---

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR 
     
GRAHAM
Anxiety is welling up inside me. It’s insane how anxious I am to the point where I feel like I can’t form a coherent decision. More than anything, I want to tear this fucking fence down and rush inside to get Emery back.
But I know I can’t. I know the moment I start fucking with the fence, they’ll kill me, but I’m prepared to try anyway. I’m prepared to do anything it takes to get Emery back.
A growl escapes me until Quinn puts a hand on my shoulder. “We’re doing what we can,” he assures me. “Just have patience. We don’t want to get Emery out only to find that you got shot rushing in like a hero with no brain.”
“But I have to do something,” I growl.
“I know, and you will!”
He doesn’t understand. “Right now. I want to do it right now.”
Quinn stares at me, and while I’m well aware the look shows that I’m an idiot, I’m positive I’m going to ignore it. “Graham, don’t look away from me.”
I refuse to even acknowledge his presence.
“Graham.”
I will not look at him. “What if we send Rowan over. He can jump this fence with ease, maim the guy on the other side, open the gate, and presto.”
Quinn’s eyes are boring into mine now that he’s caught them. It’s obvious he’s not fond of this idea of mine. “He literally tripped over his own tail the other day. No, I’m not sacrificing my mate because you have little patience.”
I growl again because I’d rather not sacrifice Rowan either but I still need something to happen. “We’ve been out here over an hour and done nothing! What if he’s hurt? What if we’re just wasting time we could be using to save him?”
Quinn seems so desperate as he grabs onto me. “Dammit, Graham, look at me and promise me you won’t do something stupid. We’re planning. So come on, and let’s…”
A noise behind me pulls me out of my fixation with getting shocked by the fence and shot before I can climb over. That’s when I see a person walking toward us, confidence exuded in each step. The way Rowan instantly stiffens tells me exactly who it is. He’d had no reaction when I suggested tossing him over the fence, but now his entire body shows just how pissed he is about the newcomer.
“Well, hello, Rowan,” Stone says as he walks up. He appears to be alone, but it’s clear he’s not. I can hear his shifters in the trees around him. “I’m so glad to see you again.” He tries to pat Rowan on the shoulder, but Rowan sidesteps him.
“Fuck you. Now go get Brennan and Emery back,” Rowan says, voice sharp.
Stone just seems like he’s having a great time with this. “Will you stop playing these fucking games with this whole… pack thing then?”
“Not likely.”
Stone sighs like he’s surprised Rowan wants nothing to do with his hypocritical ass. Especially when he was trying to “fix” Rowan while creating his own fucked-up shifter pack. Although, I’m not quite sure whether he actually likes them or if he’s just using them. I suppose a person can hate something while also carelessly using it.
“What’s your plan?” Quinn asks as he walks up to Rowan’s father.
Stone gives him a condescending look, clearly not planning on answering any of Quinn’s questions. Then he steps past him, which immediately irritates me. Why I’m surprised that he’d treat my alpha like this, I’m not sure, but I glance at Quinn to see what he wants. He shrugs and nods me over to him.
I walk over as our group presses in together.
“Funny to see you here, Katalina,” Stone says, voice sharp.
Katalina says nothing as she watches him from her spot near Harper.
“Just… let him do what he wants. Hopefully, he’ll distract them enough we can push through,” Quinn says quietly.
“Yes, but he’s… Father, are you just planning on risking their lives?” Rowan asks, like he could possibly be surprised by that. Stone seems to care very little about the wellbeing of his shifters.
“Don’t worry about what I’m doing,” he snaps as he waves his shifters forward. There are about fifteen of them and I can’t help but wonder if that’s all he has left of his pack or does he have more?
They rush the fence, and even as it shocks them, they don’t seem to mind as they scale up and over it. The guy manning the gate looks on in horror as he yanks the door shut. But they’ve already seen him, and one busts through the window, causing Quinn to rush forward.
“You can’t just… have them kill everyone,” Quinn says.
