Betrayed and Claimed by the Lycan King Chapter 286

Ezra's POV

I settled into the passenger seat and fastened my seatbelt, my eyes immediately drawn to Orion behind the wheel. Something was off about him—he'd been wearing this stupid grin ever since I got in the car.

"What's with that idiotic smile on your face?" I asked directly, not in the mood for games.

"Nothing," he replied, but the smile only widened.

I fixed him with a serious stare. "Don't play games with me."

He raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, fine."

I waited, watching his face carefully. Orion wasn't one to smile without reason, especially not after the chaos of the past few days.

"I'm just really happy you didn't bring her back to your penthouse," he said finally.

"My penthouse?" I frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Lillian," he clarified. "When you asked me to prepare an apartment for her, I was relieved. I honestly thought you were going to bring her back to your penthouse to live with you."

The idea hit me like a punch to the gut. "Bring her back to my penthouse? That sounds so fucking foreign to me. I never even had that thought." The words came out harsher than I intended. "Bring Lillian back to my penthouse to live with me? I would never do that!"

I leaned forward, needing him to understand. "If I tell you that thought never crossed my mind, not even for a second, would you believe me?"

Orion looked genuinely surprised. "Oh... that's kind of hard to believe."

"The thought of it makes my mind spin," I admitted, running a hand through my hair. "If I brought Lillian back to my penthouse and Isolde found out, everything would fall apart."

"Exactly," Orion nodded, that stupid smile still plastered on his face. "That's why I'm happy you didn't do it."

I leaned back in my seat, studying Orion's expression. Something deeper was going on here, and I could sense it.

"Tell me, Orion," I said, my voice sharpening. "Why do you hate Lillian so much?"

The smile vanished from his face, replaced by confusion and discomfort. "I hate Lillian? Where is this coming from?"

"Why don't you want me to bring her back to my penthouse?"

"Because I don't think she's right for you," he said firmly. "I don't trust her yet. This has nothing to do with hating her. I don't hate her."

I felt a pang of guilt. "Okay. Sorry, I'm overthinking things."

"It's fine," Orion said, his tone understanding. "I get it."

I took a deep breath, organizing my thoughts. "We just had a very serious conversation."

Orion perked up with interest. "That sounds good. Did she tell you anything useful?"

"She didn't talk about her past. We just talked about us, and..." I paused, remembering Lillian's questions and the tone of entitlement in her voice.

"And what?" Orion pressed, impatience creeping into his voice.

I thought back to our conversation, particularly the two pointed questions she'd asked me. There had been something in her manner, a sense of ownership, like she had every right to demand answers about my life.

"She's back, and she's back for me," I said slowly. "She clearly wants us to get back together."

"What did she ask you?" Orion wanted to know.

I met his eyes. "She asked me some very disturbing questions, Orion."

"If you want to share, I'm all ears."

I took two deep breaths, then recounted the entire conversation in detail. As I spoke, I watched Orion's expression grow darker.

When I finished, Orion was frowning like an angry bear, shaking his head in disapproval.

"She wants back in," he said flatly. "She absolutely wants back into your life, and when she finds out about your second chance mate Isolde, there's going to be trouble."

"Big trouble," I agreed.

"You know you can't have both women, right?" Orion's voice was serious now.

"I'm not even planning to do that!" I shot back.

"Then you have to make a choice, and fast!"

I shook my head. "I don't want to make any hasty decisions, Orion. The Moon Goddess made this happen for a reason. I need to find out that reason before I make any decisions."

"That's why we need to start investigating Lillian right now," Orion said, his voice gaining intensity.

He was right, and I knew it. "You and Isolde are clean. Only Lillian's story is questionable."

"We need to get her to talk," Orion continued. "She needs to tell us where she's been all these years, who she's been with, and what she's been doing."

His eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, and I saw something dark there.

"There's a shocking plot twist waiting for us at the end of this tunnel," he said grimly. "And it's not going to be a good one. It's going to be bad. I can feel it!"

I stared at him, struck by the depth of his conviction. "Jesus Christ! Your hatred for Lillian runs so deep. You despise her to your core. Stop denying it."

"I just don't trust her," he insisted. "That's all."

I sighed, feeling the weight of the situation pressing down on me. "Fine. I promised to give her time to sort through her thoughts, but clearly we don't have that luxury now. We need to solve this before it consumes us. The next time I visit her, I'll demand she tell me about what happened in her life during the past five years. From there, we can start our investigation."

"Are you satisfied now?" I asked.

Orion's face lit up with relief. "I'm so fucking happy. Thank you!"

He turned to face forward and started the car engine, but I couldn't shake the feeling that had settled in my stomach like lead.

Orion's guess about a shocking soul-stealing plot twist had me scared shitless. *Is this situation more complicated than it appears on the surface? Are Lillian's motives for coming back good or bad?*

The questions swirled in my mind as we pulled away from the curb. Everything about Lillian's return felt wrong, from the timing to her questions to the complete absence of our mate bond. Five years ago, if someone had told me that Lillian would return from the dead and I'd feel nothing but obligation toward her, I would have called them insane.

But here I was, driving away from the woman who was supposed to be the love of my life, thinking about nothing but blue eyes and chestnut hair. Thinking about Isolde.

*What the hell is happening to me?* I wondered. *And what the fuck is Lillian really doing here?*