Paul, I’ve told you a million times, I’m not ready yet!” I exhaled with visible impatience
“I don’t understand the wait!” He snapped back, his nostrils flaring in anger. “We both know that this is what we want - you haven’t changed your mind... have you?” he asked after a moment’s hesitation.
I flinched as the face that haunted my dreams flashed behind my eyes for a moment, shocking me to the very core of my being that he still had this effect on me. It was one thing to come to me at night when I had no thought or control over the visions that took place, but during the day? I couldn’t let him keep this level of control over me! His voice boomed around my head, as I knew it would. The voice always followed his beautiful image. He had been beckoning me for days.
“Of course I’ve not changed my mind, I just need some more time. I haven’t even told my dad about us...”
Paul interrupted me with a scoff, “please!” he spat as he rolled his eyes at me. “You haven’t spoken to your dad in 5 years, don’t bring him into it! You didn’t even attend your mother’s funeral, they’re clearly not important to you”
My wolf growled out a firm warning, reminding him without words who was the more dominant wolf here as well as his status in my life. Now was not the time to push me.
“My life is complicated, Paul! My parents and I... Look, ” I muttered, my voice becoming firmer. “I won’t be pushed on this. I said I’m not ready, and that’s the end of it. If you’re not willing to wait, that’s fine, you know where the door is, but don’t you dare stand there and deliver orders to me as though I’m your bitch.”
“Grace...” Paul extended his arms to me, looking suddenly apologetic as he realised my infamous anger was close to bubbling over.
I shrugged his hands away before he could make contact with me. “No. You don’t get to turn on the puppy eyes and say you’re sorry and that you’ll wait for me. I’ve heard it all before.” I closed my eyes against the voice in my mind that was growing louder and more demanding: Its time, Grace. You need to come home. I won’t tell you again. Remember who your Alpha is. Remember what you did, Grace. You owe them.
I owed them? The fucking nerve of him! I owed nobody in the NightWalker pack anything! They had never given me anything that I hadn’t paid for with my own blood, sweat and tears... so many fucking tears!
“I just want you to be accepted into the pack, Grace,” Paul stressed, snapping me out of my internal rant. “It’s been 5 years and you still haven’t accepted the alpha’s offer and left your old pack behind. The other members here are whispering about you. We let you off when you were young and afraid, but you turned 18 two years ago. Its time you made yourself a permanent fixture here”
“Oh, and I suppose choosing you as my choice mate is the only way to do that, is it?” I shot back, my voice dripping in sarcasm.
“No, I just...”
“If the alpha has a problem, you tell him to come and speak to me. Now, if you’ll excuse me...” I bumped my shoulder against his with more force than was necessary as I made my way past him. I had surprised myself by my sudden decision, but I knew in my heart that this was right. This was what I had trained so hard for all these years.
“Where are you going?” he asked as his eyes followed me out of the door.
I almost laughed as his eyes grew wide at my response. “To pack my cases. I’m being summoned”
I couldn’t ignore the alpha call any longer. It was time to go home and face up to my past.
Duke’s POV
“Will she really come?” Thomas asked as he clutched my hand, his words slurred and slow.
I smirked as an image of Grace came to mind. Grace had always been the “good girl”. The one that had never wanted to rock the boat. Of course she would come home.
“She’ll come back Thomas, you have my word on that one. Don’t worry about anything, you just concentrate on getting better, let me deal with this.” I rose, intending to leave him now that I had put his mind at ease, but the hand that was clutching mine suddenly tightening, his nails digging into my skin as his eyes grew large, appearing almost frantic.
“You’ll tell her I’m sorry, won’t you, Alpha? You’ll tell her I didn’t mean it, that I was stupid? I wasn’t in my right mind! Moon Goddess forgive me,” he whispered, tears spilling down his cheeks as he sank back on the bed, weakened by the fierce display of emotion he had shown.
I frowned down at him as his eyes closed, as his breathing became shallow and even, showing that he had exhausted himself to sleep.
What was all that about? I wondered, thinking back to the night that Grace had left. I knew they had argued, the two of them were always butting heads, but as far as I was aware, it wasn’t anything that would warrant this reaction.
Both had a different story to tell. Thomas and Helen would say Grace was troublesome, difficult to deal with. She was promiscuous and sneaky, unable and, most importantly, unwilling to partake in her responsibilities to ensure the pack ran smoothly.
