A/N: So for the Lilly and Nathan fans out there, I added a little something in this chapter for you guys but don't expect it in every chapter, I just thought a change of scenery was something I could work with. Get into their relationship a little bit.
Lance's POV
I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to ignore the anger that was bubbling up inside of me at everything that was coming out of his mouth. I was used to feeling betrayed and I was used to being stabbed in the back but nothing could have prepared me for what Nathan was telling me at this moment and I almost allowed myself to show him how much he'd really hurt me. Almost.
"You knew?" I asked, my voice as calm as I could possibly make it in a situation like this. "You knew what Jane was up to and you didn't say anything?"
Nathan flinched at the tone in my voice and I knew he'd long since grown accustomed to it. "Yes, but I only just found out Lance, I swear! Sam wouldn't tell me much more than what I just told you!"
I shook my head and stared at him, my eyes clearly revealing the fury that I was feeling at this moment. "You are an alpha, Nathan, you should know what the implications of that knowledge would do to your pack! For Pete's sake we still have Austin to deal with and now you go do something idiotic like this? What were you thinking, seriously? Did you even consider Lilly?"
Nathan's calm features turned into one of absolute anger and rage in a matter of seconds. "Don't you dare bring Lilly into this Lance Stevenson. I don't care if you are my best friend, we will not discuss her."
I shook my head, "Nathan you knew about Jane and what she was doing and yet you kept quiet. How do you think Lilly will feel? She already knows about your engagement and now to add onto that, your knowledge about this will only jeopardize your relationship."
"That's my business. I only came here to tell you that Jane obviously has a lot up her sleeve and that she's holding events like werewolf competitions, oh and Sam said that kid your friends with.... The one who's married? She says he's in on it too."
I sucked in a breath, "Nick?"
Nathan only nodded, "yeah. Him." And just like that Nathan had turned on his back and left me staring after him.
Nick is in on this? How could that even be possible? Nick had come to me for help and now he's consorting with Jane against me? Something just didn't add up and I wanted to get to the bottom of it and fast.
Lilly's POV
"Sam, give it to me!" I laughed as I reached for the phone that was now in her hands. "Seriously! Michael said he was going to call and I really, really like him! I don't want to miss his call!"
Sam grinned and held the phone out of my grasp, "well all you have to do is tell me how great of a friend I am and then the phone is all yours." She laughed and squealed as I leaped at her and we both tumbled off my bed and onto the floor in a fit of giggles.
"Fine!" I laughed when I could catch my breath. "Sam you are the best friend in the entire world and I promise that if you give me that phone I will take you out to Ray's Pizza for the best pizza in the entire world and it's on me."
Sam laughed and tossed me the phone, a satisfied smile on her face. "Yes!"
I pulled myself from my reverie and continued on down the dark, deserted road that I'd found myself on a few hours ago. I'd gone to my sister's engagement party and once the noise and the music had gotten to me, I'd told my mom I was going to go on home but of course, I didn't want to do that either. Home reminded me of Nathan and the many nights we'd spent studying there, and thinking of Nathan only reminded me that he was engaged and to none other than Sam. My ex best friend. Someone I'd known for a long time, someone who I thought I could count on and now I didn't know how I was going to get over my feelings for him.
I looked up at the sky as a rain drop landed on my nose and I laughed at the irony of my situation because I'd felt like I wanted to cry and that raindrop only made me want to cry even more, it was almost like the sky was crying for me. But skies don't cry, I reminded myself even though it was a pointless thought in the first place.
The rain picked up slightly and it reminded me of when I was a kid and I would sit in my room, by my window and I would think about my favorite fairy tale, Rapunzel and how her knight and shining armor came clambering up a tower just to save her. I always sighed and told myself that was what I wanted, I wanted a man to fight for me and no matter what challenge he faced, I wanted him to conquer his fears and save me from my tower and then we'd lived happily ever after.
