We approached the border gates and were met with a guard, Lilah spoke to him, clearly friends with him, laughing with him as she explained they’d been at a friends out in the city and stayed longer than planned so her friends cousin was dropping them off, the guard smiled at her seeming to buy her story and let us through with no issue thankfully as I didn’t have the energy tonight to be honest., Lilah directed Dom toward the house I assume was Rae’s while I tried to stir Rae and Lexi from their deep sleeps, this should be fun. We pulled up to an old red brick cottage with an apple tree in the garden, now the fun was to begin as neither Lexi or Rae was for waking. I looked to Lilah for help, “Rae has a brother I could call him…..” she suggested looking to her phone, I stepped out of the car to go round to try to wake Lexi. I opened the door, bending down, I could see Lexi snoring away, mouth wide open just like my mama did when she was fast asleep, I shook her again, trying to slide her out of the seat, as I did she moved her arm quickly, I’m guessing to steady herself but in the process she hit me upside my head, and then she fell in a heap on the floor, pulling me with her as she went. She was now laughing hysterically, well she was awake now at least…, Lilah was stood outside the car looking down at us, laughing too “see you woke her” she said with a grin “Rae’s brother Archie is on his way now to help get them in” she explained., “Help me up then Lil” I said knowing it wouldn’t be giving the best impression to a male from a different pack seeing me laid out on the floor, taken down by a drunk female., She held her hand out to me, a small part of me was tempted to pull her down to join Lexi and I on the ground for laughing at us, but I knew Rae’s brother was on his way, so I pulled myself up, and then went to lift Lexi by her armpits and lean her against the car. She was slowly sliding, s**t she’d drunk far too much tonight and definitely needed to sleep it off. I could see a tall guy striding down the path of the house, the same dark hair and facial features as Rae, “hey Lilah” he smiled “you had fun?”, Lilah smiled back at him, “hey Archie, you ok? Yeah we had fun, but think these two are a little tipsy”, This guy, Archie laughed a deep, genuine laugh, looking at Lexi who was sliding down the car, despite me trying to hold her up. “They’re good at that. Nothing I didn’t do, is all good I’ll get them in, you get yourself home Lilah, you taking her?” He looked to me., I went to answer, but Lilah interrupted “nah is ok I can walk” a frown crossed the face of Archie as well as mine, he clearly had the same concerns as me of her walking across the pack alone in the middle of the night., “Lilah I told Knox I’d get you all back to your homes” I said. The frown on Archie’s face eased., “Yeah he is right Lilah, you shouldn’t be walking on your own this late, if you don’t want him to take you back let me drop these two in bed and I can drive you round”, I know this guy meant well and was trying to help his fellow pack member but I couldn’t let that happen, as Knox wanted me to make sure they all got into their houses, he’d be pissed off with me if I left her with a guy I didn’t know even if Lilah seems to trust him and he was obviously the brother of Rae but as I was about to speak she spoke instead “it’s fine I’ll go back with Gabe, you’re in your PJs, and besides you’ll have your hands full with these two Archie” she smiled., “lets help…” she moved toward Lexi and Archie did too, “come on Lexi Loo” he laughed as he went to help her up “you been drinking all the beer again?”, “Hey Arch! It’s you! Did you you come for a drink?” Lexi slurred., I couldn’t help but laugh at my cousin, she clearly stayed here often when drinking as her and Archie seemed familiar with each other and he was obviously used to seeing her tipsy. I grinned at Lilah who was trying her hardest not to laugh., “Hmm I think you’ve had enough to drink Lex wouldn’t you say? I’m here to help get you and Rae-Rae into the house because I hear you’ve been drinking a little bit too much again”, Lexi looked at him feigning shock “me?!” Her mouth opened wide before continuing ” you know im a good girl Archie, I only had a little bit to drink”, This girl was unreal, and such a lightweight, much like my mama and my auntie, definitely a family trait in the women in our family., “Let’s get you inside” he led her inside while Lilah went to help Dom wake Rae who was still in the back of the car, clearly he’d had no luck waking her and had given up, so Dom was lifting her so he could carry her to the house for Archie., Lilah grabbed Rae’s bag and followed him with me not far behind. We met Archie at the door, he gave Dom a glare seeing him holding his sister “we couldn’t wake her” Lilah explained., “No worries” Archie said reaching to take his sister from Dom’s arms, “someone will be feeling rough tomorrow” he laughed. “Thanks Lilah, I