Chapter 6 - Caleb
The house is quiet when we walk in, and it feels far too still, almost as if it’s waiting in anticipation.
It became mine after my dad died when I was young, but Varic let me live with him until I turned eighteen. I only stayed in the house a few months before I enlisted, and it has sat empty ever since.
I always imagined it feeling warmer than this, like it was properly lived in and ready for a mate.
Before, I never once imagined Lila crossing the threshold.
She steps inside almost cautiously, fingers carefully wrapped around her daughter’s smaller hand to keep her close. All the while, Astrid’s wide, green eyes take in the wooden floors, the tall windows that let in the remaining golden hour rays.
Without any rival wolves threatening to tear her away from Lila, it’s like I can see her clearly now. I can see the bright wonder in her gaze, and the innocence in her that tugs hard at my heart.
Dominic, Hunter, Zane, and Luke trailed in after us, all quiet for once, and surely sensing tension, they don’t know how to navigate either. I keep the introductions brief, glancing occasionally at the way Astrid hides subtly behind her mother’s legs.
Everyone gathers in the untouched living room, almost like it has been frozen in time through the years, and the guys start pulling plastic away from the furniture as I guide Lila and Astrid down the hall.
Once we reach one of the spare bedrooms, I open the door and flick the light on.
“You can say in here. You’ll have all the privacy you need,” I murmur, glancing around the room for myself briefly, reacquainting with the space. “Make yourselves at home.”
It’s a comfortable enough room with neutral tones and a big bed, but above all else, it’s safe.
Lila’s shoulders relax fractionally the longer she takes it in, and with some reluctance, she says, “Thank you… It’ll be fine until we figure things out.”
There’s a decisive note to her words, like she’s not at all prepared to stay long term, and it feels like a stitch to my side.
“We will. Soon,” I return quietly, glancing from Astrid then back to Lila. “But first, I want to talk to you alone.”
She stiffens instantly. “No.”
“Not far,” I reassure her, countering with an even tone. “The guys will stay with Astrid. Just for a few minutes.”
Lila looks at her daughter again, weighing her options. I can tell she wants to refuse, but she doesn’t want her daughter caught in the crossfire even more. She sighs.
“Fine. Five minutes.”
My jaw tightens, but I don’t push it. I can make that work.
“Luke,” I call over my shoulder, catching as he perks up. “Keep an eye on the little one.”
He nods and approaches, smiling at Astrid—one far warmer than he ever used throughout his service—and gets down to her level. “You like puzzles?”
She nods shyly, but doesn’t pull away.
“Good. I’m terrible at them, and I need you to show me the ropes.”
At that, Astrid smiles, more than on board with the request.
Lila studies Luke carefully, as if gauging whether she really can put her trust in him and the others, then she leans down to press a kiss to Astrid’s temple.
“I’ll be just down the hall,” she whispers to her.
Unfazed now, Astrid nods her understanding before reaching for Luke’s hand and following him back into the main room, where the others wait. As they grab one of the old puzzles to keep her busy, I gesture for Lila to follow me just beyond the spare room and towards the undisturbed office.
She hesitates in the doorway like she’s going through that internal debate again before stepping inside and allowing me to close the door behind us.
The second she faces me, folding her arms over her chest, the space between us thickens with everything left unsaid.
“Say what you need to say,” she mutters, not caring to be warm or anything, just beyond civil.
Her irritation shouldn’t sting as much as it does, but every small bit of resistance from her hits so much harder now.
I caused this, and I earned it all on my own.
I know that. But the bond, or whatever invisible thing that has been holding us together since we were teenagers, is awake and thrashing in me like a caged animal.
“I meant what I said out there,” I begin, pulling in a breath to maintain my nerve.
Lila’s eyes narrow, flashing with immediate anger. “Which part? Where you called me your bride, or the part where you threatened another pack with war on my behalf, even though we haven’t spoken in four years?”
Something in me instinctively wants to rise to her irritation, but I grit my teeth. “Both.”
She scoffs, almost in disbelief. “Unbelievable.”
“What, you think I just decided to do all of this on a whim?” I ask, brows furrowing. “Like this is some kind of power move?”
“I think you’re deciding things for me despite not having any right to. Like I’m just a problem to be pushed aside.”
I almost recoil at that, unable to ignore the bitter truth in the way she says it, like something long buried within her. “You’re not—”
“Yes, I am,” Lila returns, not letting me finish. “I always have been.”
Stopping myself before I can be too hasty, I pull in a slow, deep breath.
Every part of me wants to deny it, but the truth is heavier than I want to acknowledge.
She had always been an outsider, overlooked by the rest of the pack because of her parents’ poor standing. She didn’t look like the other girls growing up, and that earned her an unfair amount of torment. I was never innocent of that.
For the time being, I push the thought aside and gather my words, trying to stay on track.
“I’m going to be the Alpha soon.”
“I know that. Everyone knows that.”
“And the ceremony, along with the change in leadership, requires a mate by my side,” I finish, feeling more like someone coming back with their tail between their legs than an Alpha-to-be.
