Lily
After my little late-night tryst, Liam went back to ignoring me. For nearly a week he didn’t speak so much as one word to me. It was perfect. Even though a little part of me missed his attempts to talk to me, I chalked that up to the mate bond and ignored it. Our newfound peace and quiet apparently couldn’t last forever, though, as it was disturbed Friday morning. Sam and I were sitting in the kitchen, eating the French toast I made for breakfast.
“When are we going to the school today, Luna?” Sam asked. Although it was muffled around the giant bite of French toast he had in his mouth. Syrup began to dribble down his chin and I wet a washcloth for him to wipe his face with.
“Yes, when are we going to the school today?” Liam asked with a bright smile as he saunters into the kitchen. He’s wearing a red v neck sweater with faded jeans and his hair is still a little damp from his shower, the strands falling down over his forehead.
I may hate him, but I’m not too proud to admit that the man is gorgeous.
“What do you mean ‘we’?” I ask.
“Well, I promised I’d go to the school so I might as well go at the same time as you. I never break a promise, especially not when brownies are involved.” I roll my eyes and turn my back on him to start the batter for my brownies.
“We’re going to head over about one. That’s after lunch so the kids won’t ruin their appetites with sugar.” Liam comes to stand next to me and brushes his arm against mine while pouring himself a cup of coffee.
I internally scream at the sparks that erupt from that simple touch and move a few steps away to distance myself from him. I take deep breaths and go over the recipe in my head as Liam gives me a cocky smile.
“Sounds good.” He says as he grabs a plate.
“Am I allowed to eat this?” He questions while gesturing towards the French toast and sausage sitting on the counter.
“Only if you agree to clean the kitchen with Sam.” I respond. He looks around as if to appraise how messy it is.
“Fine.” He responds easily. I put my hand on his to stop him briefly. If he wants to use physical contact to turn my brain to mush, I can do the same. I know he feels the effect as he stiffens next to me and his eyes darken when they meet mine.
“After I make the brownies.” He nods again then shakes his head, obviously not entirely understanding what he’s just agreed to.
“Alpha, you should add Luna to the pack link. It would make things a lot easier and I could stop serving as her personal messenger boy.” I pout and stick out my bottom lip at Sam.
“Awe, but I like you being my messenger boy. I bought you a hat and everything. It should be here any day now.” Sam rolls his eyes and looks over to Liam.
“That’s fine.” Liam says as he turns to me. “Lily come sit down next to me. This is going to feel weird and I don’t want you to fall over.” I eye him skeptically as I sit down next to him on one of the chairs at the island.
“I need you to open your mind.” He says quietly while staring deeply into my eyes. “It’s going to feel like something is pressing against your brain, you need to let it in, or it will start to hurt.” I nod and wait for the sensation. Soon enough, I feel like the pressure in my skull has increased. I try to reach out with my mind and grab onto whatever is causing the sensation and I hear an audible click in my brain before a waterfall of voices floods into my brain. There are many shouts of ‘Luna’ and ‘Welcome’ as it begins to get overwhelming, I put my fists against either side of my head.
“Lily, you need to build a wall in your mind to block them out.” I hear Liam say gently.
“How?” I cry. He reaches out to grab my hand and threads our fingers together. His touch seems to calm me and I’m able to focus on what’s happening in my mind.
“Imagine you’re building a brick wall and placing all of the voices on the other side.” Liam continues in a soothing tone.
I tried to do as he said, imagining stacking brick after brick until the roar in my mind turn silent again. I opened my eyes and breathed deeply. It was then that I realized Liam was still holding my hand. I pulled away quickly as if he was burning me and I saw what I think is a flicker of annoyance in his gaze.
"Now try to mind link me, Luna!" Sam says excitedly.
"How do I do that?" I ask.
"Just imagine pushing a thought into my mind." He shrugs.
"You say that like it's easy." I mumble to myself as I focus my gaze on him. I imagine throwing my thoughts at him.
'Hello?' I say tentatively.