got this, you get yourself home, you be ok?” He motioned his head toward me., I didn’t appreciate what he was potentially implying but I guess I should be grateful he was looking out for Lilah., “Yeah sure, it’s Lexi’s cousin” she explained which seemed to put Archie’s mind at ease as he walked inside the house with his sister fast asleep in his arms, kicking the door shut with his foot., Dom had already walked back to the car and was sat waiting for us, I opened the door for Lilah to get in, amazed that she too hadn’t passed out like her friends., “Right where is Indie’s house? Will her parents mind you getting in so late?” I ask Lilah looking at my watch to see it is nearing 2.30am., “Oh Indie lives on her own” she explained, which I found odd when Indie couldn’t be much older than Lexi and Lexi had only shifted last year. “her house is out toward the pack borders” she said, leaning forward to explain to Dom where to drive, while I sat taking in what she’d said, puzzled why Indie lived alone when she couldn’t be much older than 18, 19 at a push, until today she hadn’t found her mate, you’d expect her to stay with her parents or be in the pack house, I might have to ask Lexi sometime…., We drove through the pack, obviously it was quiet with it being so early, though I knew the pack was normally bustling when we visited Lexi and her family. The amount of buildings and homes were dwindling as we headed toward where I assumed Indie’s house was. We pulled up to a small stone cottage, surrounded by a small garden, pretty much isolated from the pack…. Surely this couldn’t be Indie’s house?, “We’re here” Lilah said, confirming my doubts, as she slid toward the door. I followed, I wasn’t sure about leaving her here on her own…., “Thanks for the lift” she smiled to Dom, and then looked to me as she got out of the car, I stepped out after her “was nice to meet you tonight Gabe” she smiled awkwardly, obviously not sure how to say goodbye., “Can I come in Lilah?” I asked, not wanting to leave her just yet, wanting to check there was nobody there shouldn’t be in the house. I knew that Knox would expect me to as well., I’M GOING IN WITH HER DOM I mind link him, I NEED TO CHECK IT’S SAFE, I DIDN’T KNOW THE HOUSE WAS SO ISOLATED AND SHE’S PLANNING TO STAY ON HER OWN. ALPHA ASKED ME TO MAKE SURE SHE GOT BACK SAFELY, BUT I DON’T FEEL RIGHT LEAVING HER HERE ON HER OWN., TOO RIGHT GABE he immediately linked back I’LL STAY OUT HERE AND KEEP WATCH, MAY E SEE IF SHE WANTS TO GO BACK TO HER PARENTS, IF NOT MAYBE CRASH ON THE SOFA, I’M SURE IF YOU EXPLAINED TO ALPHA, HE’D SURELY AGREE IT WAS THE SAFER THING TO DO., “Oh sure” Lilah interrupted my mind linking , as she spoke. She walked down the path toward the small cottage, a quirky stone building with a pale blue door and window frames painted in the same shade., She reached into her bag for a key, and opened the door, I put my hand onto her shoulder to stop her “let me” I pushed past to let myself in first so I could check the house was secure before she walked in as I wouldn’t be happy until I’d checked it., Lilah flicked on the light switches as she followed me, entering into a small lounge area, with a purple sofa and an armchair in the same rich purple shade with bright multicolour throws over them, there was a breakfast bar to the left overlooking the lounge which led off the kitchen was a small area, with a few mint green cupboards., This Indie sure had some weird taste in style….but I could see the area was clear so moved round the house to what I assumed would be the dining room flicked on the light and was taken back by the amount of canvases and art work in there, “wow” I muttered., “Ah Indie is an artist in case you didn’t guess” Lilah called in from the lounge ” every spare space is covered with paints or canvases. One of the reasons she wanted her own space” I glanced at the artwork before I turned off the light, her work was amazing, a real mixture of portraits, pop art styles, and a few landscape thrown in., There were two more doorways down the hall I needed to check as it looked like the whole house was just the one level, the first was the bathroom which was just a standard classic old marble bathroom Indie obviously hadn’t decided to mess with, other than a few of what I assume where her paintings on the wall., I closed the door quietly before checking the last room, the bedroom, quite a small room, mainly taken up by a big bed, covered in a cosy looking patchwork quilt. One wall was covered with a mural, of a forest with a wolf howling to the moon, I wondered if Indie had painted it, the others were painted a simple silvery grey colour. Making it feel an almost spiritual atmosphere to the room, but I felt I was maybe invading Indie’s privacy with it being her room so I slowly walked out and closed the door, content with the fact I had checked the house was safe., Search the website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.