I felt the first tear slide down my cheek as once again Nathan's face popped into my head and then I thought about how he was my mate even though I wasn't a werewolf. My situation was so much similar to Sarah's and I felt my heart breaking even more because Sarah had finally gained her prince charming and here I was wallowing in my self pity because the man that I loved was engaged to someone else and he seemed happy about it. When he'd told me, I thought he was joking and I'd laughed about it because what else could I have done? I wanted to believe that it hadn't been real, but when I realized that it was I laughed again and again and again, until finally my laughs turned into sobs. Nathan had only stared at me, his eyes apologetic and he'd simply said, "I have to go." And just like that, he was gone.
Nathan had seemed so distant as of late and now I knew why, now I knew why he'd been spending so much time with my ex best friend. Wasn't the person that loved you supposed to stand by your side and fight for you, no matter the cost? Weren't they supposed to protect you from the people who hurt you, not fall in love with them?
I laughed, my tears coming harder as I finally came to the realization of this whole scenario. "He loves her, Nathan loves Sam." I could feel my heart once again breaking and I felt myself trembling as the rain began to downright pour. I felt my hair began to stick to the back of my neck and finally, I gave in to the sobs I'd been holding back for the past week.
I crouched down and through my tears, I pulled the heels from my feet. "Fine! Go be with her then, see if I care!" I yelled to no one in particular, letting all of my pent up emotions free. "You were supposed to love me! Me, not Sam but I guess you finally let her reel you in with her lies and her deceit! But you know what? I don't care!" I cried, standing to my feet. I looked at the heels in my hand and then with every emotion I had towards Nathan, I screamed. At the top of my lungs, in the middle of the street. And you know what? It felt relieving to let free my anger and I knew that I wasn't hurting anyone, I wasn't waking anyone up and I was alone.
I plopped back down on the curb and put my face in my hands, my sobs slowly starting to subside as I tried desperately to grasp any thought of Nathan that I would cherish forever. But there was only one that came to mind and I held onto it with so much intensity that I didn't know I had, because frankly I still loved him and this memory happened the day I realized I was falling for him.
Nathan crouched down in front of me as the people on the beach ran around, laughing and playing. "Come on, I won't tell anyone Lil. I promise."
I pulled my knees to my chest and shook my head, "no."
Nathan poked his bottom lip out, pleadingly. "I'll take you to that restaurant that you love so much, you know the one that's an hour away?"
I felt my resolve wavering, because I really, really, really loved that place. It was an italian restaurant and they served the best cheesy raviolis I’d ever tasted. "Fine," I sighed as I stood up. "But promise me you won't let me go at all?"
Nathan grinned, "I'll hold onto you the entire time."
I slipped off my flip flops and groaned as I stared at the ocean water that was absolutely calling my name. "Let's just get this over with. I really can't believe you talked me into letting you teach me how to swim."
Nathan wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we began our descent to the water. "You love me."
I smiled and felt a blush warm my cheeks because really, I did.
I smiled slightly at the memory that seemed so long ago and in reality it was a really long time ago, before Sarah had moved here and before Sam betrayed me and it was definitely before Nathan knew I was falling in love with him.
"Lilly?" I heard his voice before I actually saw him come into view and I felt my tears coming faster because I really missed him.
"Go away," I whispered, wrapping my arms around my knees as the rain pelted against me even harder.
"What are you doing out here in the rain?" He asked softly and before I had a chance to respond, he'd crouched down in front of me, his hands on my arms.
"I said go away!" I cried, storming to my feet. "Why I'm out here has nothing to do with you, Nathan! You don't have any claim over me anymore, so why don't you just go and crawl back to your fiancee and leave me alone!" I'd planned to just turn and walk off, but my foot slipped in the puddle of water a few feet in front of me and I landed on my bottom. "Ugh! Are you happy now? You've broken my heart and you've seen what it's done to me, now you can go and laugh with all your friends about how the calm, cool and collected Lilly actually has emotions!" I added, as I stood to my feet.
