to society. They dumped me so fast when I introduced them to Zaden. The ache of their loss still stings from time to time.
I’d been so madly in love with him. With the whole pack. So proud. My parents didn’t even try to hide their disgust. The day I met Zaden changed my life. I was eighteen, and it was love at first sight. I knew I was his. Fitting into his way of life and the MC was the most difficult thing I’ve done. But it was worth it. Freedom has a flavour, and it’ s all Zaden.
But Lia feels like happily ever after.
The last time I spoke to my parents was the day they told me to abandon my pack and the MC or lose their numbers.
I put my hand on the door and jiggle it. Locked. I pull out the lock picks that Zaden bought me and unlock her door.
This is all levels of wrong. I’m not supposed to be here, and I’m invading her privacy. Caution rears its head, and for a moment, I’m frozen, struck with indecision.
But she could be dead. Or hurt. This is a big mansion, and she’s all alone.
I steal inside. It’s completely silent. There’s nothing. Not a sign of life.
It takes me twenty minutes to search the bottom floor, and by then, my anxiety is through the roof. I race up the stairs and collide with something soft.
Lia.
I catch her before she can fall and pull her upright.
“Mills!” she says, and her cheeks turn pink. She reaches up to pat her messy hair, but I don’t care. She’s the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen. Lia glances around nervously. “What are you doing here?”
“I was worried about you.”
“You were?”
“Lia, it’s been three weeks. Have you even left the mansion?”
She bites her bottom lip and shakes her head. “Where would I go?”
I let out a growl. This is worse than I thought. Why is she shutting down? Wait, she’s lost weight, and why is she so pale?
“You might go outside, see the world, check the weather, get some sun?”
“What for?”
“Lia?” I say, I’m shocked. “Have you eaten?”
I anxiously slide my hands down her body, but she shrugs me off and tries to get away. I don’t let her, following and really taking in how bad she is.
“You told me not to date!” she says and shoves my chest. “You kidnapped my date, and you all promised me you’d kill anyone who came here, and then you just vanished. So, I’m not allowed to date!” she screams. “I’m not allowed to go out!” She shoves me. “I’m not allowed to see you! What else do I have?”
She bursts into loud sobs.
I’m stunned, but I can’t bear it. I wrap my arms around her and pull her into my arms.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” I whisper over and over until she stops.
I stroke her back. What we’ve done to her is not okay. Not even a little bit.
A deep, cold presence is at my back, and it takes a while before I register it. I glance back over my shoulder and find Zaden standing there staring at her. His expression is a mix of so many potent emotions that I can’t even discern what they mean, but then he blanks his expression and continues up the stairs.
“Lia,” Zaden growls.
She jumps.
“Why aren’t you taking care of yourself?”
She flushes and shuffles in my arms. I glare at Zaden. He grips her hair and pulls her head back.
“Why aren’t you being the proud, strong beta we know?” Zaden snaps. “What is this? How long since you had a shower? You stink.”
She snarls back. “I’ll shower when I’m good and ready to shower.”
“You’ll get in that bloody shower right now and get your ass clean. Then you’re coming downstairs. Mills is going to make you a meal to eat. And when you’re done with Mills, you can prepare yourself.”
“For what?” Lia screams at him.
I’m stunned by how emotional she is. Her mood is flipping so quickly. I’m struggling to keep up.
“For Valen. He can come over here and annoy the shit out of you instead of giving me hell!” Zaden roars back. “I’m sick of his goddamn whining about where is Lia. I want to see Lia. What’s Lia doing? What’s Lia thinking? He’s driving me crazy, so I’m tagging you in. He’s your problem now.”
Lia blinks. “Valen misses me?”
Zaden growls, a furious, deep sound that has me hunching my shoulders.
“Get showered, get dressed, and prepare yourself. The pack is going to hang out with you for the next couple of hours, and then we’re going on a run, and when we get back, we’re going to sort something out with all this.”
Lia trembles. “You’re not leaving me? You won’t abandon me?”
I am so careful not to look at Zaden. She thinks we abandoned her? I can feel his tension, too, though; I think Lia is too tired to register it.
Zaden growls. “We never left you, Lia. We’re trying to save you.”
She lets out a squeak of happiness.
“Go shower, Lia. Do you have any requests for food?” I ask.
She pauses and shakes her head. “I’ll eat anything.”
I watch her turn and disappear. Zaden gestures for me to join him. I walk down the stairs with him and stop at the bottom.
“Why?” Zaden growls.
“I was scared she was hurt. ”
He nods his head and then sighs loudly. “Yeah, okay. Cook her a meal. That can be your punishment for breaking my rules.”
Zaden walks away.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to get the pack so they can come over and spend some time with her before we go on the run.”
I jog over to him and kiss him hard. “I love you, Zaden.”
“Yes, I love you, too,” he says gruffly and stomps out.