Chapter 6

*Grayson*

I ended the call and resisted the urge to throw my phone against the wall. I'd tried my best to remain calm while I'd been on the phone with Trevor but I'd been seconds away from howling like a true beast. The entire arrangement was getting too intense already without emphasizing the fact that I needed to watch out for Keera. I wondered how the rest of the team were going to feel if they knew most of his concerns were about his precious, Keera. The headstrong stubborn woman.

Who the goddess had also apparently decided was my mate.

I should have known after being without a mate for so long that the goddess didn't want me with one. Because I couldn't see the reason she had picked Keera out of the thousands of humans to be the one made for me. She had to be well aware. that Keera was never given up being human no matter what. And certainly not for someone she completely despised. Which was. absolutely fine by me, anyway. I wasn't interested in being with her for the rest of my life either. When this was all over I was going to choose someone else to mate with.

After rejecting her.

My head ached as I mentally went over the things I needed to do. The entire team was going to stay with me but with the exception of Keera, they were going to be downstairs. Ginny and Nyx were setting up Keera's room upstairs while the rest of the council were setting up the rooms downstairs. They were arriving tomorrow and I'd managed to get everything they were going to need ready.

It had been extremely difficult setting up a lab like they'd asked with all the equipment they'd specified that they were going to need. Luckily, Trevor hadn't been the only one owing me a favor. Keera had demanded through Trevor that the lab be located away from the house. I had a feeling she was trying to stay away from Ginny and I as much as possible until they were done with the task. I had no problem with that.

It was sad that I couldn't say the same for Ginny.

All day she'd been completely focused on trying to make the room comfortable for Keera. Her replies to most of the things Nyx and I had sighed had been 'Keera wouldn't like this or Keera wouldn't like that.' I hadn't been exactly sure how to tell her that the Keera she knew was now a grown woman and she might have developed new likes and tastes over the years. It had been a good six years after all. She'd been a teenager the last time I'd seen her. It was probably the reason I hadn't realized she was my mate then.

The mate bond was only initiated after both parties were up to age twenty one. Even with resentment and distaste for her attitude clouding my vision, even I couldn't deny that she'd grown well. She didn't look nearly as stubborn as she used to but I would be stupid to think she was now. Docile and would bend at will. If anything I was willing to bet good money that she had gotten even more stubborn and defiant. There'd just been something in the way she'd looked.

Kind of like the calm before the storm.

And there was no missing the cold look in her eyes. She obviously still harbored grudges against my kind. Well, I wasn't sure I could forgive her for being a huge negative influence on Ginny. I'd asked her not to leave pack grounds that night. We'd gotten intel that there was going to be a major fall out that night. Some packs nearby were trying to wipe us out. Ginny would have gotten caught in the cross fire if I hadn't showed up and dragged her ass back home.

Keera could hold onto her dislike for me while I held onto mine. I didn't care that she had changed physically and gotten more attractive. I didn't need a seer to tell me that she was still as headstrong as always. Besides, I had more important things to worry about than Keera. My people were dying like chickens with each passing day and there was nothing I could do but sit back and watch. Up until two weeks ago, werewolves hardly even got seriously ill or injured. Our abilities were there for a reason.

Now someone was killing them off and bodies were piling up and I had no way of foretelling the next victim. I barely restrained myself from punching a hole in the wall. Again. I'd already learnt from the many times I'd done it that it would do nothing to calm my rage. I walked downstairs instead to check up on things. All the rooms had been arranged. New bedsheets had been put in place and new towels and toiletries had been stocked in the wardrobe.

They had to be very comfortable, Trevor had said.

We had even gotten a cellular upgrade so they didn't ever lose signal on any of the gadgets they were going to be working with. I strolled to the kitchen and pulled a glass of wine out of the fridge. I poured myself a glass and then poured an extra one when I spotted Ria heading towards me. "Thanks." She said, pushing her raven black hair behind her ears and accepting the glass from me. I gave her a slight nod, pulling my own glass to my lips as my eyes stayed fixed on her.

My eyes roamed round the room and I realized that they'd done more than just clean up the rooms. They'd practically cleaned up the entire house. I released a breath. "I thought you had all left. Didn't know you were still hanging around" I said to Ria. "I can't imagine how much work you guys had to put in to get the place looking like it is now." I mumurred under my breath. Ria shot me a wide smile, her dimples playing in her cheeks.