Nathan was quietly watching me and I couldn't make out his expression due to it being dark and the rain wasn't exactly helping either. He came closer and when he was right in front of me, he touched my cheek softly. "I'm sorry and I wouldn't laugh at you sweetheart, I would never laugh at you."
I laughed and slapped his hand away, "you're sorry? I don't want your apologies, Nathan. I want you to leave me alone!"
"I can't do that," Nathan stated, putting his hands in his pockets and for a moment I let myself believe that everything between us was fine.
"Well I guess you'll have to." I told him as I turned on my feet and began to walk the other way, where? I didn't know.
"Lilly, wait!" Nathan called as he ran to catch up to me. "Just hear me out, please? I just want to talk."
I looked at him and shook my head, "I'm done talking to you Nathan. I'm done." Nathan took a step closer and I took a step back, "there isn't anything for us to talk about anymore. You're marrying Sam and I have to move on."
"No," Nathan said firmly.
I stared at him, anger seeping into my voice. "No? Nathan, don't forget that arranged marriages aren't something you can get out of. You have to go through with it, because that's the right thing to do and that's who you are. So go," I turned away again and proceeded again to walk off.
"You want me to just forget about you? You want me to forget that I love you? You want me to forget that whenever you walk into a room full of people, you are the only one I ever truly see? You want me to forget that the only person who knows every aspect about me is you? You want me to forget that my heart yearns for you and you want me to forget that I won't ever love another woman?" I stopped in my tracks and closed my eyes, not even bothering to wipe the tears streaming down my cheeks.
I heard footsteps coming closer and when I opened my eyes, Nathan was standing in front of me. "You want me to forget that the woman I love is hurting because of me? You want me to forget that you've been in love with me since we met? You want me to forget that, even though, no one else saw me as anything but a goofball, you saw right through me? You want me to just forget any of that, Lilly? Because, I can't and I won’t."
I stared at him, my fist clenching. "Stop!" I cried, throwing my heels to the ground and bringing my arms up to his chest as I repeatedly tried to shove him away. "You don't get to go and tell me how much you love me, after you've broken my heart." Shove, "you don't get to sweet talk me into thinking that you still love me." Shove, "you don't get to say that you love me because I'm standing in the middle of the rain." Shove, "so just go away and leave me alone!" I made one last shove at his chest and then I just completely broke down, because I loved him and I knew I always would.
Nathan pulled me to his chest and I tried so hard to fight him off, I tried to shove and hit and kick and anything that would just get him to let me go. "Let me go!" I cried, letting my face fall onto his shoulder as I sobbed uncontrollably.
Nathan only hugged me tighter, his arms wrapping around me. "I'm sorry, Lilly. I am so,
so sorry." He whispered, but I didn't want an apology, I wanted him.
I shook my head and hugged him back, letting myself revel in the sparks that flared between us and for a moment, I felt like everything was going to be okay, I felt like in this moment it was just Nathan and I and for a tiny moment, he wasn't engaged.
Nathan pulled away and held my face in his hands, "I love you Lilly. Please don't ever doubt that ever again because you know you will be the only woman who ever holds my heart."
I shook my head, placing my hands on his arms. "I love you Nathan but you're engaged and you can't run from that. You're also an alpha and that means you have to do what's best for your pack."
Nathan shook his head and leaned his forehead against mine. "You are what the pack needs and you are what I need. I love you, Lilly."
I nodded, "I know and I love you too." I pulled away and took a few feet away from him. "But we can't just go back to the way we are, your engaged to Sam."
Nathan sighed and rubbed his forehead, "yeah well Sam's not all innocent in any of this either."
I frowned, "what are you talking about Nathan?"
"Sam's been working with Jane, which we already knew but the stuff she's been telling me..... I had to come clean to Lance tonight and I can't believe I never saw it coming. She had me fooled Lilly, thinking she had changed."