“Can’t I?” Stone asks. “Because I’m pretty fucking sure they don’t give a shit about any of you. They’re in there fucking killing shifters to cover up their own trail. You honestly care about them?” he asks as I hear the guard scream, and I realize I don’t know what to do. Do we let Stone and his shifters maim and murder? Do we even have a choice at this point?
The gate opens and Stone merrily smiles as I realize that I now have nothing between me and Emery. And if Stone’s shifters allow it, then so be it.
I rush forward but Quinn pulls me back. I turn to ask him why when I see the door open and men and women rush out with guns. The shifters are after them in an instant as Stone watches without a care as one of his shifters is shot to the ground. It’s up again but doesn’t get far before another bullet puts it down.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Quinn says. “I should have thought this through better. We’re going to end up with countless unnecessary deaths.”
“We were going to either way,” I inform him. “If they’re really in there doing what Katalina thinks they are… then maybe they deserve this. They’re killing innocent people.” Who’s to say what else they’ve done to try to “cover up” their past mistakes? This is surely not the only mistake they’ve tried sweeping under the rug.
      
EMERY
“There are only three guys on the back door,” Macy says.
“What’s going on out front?” Deke asks, refusing to leave his position.
“It looks like Stone’s shifters are here. They’re keeping the others occupied, so what do we do?” I ask him. “I don’t think he has enough to keep them pushed back for long, but…”
Macy scrutinizes the screen. “I… I know one of the guys at the back door… what if you take me hostage?” she suggests. “I think he’ll get the other two to back down.”
“I’m all for taking hostages,” I say. “I’ll do it since they probably won’t believe that Deke might kill her.”
“It could go wrong,” Deke says. “We don’t know that we have a clear way out of this room once we start moving.”
But I feel like in this room we have no hope of escape. This might be our only option.
“I’m sure I can get you guys out,” Macy says. “Studying the cameras, I know which way we should go now, but… nothing is a guarantee.”
“It’s worth a try,” I say as I head over to the far door. Brennan grabs the cabinet and looks at me, waiting for permission to move it. I take hold of Macy and aim her toward the door. “Sorry, I’m rather naked.” While I could tug my clothes on, the moment I have to shift, it’d just cause issues.
“It’s… okay, I have a lot of other things that seem to be preoccupying my mind,” she assures me as Deke passes me the gun.
“I’m ready,” I say and give Brennan a nod. He moves the cabinet just enough I can crack open the door.
“My name is Macy Norse and they’re holding me hostage. Please don’t shoot. You’ll shoot me,” she calls.
“Macy?” the guy who knows her says as Brennan moves the cabinet enough that we can face them. “Let her go.” The man looks anxious as his grip tightens on his gun. I make a show of flipping the safety off mine, in the hope that he backs down.
“Let us pass and we’ll let her go. We just want out of here.”
One of the other men shifts his gun toward me and I can feel Macy tense. She’s not putting on a show as she squirms, becoming uncertain.
“No, please. I have a daughter. Please,” she says to the man.
Her friend pushes the others back. “Just… let them go. Someone else will catch up to them on their way out.”
“You fucking serious?” the other one asks, but by then, I’m ushering the others past me and holding Macy in front of me, keeping the rest of us protected. The moment we’re around the corner, I let go of her and she takes the lead at a full-out run. The hallways are winding, all appearing horribly similar, but she seems to have a better idea of where to go this time after studying the surveillance cameras.
She rushes around a corner, hesitates and then backtracks, causing me to slam into Diego.
“Fuck,” Diego says, but the moment I give him a look, he slinks back down behind me.
“This way, this way!” she eagerly says as she makes a hard turn, and then we’re hurrying toward a door.
A door blocked by four guards.
Fuck.
Macy turns quickly, rushing us into another room. “Fuck, fuck, fuck. I don’t know,” she says as she heads toward the windows, but the security system has them locked down. “I don’t know where else to have you go.”
“Can you shut off the security system? Get the doors and windows to stop locking?” I ask.
She seems hesitant. “I don’t know if I can… but I’ll fucking try. We need to find a room with computers. Do you think the guards saw us?”
