Chapter 5. Lilly

"Get your lazy ass up!" Lilly demanded, her shrill voice making me groan; flopping onto my stomach, I pulled her pillow over my head, hoping to silence her.

"No!" I grumbled, images of Knox and I last night still floating around my head, making my thighs ache, and pussy clench deliciously. I could deny it as much as I like, but no male has ever had me feeling as alive as Knox! It pissed me off beyond belief that the male that had managed to ignite such a fire in my core was so bloody undesirable!

"Char! Come on!" Lilly groaned, pulling the sheet off me; the cold air assaulting my body had my nipples hardening further against the soft fabric of Lilly's Pj's. "It's my big day! I need my best friend at my side!" She complained, but the edge to her tone told me she was not about to give up any time soon.

"Fine! I am up!" I grumbled, throwing the pillow in the direction Lilly's voice came from while pulling myself up. Smelling strong coffee, I smiled sleepily over at Lilly, the last remnants of my dream and her sexy brother slowly fading from my mind as I took the coffee she handed me.

"Are you ok? You're very flush! You're not getting sick, are you?" She puffed, taking a step back as if I had the plague.

"I dunno, sleeping with your best friend's brother is kinda sick!" Sage grinned, teasing me.

"I didn't sleep with Knox!" I huffed, sipping my coffee and ignoring my melodramatic best friend and pain-in-the-ass wolf.

"I can't get sick today, Char!" Lilly moaned, watching me as she handed me a mirror to show me how red-faced I was, dropping it on the bed, not needing to look to know I was blushing.

"It's just from a bad dream!" I assured her, hoping to drink the rest of my coffee in peace.

"Well, you aren't lying! You were terribly... bad... in those dreams! Very bad indeed! I mean the way you spread your legs and let him nuzzle that handsome face between them!" Sage whispered seductively in my mind.

"Charlotte! Are you ok? You're shaking?" Lilly inhaled, taking the coffee cup from my hands before I dropped it. Her hand pressed to my forehead sympathetically. "Charlotte?"

"Do you think he will be as skilled with his tongue as you imagine him to be?" Sage continued, making me blush further. "Lord knows he was good with his.."

"Enough!" I screamed at my wolf, cutting our link off so I could focus and calm my trembling hands and racing heart. The concern on Lilly's face startled me back to reality.

"I am ok! Honestly!"I muttered, shaking my head at the images Sage had interjected into my mind on a loop.

"You haven't caught one of those human bugs, have you?" Lilly's face was pulled into a mask of distress.

"I should tell her! In the 18 years we have been friends, I have never lied to her! I don't feel right doing so now!" I stated guiltily to Sage, only to remember I had cut her off- and for good reason too!

I knew exactly what she would say on the matter, too: Dick, dick and more dick!

It seemed since we left Knox's room, it was all she could think of! And a certain male's dick in particular.

Sucking down my breath, seeing Lilly's frantic eyes searching my face needily. Today was her big day! She had been dreaming of this day for as long as I had known her, finding her mate, making it official and making her family and pack proud.

It was what Lilly had been bred for!

I, on the other hand, needed more! I needed the rawest form of love, trust and security, all of which was something Knox could not offer me! The thought cemented what I already knew; It was a one-off! Despite how glorious his dick felt rubbing up against me. Sighing, I softened my features, ignoring the aching between my thighs.

"I think the last 24 hours have caught up with me, seeing Mike and that trollop in my bed! That's all!" I expressed lying to her face for the second time in a few hours.

"I'm sorry, Char; he really is a piece of shit! Want me to ask Knox and Kane to give him a good hiding." Shaking my head dramatically with a nervous laugh, I gripped her hands and pulled her onto the bed, ignoring her protests.

"NO!" It's embarrassing enough that I caught them having sex in my bed; I don't want the whole pack talking about it!" I groaned, grabbing the pillow and throwing it at her with an arched brow. "And it's not like your brothers don't like a good gossip as much as the next or are short of bedfellows for pillow talk!" I admitted rolling my eyes at the jealousy eating at me.