I stared at him, "Sam's been telling you what Jane's been up to and you didn't tell me? Do you know how worked up Lance is over this? Jane can't stand Sarah and you thought this little piece of information was something you didn't need to share? Sarah is your best friend! Not to mention Lance, and me..... Of all people, you didn't tell me."
Nathan stared at me, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. "Lil, please don't get angry. I couldn't technically just blurt it all out, it wasn't that simple and if I remember correctly, we weren't on speaking terms."
I clenched my fist and shook my head, "you're engaged! That's not something I just want to talk about! Sorry for wanting time to process all of this!"
Nathan closed his eyes and shook his head, "that isn't what I meant. I'm sorry."
I took a deep breath and took a step towards him, "look Nathan, I don't want to fight with you anymore. We both just need to face the fact that you are engaged and move on, because that's how it has to be."
Nathan reached out to touch me but I stepped back. "But I love you."
"And I love you, but we aren't meant to be. So go find Sam and be happy." I reached up on my tip toes and pressed my lips softly to his before I turned around and walked away and even as I did, I felt my heart breaking. Again.
Sarah’s POV
“Wait, wait, wait! This is, Lance?” I laughed and stared at the picture of the smiling boy who coincidentally had lipstick all over his lips. “I can’t even imagine him doing something like this. How old was he?” I looked over at Mason who was grinning from ear to ear and once again I burst out laughing.
“He was 3, I think and he decided he was going to play dress-up so that was the result.” Mason flipped to another picture and this one was twice as worse, Lance was in all out girly mode and when I say all out, I mean all out. He was in 1 inch heels, he had a dress on that looked more like a tutu in my opinion and his face was covered in makeup that I’m pretty sure he did on his own.
I laughed and shook my head, “who knew Lance had a girl side to him? It’s very amusing to say the least.”
Mason nodded, “yeah. We have more in the attic if you want to see some more embarrassing photos of him. We keep them down there because the Alpha doesn’t want anyone seeing his baby photos.”
“That’s why they are in the basement!” A cold, yet threatening voice rang out from behind us and when I spun around I laughed again because all I could picture was Lance in his tutu. This Lance was standing with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.
“Lance! My man,” Mason stuttered out. “Sarah and I were just..... We were just.... Um..... Yeah, I got nothing. I was showing her some of your baby photos because she asked to see them. Something about a wedding video?”
Lance looked at me, sharply. “We are not having a wedding video.”
I shook my head, trying not to laugh. “Yes we are, Lance. It’s part of a normal wedding tradition. Besides, it isn’t like we’re getting married in the next year or anything, we haven’t even graduated. I just wanted to start planning now so that we got a head on things.”
Lance sighed, “Sarah do we really need to have a wedding video to portray how much we love each other?”
I rolled my eyes, “no. But you are a guy, so of course you wouldn’t want something like that at our wedding.”
He only shook his head and plopped down on the couch, a scowl still on his features. “Fine, we can have a video.”
“Awww, Lancey poo! Don’t be like that!” I whined as I sat next to him and leaned my head on his shoulder. “If you really don’t want a wedding video, we won’t have one. But don’t be all grumpy about it!”
Lance sighed and looked at me, “do you want a wedding video?”
I smiled and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes.”
“Then I want you happy, so we’re having a wedding video but I get to pick what pictures of me are going to be in the video.”
“What? Where’s the fun in that? I should be the one to pick out your pictures! I already had a few in mind-”
“No.”
“Lance! Come on! Let me pick out the pictures, please?” I looked at him and stuck my bottom lip out, knowing he wouldn’t be able to resist. “Please?”
Lance looked away and shook his head. “Okay, but only if I get to pick your pictures out.” He turned back to me and grinned. “Yeah, you can pick my pictures out if you let me pick yours out.”
“What? That’s not fair! I have a lot of really embarrassing pictures that-” I stopped and looked at him, realization suddenly dawning on me. “Maybe we really shouldn’t have a wedding video.”
Lance laughed, “no. I like this condition.” He touched my nose with his finger and pressed his lips to my forehead.
I shook my head, “actually your right. This could be really fun!”
