Taken and Trained ✔️

Chapter 18

It clicked in Lilia's head. Where had Lev been in all this mess? She hadn't seen him since her family had first arrived.

Lilia wiped her eyes with her hands and rushed out the door. She couldn't believe she'd forgotten about him.

"Lev? Lev!" She just made it out of the room when she almost tripped over Le. She dropped to her knees and hugged him in relief. He didn't seem upset, or mad, but she wondered why he was waiting out here.

"Do you want to go meet my family? They're really important to me," Lilia murmured quietly. Lev licked her face softly and stood to signal he was ready.

"Let's go," Lilia sniffled. She walked into the room first, followed by Lev.

Kate smiled softly as they entered quietly. Lev tried to be as quiet and small as he could be in front of the three, small, and frail women. He didn't mean to threaten them earlier, but he didn't want harm to come to Lilia.

Aunt Johanna came near them and crouched down to his height.

"This is Lev," She introduced to them. Lilia stroked his head quietly, showing her family that he really was sweet.

"It's nice to meet you, Lev," Johanna's hand tentatively reached out to pet him too. he had already scented her when she arrived, and she was no threat to either of them.

Petting was still an odd sensation to him but if it meant something to Lilia, it was fine with him.

"This is my Aunt Johanna," Lilia smiled. She was crying happy tears this time, and wiped them away quickly before standing.

"And this is my mother, Kate. She has a...um—a disease that weakens her immune system too." Lilia explained. Lev just looked on with confusion.

"When I got too cold, or too sick when we were..." Lilia turned to her family, unsure if she wanted to share information about what had conspired over the past few months, "I have it too. That's why I kept getting sick."

Kate and Johanna both sent sympathetic smiles her way, knowing there was nothing they could do about it.

Lev jumped onto the bed and sprawled out next to Kate to relax. She laughed softly and rubbed his belly until his leg started moving. They all chuckled at his goofy antics.

"We should get to bed, Lev. Let's go," Lilia murmured softly. Her mother was slowly falling asleep.

"But I need to know what happened—"

"Tomorrow, Aunt Johanna. Mother is falling asleep, and she needs a lot of rest. We both know that," Lilia whispered. She gave Joanna a tight hug, asked if she needed anything else, and gave her a big kiss on the cheek before walking quietly to the door.

"When you wake up, come get me...no matter how early," Lilia stated. Johanna gave a final nod, and Lilia and Lev returned to their room. This had to be a dream come true.

The next morning, Lilia awoke long before her family. Lev was already awake, his head resting on his paws and his eyes gawking at her, as if she weren't real.

"Good morning," she muttered sleepily. Lilia reached over and grabbed him to snuggle. She was still half asleep, and against her own wishes, fell back asleep.

When she woke up the next time, her family was still asleep, and she forced herself out of bed. Lev followed happily with a wag of his tail. She stumbled to the breakfast table and gawked at the time.

They were late!

She started to eat quickly until she remembered that Alpha Luke had cancelled Lev's training this morning. She slowed down eating her breakfast ham when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to face her Aunt Johanna.

"Oh my gosh," she gasped, standing up, "where is mother? You are up?"

"Kate is still asleep. I came to eat with you and I will bring back food for your mother," Johanna answered.

"Well, please, help yourself to the food." Lilia motioned towards the chefs cooking behind the counter. Johanna went and came back quickly with food. She glanced at Lev wolfing down his food with a chuckle.

"He eats mighty fast, doesn't he?" She laughed to Lilia. Lilia smiled back, but did not laugh.

"I—a lot happened while I was gone, Aunt Johanna. He eats like that for a reason."

"Oh, dear, I'm sorry. If I would've known—"

"No need to apologize, it was...rough. Strange. I missed home so much. The thought of you guys got me through, and helped me live through this," Lilia admitted. Lev whined and licked at her hand to make sure she was alright.

"I'm fine," she whispered through sniffles, "Just sick of crying." Lev licked her hand once more and went back to his food. Aunt Johanna pulled her into a small hug and rubbed her shoulder.

"You're safe now. We're here. I love you, Lilia. Your mother and I have missed you so much." This time Johanna was sniffling as well. "Let's keep the tears for later, hm? I'm sure there will be plenty when you tell us what happened."

"I cannot express how happy and relieved I am that you are both here, safe, too. What was the journey like?"

"Fairly pleasant. Alpha Howard couldn't be happier to be getting rid of the "invalid" in his pack," Johanna scoffed.

"Goddess, he was such a scumbag," Lilia tossed a small piece of potato into her mouth. Johanna gasped and pushed her nieces shoulder.

"Lilia! You've never cursed a day in your life!"

"Alpha Howie will always be the exception to that rule...and Roman."

"Who's Roman?" Johanna asked. Lev lifted his ears up at the sound of that man's name. His eyes darted around the room to make sure he wasn't here. Lilia's hand found his head and scratched him in comfort.

"A part of the story. We'll talk about it later."

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Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed :).