Chapter 11: One fragile step

The meal on the tray in front of me was all but finished. I had eaten in silence. My mind racing, with the taste of fresh bread mixed with richness in my mouth.

I pushed the tray to one side and leaned back in the chair beside the window. Outside, the scene was one of deceptive peace: trees swaying softly in the breeze, stretching their arms out to catch the late afternoon sun, birds flitting from branch to branch as if the world were not unraveling all around me.

My wolf stirred, restless. She hummed with a contentment so calm that I just did not share.

"What's wrong with you?" I hissed back, but she said nothing.

Instead, her satisfaction increased, like an oozing warmth inside me, with my thought of him-Alpha Grayson.

I forced myself to shake the thought clear. Whatever this was between us, it wasn't going to be enough to make what had happened before it irrelevant. It was nothing I could trust.

A knock on the door then cut off my spiral. My heart was in my throat.

"Come in," I said hesitantly.

It creaked open, and he stood there.

Alpha Grayson.

Grayson stepped inside. Automatically, his presence filled the room; still, his eyes scanned me in an unreadable expression until finally, in that quick, short glimpse, something that resembled doubt crossed it.

"I see you enjoyed the food," he said finally; his deep voice was even.

I nodded but couldn't meet his gaze.

"I am glad," he said again, and moved closer.

I tensed, my hands clenching on the edges of the chair. He noticed, slowing his motions to reassure me, it would seem.

"I wanted to check that you were OK," he said. His tone was softer.

My heart was well and truly racing now as I waited.

"What is your name?"

It sounded like one of those questions that I wasn't expecting.

"You… you don't know?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"No," he said, his lips twisting upwards to form a near smile. "You never said, and I have not spoken with anyone else about… us."

I blinked. Bemused. "Why not?”

The words came out slow, as if their weight needed release. "Because you are not ready. This bond is not something that I can force on you. Not after all you've been through. I wanted to give you time to settle first before anyone else knew. For now, only Thalia suspects.

It was all so flagrant, it got in the way of my decision to run. Cassius never cared; he never did ask me if I would like to play housemaid. The contrast between Cassius and Grayson puzzled me.

"Althea," I said finally-my voice more substantial and certain than I actually thought it would be.

Grayson merely echoed it, the inflection of my name across his lips sending a reaction quivering down my spine-which I didn't want in any way to quiver down my spine.

"Althea," he whispered softer, his voice soothing. "It's nice to finally know your name."

I nodded, not quite knowing what to say.

"I need you to know something," he began smoothly. "I haven't told the pack about you because, when it happens, I want it to be on your terms. I don't want you feeling smothered or cornered."

The words hung heavy with sincerity in the air.

"When you're ready," he said, "I'll introduce you properly. Until then, I thought we could take it slow. You know, casual introductions-meeting a few members, learning about the pack. It doesn't have to be much."

The thought of meeting anyone at all tied my stomach into knots. But that he was willing to wait, to let me set the pace, was not something I had expected.

"You don't have to decide now," he hastened to add, as if sensing my hesitation. "I just wanted you to know the choice is yours."

I didn't trust myself to speak, so I nodded again.

Grayson studied me a moment, his grey eyes searching mine. Then he sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair.

"There's one more thing I need to say."

I stiffened, bracing myself.

"I'm not them."

A jolt of fear ran through me, and my hands clenched into fists against the chair.

"I'm not them," Grayson repeated, softer this time. "I don't know all what they did to you, but I can see it in your eyes, in the way you flinch when I move too quick. And I hate that this happened to you."

I looked away as my throat started getting tight.

"I'm not asking you to trust me," he said. "Not yet. I know I have to earn that. All I'm asking is that you give me a chance."

For a moment, the only sound in the room was my breathing before Grayson did the unexpected and fell onto his knees in front of me.

I subconsciously jerked forward, snapping my gaze to his face. Unshielded, the vulnerability in line upon line of expression captured the flash that caught within my eyes.

"I promise you this," he went on; low, clear, and sure. "You will always be in safety here, whether or not you choose to stay." His words were a promise, one I really wanted to fervently believe in, I wanted to cling to every word he said like a lifeline.

Yet, something inside of me crumbled.

"I'll stay," I said finally, my voice barely above a whisper.

Grayson's shoulders loosened, some tension in his frame untangling. He stood and towered over me all over again. "Thank you," he just said.

After he was gone, I remained by the window, staring out at the dip, the dissolving orange-and-pink varnish-like spots against the sky. Because life could just suddenly be so unbelievable in ways-mostly to remind myself that, yeah, it truly could.

My wolf purred; her approval radiating through me.

"You're way too trusting," I whispered.

She said nothing, but the heat in my chest was growing, swelling higher and higher.

Grayson's words still echoed in my brain: "I'm not them."

I so desperately wanted to believe him-that this bond didn't need to become a curse. But the walls set around me was not willing to fall so easily.

For now, all I could do was take it one fragile step after another and see where it leads me.