Chapter 53

Warning, some language

The King was at his desk taking care of daily reports and expense logs. It was the fourth day since the initial heat, and Lily was now exhausted and sleeping in his bed; her heat was over. Already the council had been trying to reach him.

He had been ignoring them, letting them sit and stew for a while. He would talk to them in his time, not theirs. Maybe it is time he updated the council. Time for some of those old horses to be put out to pasture.

Let some new blood take over; ones that have fresh ideas and more open minds than the ones now sitting. Yes, he was going to start the petitions, see who applies.

He heard a small sigh coming from their bed; she was dreaming. He was a little ashamed when he saw that he had left almost every inch of her covered in marks, yet at the same time he was proud of it. No one will question what they did in here, or that she is his.

She let out a whimper as if in pain. He went and sat on the side of the bed next to her. Her face was scrunched up as if she was in pain as well. She is having a nightmare. He had hoped that it wouldn’t happen; her abuse, though, left deep scars.

He put one hand on her forehead and held her hand with his other. He entered her nightmare. It was when her mate had died, and she was still in the room with his body. She was tied to a chair, her mouth was gagged, and tears were running down her face.

Her eyes were empty, unseeing of the corpse before her. She was cold to the touch. The door opened and there was that piece of shit, laughing at it all. He wished he could rip him to shreds. Though he can touch the dreamer, he cannot do anything else. His heart bled for her; he knew what she was feeling. He went through the loss of his mate.

This was different. His mate died from a cancer that her wolf couldn’t fight anymore. This was brutal; his face was destroyed, his dignity gone. She was forced to watch as he took his last breath, then forced to sit with the body for days as it started to rot.

It was her own personal hell. He had to wake her and comfort her. Thorn was going nuts, not being able to do anything. He wanted her out of there, now.

He let go of her hand and wrapped himself around her. Gently, he started to wake her. She opened her eyes, but she was still not with him.

“Come back to me, my little Lily flower, there is nothing left for you there anymore.” He rubbed her back as he held her, whispering into her ear, “You are mine now; let that pain go. He would not want you to linger there.”

She let out a gasp as she came back to her senses.

He held her closer to him so she could breathe in his scent and know she was safe. She held on to him tightly as she started to cry out her pain. He never let go, just kept rubbing her back, saying soothing words to her as she cried out her pain.

Marco was informed at the front gate that they had a visitor coming. All they said was that it was a she, and it was for the WereLions, leaving him clueless. He did manage to find August and have him greet their guest with him.

As a black SUV pulled up, the driver stepped out and went to the back door. The first thing that Marco noticed was the red high heels. The next thing he thought was that something wasn’t sitting right in his gut about this.

She came out all in red, her light blond hair in a fancy updo, blue eyes, and red lipstick. If truth were told, if she was trying to enhance her beauty with the red lipstick, she failed. All he could focus on was her very red lips.

When she approached them, August had a scowl on his face and crossed his arms when she reached out to greet him. He growled, “Hello, Felicia.”

“Marco, this is Felicia Mathews; she is a member of our pride. Felicia, this is Marco; he is the Beta of this pack, second only to the Alpha.”

She turned her nose in the air at Marco with a look of how dare you be unimpressed with my presence.

“Well, I never have been so insulted in all my life, August. I should have at least been greeted by this…whatever you call it. The Alpha! Is he too busy to greet a guest?”

“I am sorry you are so offended, Ma’am. I was not informed of your importance. Even still, it is custom in packs that the Beta will greet anyone of lower rank first, before the Alpha.”

She looked at Marco as if he had just punched her in the face.

“I am sure that August here can find you somewhere you can go to do whatever it is you came to do. Unfortunately, if you have to stay overnight, you will have to stay at the inn in town. Now, if you will excuse me, I have other, more important business to attend.” He gave a curt bow and left.

August had done all he could not to laugh as he looked at the pride whore before him, wondering what she was up to now. Probably trying to get into either Archer’s or Ash’s pants again. August hoped that he wouldn’t have to deal with her again; once was enough.

“Come on then, I will take you to where Archer is staying, and he can deal with you.”

He started to walk across the pack grounds to the guest cabin where Arch was, but she didn’t follow.

When he turned to see what the matter was, she was just standing there in shock.

“What is your problem now, Flea?” August said with a sigh.

“I’ve told you several times not to call me that! For your information, I am not going to go tramping around in the woods in these heels!”

“You are not going to be going into the woods. We follow this path, and it goes right to the cabin that is next to the woods.”

“I can’t; you are just going to have to carry me.”

August laughed.

“Flea, if I were to carry you into the woods, it would be because I will be looking for the next cliff to drop you off. Now I suggest that if you want to see Archer, then you better follow me, otherwise I will call back the Beta, and he can tell you where you can go.”

He walked off, not looking back. Felicia followed after taking off her heels. August could tell she was pissed off at what he said. He just didn’t care; she was a greedy, snobby pride whore.

She had been trying to sink her claws into Archer for years, and he wanted nothing to do with her. So she tried Ashton. When he wouldn’t even look at her, she went to him. He didn’t want her either. She even tried to accuse Archer of getting her pregnant.

Kinda hard to get pregnant when you don’t bump fuzzies first. Still, she was the daughter of one of the Pride's elder founding fathers; he was rich, so she always seemed to have resources. He wondered what her plan was now.

After Ashton talked to August about the unexpected gift, he wasn’t happy. He really didn’t like Flea.

She hated that nickname, but it was the best description of her that could be made in one word.

When she hopped on you, she would suck your body dry. All she wants from you is to have the power to go with her money. She is mean and nasty, thinks the world owes her everything. Heaven above only knows how many she has slept with.

She should have been born a vampire.

He was going to go warn Marnie before she should happen to meet the bitch. Hope the Flea doesn’t do anything stupid to provoke the wolves. Well, okay, he wouldn’t be heartbroken if she got her ass handed to her.

Still, he didn’t want anything to harm the relationship that Archer had built here either. The Alpha is a kind and fair person, but he expects respect for all his pack members, no matter rank, and a good adherence to the rules.

He has been in other wolf packs before; this one, though, has a really good feel to it. They work together for the good of all. There are rules that have to be followed; they are fair and basically common sense.

No matter if you’re Alpha or Omega, you have responsibilities to your pack; everyone works.

Everyone is respected and protected. Is this pack perfect? No, it isn’t; nothing is, though, is it? Ash thought he wouldn’t mind living here in this pack. He was going to take Marnie home with him so she could meet the folks and his friends.

He really loved his home, but he wanted to live here with her, though; it just felt right. First things first, though, got to tell Marnie about their guest.