Chapter 180: Rhys
Michael nodded, and Grace pulled him into a hug. It looked so natural, like they weren’t two kids who had lacked love and attention growing up. It was like they needed each other in some weird way, they just didn’t know it until recently.
“We’ll look at these tomorrow,” I said once she pulled away. “I want to sleep tonight and opening that folder won’t let me do that, so another tomorrow problem.”
“Yes sir,” Michael said as he began to stand up.
“And tomorrow, you and I will be having that conversation about what you’ve told your dad. You are not in trouble; we just need to make sure we cover all our bases in our plans moving forward. And we can figure out what you’ll tell him in our next meeting, as long as you’re comfortable with it. We will get your siblings out, Michael. I promise.”
He gave me a serious look and nodded. “I’ll hold you to it. I’ve had enough broken promises to last a lifetime.”
I gave him a small smile as I moved to my desk and placed the manila envelope in the drawer.
“Get some sleep, okay?” Grace told him as she gently pushed the hair out of his face.
He nodded and closed the door behind him, leaving just Grace and I to handle whatever fight we were about to get in, she just didn’t know it yet.
“Well, at least he was honest with us,” Grace said as she plopped down in her usual chair.
“He was,” I agreed. “But have you been with me?”
She straightened in her chair, her eyes bugging out a little at my question. “What do you mean?” She asked hesitantly, telling me that I wasn’t crazy, she was hiding something from me.
“How did you find out again that Michael was seeing his father?” I questioned.
“He told me.” She answered a little too quickly.
“So, what did he mean when he said that ‘you saw what he’s like’?” I challenged.
She sighed, closing her eyes, knowing she was caught.
“Okay, fine.” She said, raising her hands in defeat. “I wasn’t trying to lie to you, it’s just I knew you’d be mad and say what I did was dumb.”
“Why would I think that if it wasn’t dumb?” I responded with a fake sweetness that she saw right through.
“Because it was kind of dumb, but it was also the right thing to do, so I don’t want to hear it.”
“Why don’t you let me decide that for myself?”
“Ugh fine.” She relented. “I was at the school in Sammy’s class, when I saw what I thought was Michael, heading into the woods. I panicked, and I went and checked his classroom, and I was told he went to the bathroom and would be back in a minute. I knew that was a lie because I had just seen him sneaking into the woods, so I went after him. I saw him meeting with some guy, and I watched the whole thing. It wasn’t till Michael was almost out of the woods did I tell him I was there, and he explained what was going on. I then told him we had to tell you. And to be even more honest, I saw him with a manila envelope, I just didn’t put two and two together.”
“You said all that quite aggressively,” I commented.
“Rhys, I know it wasn’t necessarily smart. But I had to make sure he was okay. It was the right thing to do. Now, I’m tired, can we please go to bed?”
I shook my head and gestured for her to come over to me with one finger. She rolled her eyes at me, and said, “Rhys, Sammy is probably waiting on us, she hasn’t seen me since school. She’s probably freaking out.”
“Sammy is fine. Nobody has come to get us or mindlinked that she’s having a meltdown.”
That’s because she’s with people not in your pack.” She shot back in irritation.
“And if it was bad enough, Maizie would have brought her down to us or found another way to contact us. Now, come here, Grace, I won’t ask again.”
She stood up hesitantly. She had known she would be in trouble when she snuck off to the woods today, but now, knowing that she had snuck out not just today, but also yesterday. And add to it that she had lied to me about it, I was going to have no mercy. It would be fun of course, At least I hoped it would be, but she needed to understand that she couldn’t just disappear like that. We were living in dangerous times, and she was mine. I would not stand to lose what was mine because she decided on a whim to be a hero.
She stood about a foot in front of me. Her blonde hair was pulled into two dutch braids that were now quite messy, and she her blue floral dress really brought out her defiant eyes in a way that I couldn’t quite explain.
“Strip." I told her.
She looked at me in surprise and reached for the hem of her dress and pulled it up over her head, so she stood in front of me in just her bra and panties. Goddess, she was stunning. My eyes raked over her body, and I couldn’t help but be turned on. But this wasn’t about me. This was about my little mate and her secrets as well intentioned as they were.
She hesitated to take off her bra and undies, but when I didn’t waver, she reluctantly took them off too.
In one swift motion, I pulled her over my lap, so she was bent over top of me, her cute little butt sticking up in the air.
“What do you think is about to happen, Gracie?” I asked.
“I- I don’t know.” She answered breathlessly.
I reached for the bond to be sure I wasn’t truly scaring her, but I was just met with desire, and I knew I was making the right choice. My girl was going to hate and enjoy her punishment.