Chapter 42 GOOD REASON TO GO

Chapter 42 GOOD REASON TO GO
GRACE'S POV

I hum as we come to a stop just outside the cell building. My heart is still racing from the run and my wolf is howling. A thrill runs though us. It has been so long since we were free, we revel in it. Again, I throw my head back and howl in delight.

The night is always more from a wolf's point of view. It is like looking at the world with so much clarity. Every noise is heightened. Every breath seems to last forever. And every sight is so crystal clear it is like looking through a giant magnifying glass. I am exhilarated.

"I think that has to be some kind of record. There aren't many wolves that can move with your speed. At least not that I've seen." I turn in just enough time to see Logan coming up behind me, slipping on his shirt.

I walk around the back side of the tree, away from him and slip on some clothes that I'd left in the branches just in case I was allowed and opportunity to run. I am back around the tree in minutes. Logan is there waiting on me.

"Did that make up for the lameness that was tonight?" he asks, hopeful.

I shake my head. "I already told you, it wasn't lameness. I was tired."

He smiles. "I note the tense. Does that imply that you're not anymore?"

"Are you kidding? After a run like that, I'm still wired."

With a chuckle he says, "I was hoping you'd say that" and pulls his phone from his jeans and glances at it. "It's only ten fifteen. The night's still young. Wanna do something else? This time, you can choose."

I am about to make another apology and refuse him, but then I realize that an opportunity like this might not present itself again. I should use it to my advantage. So I do.

"Actually, that sounds nice. I couldn't sleep like this anyway."

He grins. "Okay. What do you have in mind?"

I feel a plan slowly forming in my head at his question. It is up to me this time and I have to think of something that will benefit me the most. With very little thought, I know what I want to do.

"Actually, I was just thinking about how long it's been since I've seen a movie. I hear they have them in color now," I joke.

I take his laughter as a sign of victory and eternally cheer. One step closer to freedom.

"Could we go?" I continue.

"That sounds lovely. Amelia and I haven't been out since the birth of our last child. Mind if we double? We haven't gotten the chance to get to know our newest guest yet."

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I am suddenly very aware of his presence. I slowly turn to face him.

He really has the nerve to call me his guest, as if I chose to be here? This isn't some new choice of lifestyle for me. This isn't my choice at all.

"It's a pleasure, Grace," Grog says to me as I face him. His hand is extended toward me, only inches separate us, our noses nearly touching. I step back quickly, a bit startled.

"I..." I grasp for words.

"I think you've startled her," Logan chuckles at Grog good naturedly.

He grins. "I've been known to have that effect."

I am able to breathe much better when I put more distance between us. Grog doesn't seem to mind. He only smiles at me in mild amusement.

"I couldn't help overhearing your plans for the evening," he continues, focusing his attention back on Logan. "I hope you don't mind my intrusion." Logan shakes his head quickly. "No, not at all. The more the merrier."

Grog turns back on me with a wicked smile. "Then it's a date. I'll collect Amelia and meet you at out front. Booker will drive us."

I stare at him utterly speechless, not sure how I am supposed to respond to him. Luckily I don't have to. He turns on his heel and starts back toward the mansion. I can't keep the scowl off my face or the bitterness from my tone as I watch him retreat.

"I didn't realize he was so self inviting."

Logan chuckles. "He's not so bad once you get used to him."

I don't want to get used to him. I want to kill him.

"Besides," Logan continues. "We'll have plenty of time to ourselves. He won't interfere. He's just trying to get of sense of who you are. He hasn't gotten to get to know you yet. He's been letting me talk to you and convince you of what we are."

Monsters.

"I suppose I should change then," I say, glancing down at my sweats.

"If you wish. Just don't take too long, he doesn't like to be kept waiting."

I push back the anger I have been building up towards Grog and turn away from Logan. "I'll only be a minute," I tell him before finding my way toward the cells.

"I'll see you to your room," he quickly calls after me.

The ride from the theater is awkward and quiet. Logan sits in the fount seat next to Booker and I sit in the back next to Amelia and Grog. I am thankful that Amelia separates me from her mate or else I might try to make a premature movement to attack him. He holds everyone in his pack under his thumb and radiates power. He rules through intimidation and fear instead of respect. He is not a true Alpha. He isn't legitimate. Not that it matters to him. He knows exactly how he obtained his position and it doesn't shame him in the slightest. In fact, he is proud of it. He embraces nothing but death and destruction.

"Take us for drinks, Booker. Tonight calls for a celebration."

