Reaper's Lily

2

Kaiden's P.O.V:

I only watched her for a few minutes at a time, trying to understand why she was afraid of a simple touch. Had that time she spent with that parasite really fuck her up that bad? I got a nod from Liam that he had made sure the girls knew to come to the bouncers if one of the customers got to handsy with them. It was something that unfortunately Liliana—no, Lily never listened to. She hated being touched, yet she didn't get bothered by it if she was fighting off drunk college boys. Yes, the girl that I was so intrigued by was known to be a fighter and according to Liam, she was the only one in her family that ever fought.

I was so grateful to Liam for being a friend of the family. I didn't want to seem stalker-ish to her, so naturally, I'd get more details about her from one of my brother's girl, Aimee if I were guessing her name right, and Liam when I'd be "visiting family" in Texas or away from town. It was hard to think about leaving her but with the big council meeting coming up, my adoptive parents and grandparents made it clear they wanted all three of us—myself and my brothers—to be there for it.

Watching her one more time as I faked looking at the board for the sections of the girls, I saw Lily helping Liam behind the bar. He was trying to get her to crack even the smallest of smiles, but she only gave him a dull blank look. It pained me to see the emotionless state she was in ninety percent of the time. The other ten showed how tired she was. At first, when I saw her again after that night, I just assumed she hadn't slept enough, or she put on too much makeup. Liam had only told me her natural look had adapted to the dark circles around her eyes along with the bags that proved she must've been living off only two to three hours of sleep a day.

I kicked my own ass every single night I saw her. I really should've listened to my brothers that night and had taken her to Texas with us instead of leaving her here in her home state. I thought if I'd just left her here, with her family, she would've been healing a lot better. I was wrong. She was broken down and a complete husk of the person she once was according to Liam and her eldest sibling. Their accounts of her before she was taken had been that Lily wasn't the all bubbly and cheerful person, but she did smile a lot more. She loved music, even was into cooking and baking, but now she stayed in her home until it was time for her to come to work, or to go see her family when they'd drag her out her house.

With the night going on, I saw Lily more and more helping Liam behind the bar if her section was not busy. Normally, I'd be the one helping Liam, but he only gave me signals to stay back. Liam was like myself and my brothers. A hunter and he even mentored us when we started while he was in Texas for a few years. Nate didn't have the training as bad as Jace and I did. Nate was a full hunter with no half of any other super but his IQ was high, and it made him more irreplaceable to Jace and I. Jace was descended from a werewolf bloodline along with his hunter abilities. He never found a pack even after being adopted, so in the werewolf world, he was technically a rouge that turned into one of the top hunters in the state of Texas.

I was something else from my brothers. My birth mother failed to tell the family that adopted me that I was part of a very rare bloodline. One that showed signs every one thousand years. I was half grim reaper. I had the strengths and speed everyone with a hint of demon in them wished for, so I was rare. The first time I fully showed off the reaper, I had accidentally killed someone during a cage match. Nate blamed himself for pushing me into the match after I was already pissed off, but I never did blame him. No one did. They all blamed me for not controlling my temper better. All Jace did was joke that I was part of the hot-headed club to defuse the tension.

I heard a small scream, feeling the small fear as I snapped my head up to see someone knock the tray of drinks out of Lily's hands by a frat kid. I felt my feet storming me to her side when I glanced to see Liam signaling to wait. He probably saw something I didn't then I saw the eyes glow slightly. The amber color of a wolf. Shit! I only motioned for Jace to come with me as Nate nodded to watch from afar. The wolf was already in Lily's face, screaming something about not having a mate, but she only shoved him away from her.

"How dare you sway your ass to me and not let me fuck you? I don't care if I have a mate, Todd!" The wolf was snarling at everyone in sight, and I looked to see Lily's emotionless face slowly start to piss the wolf off more.

Lily only asked, her voice completely numb to the danger that was in front of her, "Are you done bitching yet?"

"You little bitch!" The wolf grabbed her bicep, making her jump in fear, and I grabbed his wrist when I got close enough.

I ripped his hand off her, holding his wrist, and watched him stare at me in shock as I tried to control the anger in my voice, "Hands off my girl, mutt."

"You're—"

"Not here," Jace said low enough for the wolves to hear only.

I looked back at Lily, she was holding her bicep, and asked her, "You okay?"

She only nodded, avoiding my hand that was reached out to check her arm, and said under breath, "Thanks, um...person."

She didn't remember my name. That was a low blow to my ego I'd deal with later. I only twisted the wolf's wrist enough to feel it pop, shoving him into Jace. Jace took the wolf out, and I looked at the others. They only flinched away cowardly, and I glanced down to see Lily slowly picking up the bigger pieces of glass. I bent down, finding the smaller ones, then grabbed the tray from her. I carried it to the back as she grabbed a broom with Liam now taking over talking to the frat boys. I came from the back to see Nate motioning for me to head out, and I gave a nod. I looked to see Lily giving the group their drinks and she looked at me. She only gave a small smile—wait, she was giving me a smile?!

I winked back, watching her face turning red, then hurried out. I walked around to the jeep in the parking lot, seeing Jace holding the wolf in a headlock, and hurried to them. The wolf was trying to fight back from shifting, and Jace only shouted at him to stop shifting.

"Damn, you're a wiggly pup! Would you stop trying to shift already?!" Jace growled.

"I'm sorry! Don't tell my alpha!" The wolf wiggled around and broke away from Jace. I caught him by his throat, making him look at me, and he shivered as he said, "You're that hunter! The one that killed a whole nest of vamps and some wolves within a few hours."

"He did have help!" Jace snapped.

The wolf looked at us in fear when I shoved him back, and he coward as he apologized, "I'm so sorry! I didn't know she belonged to any of you! If I knew—"

"Jace, I thought mates were everything to you wolves," I said, and looked at my brother.

Jace nodded, "Yeah, they're our lifeline. Why are you trying to be a cheatin' bastard to your mate, pup?"

"Well...she's—"

"Sayin' she's not what you wanted ain't the right answer either," Jace stopped him before he could start.

The wolf swallowed hard, and said, "A vamp came by the pack house. He said he'd pay one of us a lot of money if we got that girl and took her to some motel just outside of town. My alpha said if we listened to him, he'd kill us or have us kicked out and make us rouge."

"Smart wolf," I grunted.

The wolf looked at Jace and begged, "You're a wolf, man. You know how alphas are."

"Considering I do come from a line of alphas, yes I know," Jace scoffed, and the wolf's eyes went wide in fear. Jace nodded to his silent question, and said, "Yeah, I'm Alpha Jason Hale. This is my brother, Kaiden Alcantara, and the other one that's keeping watch on the girl is Nathan Larsen."

"But you three run Texas! What are you—oh Goddess! That girl is your soulmate, isn't she Alpha?" The wolf dropped to his knees.

"No," Jace and I both said in unison.

I glared at the wolf, "She's mine. Jace, take this mutt to his alpha. I'll cover for you to Liam and Aimee."

"I'll get you those ghost pepper wings, boss," Jace grinned ear to ear, and yanked the wolf up by his collar. Jace tossed him into his jeep, knocking the pup out, then glared at his jeep as he snarled, "Damned pup! Now it's going to take me two weeks to get this dent out."

I only scoffed,smirking as I headed back in, and looked around to see Lily back behind the barwith Liam pouring drinks. She looked at me, watching me, and I only smirked ather again as I walked towards Nate. Her cheeks flushed a deep crimson red, getting me to chuckle, and Nate only told me about talking to her again. I planned on it. Maybe when this shift ended, I'd get to tell her my name and talk to her more.