Lila’s unimpressed expression doesn’t move. “And this is where you tell me you need a stand-in. A placeholder until the right one comes along, all to keep a war from breaking out the moment you step into power.”
The words hit harder than I expected, and it needles me.
“No, Lila,” I say, sharper than intended but not any less honest. “That’s not what this is.”
“Then what is it?”
Testing the waters, I take a step closer, only for her to back up. Not getting the reaction I hoped for, I stop and maintain the distance she has deemed comfortable.
“I’ve been lying to myself for years,” I begin, more vulnerable than I care to be right now.
“The pull is here… in my chest. I tried to deny it and to ignore it, but the moment I saw you again, all those attempts dissolved. The moment I scented you, I realized it isn’t something I can just push away anymore. ”
At my sincerity, her expression twists into something disbelieving. But despite the hitch in her breath, she doesn’t soften.
She blinks back at me, then holds up a dismissive hand. “Whatever you think you feel, it isn’t real. It’s guilt, Caleb.”
That burns my heart even more intensely than anything else.
Lila pulls in a sharp breath, considering her thoughts before letting them go, unbridled and a long time in the making. “Maybe it’s some twisted sense of duty after what happened between us, but a mate bond? No… You rejected that a long time ago. You rejected me.”
Swallowing hard, I try so hard not to jump to my own defense and try to talk away all the ways I hurt her. She deserves better than denial.
“I was wrong.”
She holds my gaze for a moment, then she scoffs. “Good talk.”
The moment she turns to leave, I reach out before I can stop myself, catching her wrist, gentle but firm. “Lila.”
She freezes immediately, and her pulse picks up beneath my fingers.
“Don’t walk away,” I murmur before she can say anything. “I just need you to hear me out.”
But instead, her eyes burn into mine, scathing and deathly serious. “Don’t touch me.”
With an almost anxious pull at my heart, I release her instantly.
That peace between us had already been precarious, and only in place for her daughter’s sake, but now, it feels fragmented. But in truth, it was broken long before this moment.
“You don’t get to come back here and make demands of me,” Lila says, just above a whisper, as if it pains her. “You don’t get to tell me what I am to you, or use these titles as leverage against rivals. I spent years repairing parts of myself, and you don’t get to tear it all open again.”
“I know,” I admit faster than intended. “I handled things wrong before, and I probably am again, but I won’t let another pack take you or your daughter.”
That fierce, protective nature she has over her child glares back at me. “You might’ve helped us back there, but don’t misconstrue any of this. Astrid is mine. My responsibility, and the only thing I have. You don’t get to claim her, too.”
For a moment, that maternal wrath of hers knocks the air right from my lungs, and I can only stare at her. Because she’s right. I have no right, and despite not asking for it, something primal still stirs in me anyway. It all leaves me furious and aching on the inside.
“I’m not trying to take her away from you, and I don’t want to control you. I’m trying to keep you both alive.”
Still, Lila shakes her head and pushes past me. “It doesn’t matter. I won’t tie myself to you.”
As she heads back over to Astrid, her refusal sinks into my skin, and something old and instinctive inside me tears apart.
I stand there for a long moment, only realizing I’ve been clenching my fists once I loosen my grip again. My chest aches like it’s too tight, and I’m angry… so damn angry at myself for how careless I had been before, and for how much I care after the fact.
This was supposed to be simple, tactical, even, but it’s far from it.
Eventually, I make my way back outside to get some air and to keep myself under control. Within minutes, I catch several footsteps coming out to join me.
“You good?” Luke asks, with a lighter tone than usual. I already know he’s gauging my current state.
“No,” I admit, irritated about even saying it. “Not even close.”
“Did she tear you a new one?” Dominic muses while dropping himself into one of the deck chairs behind me.
“Something like that.”
“She has a backbone. Good for her.”
I throw a glare over my shoulder at Dominic, but he doesn’t budge. Instead, his lips shift into a subtle grin.
“So what’s the plan then? Hayes and his asshole pack aren’t going to drop this, if we know anything about him,” Luke says, well aware of the rumors we’ve all been hearing since we were young about the northern-most pack.
“I’m keeping them both here until I figure out what they want with the girl.”
“And I’m assuming all of this actually has something to do with that bond shit you never want to talk about,” Dominic pushes slightly, needling like he usually does.
I don’t answer, and I don’t need to.
I catch the smirk through his tone. “Thought so.”
Not in the mood, I mutter, “Drop it.”
Luke steps in beside me, leaning his forearms against the railing. “Look… whatever happens with her, you know we’ll help however we can. Just don’t let it scramble your brain while lives are on the line.”
Before I can respond, Astrid’s bright, innocent laugh carries outside through the parted window, followed by a gentle murmur from Lila. There’s something so gentle about it that both warms me and feels like a knife to the chest.
“I won’t let anything happen to them,” I say quietly.
Despite being so used to strategy and tactics, this is far from it. It’s a vow to myself, and one that feels so solid that I’ll never be able to ignore it.
Luke and Dominic are silent until the former nods.
“Good. Either way, they’re yours to protect now.”
I don’t even attempt to correct him. Deep down, something in me has already accepted it.
Even if Lily never does.