“I don’t hear anyone heading this way,” Brennan says, telling me they might not have noticed us in the chaos. Macy nods and leads us quickly into another room that has a computer in it. We’ve probably bought ourselves a little time moving to a new location, but this one only has a door and a window. So unless she can shut off the security system, our only shot is going to be out that door guarded by four people.
“I really don’t want to die,” Diego says as he paces.
“Settle down and help Brennan guard the door,” I urge as I try to think of something else we could do. Maybe I could use Diego’s head as a battering ram and just bust out the side of the building.
Macy sits down at the computer but almost immediately shakes her head. “We already have a problem… the computer doesn’t have high enough clearance. I can’t even log into my account.”
“So this is it,” Diego says, resigning to death. “This is the end. This is where we die.”
“It’s not it. You still need to be my meat shield when I need you,” I say.
His expression shifts and his eyes narrow. Oddly, he doesn’t seem into my idea, but that’s alright, he doesn’t have much choice.
“Diego has volunteered to take on the guards at the door,” I say. “He’s very selfless. It’s actually very kind of him.”
“Fuck you. I ain’t stupid,” he growls.
I eye him, unsure how he came to that conclusion. Poor delusional man.
Brennan thwaps him on the side of his head. Whether it’s just because he also thinks Diego is dumb or if it’s because of Diego sassing me, I’m not sure, but I enjoy it.
I hear footsteps and hold up my hand to silence everyone as I listen to people rush past. They’re clearly in a hurry, but if I heard right, they were coming from the direction of the door we want to go through and heading away from it.
“How many people did you hear?” I ask Brennan.
“I don’t know… two?”
I was thinking two as well. That means there are two guards left. Only two people between us and our freedom. “I’m going to distract the guards. As soon as I do, get the others out, Deke. Hopefully you can find your crew and get them here,” I say.
“Wait—” Deke says, but with a nod of my head to Brennan and Diego, they step back from the door, giving me access. I slip through it. Instead of shifting, I walk toward the front so I can have a better idea of what I’m up against. As I thought, there are two guards left. One is watching out the door, the other is watching the hallway. Both have guns. If I rush out as a shifter, they’ll probably immediately gun me down. But all I have to do is keep them preoccupied until the others get out.
“Help…” I say as I stumble forward, pretending that I have to use the wall for support. They’d have to be pretty cold-blooded to shoot me like that. “Please? I give up. I just… I just want to go back. Please?”
The two guards immediately turn to me and aim their guns in my direction. If they start shooting, this is all over. I put all my weight against the wall and sink into it as the first guard steps toward me.
“Get on the ground,” he orders.
I nod as I stagger forward before falling and hitting the ground. At this point, I’m about five feet from the one guy and seven from the other. “Please, I’m scared. I just want to go home,” I say.
“On the ground, hands on your head.”
I nod but as he reaches for me, I draw back a little, pulling him farther from the door. His buddy seems hesitant but decides to help him. As soon as I have them both away from the door, it’ll let the others get through with Macy’s stolen keycard.
“Please, just let me go,” I say as I back away, hoping to draw them deeper into the hall. “Please?”
“Stop moving or we will shoot,” one man says, but I think we’re far enough away. When I stop moving, they rush in, leaving the door clear. I wait until the man is kneeling down to reach for me to slam into him and shift.
I’m so fast, they don’t even have a clear shot on me as I tear them both to the ground. I can hear people coming and pray it’s my group as I hold the guards down with my paws and my strength. Using my mouth, I rip their guns away, bending the barrels so if they do get a hold of them, they won’t be as useful.
One of them kicks me in the face, trying to shove me back as I see my crew reach the door. Brennan rushes up to help as the others hang back with Macy who runs the card and gets the door thrown open.
“Come on,” she shouts as she rushes through it herself. The man under me is cowering, so I growl at him to assure him that if he moves, I’ll destroy him, and then I nudge Brennan who seems to be debating killing his guard.
He settles for breaking his hand and rushes for the door, satisfied. I follow quickly after, only to find my crew at a standstill, facing off with ten gunmen.
There’s movement behind us as more guards fill in and with them is Suzuki.
