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Word Count: 1923
~Lexia
I lay back on the exquisitely comfortably bed that I have recently claimed as my own, staring at the ceiling. Becoming accustomed to the fact that this Pack requires many to not wear clothes to escape the relentless heat is hard, but I am seriously considering joining.
Luckily for me, I notice, as I stare out the open window, that the sun is on a straight course to set behind the horizon.
I was almost dozing off, when a strange skittering sound had my eyes shooting open. Looking at the floor, I notice the tiniest pebble laying there, its origin unknown. Frowning in confusion, I crawl off the edge of the bed, picking up the strange rock. Am I imagining things, or is Jasper playing with my mind again?
Suddenly, another rock appears, but this time I catch it fly through the window straight toward me. I yelp as it hits me square in the jaw.
Furious, I stride to the window, ducking my head out. A whole floor down, on solid ground, Grayson stands, a decent sized rock in his hand. Before he notices me, he hurtles at the window. Instead, it misses, crashing against the side of the wall right by my head.
"Are you crazy?" I yell, having greatly flinched out of the way of the rock. Grayson watches the segments of broken rock tumble back down to earth sheepishly.
"I needed your attention," he yelled back, his voice carrying easily up to the window. I roll my eyes, planting my hands on the window sill so I wouldn't go tumbling out.
"There would be know no attention to be had if you had knocked me unconscious!"
Grayson, despite the situation, lets out a little chuckle, as if it's the most entertaining thing he's witnessed, but he's trying to keep it in. Even I find myself smiling a little.
"Sorry, I was trying to be romantic" he tells me.
"I suppose you want me to come down there?" I say. I'm not scaling the side of the house, if that's what he's thinking. My bones being intact appeals to me too greatly.
Grayson shoves his hands in his pant pockets. "That would be nice."
Sighing, I slam the window shut, but then opened it again after realising how stuffy my room would be when I got back.
Before I left, I checked myself in the mirror. I've never felt this self conscious and nervous about seeing someone. I'm usually so confident and sure of myself around people. But the way Grayson looks at me strips down every wall I've put up instantly.
When I walked outside, Grayson was leaning casually against the side of the greenhouse, holding the stem of a brilliant yellow flower. I narrow my eyes at him as I wander closer.
"Good evening," he greets, holding the flower out that I can't identify toward me, which I assume is something native to the tropical climate here. Taking hold of it, I give him a soft smile of appreciation. Someone is trying a little hard.
Grayson links around his arm around mine. "I wanted to talk to you."
"About?"
He guides me down a narrow dirt path, that leads deeper into the garden. He glances down at me as we walk. "Us."
"What about us?" I ask, twisting the stem of the flower between my fingers. "The fact that we are mates?"
As I look around, I wonder who tends to this incredible garden, because I can't seriously imagine Grayson with his knees deep in soil. But the sight of the foreign plant life disappeared as we entered the forest that infects almost every area of his Pack, the path leading us.
"You're okay with it, right?" Grayson asks. I stare at the dappled light from the trees flicker across his face, casting shadows that seemed to make him a lot more attractive than I first remembered.
"I have no choice," I say, giving him a slight smile. "Otherwise I would be out of here."
He grins, nudging my shoulder playfully. "Very funny."
We walk for a moment in silence, and I relish in the peacefulness. There wasn't a second of calm in the Vengeance Pack. Always constant rush and noise.
"I get why you're wary about the whole mate thing," Grayson says, kicking a stray pebble on the path. I watch it skitter a little while ahead of us, before rolling to a stop.
Suddenly he stops dead in his tracks, forcing me to as well. He turns, looking down at me, and instantly in trapped in his gaze.
"I want you to trust me. I'll do anything for you," he says, his voice so sincere it's like a mallet breaking into the wall around my heart.
Before I could say a word, he cups my face between his hands, forcing me to keep staring into his eyes. I've never felt this way when around a man. I get that it's the mate bond and all, but it's consuming and debilitating.
"And I will never let anything bad ever happen to you," he murmurs, making me frown.
"You say it like there is something that I should be worried about..." I notice nervously. My queries seem to be answered instantly, by the way Grayson's face seems to express something like pain. I raise my eyebrow.
He glances down. "I've been getting death threats."
I flinch. What? Death threats? My heart jumps at the thought of it.