Grace would tell tales of her abuse at the hands of her parents, how they treated her like dirt and physically hurt her for no other reason than hatred. They had wanted a boy, a male heir, to replace them as Beta of the Night Walker pack. Grace was ashamed of the fact that she was no better than a null. Her parents were psychotic in their disappointment, blaming her for everything that went wrong.
My jaw hardened. The Grace I thought I had known was nothing but a mirage - a personality that she had conjured up in order to seem more appealing, to gain more sympathy as the damsel in distress. She played a clever game and knew exactly what it was she was doing.
She had probably stayed away this long to punish her father even more. She hadn’t turned up for her own mother’s funeral, so it showed how little she cared about the parents that had done their best for her. I knew now that she had blinded me. I had gotten too involved, believed this teenager when she stared into my eyes and made declarations she had no intentions of keeping. She didn’t know how to tell the truth.
Nevermind that I had also seen with my own eyes the side of her she had tried to hide from me - I should have been more suspicious of her when she appeared that night. Should have kept my guard up. I was saved in the nick of time by her own stupidity.
The cynical side of me sneered in revulsion as a thought came to mind - she was bound to return home once she got wind that her father was on his deathbed. Greedy, money-hungry Grace would be all too happy to hear that she was to inherit everything. Even after the way she had treated Thomas, he had made sure that she was still in the will to manage the entire estate as well as keeping her position as the next Beta.
I had been clinging to a shred of hope that she hadn’t left the pack yet, despite being accepted into another one almost as soon as she left, because she wanted to keep some sort of connection to me, that I wasn’t just a pawn in her game to rise through the ranks. Now though, now I could see clearly. She hadn’t left so she could make sure she had a higher position to return to should her new pack not work out.
I could feel her presence getting closer, her scent becoming stronger. She was on her way back home and this time, I would be the one to come out on top, she would not fool me again.
I laughed as I left Thomas’ room and made my way to the office. Grace was to inherit everything, including the position as my Beta. She would finally make good on the sweet promises she had whispered in my ear all those years ago, whether or not she liked it, and this time I would be ready for her.
I made my way to the greeting room of this house, instinctively knowing that Grace would return to her childhood home as though she owned the place - which she technically would in a few days if the pack doctor was to be believed. Whilst her scent continued to tantalise me with its sweet aroma, I forced myself to remember her bitter lies and to plan ahead, to try to think what games she was planning on playing with me this time round. I needed to have a checkmate move for every eventuality.
"Just look at it, Thomas! 15 years old and she's yet to shift!""It's not the shifting we need to be concerned about, Helen, the poor girl is the weight of a full-grown male wolf. Its an embarrassment. Not a single wolf has even looked in her direction! We'll never be able to mate her off and get her out of our hair at this rate!""Even the Alpha has started laughing at our bad fortune. I swear on the hand of the great Goddess, we would have fared better had we remained childless. She'll never pass as a beta, she can barely pass through a doorway!""Helen" Thomas said with a laugh and a playful shake of his head"Oh come now, Tom, you know it to be true! Poor Duke is mortified after you revealed her little secret! At least his future mate doesn't have to worry about any competition! Who could possibly be threatened by a plain Jane like our daughter? Just get her out of my site! She's an abomination!"I shook my head to clear the ghosts of my past.