Lance laughed and pulled me into a breathtaking kiss that had me weak at the knees. “I love you,” he whispered against my lips.
“I love you too,” I told him, pressing my lips to his.
“Ahem, I’m still here.” Mason laughed and Lance and I turned our attention to him. “What? Why are you looking at me like that? Lance? Sarah?”
Lance grinned, “do you remember when Luke and Lacey would sit on this couch and do nothing but make out and you and I were still in the room?”
Mason raised an eyebrow, “I remember. They were completely disgusting to say the least and I guess it comes with concept of finding your mate. You could have had this a long time ago but you were too stubborn.”
Lance scowled. “Do we really have to talk about that?”
“Yeah, actually I want to hear this.” I cut in, looking between the both of the men in the room. “You could have had me a long time ago Lancey poo,” I said in a sing song voice.
Lance sighed. “Stop calling me that.”
“What? Lancey poo? I think it has a nice ring to it, don’t you Mason?” I looked at Mason and smiled when he laughed.
“I’m gonna go eat,” Lance replied and a few minutes later he was out of sight. I shook my head and stood to my feet.
“I’m going to play some ball,” Mason stated and in a flash he too was gone from the room.
I laughed and sat back down on the couch, curling my feet up under me. The past few days had seemed like nothing but a blur and I was trying not to think about meeting my real parents but that was the only thing that ever seemed to be on my mind. Even when I’m at school and I’m surrounded by my friends or when the new kid Austin sparks my interest, I can still think only of my biological parents.
Speaking of Austin, I’d had a weird conversation before school today and I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to make of it.
Lance isn’t who you think he is.
That was the only thing he said and it still irked me with what he meant by it, because as far as I knew Lance didn’t have any secrets left to hide. Lance had been full of secrets when we’d first met but I thought everything was fine between us now, I thought he’d told me everything. But maybe I was wrong, maybe what Austin said had some kind of hidden meaning to it.
But that wasn’t possible because in my heart I knew Austin wasn’t someone I should befriend, especially after Austin had picked a fight with Luke, and then there was the mysterious person but who was it? I needed to be able to eliminate everyone I knew wasn’t a possibility because I knew whoever this person was, was someone who knew everything about everyone and they had been relaying the information to Austin. But who?
Nathan? He would be the one that anyone would suspect because he’s engaged to Sam and who knows what she’s told him. He could know anything and everything about any of us and he could be relaying it to Austin. But my heart told me he would never do that because that isn’t how Nathan is. It isn’t Nathan, it can’t be.
Lilly would be another suspect, and it brings tears to my eyes to even consider the red headed girl who had been the first one to befriend me could be the one betraying us, but she had known Sam the longest. Even so, her and Sam hadn’t been friends for what felt like forever and I knew Lilly wouldn’t ever do that. So it can’t be her.
So could it be the man who I thought was my father? Could he have been the one giving the information? But it couldn’t be him because he didn’t know anything about my friends and even if he had kidnapped me and Michael, he wouldn’t go as far as to do something like that.
“There’s no one else,” I sighed, frustrated. I wasn’t going to go as far as suspecting anyone from Lance or Nathan’s pack because all of them were loyal and they would never betray their alphas. Nick and Claire couldn’t be the one’s doing it because neither of them knew anything about anyone here and Michael..... he wasn’t even going on my list of suspects, him and Julie were innocent. Michael may be a werewolf but he didn’t know much about anyone here, except for Lance. Julie didn’t know any of my friends so she couldn’t be the one betraying us.
So who is it?
I was pulled from my thoughts when my phone vibrated in my pocket and I smiled when I saw Lilly’s name flash across the screen. “Hey, you okay? You wanna hang out?”
“Sarah?” Nathan said from the other end and his voice sounded strained, almost as if he was tense.
“Nathan? Why do you have Lilly’s phone? Aren’t you and her broken up?” I questioned, frowning. They were broken up, Lilly had told me herself.
