Chapter 6

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 night

As 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 fuck was going through your mind! Have you any idea of the trouble we would be in if anyone was to catch you in here?”

“Noone was going to catch me, Duke,” she said in that soft, sweet voice of hers “I made sure that my parents were asleep before...”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I interrupted, feeling my patience wearing thin. “You’re 15 Grace, I’m 30, think for one fucking moment how this looks!”

“I’m almost 16!” She sobbed. I slammed my hand down on her mouth to drown out her loud words.

“Keep your voice down!” I hissed, “that doesn’t make it any better, surely you know that?! I’m double your age, I don’t want a child in my life! You need to go” I ordered, climbing out of the bed, wrapping the sheets around my waist as I did so

I looked at her and she suddenly seemed so small, shrinking before my very eyes as she curled into a ball in my bed, hugging her knees to her chest. “You responded!” she burst out, “I felt it, you can’t tell me that wasn’t real!”

She’s right my wolf spoke up for the first time tonight in a tone that was almost smug as he stretched and yawned. I growled, shaking my head to wipe out his voice.

“I was asleep!” I whispered fiercely, “you’re more immature than I thought you were if you think I had any control over that!"

She sobbed harder, making me strain to listen as her words became muffled in hiccups and gasps for breath, “so... s-so it was all f-fake? All... all the k-kind words? All the t-times you went ou-out of your w-way to be n-nice to me? Al-all the t-t-t...” she broke off, her crying becoming too hard for her to keep contained.

I sighed heavily. I walked to the door and picked up the dressing gown she had discarded earlier and threw it over her body before climbing onto the bed with her again.

“Come here,” I ordered, patting the space next to me, wrapping my arm around her shoulder, remaining careful to make sure that our bodies did not touch.

Home My wolf purred, straining all of his powers to reach out in an attempt to connect with Grace’s wolf. Oh no, not now buddy. Home he repeated

“Why... why are you b-being n-nice to me?” she said with jerky words, pulling me away from my debate with the pain in my mind that was my wolf

“Why? Because no one deserves to be alone when they’re as upset as you are right now. You messed up, you know that. Am I going to make things any better by screaming at you and ordering you to your room? Of course not. I’m not cruel, Grace. I would not intentionally hurt you. Take your time, calm down, and then maybe we can discuss what was going on in that crazy little mind of yours” I smiled down at her to let her know that I was teasing.

“What’s wrong with me?” she asked in a small voice.

You look perfect to me my wolf shot out once more. Shut up! I demanded. He was making this much more difficult than it needed to be

“Nothing is wrong with you, you’re just looking for love and affection in all the wrong places. You’re a beautiful girl, you could have your pick of any of the wolves your age. What are you doing trying to mess around with an old man like me?” I grinned again, but this time she didn’t smile back. If anything her face dropped further as the tears threatened to spill again

“I love you!” she burst out, seeming as though she was unable to stop the words from erupting from her mouth. They hit me like a slap in the face, making me pull away from her.

“Grace... You don’t know what you’re saying...”

“I’m not a child!” She all but screamed, scrambling off the mattress to stand on the floor, looking down at me with such passion in her eyes. “I know what I feel! I know my own mind! There will never be another man for me, not like you! You’re it! You can’t tell me you feel nothing! I know there’s something there, you’re just denying it!”

“I adore you, Grace. I always have, you know that, but I don’t see you that way...” Liar. Grace is home. Grace is future. Love Grace my wolf urged

“That’s not true” I couldn’t tell if she was sure of this or if she was pleading with me for it to not be true, “you’re just scared of the repercussions! It’s not uncommon to find mates in younger people, you know that! They wait until they’re both of the mating age of 18 before they do anything but they make it public knowledge that they are mates! Age means nothing to werewolves when we live to be 100, 150... Your wolf knows me, even if you reject it!” my wolf barked in response, batting against his restraints to come forward, to burst free and be with her

“We have a long life, I know that! So why are you in such a rush to grow up? Being an adult isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and the years are going to stretch ahead of you. Enjoy your time as a carefree teenager whilst you can! Don’t waste your youth wanting what you can’t have!”

She didn’t bat an eyelid as she shot straight back, “You didn’t answer me, Duke. Your wolf feels me, doesn’t he?”

“You’re not my mate!” I hissed. Maybe... my wolf said suddenly, growing quiet as he contemplated this. Where is Grace wolf? Need to see wolf he ordered

She shrugged, “That’s not what I asked. My wolf isn’t as connected to me as I would like, maybe it would be difficult to recognise me as your mate because of this, who knows? Answer the question, your wolf knows me, he knows I’m the future, doesn’t he?”

