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Chapter 187
JESSICA
“Are you sure you didn’t see anything?”
“No.”
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Grayson is suspicious. I can see it in his eyes when he found us in that cell after the Triad left. I know I’m supposed to tell him everything but how can I do that when he’s the one lying to me?
“Jess.”
I forced my hands steady on the bandage, keeping my gaze low. “I said no. You gonna ask me a third time, Alpha, or actually let me patch you up?”
A muscle ticked in his cheek. He didn’t believe me. He never would. Around us, others murmured–no casualties, they said. Lucky. Blessed. I heard the claim, but the forest still hummed with a different voice: the Triads‘ echo, patient and hungry.
My wolf growled low in my chest.
Grayson didn’t ask again. He just stared at me–tired eyes, jaw tight, and I realized, all at once, how damn wounded he looked. A slow exhale left him, and he released my wrist only to slide his hand to my waist. “Fine,” he said, voice rough but quieter now. “If you say no, I’ll believe you.”
Before I could react, he pulled me in, guiding me until I straddled his lap, the bandages forgotten. His arms wrapped tight around me, one hand spread firm across my spine, the other caging my hip as though he could fuse me into him.
“Grayson-” I started, but his mouth was already brushing my temple, his voice breaking softer.
“You scare me half to death every time you’re not in my sight. Do you know that? I fight, I bleed, I tear rogues apart–but it’s this,” his grip tightened, breath shuddering against my hair, “the thought of losing you, that ruins me.”
I realized I wasn’t just holding him… he was holding me. Broken, desperate, and impossibly alive.
Slowly, carefully, I cupped his jaw in my palms, tilting his head until our foreheads pressed together. “I’m… I’m sorry if I scared you again.”
“I always fail at protecting you, Jess. Always.”
My eyes locked with his, searching, tracing the exhaustion and the edge of pain in them. Is that how he always felt? That no matter what he did, it was never enough?
“You didn’t fail,” I whispered, pressing my thumbs against the tense line of his cheekbones. “You protect me, Grayson. And I’m grateful for that.”
His jaw twitched, tight, and a shudder ran through him. He buried his face in my neck, letting out a rough, uneven breath. “I… I just…” His hands gripped my hips, trembling. “I can fight anything, bleed anywhere, tear
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Chapter 187
through them all… but when it comes to keeping you safe, I fail.”
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My heart tightened. I couldn’t stand it. I leaned in and kissed him, hard, shutting his mouth with everything I wanted to say–the fears, the rage, the ache of knowing how much he carried. His lips parted instantly, groaning low, trembling, hands clenching my hips like I was the only thing keeping him from falling apart.
“Shut up,” I breathed against him, tugging gently at his hair, letting him feel the sharp insistence of me. “You protect me. That’s all that matters.”
“Understood?”
He groaned again, low and ragged, licking his lips, eyes dark and molten, nodding like a man who’d give anything right now.
Someone whistled from the crowd, sharp and loud, and my eyes flicked toward the others. Even if everyone was wounded, I knew we had a long night ahead–too many to fix, too much blood, too many aching bodies. Tomorrow there will be chaos again.
“Well, at least someone’s happy,” Kade called, smirking.
I groaned, heat crawling up my neck, cheeks burning. Damn him. Always ruining the moment.
Grayson chuckled low, rough, a sound that rumbled through my chest and ignited something dangerous in me. Before I could even blink, he scooped me up, pressing me flush against him.
My arms curled around his neck, pulse hammering, every nerve screaming.
“Don’t even think about trying to wriggle free,” he muttered, half command, half plea.
I hooked my legs around his hips because I was stubborn and because it felt good to make him carry me. “You sure you don’t want to keep bleeding on me a while longer?” I teased, not really caring if the others are seeing this right now.
He let out a short, dangerous laugh. “Shut up, trouble.” His mouth ghosted the shell of my ear. “Get used to me carrying you. Tonight I’ll carry you out of trenches and through fire if I have to.”
“Promise?” I dared, soft and stupid.
“Promise,” he said, and the word was a vow, rough as gravel and twice as binding. He set me down not in the middle of the chaos, but by Kade and the others–by safety–and his hands lingered on my waist as if the world were trying to pry us apart.
For a ridiculous, awful second I let myself be happy, empty–headed and stupid with it. Tomorrow would bring the questions that might ruin us both – did Grayson know about the Triads? Did I have to find out? The thought tightened my chest.
But Grayson didn’t give me time to dwell. His arms tightened, and without a word he hoisted me up again, carrying me through the darkness. I thought he was taking me to our bed, but then he turned, not toward our chambers. The steps grew unfamiliar, the torches fewer, the air colder. My wolf bristled, uneasy.
“Grayson?” I whispered, but his only answer was a rough kiss to my temple, his pace never faltering. “Where
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Chapter 187
are you taking me?”
“You’ll see, baby.”
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The hallways blurred past, torchlight flickering over his sharp jaw. My heart kicked hard, half fear, half anticipation, as he pushed open a heavy door.
Moonlight spilled in, silver and endless. I gasped.
It wasn’t a bedchamber at all. It was the old rooftop terrace, strung with wildflowers and lanterns, the scent of pine and smoke threading through the air. A table waited, heavy with food and wine, furs spread wide by the firepit like some ancient offering. And above us, the moon hung full and swollen, bathing everything in its light.
Grayson set me down slowly, his hands refusing to leave my waist, his eyes drinking in every inch of me like he hadn’t already memorized it a thousand times.
“Our first night as mates. As husband and wife. You thought I’d waste it on sleep?”
Heat rushed up my neck. “I–I didn’t…”
“Yes, you did,” he cut in, wolfish grin flashing as he tugged me closer. “You thought I’d toss you on our bed, rut you until dawn, and call it a honeymoon.”
My breath hitched, but I couldn’t stop the laugh that slipped out. “Well, wasn’t that the plan?”
His mouth brushed my jaw, hot and teasing, his voice dropping to a growl. “Oh, it’s still the plan. But first-“” his thumb stroked lazy circles over my hip, “-you’re going to sit down, eat, drink, and let me spoil you. Then I’ll ruin you.”
I swatted his chest, though my smile betrayed me. “You’re impossible.”
“And yet you married me anyway.” His grin softened, something raw flickering in his eyes before he kissed my temple. “Tonight was supposed to be different. Music, vows, the whole damn pack watching as I claimed you properly. But the war came first.”
My chest tightened. “Grayson-”
He shook his head, silencing me with a press of his finger to my lips. “So I made this instead. For us. No audience. No interruptions. Just you, me, and the moon.”
The lump in my throat made it impossible to speak. My hand found his jaw, thumb brushing over the rough stubble there. “You planned this… even with everything else?”
His smile curved, wolfish again, but his voice came low, almost tender. “I’d plan a thousand battles and still save my best fight for you.”
Heat pooled low in my belly, my lips parting on a shaky laugh. “Gods, since when did you become so
romantic?”
He bent close, teeth grazing my ear, his growl dark and playful. “Since I met you.”
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