Deke turns to face her, even though I want to push through. “Suzuki, you have to know this is wrong. You can’t tell me you don’t see how inhumane this is. How cruel it is to kill because of a mistake others made,” Deke says. “I’ve released the information to my team as well as my sister who is a large media influence when it comes to the rights between shifters and humans. No matter what you do today, you’re all ruined. But let me assure you, a failed attempt at cleaning up mistakes will go over much better than one where you kill countless innocent men and women.”
“The only mistake we’ve made is bringing you into this,” she says. “You just don’t understand how you could destroy everything. These are not innocent men and women—”
Deke shakes his head as he stands his ground. “They were before they turned them into… this. You act as if they’d have done a quarter of the things they did if they were still regular shifters. They tore them from their families and their homes, then tortured them until they lost all sense of right and wrong. How can you not see what you’ve done?”
“That wasn’t us! That was some fucking scientist who’d lost his goddamn mind and manipulated us into believing he was…” she starts before Deke cuts her off.
“He was what?” Deke asks. “Were you or were you not trying to weaponize shifters?”
Her eyes narrow as her lips thin. “We are trying to unite shifters and humans. We are acting now. We are pushing for freedom for shifters, for equal rights, and if you expose this, it’ll destroy all of that.”
“Will it?” Deke asks. “Or will people finally see the true injustice that shifters have faced? Will they finally wake up to see what shifters have dealt with for years?”
A flicker of movement draws my attention up a moment before I see Ross, one of Stone’s shifters, drop from the top of the building. He slams down on Suzuki’s back and tears into her throat as everyone watches in shock. Her guards turn on him, but there are so many around her that any bullet aimed for the shifter could take out one of the other guards. Deke pushes me hard, using the distraction to aim us for the front gate as another shifter leaps off the roof. The distraction is enough that it lets us run until a shot rings out. Brennan growls as he’s shoved back but the impact causes him to slam into me. Diego skirts to the side as the lone gunman raises his weapon again and aims just as I see a dark wolf emerge from the shadows and tackle him to the ground.
Pure unexplainable joy slams into me at the sight of the wolf. Suddenly, everything around me is meaningless as I stare at him.
“Graham!” I say before realizing I shouldn’t distract him. No, I need to stay focused and help him. “Diego, help get Brennan out of here.”
Diego hesitates but there must be at least a small bit of kindness left in the man because he turns around and rushes back for him.
I move up to help Graham since there’s no saying how many more gunmen are out there just waiting to take a shot, but he clearly has it handled when I get there. “Hurry up and get out,” he urges. “Quinn and Rowan are waiting near the gate.”
“I’ll leave once you do,” I say.
He gives me a look like I could possibly be strange for saying that but doesn’t press me further. He waits until the others are moving toward the gate to leave his victim cowering on the ground and rush after the others. I follow beside him, too ecstatic to have him back to care about much. I’m pretty sure the whole forest around me could implode and I might not even notice as long as it didn’t touch Graham.
I’m finally with Graham. Graham… Graham is all mine, and I’m finally…
What the fuck is that?
I growl as my eyes lock on to Stone standing there looking like a fucking blissful asshole. While a part of me had questioned where the new addition of his shifters came from, I assumed they escaped like we did. But now that I see Stone standing there, I realize it’s because he brought them.
His eyes flicker over to mine and the fucking look on his face tells me he’s disgustingly pleased with himself. I step toward him and Graham bumps his muzzle against my shoulder. “Come on.”
Come on? He wants me to just… walk away? When Stone is right there with no one to protect him? He just wants me to…
I lunge at Stone and the moment his cocky fucking face flickers to minute worry, I can’t stop. I barrel him to the ground. Rage is coursing through me. Anger and hatred and so many awful emotions that used to choke me down are rising up. And more than anything, I want to tear him apart, sink my fangs into his throat and just watch him bleed out. He throws an arm up to protect himself and I latch on to it and twist, breaking his arm, prepared to rip it clean off if he continues to protect himself from my attack.
