Enigma

Chapter 10

She's not strong enough.

The veil of shock blanketing Lillian's mind tore open. Those whispered words fanned the embers of her fire. Fury. Her body trembled from the previous rush of adrenaline, but she clamped down on her fear and got her shit together.

She raised her gaze to glare at the man who thought he had the right to judge her. How dare he? Not strong enough! She had been through more than he could imagine even before becoming part of their lives. He had no damn right. Arrogant, inconsiderate ass.

A flicker of emotion in those amber eyes. Hope? Relief? she didn't give a damn. She was furious and scared. The leash she kept on her fear kept slipping and she hated it.

"Go to hell." Spoken through gritted teeth, her words barely made sense. Lillian shakily to her feet. Her stupid body wouldn't stop quivering, but she ignored Noah's offered hand and stood on her own.

Noah followed suit, towering over her. She kept her glare on his impassive eyes. Though the sun was still absent, the sky had lightened considerably, making the gore around her more vivid.

"Hey, you okay?"

Lillian jumped, her eyes shifting to Jake's approaching form. He wasn't wearing a shirt. His hand was crimson, dripping blood.

He also wasn't wearing pants.

Somehow, only the last realization stuck to Lillian's mind. She squeaked. "Why are you naked?"

She turned her gaze away from Jake, her face flushing. But then her eyes fell on Noah.

"Oh my God!" She all but screamed, covering her face with her hands. "What is wrong with you people?! At least put some damn pants on!"

A choked laugh came from Jake's direction. Footsteps crunched on the grass, then a rustle of clothes. Lillian winced when she realized the tender skin of her palms was mostly peeled off.

"Okay. You can look now," Jake said, his voice light. When she looked at him, he was barely holding in his grin. And he was wearing shorts. Thank goodness.

"Where did you get those?" she asked, aware of Noah crouching near one of the dead wolves.

"We keep pieces of clothing in tree burrows scattered around the territory," Jake replied as Noah walked back to them.

"Get the rogues' bodies out of here, run a sweep around the territory and see if you pick up any other scents. I'll go back to the pack village and contact Benjamin, the attack was too close to his border."

Jake nodded, then hesitated. "What about the troll?"

Noah shifted his gaze to hers. "When did the troll arrive?"

"After I was attacked," Lillian frowned. "Are there other shapeshifters here? Deers?"

"No," Jake replied with a frown of his own. "It's wolf territory, and there are no deer shapeshifters in the U.S. Why?"

"Are you sure?" Lillian asked. She was certain the white stag was too big to be just a normal animal, although it didn't feel like a shapeshifter...

Jake nodded.

"There was this white stag, it appeared before the troll then left afterward," she said. Jake and Noah exchanged alarmed looks.

"A white stag?" Noah asked. "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure." Lillian swallowed, happy to ignore the gory scene surrounding her by recounting what had happened. "And it was huge. Like, really huge, I think around ten feet without counting the antlers' height."