#Chapter 46: No One Compares

Chris Lily glided into the foyer of my Packhouse apartment, looking beautiful in a sky blue dress with a string of pearls around her neck. She was a stunning girl, truly—but I wasn’t here because I wanted to be. I had invited her here only at Ava’s request; she, along with the Elders, had been adamant, and I had wanted to prove to her that I could never feel the same way for anyone else. Maybe it was wrong of me to be doing this, to be leading Lily on. But what else was I to do? “You clean up nicely,” Lily teased, holding out a bottle of wine for me. “As do you,” I managed in return, taking the bottle and gesturing for her to take a seat at the small table I had laid out with candles and a light supper spread. “Ah, red wine. My favorite.” “It’s a Moonrise pack specialty,” Lily replied, settling gracefully into the chair across from mine. “I heard you were partial to red wine, so I brought you one of our finest bottles.” “That’s very kind of you. I can’t wait to try