“Yeah we are, but I was calling to see if Lilly was there. We got in argument last night and she ran off and I came to see if she was okay since she wasn’t answering my calls but when I got here..... When I got here, Lilly was gone. Her mom said that the last time she talked to her was at her sister's engagement party. I’ve convinced her mom not to call the cops, but I think Jane may have something to do with it.”
Lilly’s missing? No, she can’t be. She probably just went out for some fresh air. Yeah, fresh air. “She probably just went for some fresh air Nathan, don’t jump to conclusions....” I told him, relaying my exact thoughts.
“That’s not it, her sister’s engagement party was last night and no one has heard from her since she ran away from me.”
I sucked in a breath and looked at the clock, “what time did you see her last?”
“6:30 P.M.” Was his immediate reply.
“Nathan, it’s already 7. Lilly has been missing for more than 24 hours and I know you told her mom not to call the cops but you can’t tell her mom anything, so you're going to have to let her call the cops.”
I heard Nathan heave a heavy sigh, “I know. But If Jane had anything to do with this..... If she has Lilly.... We have to save her Sarah, Lilly didn’t have anything to do with any of this.”
I nodded and got to my feet, “I’m going to talk to Lance right now and Nathan? Talk to Sam, see if she might know anything but be discreet about it.”
“I will,” Nathan promised.
I shut my phone after I said a quick goodbye and then I went into the kitchen in search of my mate. I leaned against the wall in the kitchen when I saw that he was on the phone with someone and whoever it was, it seemed like a very tense conversation. I waited a few more seconds and when he flipped his phone shut, I looked at him. “Lilly’s missing and Nathan thinks Jane has something to do with it.
Lance looked at me, a frown on his face. “She probably just went out for some fresh air since her and Nathan aren’t technically speaking.”
I nodded, “that’s what I thought too. But no one has seen or heard from her since last night Lance. Lilly has been missing for over 24 hours and I think we should go and look for her, maybe Jane stashed her somewhere and we need to go help her!” I knew I was getting a little ahead of myself but Lilly was my best friend.
“I know you want to find her Sarah but we can’t jump to conclusions. Lilly is definitely missing if no one has heard from her in over 24 hours but that doesn’t mean it has anything to do with Jane.”
“How do you know?”
Lance sighed and rubbed his forehead, “she could have gone to another state, she could have taken a train somewhere to get away for awhile. Who knows?”
“This is Lilly we’re talking about Lance.”
Lance nodded, “alright. I’ll look into it but she isn’t the only one we have to think about. There’s someone else who’s missing.”
I frowned and looked at him, “who else is missing?”
“Nick McCarter, your sisters mate.”
“What?” I squeaked. “Claire must be going crazy! Give me your phone, I have to call her!”
Lance tossed me his phone and shook his head, “make sure you get as much information as you can out of her. Ask her about the last time she saw him, see if there is anything that might lead us to him.”
I nodded and scrolled to Claire's number in his phone and then I hit talk, waiting for her to pick up the phone. I couldn’t believe that two people were missing and those same two people happened to be two people I really cared about.
I hadn’t known Claire for very long but she was still my sister and I loved her just like I loved Michael. She was family and if Nick was missing then I would do everything I could to help her find him.
“Lance?” Claire answered on the fifth ring.
“No it’s me, are you okay?” I questioned.
“My mate’s missing, I’m pregnant and now I’m being put in charge of an entire pack, I don’t even know what to think right now.”
“I know and I’m so sorry Claire, I’m here whenever you need me but right now do you think we could meet up? My best friend is missing as well and I think it may have something to do with Nick being kidnapped.”
“Give me a time and place.”
“Ray’s Pizza, tomorrow at 7?” When she gave me the okay, I replied a goodbye and then looked at Lance. “We’re going to figure this out.”
______________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Okay, this was supposed to be up two days ago but I’ve had interviews the past two days and I finally got a job!! Yay!! I was also watching Special A which is an anime my cousin got me into..... Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!