"By who?" I question. For a moment, Grayson doesn't answer. Instead, he wanders off down the path a little, forcing me to jog to keep up. When I do manage to match his stride, I grab his arm, but he refuses to stop.
"If I knew, they would be six feet under," he tells me, and I believe him.
"So that's why you brought me here?" I question. "To make you stronger so you can find out who is doing this?"
In opinion as a Discipline Pack member, it is smart. Your mate makes you stronger, and Grayson needs that if he has any chance against whoever is behind the threats. But as his mate, it makes me feel a little downhearted.
"No, that's not it. I brought you here because you are much safer with me," Grayson insists, grabbing my hand in his. I sigh deeply. Do I believe him?
There was silence, again between us, as we trek deeper into the woodlands.
"There is an uprising," I say suddenly, taking Grayson by surprise. He glances down at me, eyebrow raised as if he expected me not to know anything about it.
"I don't know the full scale of it, but I do know someone who is involved," I admit. One betraying son of a bitch...
Grayson tightens his grip on my hand while he waits for me to continue talking.
I sigh. "His name is Reilly."
"He was my partner, for a long time. What I didn't know, was that he was secretly working to get me to lead an uprising against all the Packs. I wanted an uprising, but mainly against Kaden. Instead I was fueling something greater, and I hate myself for it..."
Grayson skids to a stop. I pause, wanting to listen more to the sound of the soft breeze blowing through the leaves than his scolding voice. But his answer surprises me.
"We need to find him then. If we do, than we could have a complete monopoly over this!" Grayson exclaimed, getting more and more excited by his own words. I could see it in the way his eyes glinted with life.
I had my doubts, though. "But who knows where he could be. Any Pack could be accommodating his lying ass."
My spiteful words make Grayson laugh, despite the impending political issue.
"We will find him, and when we do-"
Suddenly, Grayson's voice drifted off. I stare at him, noticing the way he looks over me completely, as if something beyond the trees has stolen his attention completely.
"The sun is setting," he whispers.
"Is everything okay?" I ask him warily, noticing the way his eyes have glazed over, and a look of fright has suddenly appeared on his beautiful features.
His jaw clenched, and he dragged his gaze down to me. "You need to get back home.
"Then lets just walk back," I say, going to turn around, but I catch the shake of his head. He backs up a few steps, taking me by surprise. I have never seen such a sudden change in his persona like this before.
"You follow the path home. I have something to do."
And without another word, completely ignoring my protests, he disappears into the forest, the darkness almost seeming to swallow him whole.
What the hell was that? All of a sudden it was as if I was facing a completely different person, not my mate and Alpha of Freedom. Shaking my head in disbelief, I decide to just head back to house, like he instructed, and question him about it tomorrow.
"You're looking good, Lexia."
The sudden, very familiar voice from behind me made me jump. Twisting around, I come to see the person standing in the middle of the path, looking sadistically happy with his findings, was Reilly. I nearly collapsed on the spot.
"What are you doing here?" I growl. With the sun now only moments away from concealing itself away for the night, darkness and shadows were spreading around us, curling around the trees menacingly.
"I came to see you," he tells me, deep blue eyes glinting in the rising moonlight.
"Well I'm not interested in talking to you," I mutter, going to walk past him. "Not since you betrayed me."
Reilly grabbed my arm tightly, stopping me from walking away. Instantly, my heart begins to beat a little faster. I wouldn't be scared of him if I hadn't been tricked and manipulated by him in the past.
"I didn't betray you. You wanted an uprising, and I fueled it," he tells me. I rip away from him, stumbling back a few steps.
"Not a complete rebellion against the Packs! I wanted to show Kaden what it's like to have your life taken from you, not this," I tell him.
Reilly narrowed his eyes at me. "You're only saying this because you're with an Alpha now. Hypocrite."
I blanch. The audacity of him. What does he think? That he can show up here and convince me bow to him, and his ridiculous ideas about an uprising. He is losing it. He doesn't understand the position I am, and I doubt he ever will.
"Don't you dare call me that. You are the one who thinks they can create an army big enough to take over these Packs. You're out of your mind," I snap, making Reilly's face darken in anger.
"You have no idea what is planned, but you will soon," he says. Confused, I shake my head.
And I didn't know what he meant, until a bag was shoved over my head from behind, and everything went black.
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*Glances down at everyone hanging off the cliff*
I'll be helping you off this cliffhanger in two days, so I hope you're all good rock climbers!!
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