Chapter 0060
(Lily POV)
James wants to see me? After everything that has happened? No, absolutely not. No way.
Apparently, Brady is thinking the same thing I am. Before I can say anything beyond “no,” he speaks up
again.
“Dad, how could you even suggest that Lily meet with that a&&hole after everything that he has done?”
Brady asks, not even trying to mask the disgust that he feels.
“I never suggested that she meet with him, Son. I simply informed you that he asked.”
“But you were going to suggest it. Why else bring it up?” Brady asks accusingly.
Dr. Hyder sighs and runs his hand through his salt and pepper hair.
“Why would he want to see me? Does he still think I need to be punished? Does he want to hurt me
some more?” I try to hide the pain in my voice as I ask these questions, but I am not sure how successful
I am.
Brady growls, grabs my hand, and turns to me. “Lily, I will never let him hurt you again. I promise.”
Dr. Hyder gives Brady a look.
“I do not believe that he wants to hurt you, Lily,” Dr. Hyder explains. “I believe that he is regretting his prior
actions.”
“A little too late, if you ask me,” Brady retorts bitterly.
“Given your history, Brady, that is a very interesting comment for you to make,” Dr. Hyder says in a
mocking tone.
I give Brady a questioning look, but his attention is now focused on glaring at his father.
“I learned my lesson. I will not make the same mistake again,” Brady says pointedly.
“Perhaps James has learned his lesson as well.”
“That is not what you said the first time he asked where she was.
First time? James asked before? When was that? Why did no one tell me?
Dr. Hyder says nothing, so Brady continues.
“You know as well as I do that what James did to Lily is far, far worse than what I did to Evelyn. You refused to talk to me for six months afterwards, and even today you continue to taunt me with it every chance you get. But it has been what, six weeks for James? And yet here you are, defending him.”
“Who is Evelyn?” I ask.
They both ignore me.
Dr. Hyder stands up and puts his hands on the desk angrily. “You were raised to respect the mate bond. You were taught that females are to be valued and respected. You had no excuse for your behavior. You!
knew better.”
Brady lets go of my hand and stands up to face his father. They are now standing eye to eye, glaring at
each other. The tension between these two alpha wolves could be cut with a knife. I have no idea what
is going on.
“Was I misguided and st upid? Yes, I admit that. I will regret the decision that I made every day for the
rest of my life. But James made mistakes that are unforgivable, no matter who his parents are. He
should not need to be taught that intentionally cheating on his mate to cause her pain is wrong. Nor
should he need to be taught that blindly supporting people who beat their own child is nothing short of
blasphemy!”
I gasp. I have never talked to Dr. Hyder or Brady about what my mother did to me. Did they somehow
find out, or is Brady referring to something else?
I
“Stand down, Son, I am warning you. This does not concern you.”
“YOU STAND DOWN, FATHER. I AM THE ALPHA HERE, NOT YOU. LILY IS IN MY PACK, AND AS FAR AS I
AM CONCERNED, SHE IS ONE OF MY PACK MEMBERS. THAT MAKES WHAT HAPPENS TO HER MY
BUSINESS.”
This is quickly getting out of hand. I am worried that one of them will throw a punch. I gently place my
hand on Brady’s arm. “Brady….”
The small gesture seems to snap Brady out of a trance. He looks at me with surprise, as though he had
forgotten that I was there.
“Lily, sweetheart, why don’t you go upstairs and relax for a while. My father and I need to talk, alone.”
“But Brady, I-”
“It is fine, Lily. We are not going to do anything. We are just going to talk. I promise, it will not go further than that,” Dr. Hyder says in a reassuring tone.
I look back and forth between them. “If this has something to do with me and James-”
“No, Lily. It doesn’t. We do need to talk about that a&&hole’s request, but we can do that later. Right
I
now, it seems that my father and I have another fight that we need to finish.”