"Yeah, well, we couldn't exactly trust the cleaning with just anyone in the pack, right?" She asked, taking a sip from her glass as she raised her shoulder in a shrug. "Wouldn't want our lovely guests to have any complaints now, would we?" She said, tilting her head and staring at me in the eye. I looked away, knowing they'd put in so much work because I'd emphasized it. I just didn't want the team having any excuse as to why they couldn't sort out the entire mess.

"You know it's only because-"

"Slow down, big guy," Ria said, cutting me off. She took a few steps forward, until she was standing right in front of me and patting my chest. Her voice turned soft. "I was only messing with you. I would know more than anyone just how much you're bothered by the killings." She said in a whisper and we both knew it was the truth. It was one of the things we both understood and had in common.

I blamed myself for not being able to protect my pack the way an Alpha was supposed to and Ria blamed herself for not being able to foretell the deaths. It had taken a whole lot of convincing to get her to not overuse her abilities since it had begun affecting her. "We're going to get to the root of this." She said softly, staring intently at me. I nodded at her and we stood like that for a minute, just soaking up the fact that we were the only ones who could understand the guilt threatening to tear us apart.

Someone cleared their throat and we immediately tore ourselves away from each other. I turned to find Nyx standing at the entrance to the kitchen. She didn't seem to acknowledge the fact that Ria and I had been standing so close but I knew better than that. And pulling away from each other like that had probably made the entire scene even more suspicious. I met Ria's eyes as Nyx walked past us to get to the fridge and I calmed down a little when I saw the humor dancing in them.

She was probably going to have a talk with Nyx to clear the air and then we were all going to move on from it.

Nyx turned, holding up a can of juice and a plastic cup. She leaned against the fridge, her eyes dancing between us. She looked like she was about to make a comment but then it seemed like she chose to let it slide. "Is there anything I should know?" She asked, jerking her head in the direction of the stairs. "Ginny was being very particular about the leader's room and honestly, it was beginning to annoy me." She confessed.

"She knew the team leader from when she went to school outside pack grounds." I explained, watching as she poured herself a cup of juice. Ria's head snapped up at my words while Nyx only looked slightly intrigued. "Her ex best friend? You know the one she lied to about being human," I said, trying to juggle Nyx's memory. She had been one of the few people who had been aware of the reason behind Ginny and I's falling out six years ago. I nodded when Nyx seemed to be putting the pieces together. "Yeah, she's the team leader."

Ria looked curious but she held her tongue and didn't ask questions. I folded my arms across my chest, leaning against the counter as Nyx whistled slowly, eyeing me up. "Didn't the both of you also have some sort of public spat?" She asked, confirming that Ginny had in fact relayed everything in detail to her. Nyx and Ginny had always been close friends. The same way Jax, Ryan and I had always been close. Friendships with the rest of the werewolf council had been formed during the six years after Ginny's graduation from college.

I chose to ignore Nyx and instead put back the bottle of wine in the fridge. "How's the pack taking the fact that we're going to have humans in pack grounds?" I asked instead. It was better than replying to Nyx's question and informing her that we in fact did have an ugly spat and now, six years later I get to find out that she was my mate.

We'd had a general briefing yesterday and we'd informed the pack that we were going to be having a group of humans in pack grounds with us to help deal with the killings. The loud murmurs that had followed after the announcement had let me know that there were more people unhappy with the arrangement than there were people happy with it.

Oh, well.

Everyone would just have to deal and get used to it. They knew me well enough to know that I took all of my decisions with their best interest at heart. Ginny walked into the kitchen just then. Even though we didn't intend to, we all went quiet as soon as we spotted her. She let her eyes connect with each of us, before walking to the fridge. "I think everything's finally ready." She announced, grabbed the leftover wine in the fridge and an empty glass cup and sauntered out.

We stared at the bend she'd taken for a few seconds. "She's obviously nervous about Keera's arrival tomorrow." Nyx stated as Ria and I rinsed our glasses in the sink. "Think I should talk to her about it?" I considered all the possible roads it could lead to and then decided against it. She was only going to get defensive like she almost always did. With Ginny that was never a good thing. It could be hard getting her to see reason sometimes.

"Nah, just let her be for now."