CHAPTER 6 The Rumors

Fear. Betrayal. Sadness.

This was not what he expected.

'Am I in the right room?' Garrett thought as he entered the room slowly.

Rumors were that Lily was no better than her sister Brandy that she too had stepped out on the mate bond. It made Garrett's skin crawl as he realized he had no choice but to be tied to this woman. So, he was shocked to feel how apprehensive she was towards him.

A woman like that would be afraid of him. She would be excited to see him. He half expected to be pounced on. However, the reality was that he was faced with a she-wolf that did not want anything to do with him.

"What have I said about involving me in your affairs?" Garrett growled into his phone after his father told him of the alliance with the Blue Creek Pack. "You already have what you wanted. Leave me out of it."

"Do you really think you have a say in anything pup? You are still on my terf. You will do as I command you to," Alpha Jack responded nonchalantly which caused Garrett to become angrier.

"You pompous…" Garrett stopped in mid sentence to compose himself. After taking a breath, he continued.  "I did not agree to this. I told you to not interfere in my life!

"I am your father, your Alpha even though you want to deny it. It is within my right to do what is best for you. But, by all means, leave. Denounce yourself from the pack," Alpha Jack stated smugly. "But, let me remind you that that would mean we will be going to court as 80% of all your businesses are partly owned by the pack."

"What are you on, old man? Every business deal I made was with my own money.  I made sure of that," Garrett responded.

"Check with your accountant. I own you and you will do what I tell you boy!" Alpha Jack declared while chuckling.

Garrett swiftly hung up, fired his accountant, and began his research as he never went into a business arrangement without knowing who his partner was. To say he was disgusted would have been an understatement. This was not an alliance for power. It was an alliance for money.

Alpha Kenneth Bray was a deplorable man for more reasons than he could count and all of this started because he was short on money. His youngest daughter, Brandy's, gambling addiction had gotten out of hand and he spent almost his entire fortune paying off Brandy's debt. Kenneth took a loan from a loan shark and now, the loan shark wanted to collect.

Kenneth had to repay with interest on money he didn't have. And if he did now, the loan shark would take ownership of his businesses and land. This would lead to so many issues, so Kenneth came up with the idea to persuade Alpha Jack to choose Brandy over Lily as the new Luna. It almost didn't work as Alpha Jack didn't care about Lily not being an Alpha; however, after finding out Brandy was pregnant with Matthew's pup, Jack agreed to it.

'Perhaps the rumors were not true,' Berric, Garrett's wolf, said.

'Perhaps,' Garrett agreed as he could see the trembling form in bed. He couldn't see her face as she was hiding underneath the quilt.

Garrett lifted the quilt off her slowly. He caressed her arm, noticing the bruises, but Lily shrank away from his touch. When he attempted to touch her again, Lily slapped his hand away.

"You… you could at least introduce yourself," Lily stammered out.

Garrett chuckled before removing his hand and said, "I am Garrett, but you already know that. Are you afraid, Lily?"

His voice was low and husky. If she were in a different situation, Lily would have thought his voice sounded good. But in her current state of high mental tension, he sounds like a monster.

"Yes, I am a little scared, but I can get past it," Lily responded with a nod as she trembled in fear.

"I'll turn on the light. Maybe that will help," Garrett suggested. He leaned to the left to touch the switch on the wall, but Lily grabbed his hand tightly.

"Don't..." Lily begged. She didn't think it would make it better. She was already nervous, as is. If he genuinely was disgusting to look at, Lily didn't think she could go through with this.

Garrett remained still for a while before moving closer to Lily on the bed. He began stroking the side of her face. Garrett then cupped her face lovingly as he tried to ease her fear.

"Sir, it's my first time. Can you be gentle?" Lily asked humbly.

"Seriously?" Garrett responded in disbelief.

"Why is that so shocking? I wanted to wait until marriage," Lily snapped, overcoming the fear for a moment as she was slightly offended. However, her fear came back with full force as she felt Garrett's hand shifting from her face.

Garrett's fingers went down from checks to her slender neck, over her collarbone, and drifted over her chest. He leaned forward with his nose in the crook of her neck. Garrett inhaled and his eyes widened in shock. 'She's telling the truth!' Berric exclaimed in a happy yip.

Lily sucked in her breath as she became stiff toward Garrett's touch. Her hands clenched the sheets as if she was going to rip through them.  She began to focus on her breathing to keep from hyperventilating.

"Do you know what it means to lie here with me tonight?" Garrett questioned.

"It means I'm... yours from now on," Lily answered softly.

Garrett chuckled again and said, "You don't have to treat yourself like an object, especially since I am not trying to do that."

Lily didn't know what to say to that and remained quiet. This clearly was a transactional situation. She didn't expect love or anything else from him.

"I need a wife, not a plaything. You need money. We can help each other," Garrett continued while he held her hand tightly.