“He... Yes, Grace. He feels something toward you. I’ve been telling myself that it’s a future alpha wanting to protect a member of his pack, but I know that it’s more than that...” she squealed, throwing herself back down on the bed beside me, attempting to snuggle close to me.

“No, Grace, that wasn’t what I was getting at...” I said, pushing her away and holding her at arms length, ignoring her frown of confusion. “I can’t do this with you, not now.”

“When?” She demanded, happiness making her eyes shine brightly in the darkness. “I’m not giving up, Duke. I love you, I want you. I won’t regret this. Age doesn’t mean a thing when you’re fated to be together.”

“We have to play this carefully, bide our time. Nothing changes, do you understand? As far as anyone else is concerned, I’m the next alpha and you’re the next Beta. Understood? This pack will never accept us together, neither of our parents will be happy about this. They will do everything in their power to stop us from being together.”

“I don’t care!” she cried, “it will be worth it just to be with you! I can handle anything they throw at me knowing you’re by my side protecting me!”

In spite of myself, I smiled at her words. She was so sweet with her innocent passion. “I care. I don’t want you to live a miserable life with them constantly attacking you. There’s only so much I can do to protect you. I’ll make you a deal, but you have to promise to agree to every term, okay?”

“I agree!”

I kissed the tip of her nose. “Foolish girl, you don’t even know what you’re agreeing to!”

“I don’t care!”

Shaking my head, I continued with my offer, “We remain as we are. Nothing changes. Nothing. You never sneak in this room again. In fact, I will not stay here again. When you are 18, I will come to you. We’ll see if our wolves are able to bond together and if the connection is there. If it is, I’ll make it known to the world that we are going to be together.”

Enough. For now. my wolf agreed, happy with the compromise, despite the fact that he wanted to claim her here and now. Even if he couldn’t be with her physically, he wanted the world to know that she was already spoken for. She had been claimed.

Her grin grew wider as she nodded along to my words. “In the meantime, I will contact a friend of mine. Khaos had a rough childhood and he’s recently established his own pack. He will accept an old Alpha and his mate. We will give up our status in this pack and join his, accepting whatever rank he can give us. If you are truly unhappy here, we will leave everything. All I ask is that you please wait for me, just as I will wait for you." I paused for a moment to make sure she was taking this all in.

I needed to stress how important it was that we did this correctly. My father would have her whipped out of this pack and out of my life as fast as lightning if he ever suspected what had happened here tonight. I couldn't risk that. Not now that my wolf had claimed her. Grace belonged to us, she was ours. I just didn't want to burden her life and expose her to unnecessary harm or ridicule by taking her earlier than her 18th.

"Grace, we can't do this until you're 18. Khaos has had enough trouble already, I don't want to add an extra burden to him by bringing an underage mate into his pack. He accepts outcasts, but he also has his own traumatic memories of himself as an underage wolf. We will leave the day after your 18th, I promise. If that's what you want?” I repeated, searching her eyes for any shred of doubt

“You would do that for me?” she breathed and I laughed

“Grace, my wolf is currently screaming at me that I would be a fool to let you go. I know there’s a connection there but we are going to do this right. We are going to keep this all above board. If at any time in the next 2 years you change your mind, you come to me and let me know. I will accept your decision so long as you’re honest and don’t try to hide things from me. Remember I am an alpha, I can’t always control my wolf and his need to protect what he thinks belongs to him. If you want to see another guy, please goddess let me know so I can make sure my wolf is reigned in”

“I won’t. I promise I won’t!”

“No, don’t promise that. Promise me that you will keep an open mind, that you won’t fixate on me and what we could have. If you feel a bond with someone your age, I am not selfish enough to keep you tied to my side. Do you agree to everything?” Dickhead. Don't say that. Kill anyone who looks at Grace, you can't stop me my wolf growled but I shook my head once more, ignoring his angry rant.

“I agree” she grinned widely

“We bide our time, remember that. I know you hate it here, just keep your head down, please. It's just two more years and we can be free to live as we please."

"Two years" she held her pinky up to me with a grin and I linked mine with hers, sealing our promise and laughing together.

I sent her back to her room and spend the rest of the night staring at the ceiling, listening to my wolf. He wouldn't shut the fuck up, bitching at me, calling me every name under the sun. He was convinced now more than ever that Grace was his mate. He didn't need to feel her wolf, he knew it. He was passionate enough that I almost began to believe him.

Before I had time to truly explore this new train of thought, a scream came down the hallway, sounding suspiciously like Grace in a fit of temper. I was out of bed in seconds and following the noise down the hall, standing in front of her bedroom door, unable to believe what I was actually hearing.

She had played me for a fucking fool.