Bullied Mate Of The Lycan Kings
Chapter 26

Lily's

POV

I didn't know how long I stayed crying in front of that machine but Ren held me through all of it, from when I was sobbing like a train wreck to when my cries were quieter and by the time I was done, I was more than embarrassed than I had been crying like that. No, the real embarrassment was the fact that Ren had watched me weep like someone had died and I had used his handkerchief to clean my runny nose. His shirt was probably wet from having to put up with my sobbing against his chest. "Here," he said with a gentle smile, offering me his hand and I hesitated, looking up at him. His smile widened and my heart did serious backflips. He was so gorgeous, so ethereally beautiful, he couldn't be real. Golden brown eyes, soft pink lips, delicate facial bone structure and soft white hair.

I swallowed and he nodded at me that it was alright.

Wanting the ground to open and swallow me, I took his hand and as we started walking away, I realized that since I started school here, Ren had always seen me at my worst moments and he was right there, trying to make everything seem better. He was always there trying to pick up my broken pieces. Piecing me together in a way nobody ever has.

Cade.

The voice was a harsh reminder that made my blood turn cold. I shook my head, refusing to give it too much thought. Ren wasn't Cade and he wouldn't treat me the way he had. Right?

I stole a glance at him again, his beauty, almost blinding in the harsh sunlight.

He must really think that I was a total loser right now, I thought and the embarrassment that I felt quadrupled. Standing next to someone that looked perfect like him, I must look a total mess.

"I'm sorry for ruining your lunch." I said softly. "You didn't have to come look for me, but you did."

"And I don't regret it, Lily." He squeezed my hand. "Plus, you did not ruin anything. This pretty much just means that you owe me not one, but two lunch dates now and no, I will not be taking no for an answer."

That made me smile and I nodded

"It's a fair deal."

"I saw that you were trying to get a bus to leave school and I know that it's not much but I can drive you home if you want or to a quiet place. Away from all of this." He gestured towards the air and my smile widened as I nodded.

"A quiet place," I agreed, not feeling like going home and moping around all alone. I really want to hang out with him.

He grinned, linking his fingers through mine as he led me towards the car park and I felt my stomach flip, sudden excitement that we were leaving school even if it was in the middle of a school day.

My eyes widened to saucers when we got to where his car was parked. A spotless white Porsche glistening in the sun. He opened the door for me like the perfect gentleman he was and as he helped me fix my seat belt before jogging to the driver's side of the car to enter, I felt restless.

This car reeked of wealth and the last time I was in anything that was as expensive as this was when I was dating Cade, if you could call what Cade and I had done dating.

I was sure that he didn't see me as anything but an easy lay, a bet that he needed to cross off his bucket list.

I shivered, a dark feeling washing over me as I thought of all we had, all we shared. I had bared my body and soul to him and it left me with egg on my face.

"Are you alright?" Ren's voice dragged me out of my pathetic thoughts and when I feigned a smile, he nodded and started the car.

I could not help it but everytime I was with Ren, I wondered if he was like Cade and if this was nothing but part of a bigger ploy to make me loosen my guard. Cade was a royal and he had enough time and energy to deceive me until I was hanging off to his every word like a fool and Aiden and Zac looked like they were more than capable of doing something that was as demented as that.

Was Ren like that?

No, he stood to gain nothing by being nice to me when his friends were the exact opposite and in fact since he met me, he had been nothing but nice, polite and gentle, not even asking for anything in return.

He had even stood up to his friends because of their attitude and Rhea had told me about how he was at odds with Aiden because he had made me a target on the first day of school. I had seen and felt the tension between them in the cafeteria myself and it sounded like something Ren would do.

He was not like Aiden who was in a class of his own especially because he had no problem hurting Mauve, his best friend's mate.

I gasped when I remembered that Mauve had been hurt too and instead Ren was here with me. She couldn't have been happy knowing that he was coming to find me instead of staying with her and my embarrassment turned to guilt because before I entered Ren's life, he did not have any need to be at odds with his friends and now he was not even with his mate but busy trying to make me feel better.

Perhaps Aiden was right. Maybe I was a walking breathing embodiment of bad luck since bad things seemed to happen to me and I wasted no time sucking people around me in too. Maybe I was better off dead.

"You really should stop thinking like that, Lily." Ren hissed through gritted teeth. "You are not dragging me into anything. I have a mind of my own and I'm choosing you. I'm choosing this moment right here, right now. I choose you, Lily."

My heart fluttered, racing at his chidding tone but heating up at his words.

"And don't say you're unlucky either. Trust me, meeting you has been one of the most interesting moments of my life and I wouldn't change it for the world."

My eyes widened in surprise and when he glanced at me, he shook his head.

"No, I'm not sifting through your thoughts right now. Usually I can turn off my mind reading but the way you're feeling right now, the thoughts in your head, they're are so strong that I'm having a hard time concentrating on anything else. You're literally throwing them at me."

"Oh." I answered and looked at him curiously. From what I knew about him now, he could heal and he could read minds and feel emotions. What else could he do? Wait, if he could read my thoughts, did that mean he heard everything that I was thinking of since I met him.

"Oh." I answered and looked at him curiously. From what I knew about him now, he could heal and he could read minds and feel emotions. What else could he do? Wait, if he could read my thoughts, did that mean he heard everything that I was thinking of since I met him. How embarrassing!

"I like to turn off my powers so don't worry about what I might have heard.I can assure you that most of our conversations have been authentic." He said with a soft laugh and I was about to ask just how he had heard what I was thinking about then when he continued

"Usually, I can pick and choose what thoughts I want to hear but I've realized that some people think more loudly and feel more strongly than others and all these things affect how easy and strongly I can pick up on these things. I can keep my powers on a tight leash but I struggle when the emotions or thoughts of the other person are too loud or too strong."

Nodding in understanding, I turned to really look at him, even more intrigued by the abilities he had.

"And your healing? How do you navigate that?"

"I think it has to do with my fae ancestry. Usually, werewolves from the silver moon pack heal faster than others and are good with herbs and medicine, but I'm the first of my kind that I know of who can transfer my healing powers to someone else and I can freely use my abilities because everyone is just going to tie it to my fae ancestry. I prefer to keep my other powers hidden though and try to to avoid using them if I can, until I understand why I even have them."

Listening with rapt attention, I couldn't help but marvel at how gifted one person could be.

"I wish I had powers too."

He shrugged "Having powers is cool, I guess. There's the good parts. The soul seeing and mind reading... but then there's the dark side that I don't like to talk about."

"Like what?" I asked and he hesitated before he answered.

His hands tightened on the steering wheel for a moment. "If I want, I can control a person's sensory and motor control, stop hearts from beating, stop lungs from functioning, obstruct pain pathways and trap a person in a state of eternal oblivion by knocking out their senses. As long as it's part of the brain functions, I can manipulate it."

And then his face turned grim as he added. "I... I almost killed someone before, an innocent. She had a family. Kids. It was a mistake that I don't want to repeat with someone else."

He looked like thinking about it caused him pain and I fought the urge to reach for his hand. He had a girlfriend. I needed to get real.

I chose to ask another question.

"Are you the only one with abilities that you know about?"

He looked at me and shrugged and even though I knew it meant that he was avoiding the question, I decided to let it go.