Accepted and Adored

Half-Truths

“Do you think we need to tell the Luna about Alpha Erikson?” Lily asked Finn as they took the elevator down to the gym. It was a question that had been weighing heavily on her mind after the safety meeting the previous morning. “I mean, we could be putting the whole pack at risk by being here.”

“I think it’s a good idea to tell her,” Finn admitted with a sigh. “They need to know that you’re in danger, but we’ll just have to lie about why he’s after you.”

“Well we could tell them most of the truth, and just leave out the part about me being a Lycan,” Lily pointed out.

“What do you mean?” Finn asked with furrowed brows.

“Well, we can tell her that he’s stalking me, which is technically true,” she said. “We can tell her about the flowers and the notes he left me, and that he tried to kidnap me. We wouldn’t be lying then, just omitting a part of the story.”

“That’s actually a good idea,” Finn said with an impressed nod. “No reason to make up lies when we can stick to the truth.”

“So, we’re agreed that we’ll tell her?” Lily asked as the elevator doors opened.

“Yeah, we can arrange to speak with her today sometime,” Finn said. “I think we should also tell Dillan. He’s the leader of the pack warriors, so he needs to know about the danger.”

“Makes sense,” Lily agreed, smiling up at her mate. “I trust the Luna, and Dillan seems like a good guy. I think it will be good to have people we can rely on.”

“You’re right,” Finn said with a half-smile. “We need to find people we can trust, and we can’t do that if we don’t ever trust them.”

“Hey guys,” Dillan greeted them as they walked into the gym a bit early. “We need to fit you into the right groups based on your level of skill, so Finn you can spar with me, and Lily you can spar with Bianca, one of our other trainers,” he explained, pointing to a tall female werewolf who was setting up some mats on the floor.

“Sounds good,” Finn replied, and Lily nodded in agreement.

Ten minutes later and Lily was trying her best to take down Bianca using the techniques that Finn had taught her, and when the woman sent a fist to Lily’s face, she found her opportunity. She turned to the side and dodged the hit, but used the woman’s momentum against her, grabbing her wrist and yanking her arm forward, forcing the werewolf off balance. Lily completed the move by swinging her leg into the shin of the woman, sending her falling forward into the mat on the floor.

Before Lily could pin Bianca down though, the trainer rolled through her fall and jumped up to her feet. “Good,” she praised Lily with a smile though, letting her know that her move had been a good one. Lily barely knew her, but she could already tell that she would like the woman. “I think I’ve seen enough,” she said, stepping back and off the training matts. “You did well.”

“Thanks,” Lily responded with a shy smile. “Finn has been training me really well.”

“I can tell,” the woman laughed. “There’s still a lot you can learn, but I’m really happy with your level of skill. I think the intermediate class will be a good fit for you. That’s the group I teach.”

“Great,” Lily replied with a genuine smile, glad that Bianca would be training her. It also meant that her mate had trained her well enough that she didn’t need to start in the beginner’s class, which she was grateful for. If she wanted to be strong enough to defend herself against Alpha Erikson, then she didn’t want to still be stuck learning the basics.

Finn, of course, was placed in the advanced class, which Dillan led. He hadn’t decided if he wanted to pursue the idea of becoming a pack warrior yet, but he would take part in the morning training until he had made a decision.

Lily and Finn’s groups consisted of only twenty or so other wolves, but the beginner’s class had at least one hundred. Lily didn’t get a chance to talk to the other werewolves in her training group because they got to work straight away and worked hard through the hour with only one short break, but they were all around her age or a bit older, and they seemed nice enough. After the class, she was chatting to Nicole, one of the female werewolves who she had been paired with during training, when Finn interrupted them.

“Sorry,” he apologized to them. “Lily, Dillan is actually heading up to meet with the Luna now. I asked, and he said we could go speak with them quickly before their meeting.”

“Like right now?” Lily asked with wide eyes– she hadn’t expected that they would talk to them about it so soon, or that she would be covered in sweat while doing it.

“Yeah, I thought we should do it sooner rather than later,” Finn pointed out.