Just as I go to rush in, there are hands on me. I turn fast, preparing to bite whoever thinks they can stop me before realizing it’s Graham. “Come on, Emery. I know you hate him. I know you want to kill him, but if this really does come to light and people can help us… if you killed him, you could end up in trouble. They could put the blame on you.”
I growl because I’m positive when I’m done with Stone there will be nothing left of him. There won’t be anything left to even identify that he was once human when I’m done shredding him apart and making him pay for every hell in my life.
“Emery, come on. We won’t let him get away again.”
“He always gets away. He’ll just keep doing it—keep ruining everyone,” I say. “He wants to ruin my life.”
“But he won’t. Deke said he’ll be arrested. He’ll never see the outside world again,” Graham says as he gently pulls me back.
I fight against him, but a huge part of me knows that Graham is right and that I have to trust my mate. I have to give in to him because he’s thinking with a clear head. He’s not filled with rage like I am. So as I allow him to pull me back, Stone scrambles away, holding his torn arm to his chest.
“Rowan! Rowan, help me, dammit!” he yells. “Brennan!”
Brennan is being held back by Rowan since it’s clear Brennan thought it’d be a good idea to join me in tearing apart their father. Thankfully, the shot he took doesn’t seem to be causing him any problems when it comes to revenge against Stone.
Quinn grows stiff and I turn my head to look at what’s caused the reaction.
Seven of Stone’s shifters are standing at the gate, watching everything unfold. If they were to attack us, I’m sure we could hold them back, but at what cost? Quinn steps toward them. “Do not attack us,” he orders, voice strong and commanding.
They glance at him for the briefest of moments before one turns and skirts off into the thick of the trees.
“Fucking—” Stone writhes around as he tries to get to his feet. “Get back here! Help me! Help me, you fucking monsters. Get back here.”
And with that, a second one turns and darts after the first. A noise from the wooded area they disappeared into gets the attention of a third and when that one turns, the rest follow.
Stone struggles to his feet and tries running after them but the moment he does, the last one turns to look at him. And when Stone slows to a stop, he seems to realize that this is the end for him. I’m not sure if he thinks he’ll get out of this some other way, but when Deke comes up to secure him, he barely fights against him. He almost looks defeated and confused.
Graham draws me in close, even though my attention keeps flickering over to Stone. “Come on, let them handle him,” he says as he ushers me away from the gate.
      
It isn’t long until Deke’s crew shows up. The issue is that there’s so much confusion and various legal issues that no one really seems to know what to do. Thankfully, Deke has proof of what’s happening, and Quinn is right there to answer anything in the hope it’ll help. So when Graham pulls me back as someone loads Stone into the back of a police car, I let him take me.
“I’m so sorry I left you,” Graham says, voice gentle. Honestly, anything he’d say at this point would make me happy just because I get to hear his voice.
I’m back in my human form so I turn to him. “You’re sorry? I was the one who left.”
“Well… that’s true. Why the hell did you leave?” he asks as he gives me a look that I fully avoid. It’s easy to as he pulls me in so I can just stare off.
“Not my fault.”
He hugs me in close, well aware it was totally my fault but willing to just take the fall. Really, it looks better on him. I lean back enough to smile at him. “But you saved me,” I add.
“You did a lot of saving yourself and others. Thank you for helping them.”
“Eh, I might eat them later if I get bored. I just didn’t want someone else to do it first. Like Diego? He’s first up,” I say.
Graham laughs and I never knew a sound could be so amazing. A part of me really had been convinced that I was never going to see him again—that my brief moment of happiness was all I deserved and all I would ever have. I lean against him and just sink into his embrace.
“I lost your hat,” I say, horribly disappointed.
“I’ll get you a new one.”
“But I want that one. I should go back in to get it,” I decide.
“No! You’re not going in to get it,” he says.
While I’m not overly fond of the idea of sitting back and leaving my new hat behind, I suppose I’ll at least sacrifice someone else’s life for it. “You’re right, I’ll have Diego risk his life for it.”
Graham raises an eyebrow. “How about I give you a different hat of mine? One that I like even more than that hat.”
I debate this. That hat and I went through a lot together, but I do like the idea of claiming something Graham deems to be his favorite. “Fine.”