My wolf whined in my head, desperate to relay something to me, but unable to articulate what it actually was.My brain hurt, trying to keep my haughty glare on Duke and focus on why my poor wolf was crying so hard. I could picture her in my mind clearly, scratching and pawing at her face in a desperate attempt to remove whatever it was that was causing her such anguish. It was all I could do not to wince as her pain became my pain.I hated that we were not as connected as we should have been, that I had suppressed her for so many years. I wanted desperately to comfort her but I knew that she would understand that I had to deal with Duke first. It had been too long. I was unprepared for the force of him, the way his scent slammed into me, caressing all my senses. Damn him!"Close your mouth, Alpha" I muttered sarcastically, my voice dripping with disdain. "You're acting as though you weren't expecting me, despite having spent the past week begging and pleading wi
I was going to get myself killed. I could barely see what was in front of me as the tears streamed down my face but I couldn’t afford to stop the car and take a break. I had to get out of here!Fuck Duke and fuck the mating bond. I had offered myself to him so many years ago and it hadn’t been good enough for him then. I refused to be accepted by him because of some feeling that a Goddess I had never met had forced upon me.I tried not to think of that night. I tried not to let the memories wash over me but it was no good. The floodgates were open and they rushed to the front of my mind like a tsunami, allowing me to relive every painful, heartwrenching moment in stunning clarity. Of course I had never forgotten a moment of it...****************************5 years earlierGrace's POVI was hiding in the kitchens again, the only place I seemed to be able to find refuge lately. I wanted desperately to go to Duke, as I had so many
I stayed sat on the edge of my bed, chewing on my bottom lip as all my doubts and anxieties came to the forefront of my mind - do I have the courage to see this through? What if Duke wakes up? Is there a possibility that my parents are going to catch me?It was only when I tasted blood in my mouth that I jumped up, heading straight for the door and pressing my ear against it, straining to hear any signs of life that would indicate my parents were still awake. When I was met with the sweet sound of silence, I took a deep breath and ripped the door open, marching straight to the guest room before I had the chance to lose my nerve.Without knocking, I pushed open the door, slipping inside silently like a thief in the night and closing it softly behind me. I took a moment, resting my back against the wood as I took in the sight in front of meDuke was laid on his stomach, his arm wrapped around the pillow above him. The sheets had slipped down and were tangled aroun
You need to start talking, Grace, and do it fucking quickly before I lose what little patience I have left” I growled, shoving her hand away from me.I thought I had been dreaming when I first felt the soft body press against mine, it was only when my wolf roared at me over and over that I needed to wake up that I tuned into my senses and inhaled the scent of the last person who should be climbing into my bed in the middle of the nightAs soon as my eyes had opened and bored into hers, I saw the sheer terror, the rapid pulse throbbing at the base of her neck. She knew she shouldn’t be here, so why the fuck had she cuddled close to me, wearing nothing but underwear that was far too old for her? Where had she even got that lacy piece of nothing? I hadn’t looked for more than a second but it was enough.“Grace...” all she could do was open and close her mouth as she struggled to find the words. “I need you to tell me what the fuc
I stood in front of the mirror, staring at my body that was still tingling from being so close to Duke and trying to see myself through his eyes, to see what it was he saw me. Goddess knew I couldn't see a thing about myself that would appeal to any male, let alone one who was as chiselled and hard as Duke.I suppose my skin was quite creamy. I ran the back of my fingers along my ribcage and over to the top of my lace panties. It felt quite soft. Is this what Duke felt when I pressed myself against him?I brought my hands up and cupped my tits, feeling an unfamiliar but altogether appealing sensation shoot through me. My hands could barely hold them, they were definitely more than enough for Duke's huge palms.I had heard the girls giggling at school in so many conversations that I had never been invited to join. Some of them had said that their boyfriends had placed their face against their chest, almost smothering themselves in their girlfriend's tits. Would D
I had to pull over as the memories overwhelmed me. It was all I could do to catch my breath, remembering all the techniques I had learned over the years to slow down my breathing and concentrate on letting go of the anger and resentment.It wasn’t easy though. All I could think about was the way that I had been betrayed, the way that I had felt when Duke had looked at me with such disgust, anger and worst of all, disappointment.I had pinned so many of my hopes on him, had seen him as a lifeline, a way out of a shitty household that had wished nothing but pain and misery on me and in my darkest hour, Duke had abandoned me, leaving me as a shell of my former myself.I had left that night, not thinking about what I was throwing into a suitcase, I just grabbed the things that were closest and I walked out. No one tried to stop me. Noone came looking for me. I think that’s what hurt the most.I had genuinely thought that when the anger died down a
Duke grabbed hold of my ass, pulling me tight against him, letting me know exactly what effect I had on him and that this time, unlike all those years ago, he wasn’t going to hold back. As he began to walk backwards, I wrapped my arms around his neck, caught up in the moment, unable to make sense of what was happening. All I knew was that I didn't want this to stop. After all this time, I needed more. So much more"What are you waiting for?" I whispered against his lips, running my tongue along them and placing kisses along his jaw, loving the way his stubble felt so rough under my mouth.He backed me up some more until I felt the cool wall against my back. "You should know better than to play with the big, bad wolf, Grace" he teased, his hands slipping under my top, softly stroking against my stomach as they made their way further up my body.My head dropped back, thrusting my chest forward in delight, desperate to feel his hands on me"You don't s