Then he clamped down on those thoughts. Like he’d said, it was completely Lillian’s decision, and he didn’t want to pressure her one way or another, even inside his mind.
Teri poked her head back in. “Hi,” she said. “Zach’s on his way home. But I just did a quick circuit around the house, and it looks like no one followed you. So it should be safe to head back to Cal’s place, if you want.”
“Thanks, Teri,” Lillian said, before Cal could speak.
Which was probably for the best. He wanted to insist that
Teri didn’t need to put herself at risk on their behalf, didn’t need to scout around her own home looking for hostile shifters. He wanted to tell her to forget about the situation, he’d handle it on his own.
But the truth was, Teri was already involved—because her sister was. And she was clearly proud of herself for taking the initiative and contributing; it was all over her face and her posture. She wanted to help.
And it was better if she helped under Cal’s eye than she decided to run off and fight mountain lions on her own. And if there was anyone in his pack who would do something like that, it was Teri for sure.
“All right,” Cal said. “We’ll head back to my place, then. Tomorrow we’ll have a pack-wide meeting at the Park to see what we’re going to do about these mountain lions who think they can threaten one of our own.”
Teri’s face hardened into fierce determination. “Good,” she said.
Cal took Lillian’s hand, enjoying the way Lillian immediately twined their fingers together, and led the way to the door.
The drive back was tense, both of them keeping an eye out for possible attackers. They’d left Lillian’s car at Teri’s place (“I’ll drive it into the Park tomorrow,” Teri had assured her) because Cal wanted the two of them in the same vehicle, and Lillian had agreed.
However, they made it back to his cabin without incident, and Cal did a quick perimeter search around the place and didn’t scent any mountain lions.
He wondered if they didn’t know where he lived, or if they weren’t quite prepared to stake out his home. He hoped it was the latter. The more intimidated they were by him, the less likely they would be to bother Lillian once they realized that she truly was under Cal’s protection, and that his protection wasn’t going to stop anytime soon.
Or ever.
He joined Lillian inside and found her sitting on the couch, looking around the main area. “Thinking about redecorating?” he asked her, trying for a teasing note. Humor had never been one of his strengths, but he found that he wanted to make Lillian smile if he could.
And she did—a slow, sweet smile just for him. “Actually, yes I was,” she said. “It makes for a good distraction, and I can see all sorts of possibilities here. Some new furniture, flowers on the mantle, throw pillows...”
Cal grinned. Looked like the woman’s touch was coming.
Lillian trailed off, then looked up at him, eyes going wide. “Nothing you don’t want, of course! I don’t want you constantly afraid you’re going to come home and not recognize your own living room. We can decide on it together.”
“I want you to decide,” Cal said with gentle determination. “Run it past me before you do anything, sure, but the bones of this place are mine already. The forest and the mountains are mine. I want the rest of it to be all yours.”
Lillian’s smile sharpened a little. “How do you know I won’t make it all pink and frilly? You could end up living in a fairy princess castle. Canopy bed, the works.”
Cal laughed at the image. “That’s why I said run it past me. But I trust you, Lillian. I don’t think you’d do anything you thought I wouldn’t like.”
Lillian nodded. “I wouldn’t. Although...” She hesitated.
“What?”
“I don’t want to be a downer,” she said slowly, “but I don’t think I can redecorate anytime soon. Or, well, maybe a few small things. But—well.”
Cal frowned. “What? Why not?” He’d understand if she didn’t quite feel like this was her home yet—she hadn’t even spent one single night here yet, after all—but she’d seemed ready to go a minute ago.
“My...financial situation,” Lillian said quietly. “Furniture is expensive. It’ll be a couple of years before I can start saving up for anything other than debt payoff, I think.”
Cal felt a rush of relief. “Hey,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
Lillian frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Being mated is like being married,” Cal explained. “That means what’s yours is mine, and vice versa. I have a lot of savings. I took home a good nest egg from Iraq—combat pay for a high-level non-com is nothing to joke about. Since then, I haven’t spent much of it at all. This place was the biggest purchase I’ve made by far, and it wasn’t anything like expensive, out here in the middle of nowhere. Most of my paycheck has just gone right into the bank or safe investments, and that builds up. We can talk over the specifics, but you don’t have to worry about what things are going to cost anymore.”
Lillian was frowning. “No—Cal, no, I can’t ask you to take this on. It doesn’t belong to you.”