A sudden commotion draws my attention and a part of me really just wants to turn my back on it and let the chaos happen to someone else, but when Graham heads toward it, I reluctantly follow. I’m positive I’d follow him to the ends of the earth.
I’d never tell him something so stupid, though. I’d make him think he was the one following me. When we reach the commotion, multiple others are there, including Quinn and Rowan.
“What do you mean he’s gone?” Rowan asks.
I want to ask who is gone but the door to the police car Stone had been ushered into is left hanging open. It’s clear someone with a lot of claw tore it right open but was it really far enough back no one heard? And what happened to the officer in charge of watching it?
When I look around, I find some people gathered around a wounded person on the ground, answering that question.
“I have to find him,” I say, knowing I’ll destroy him. I’ll find him and tear him apart and rip him into many little pieces.
A woman I don’t recognize shakes her head. “We have a whole team on it. We want you to stay back with your pack, and we’ll have someone there shortly to talk to you.”
I think this is the worst idea they’ve ever had and downright ridiculous, but I’m ushered back by Quinn which means I have to listen. Graham’s hand on mine might help as well since it’s extremely hard for me to not run.
As we walk away, Quinn is speaking quietly to Rowan, asking where Brennan is since they want to look at his wounds. At first, I’m positive he’s run off. Really, I wouldn’t be surprised if he took off again, never to be seen again. Hell, maybe he was the one to take Stone for a ride. But after a few minutes he comes wandering over to us looking positively bored in his human form. He doesn’t reply to Rowan when he tries talking to him, but at least he’s in the area and that seems to make Rowan content. Rowan tries getting him to go to the hospital, but Brennan is convinced he’s fine with the medical attention he receives on scene.
The time we’re stuck there drags on as I’m questioned, all of which I ignore, and examined, all of which I also ignore. It seems endless and I start to question if we’ll ever leave. I even try wandering off at one point to see if I could get a head start on walking home, but Graham drags me back in and assures me we’ll leave soon.
OceanofPDF.com

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE 
     
EMERY
Graham fell asleep about an hour ago on the drive home, but I don’t think it matters how exhausted I am, I’m not sure sleep could come for me. I still feel like I’m on edge, even though the threat is gone. But a part of my brain can’t seem to accept or focus on the fact that maybe, right now, I’m safe.
The only thing I can focus on is the way Graham’s shoulder presses against mine, and how his knee knocks against mine when Rowan hits a bump.
This. All of this, I can focus on because this stuff is more promising than anything else. It’s strange to think that I’ve never actually lived in the village with Quinn’s pack. Besides my time in the pride, I’ve never had a pack to call my own, so maybe I’ll absolutely hate it.
But I honestly don’t think that’s the case. It’s like I finally have my own family.
I never thought I’d have anyone, let alone a family to call my own.
Relief fills me because they finally allowed us to head for home. Honestly, I don’t think they knew what the hell to do either, which is why it took so long for them to excuse us. It wasn’t like it was an illegal band of people; they were government officials. They were legally allowed to do what they did, even though it would look bad if it got out. Honestly, I don’t care what they do as long as they stop hunting us down and treating us like lab rats. But for now, I know as little as I did hours prior. And that’s fine. I just want to get away.
As the car slows down, I lean forward and peer out the window.
When Quinn’s pack had been determined that I was the bad guy, I had lingered around the edge of the village, watching them. I know the layout and the look of it, but I never really experienced it. But now. Now it’s finally mine.
Rowan slows the car to a stop, and I’m out before a single word can be said. Out before he even puts it in park.
My village! It’s all mine.
“That’s how you get run over,” Graham grumbles as he gets out of the car and stretches. How can he possibly move so slow? He’s like a sloth!
“Where’s my house? Where’s it at? Which one?” Excitedly, I turn around as my eyes search each building like one might blatantly scream “This is your house now.”
Graham’s too busy stifling a yawn to answer as I look for someone who might. But when he sets his hands on my shoulders and turns me just enough to see the house sitting between two others, I’m nearly vibrating with joy. “The yellow one.”