"Hmmm, yeah, I understand that!" She chuckled, throwing the pillow back at me as she got back off the bed, holding her hand out to pull me up.

"But if he becomes a bother! I will tell them! I know you think they don't care about you, Charlotte, but they see you as a little sister! They won't stand for his bullshit!" She expressed, looking at me in the mirror as she fixed her hair. I could feel her eyes stalking my features, hoping I was taking note.

"Lord, I hope they don't see you as a sister! Not sure how I feel about incest!" Sage grunted, working her way through the barrier I had put up. "Although... I am up for calling Knox Daddy if you are?" She added with a wiggle of those thick brows of hers.

"Way to lower the tone, sage!" I huffed, ignoring her like before as I helped Lilly prepare for her big day!

Two hours later, we were making our way through an empty pack house; Alpha Leigh had seen to it that no one would see his daughter until the ceremony, so not a single person remained in the pack house but Lilly and I.

"Are you not nervous?" I asked; standing at the back doors, I squeezed her hand. She looked beautiful! But then Lilly always did; her Alexander Mcqueen wedding dress was fit for royalty, which was accurate given that Lilly was mated to the heir to the Meadow Pack, with their ancient ties to royalty among the Lycan community. Lilly would bring power and title to her and our pack through this ceremony.

"No, just excited!" She whispered, pushing the doors open to peek out at the beautifully decorated garden with its subtle nod to the pack's colours: white and blue tulips lined the cobbled path, and above, suspended like bunting, hung the stunning white and blue jasmine vines that I know Luna had shipped especially for today, wanting to show respect to her daughters intended but more so the Luna of The Meadow pack, word had it they were her favourite flower. No expense had been spared for today! Everything was perfect and precise! Like Lilly!,

"Wow, it's stunning." I gushed as the door heaved open, and Alpha Leigh stepped in, his eyes falling on his daughter and blurring with tears instantly in a way only a proud father could.

"Told you, you looked beautiful!" I grinned, nudging Lilly's hip with mine seeing him try not to cry at the sight of his daughter in her ceremonial dress.

"You like Daddy?" She screeched, turning slowly to show him what his money had brought. It was an exquisite dress, floor length, made with the softest of silk-like her bridesmaids; it had a deep V cut out the front down to her navel, the area had been filled with lace, the pack's crest embroidered onto it in the staple azure blue. The back was open, showing off her beautiful tanned skin, lines of crystals again in the staple Azure colour ran across her shoulder, attaching at each shoulder to hold her dress in place, it was a very contemporary dress, and she pulled it off perfectly but definitely a little low cut for my tastes, but it screamed Lilly!

"You look like a princess!" He gushed, straightening no doubt in an attempt to control his emotions; his eyes scanned me with a warm smile, looking at my dress with a chuckle.

"I half expected you to turn up in yoga pants and a hoodie Charlotte!" He teased with an affectionate wink. He was right, of course; I lived in training and gym clothes. When your Father was the Beta, you tended to spend the majority of your time training.

"Daddy!" Lilly scolded, "Don't encourage her! It took me weeks to bribe her into the dress!" She scoffed, popping her hip out, giving me a firm stare.

"Ooo, Bribe? What is it costing me, huh!" He chuckled, pulling his pouting daughter to his side and looking at her one last time!

"Her firstborn child is being called Charlotte!" I grinned up at him, satisfied with myself.

"And if it's a boy?" He laughed, shaking his head at our antics.

"Still, Charlotte!" I giggled playfully.

"Charlotte, can you excuse us a moment, I would like a minute with my baby before...." He whispered, his voice cutting off as his eyes locked on his daughter with such love.

"She will always be your baby girl!" I whispered, leaning up on my tiptoes to press a soft kiss to my alphas cheek; he was like a second father to me and seeing him so overwhelmed at the sight of Lilly was very out of character for him, even behind closed doors he always seemed to favour the twins.

Winking at my best friend before slipping out the doors and into a solid form and familiar scent, I groaned audibly; even Sage was finally waking up, sensing the danger.