Chapter 11

Three days had passed since I had moved into Grayson's room, and during this time I had worn minimal clothing. The days seemed to drag on as I followed the same routine; Wake up, explore the forest, swim, watch Netflix and wait for Grayson to return from his office. I was growing restless and bored, but I was still hesitant to venture off the property, especially since Grayson was still not allowing visitors to the packhouse. Though the days were monotonous, I waited with anticipation for nightfall. As soon as I could hear his car pull into the drive I would race into Grayson's arms and devour him in whatever room we crashed into first. We still hadn't taken the next step in our relationship, taking each other fully, but that didn't mean we were having any less of an amazing time. Each night Grayson took me to new heights, bringing me more pleasure than I thought was possible. I was euphoric, and I hadn't had a single negative thought since the night I decided to give my mate a fair chance. 

"I will never tire of this", Grayson murmured sleepily as he cradled me in his arms. 

I too, felt as if I could never have enough of him. Lying here in his arms, I had never felt so content in my whole life. 

"I wanted to tell you, I have given my men permission to come into the packhouse, though it will mostly be my beta, Jaxon who visits or even stays the night when we work late".

I felt my body stiffen as Grayson spoke. I had almost forgotten about the rest of the Dark Moon pack, I was so distracted by Grayson and comfortable in the little bubble we had made for ourselves, that I had neglected to remember just who we are. Will his pack accept me? Or will I be an outcast... I hadn't been marked yet or completed the mating process. I wasn't their luna so by all means it was still a possibility for a pack member to kill me. 

"Noone will harm you, Laila. Not while I'm around", Grayson sent me waves of reassurance and comfort as he could sense my unease. "Only a fool would go after my mate, let alone their Luna". 

"But I'm not their Luna", I whispered, my tension melting away as I nuzzled closer into Grayson's warm chest. 

"Not yet", Grayson said with a yawn, I could hear his heartbeat slowing as he drifted off.

" "Not yet" ", I replayed in my mind. My mate's confidence in me ignited a warm strength inside of me... " "Not yet" ". 

I woke up to find myself alone in bed, this wasn't unusual as Grayson liked to be up and going at the crack of dawn. What was unusual was a notecard, placed delicately on the empty pillow beside me, 

'I will be having a meeting in the packhouse this morning. Please ensure you are wearing clothes, I would hate to catch my men staring and need to rip them apart.

P.s, don't be shy.

Yours, Grayson".

My heart swelled as I read the word "Yours". As each day passed I could feel myself growing more attached to Grayson, my feelings for him were blossoming, and I could only hope to gain his in return. 

I showered and applied a light layer of makeup, this was going to be the first time I had met any pack members, aside from the men I had met the night I was in the club, and I wanted to make a good first impression. I left my dark hair down and selected a maroon form-fitting long sleeve tee and my favourite jeans, pairing it with a black belt. I wanted to appear casual and friendly, but also not too casual.

"You're overthinking things", Amara chimed into my inner thoughts.

"I can't help it, I know I might not even see anyone but this will be the first time I interact with anyone other than Grayson... They might still see me as their enemy so I want to make a good first impression and hope that they will spread the word that I'm no longer their enemy". 

I had meant what I vowed to myself the other night, I wanted to bring peace among our two packs and reunite us. I didn't want to have to choose between my family and my mate, and I wanted to ensure no one else would ever have to either. 

As I walked down the staircase I took a calming, deep breath. I could hear heavy footsteps coming towards me among the sound of deep voices. As I reached the last step I felt myself being lifted and twirled around, Grayson set me down with a light kiss on my forehead. His arm snaked around my waist possessively as we turned to face the group of men watching us. I immediately recognised the large, toffee skinned man in front from the night I met Grayson. His eyes were serious as he approached me, his hand outstretched to shake mine as he stood in front of me. As I lifted my hand, I couldn't help the slight tremble that ran through it. While I shook the large hand, the man's serious gaze suddenly broke, and in its place was a dazzlingly bright smile. 

"I'm just playing with you, Laila. Name's Jaxon, we met the other night but it sure is nice to be able to welcome you properly to our pack", Jaxon said with a hearty chuckle. 

I sighed with relief as I felt the tension roll off from my shoulders. Jaxon continued to chatter away cheerfully, his intimidating form hid his charming personality well, and I could tell we would soon become great friends. As Jaxon turned to talk to Grayson I noticed a set of eyes on me, I searched among the group that stood behind Jaxon. The eyes I met were curious, yet friendly, but I could sense another emotion among them. I continued to search through the group until my eyes rested upon the face they had been searching for, a man with brown choppy hair was staring straight at me. His eyes were full of venom and distrust as he sized me up. I jumped when I heard Grayson's low growl, his arm became tight around me as he stared the man down. 

"Why are you staring at my mate in such a way", Grayson demanded. 

"My apologies Alpha, I didn't mean to offend you. Only, I can't tolerate being in the same room as one of them", the man spoke. The last word he said came out in a spat as he continued to shoot daggers my way, "Our own lie in their graves while we are expected to treat her kind as if they weren't the ones responsible for it". 

"Enough. She is one of us and your Luna, I warn you to treat her as such or face the consequences", Grayson growled. 

Jaxon's eyes became dark as he too growled at the man. The others in the group continued to look forward, though I could feel their unease as their fellow pack member had offended their Alpha. The stranger's eyes flickered away as he trudged out of the packhouse, he followed the others into one of the parked cars and left without another word. 

Grayson's arm was still wrapped tightly around my waist as he watched the cars drive off. Jaxon's eyes returned to their normal rich brown colour as he smiled at me.

"Don't worry about him, Laila. There's always going to be one mole in the pack, everyone else in town is excited to meet you. They were hesitant at first, don't get me wrong. But they've warmed up, thanks to Brynn's kind words and the Alpha's pleasant change of mood", Jaxon said with a sly wink. 

I felt myself blush as Jaxon grinned at my embarrassment before saying goodbye and jumping into his own car. I made a mental note to contact Brynn and thank her, though I was confused as to why she would speak about me kindly when we only very briefly met on the stairs that day... 

"She said kind things because she knows you're a good person, Laila". 

I looked up at Grayson in shock, I still wasn't used to having my thoughts and feelings felt by someone other than Amara. The mate bond meant only we could feel these things between one another, without them being verbally spoken or felt through a mind link. 

As Grayson guided me to the kitchen, a mention of lunch was lost to me as I couldn't help but remember what the angry pack member had said in the foyer.

"What did he mean?", I asked.

"Don't worry about it", Grayson murmured softly.

"Does it have anything to do with the deaths from the other day?". 

We hadn't spoken about what had happened, I didn't ask and Grayson didn't bring it up. 

"Laila, we lost members of our pack. He's grieving and looking for someone to blame, so let's just leave it at that". 

That wasn't good enough for me. I could tell there was something else, something he wasn't telling me. I turned to leave the room, if Grayson wasn't going to tell me then I would find someone who would. Grayson's strong-arm stopped me as I reached out to open the front door. His face was stony and serious as he looked down at me, though I could sense his hesitance. He wanted to tell me but was struggling to come to a decision, I could feel his thoughts, he still held some mistrust for me... While he didn't see me as his enemy, he worried about my connections to the Crescent pack. I could also feel a wave of protectiveness wash through Grayson, he wanted to keep me safe and hidden from all of the drama and felt bad for that slight mistrust he held onto. 

"Just tell me", I pleaded, "If I am truly a part of this pack then I need to know what's happening within it". 

Grayson sighed as he stared down at me, his free hand running through his hair as he fought his own conscious. 

"Alright", he said defeatedly. "But first I need a strong drink".