“You’re right,” Lily agreed with a small sigh. She didn’t feel ready to talk about Alpha Erikson to people who were practically strangers, but Finn was right– it was better to do it now. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning,” she said to Nicole, waving goodbye to her.

“Sure, bye Lily,” the werewolf, who was a year older than Lily, replied.

“Did you tell Dillan what we need to talk to them about?” Lily asked her mate as they took the elevator one level up to the Alpha’s office, which the Luna was using as her own while he was away.

“Not really. I just explained that it might affect the pack’s safety,” Finn told her. “He’s just chatting with one of his students, and then he’ll come join us,” he explained as they stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway.

Shouting coming from the direction of the Luna’s office had them pausing outside of the door uncertainly. “How long are you going to mess around and waste time while I do your job for you, James?” they could hear the Luna yell. “I’m doing my best here, but I’m not cut out for this job. The only reason this pack hasn’t fallen apart yet is because of Drew.”

Lily’s eyebrows flew up at her words, realizing that the Alpha of their new pack had basically abandoned his pack and left it to his mate to lead. The Luna had seemed so in control, but she was obviously struggling with the role and buckling under the pressure. She met Finn’s equally shocked eyes as they heard Beth swear and the sound of something crashing against the door. The Luna that had appeared so put together was apparently far from it by the sounds of things.

Lily and Finn shuffled uncertainly outside of the office, but were saved having to knock on the door, when it swung open and revealed a harried looking Beth.

“Finn, Lily, what are you doing here?” she asked them, swallowing nervously and looking like she had been caught doing something wrong.

“If now is a good time, we needed to inform you and Dillan about something,” Finn explained to her. “He should be here in a minute.”

The tired-looking Luna bit her lip and nodded, looking like she was close to falling apart. “Of course. Come in,” she said, gesturing for them to go into the office. “If you don’t mind, I’d like the Beta to join in on the conversation.”

“Yeah, of course,” Lily told her, now knowing just how important the Beta was to the pack, and how much the Luna needed him.

“He’s on his way down anyway, so we can just wait for him and Dillan before we begin,” Beth said, taking a seat behind her desk.

She had slipped back into her mask of control and order, looking like the strong Luna Lily and Finn had met on their first day in Seattle, obviously used to having to hide her true feelings in front of the pack. Lily felt terrible that they were about to add onto the stress she was going through and started to wonder if it was really a good idea. Before she could back out though, they heard voices down the hallway and Dillan and the Beta entered the office together.

“Alright, now that everyone is here, would you like to tell us what’s going on?” Beth asked Lily and Finn once they had all settled into the seats around the room.

“I umm… there’s something you need to know, and we should have probably told you before we arrived here,” Lily told them, her voice shaking with nerves.

“Do you know anything about Alpha Erikson from the Portland pack?” Finn asked, taking over for her.

“Yes, he’s probably one of the most feared and hated Alpha’s in the US,” Beta Drew said. “But what does he have to do with you two?”

“He’s taken an interest in Lily,” Finn told them. “In Hood River, he left her flowers and notes. He attacked us and tried to take her– we fought back but he got away. You need to know that there’s a chance he may come here looking for her.”

The shocked expressions from the other three werewolves were expected, but what Dillan said next was not. “There’s not a f*****g chance in hell that we’ll let him get to her,” he insisted.

“Dillan’s right,” the Beta agreed. “Lily is safe here, and we’ll make sure he can’t get his hands on her.”

“We should have told you sooner,” Lily murmured, feeling guilty that they had put everyone in danger because they hadn’t been sure if they could trust their new pack.

“It’s okay, Lily,” the Luna told her. “You’ve told us now.”

“Is this why you want to train with us so badly?” Dillan asked her.

“Yeah,” Lily sighed. “I wasn’t ready last time, and I need to be able to defend myself if he comes for me again. I don’t know what he wants with me, but I know it can’t be good.”

“Bianca will train you well,” Dillan assured her, “But hopefully it won’t ever come to that. We take care of everyone in our pack, and that includes you now.”

“Thank you,” Lily replied with a watery smile, taken off guard by their reactions– she and Finn had desperately wanted the Seattle pack to become their family, and it looked like that wish was coming true.