'Hey Luna!' He responds.
"That's fucking crazy." I mutter to myself as Sam starts prancing around the kitchen singing some stupid song about how he's Luna's first mind link.
'It'll get easier the more you do it.' I hear Liam's voice in my mind. I nod and stand to walk away from him to go back to making the brownies.
"I'm going to the office. I'll meet you at the school later." Liam says curtly as he leaves the house.
"What's up Alpha's ass?" Sam asks.
"Who knows." I respond quietly.
True to his word, Liam met Sam and I at the school right on time. Sam held three containers of brownies while I held two and we trudged our way up to the first classroom. This was always one of my favorite activities. Seeing these kids' sweet faces and their excited cheers to see me always warmed my heart and reminded me that even though my purpose in life may be different now, I still had one.
'Wait outside. I want to surprise them.' I mind linked Liam and he nodded, standing just outside the door. I entered the room and it seemed as if they were waiting for me because they all erupted in a cheer. They lined up as they always did to give me a hug and rub my cheek. Once they all had a turn I walked to the front of the class to face them.
"I have a special surprise for you all today. Who wants to see what it is?" The children all cheer and squirm anxiously in their seats.
"Alright! Everyone look towards the door." Their tiny little heads all swivel to the door and they smile.
'Now.' I mind link Liam. He saunters into the room to gasps, cheers and amazed faces.
"It's the alpha!" One little boy squeals.
"Obviously, you dumb dumb!" Another boy shouts back.
"Be nice now, I'd hate for you to miss out on one of your Luna's amazing brownies." Liam warns with a stern tone and the boys instantly sober into contrite expressions.
Liam takes whatever children would like to wrestle outside with him as I talk to the teacher, help her pass out brownies and spend time with the remaining students. By the end of the day both Liam and Sam are covered in leaves and grass but have bright smiles on their faces.
"That was so much fun!" Sam says as we head out of the school.
"Yeah, it really was." Liam gives me a warm look that makes butterflies flutter in my belly.
Seeing him playing and teaching the kids today nearly made my heart burst. He was so good with them whether he wanted to admit it or not. It made me wonder if things could be different. But the knowledge that this is all we'll ever be hit me hard and I felt a pang of sadness go through me.
"You alright?" Liam asks.
"Yeah, why?" I respond with as real of a smile as I can plaster on.
"I felt sadness from you." I furrow my brow and look at him curiously.
"What do you mean?" Liam sighs and walks closer to me.
"I can feel your emotions through our mate bond. Mostly just the stronger ones. Our bond isn't strong enough for anything else." His explanation takes me off guard.
"How do I block you from it?" He scowls at me before answering.
"You can't. It's meant to help me protect you. To know if you're scared or hurt." I huff in annoyance and continue walking, distancing myself from him. The fact that he can feel my emotions pisses me off. Those should be private. And the fact that he can feel them against my will feels like just another freedom that's been taken from me. Logically I know it's not his fault, he didn't choose this supernatural superpower, but it still seems wrong.
"So Luna," Sam says while he waggles his eyebrows at me. "You got the goods?" He licks his lips and rubs his hands together in anticipation. I giggle and hand each man their own pan of brownies.
"A whole pan?!" Sam exclaims. "This may be a bit too soon but Luna, I want you to know, I love you." I laugh and continue walking as both men sit down right on the ground where they were standing to open their pans.
"What are you doing?" I ask them.
"We can't wait until we get home." Sam answers.
"Yeah, we smelled them in the classroom and almost growled at those kids as they stuffed their faces." Liam adds. I chuckle and turn to keep walking. Less than a minute later I hear a loud, exaggerated groan from each man. I turn back around to see them each digging into their pan, chocolate all over their hands and frosting on their faces. I chuckle and keep walking.
"We love you, Luna!" They yell in unison.
Even though it's meant to be funny, hearing Liam tell me he loves me as a joke strikes a painful chord in me I try to push away. He and I both know it will never be true.