“All mine,” I say as I rush for it. I’m going to go inside and take a shower and sit on my new bed and probably not leave for a week. I’ll just roll all around, coating the entire place in my scent so anyone who steps through those doors instantly knows it’s mine.
When I reach the door, I grab the doorknob and pull, only to find it locked. “No! My new house!” I jerk on the doorknob a few more times, but oddly, it doesn’t work as well as a key might.
“Stop fretting,” Graham says as he walks up and picks up a random rock before unveiling the key. I would’ve been fine using the rock to break in, but I suppose the key works as well. He slides it in the door and pulls it open for me. Quickly, I slip inside and shut the door behind me before he can follow.
The whole house smells like Graham. All Graham.
Never mind, I’m not marking it with my own scent. There’s a knock, so I turn around to face the door that Graham stands behind. “Who is it?” I ask.
“The sad previous owner,” he says.
“Why are you sad?” I tease as I peer through the window in the door.
“Because I don’t want to sleep on the porch.”
“Hmm… that does sound like an issue. Will you sleep with me if I let you in?”
He grins at me. “I’m pretty sure that can be arranged,” he says, clearly amused.
I swing the door open and grin at him. “Well, hello there. How’d such a sexy man find his way to my door?”
Graham chuckles. “I feel like you’re so exhausted you’ve gone delirious.”
“Most likely,” I admit. “House tour. Give me a house tour.”
“Okay. It’s really not that exciting.”
“It is to me,” I say, which makes him smile.
“Of course. Come on, I’ll show you everything you want to see,” he says as he takes my hand. “Well, you’ve seen the entryway. Off here to the right is the living room. And the best couch ever. Quinn tried taking it from me, but even he couldn’t guilt me into handing it over.”
“Can I have it?” I ask as I look him right in the eyes.
“Of course, it’s your house,” he says, making me grin.
“Good, I’ll have to tell Quinn it’s now mine.”
He looks amused more than anything as he walks into the dining room. “Do I get anything?”
“Yeah, you can have whatever was mine before I met you, and I’ll have whatever was yours. Fair trade, yeah?” I ask since I had absolutely nothing.
He hooks my waist and pulls me in. “So… does that mean I get you?”
“You’re so sappy and embarrassing,” I say, but I don’t bother pulling away. I just kind of want to grumble a bit so it’s clear I haven’t lost my stubbornness. I mean… he can’t expect too much out of me.
“Am I?” There’s a teasing expression on his face and the way his eyes are watching me makes it hard not to smile.
“Definitely,” I say. “But that’s mine too.”
“My sappiness?” he asks.
“Yes. If you’re sappy with anyone else, I’m gonna cut them,” I assure him.
“You’re very possessive, aren’t you?”
“A tiny bit.”
He seems suspicious about that but nods. “Hmm. Okay. I guess I’ll just have to be a downright asshole to everyone so you won’t have to.”
I chuckle as I pull away to look around the room. “We can eat food here,” I say as I yank out a chair and sit down. “Sit, sit!”
He quickly sits across from me.
“We look like a weird couple! How strange. Are you going to cook for me? Will you wear an apron? Will you make my desserts?” I ask and hop up before letting him answer. I hurry deeper into the house, my mind absolutely blown by how… interesting this all is. “It’s a kitchen!”
“It is a kitchen. Do you like cooking?”
I shrug as I move a stray pan around. “I don’t know how.”
“I’ll teach you,” he says.
While I’m not positive it sounds like a lot of fun, I still smile at him because it’s him saying it. And I suppose if he were the one teaching me, I wouldn’t mind. He heads up the stairs and I follow after him.
“My house is so big,” I say.
“It’s alright. It’s only two bedrooms.”
“Plenty of room for me,” I say as I reach the second floor and follow him into a room set up with a computer and some other things. “Is this where you watch porn?”
He raises an eyebrow before going, “Yes, definitely. This is my porn room.”
“Thought so. Kinky. We can watch porn together later,” I say as I follow him out of the porn room and into the next. This one is his bedroom and if I wasn’t currently bloody and dirty, I would have jumped so hard onto that bed. “Is this where you reenact the porn?”
“Yes, all the time,” he says, very deadpan. It makes me grin.
“Once I’m clean, I’m going to claim that bed so fucking hard.”
“I think I might even have… I’m sorry, you might have, not me, a shower that’ll make that possible.”
“I might even allow you to give me a tour of it,” I tease. “As a wolf, of course.”
He gives me a look like that was one of the worst ideas I could come up with. “Why do I have to be a wolf?”
Just because I know it’ll make him cry about it.
I grin at him and head back toward the bathroom.
My body aches. My head is pounding, but somehow, I feel better than I’ve ever felt. I’m exhausted as I step inside, so tired that I’m not sure I can even undress myself, so I lean into Graham. “Undress me, wolfboy!”
He tugs up the bottom of my shirt and tosses it before starting to examine me, like he’s positive I’m lying about not being hurt.
“I’m fine,” I say as I press my head against his chest so he can’t continue his year-long scrutinization of me.
“You’re not fine. I’m so sorry I left you,” he says, a hitch to his voice that surprises me.
“It’s… not like you left me on purpose… or did you?” I ask as I push back enough to do my own scrutinizing.
He pulls me back in and kisses my forehead. “I did not.”
“Good. Good. Come now, wolfboy.”
Once we’re both naked, he pulls me into the shower, and instead of doing anything that even remotely resembles bathing, I lean against him and close my eyes.
I’m not sure if my brain has shorted out or what… but here I am with my own pack, in my own (kind of mine) house, with a man who cares for me, and it’s hard to comprehend. Did I ever think I would get this? Did I ever even imagine I’d have the chance?
So long ago, I’d given up looking for a family of my own or a place to belong. I’d given up even caring because I’d become resigned to the cards I’d been dealt, but now? Now my entire world has opened up. Now everything is so different, so… strangely different, but I’m going to embrace the hell out of it.
After I get my nap.
“Are you going to make it?” Graham asks as he begins washing me, since it’s clear I have no plans to do so.
“I dunno. This is the biggest adversary I’ve ever faced. This might be the end of life as I know it,” I say.
“Hmm…” He ruffles my hair under the hot thundering water. “I don’t know, but I have this odd feeling like you might make it. I mean, you’ve come so far to just… give up here in your new bathtub. Though I guess if you want to just live in the tub, I’ll bring you food.”
“Foooood.”
“Yes, food.”
“Foooooood.”
“Do you want some food?”
I nod, loving this new idea. “In bed! Like they do in the movies! Let’s do that. That’s something weird people do, right?”
“Sure.”
I hit the shower off, way more into this idea of food in bed.
“You’re filthy!” Graham says as he hooks me by the throat and drags me back in then proceeds to scrub me clean, dry me off, bandage me up, and send me on my way. I wander into the bedroom while he heads off. Before he’s out of sight, I request that he bring the food in while naked. He just grunts in reply, which I’m positive means he’s extremely into the idea.
When I reach his bed, I stare at it while wondering what side he sleeps on. Do I steal the side that smells most like him or allow him that one small space in my new house? I climb into the bed and decide why care which side to take? I’ll just take all of it.
I clamber under the covers and grab his pillow which I hold to myself and… immediately fall asleep.
Graham walking into the room wakes me. While I’m highly disappointed he’s not naked, the smell of food immediately washes all of that away. He smiles warmly at me. “I made grilled cheese. It’s not very extravagant but… it’s food.”
“Sit, sit,” I say excitedly.
He sits beside me and hands me my plate.
“This is so fucking sappy. I feel like we’re in a rom-com. How sappy and strange,” I say as I lean into him. “Are you weirded out right now?”
“I’m so weirded out that I’ve given away my house. I’ve given away my bed, and I even made grilled cheese to eat in bed,” he says, clearly amused.
It makes me chuckle before I take a bite. “Mmm… but this is the good kind of weird,” I say as I nod at the sandwich. “I like this weird.”
“I happen to quite like it as well,” Graham says.
For a moment, we sit in happy silence, just eating our feast and being in each other’s presence, and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my day.