I glance toward Grog in surprise.

"Celebration?" Amelia asks in equal surprise.

He smiles down at her. "Yes my love, celebration."

"What are we celebrating," I can't help but ask.

His smile doesn't falter as his eyes shift to me. "Why, You of course. He's convinced me you are worthy of our pack. We've accepted you. You're one of us now. That calls for celebration."

My spine tenses. So I am one of the their pack now. That means I can be trusted. Unfortunately, that also means something far more fearsome. Something I dread and ultimately know is coming.

I swallow and force myself to speak. "And my cell?"

He chuckles. It sounds dark and twisted, just like his soul. "Oh, it's not your cell anymore. It belongs to someone else now. I admit we are running out of room to keep our adversaries. Now that you belong to our pack, you'll stay with Logan."

My eyes immediately go to Logan sitting in the front seat. He doesn't turn to meet my stare. I idly wonder how long he's known about this. Is that the whole point of tonight, to tell me this? I push my anger and revulsion down, forcing my face to remain static.

This is a good thing, Grace. You are convincing them. You'll be out of the this pack before you know it."I expect you're very pleased. This night is all about you," Grog says.

I feel a warm hand being placed on mine and looking down I see that it belongs to Amelia. Her touch is gentle and soft. "We'll go for drinks, it will be fun," she reassures me.

I can see in her eyes she is pleading with me more than she is telling me. She is conveying a message. I pick up on it immediately.

I nod and force a bright smile. "It will," I agree. "Where will we go?"

I can't explain why, but I trust Amelia. True she is one of the underground pack, but she isn't really like them. She happens to be there through circumstance. She was forcefully mated, and brought there against her will. Through time she has managed to love Grog, though I'm not sure I understand how. He is the devil.

I guess what surprises me more, is that he seems to love her too. I didn't think someone like him would be capable of that emotion. I feel sorry for Amelia that he is. Perhaps if he wasn't she wouldn't be in her position. She wouldn't return the love of a monster.

Doreen had trusted Amelia too. Maybe that means my judgment isn't too far off. Amelia is still Amelia, no matter what she has been through.

"Booker, take us to Cheney's," Grog says. "Only the best."

The lot outside of Cheney's is only about half-full. For a weekday, I suppose that isn't so bad for business. It is very rustic, and set back in the woods about two miles from town. Maybe that is the reason for the attendance too.

I don't recognize anything about it or whatever town we are in before. I have never been anywhere but home and with Samuel to identify anything new. Until Samuel I hadn't even been out of my hometown.

His name sends a ripple of sadness through me. I know I have to hold it together for him and for me, but just for a moment, I allow myself to feel something besides hate and defeat. It has been too long since I saw him last. So long that I have lost count of the days.

I miss him.

I can't even imagine what I will do if I never get to see him again. Maybe I'll wind up like Amelia, forced into a mating with someone and eventually learn to love them. Will I be able to do that?

Somewhere, deep down inside of me a voice rises up and speaks self-assuredly. No. No you won't.

Of course not. Because even though I have felt defeat so many times, I know I will never accept it. I will continue to fight and set thing right, even if it killed me.

"Grace, are you coming?" Amelia's soft voice asks me. I snap my attention to her and realize that everyone is getting out of the vehicle. Logan comes to stand by my door and opens it for me.

"Absolutely," I smile assuredly.

Logan grabs my hand and helps me from the SUV as if I needed assistance, then wraps an arm around me. I try not to shutter and push him away from me.

The man at the door of the bar stands silently, staring off into space as we pass. He is dressed in a suit and built like a rock. He is tall and very large. He easily towers over any of us. It almost seems as if he were protecting the place, standing guard.

He gives a curt nod as we continue inside the building. It is odd.

I turn to Logan for answers and understand.

"This place is sort of special. It isn't open to the public. Only to us. It allows us to be ourselves and not have to hide." Then he smiles. "And if a fight breaks out, we don't have to worry about the humans reactions if one of us shifts."

My eyebrows inch up on my head. "Does that happen often?"

"Not as much as you'd think, but we can't take any chances."

As soon as we walk in the door and push past the people standing around, I tall brunette girl that looks somewhere in her early twenties bounds up to us and throws her arms around Grog. I stare back in shock.

He wrap his arms around her for a moment then lets her go. I glance at Amelia for answers, but she remains quiet and smiling. It is as if this sort of scene happens all the time.

"Cheney," he smiles as she stands back to look us over.

"Amelia, it's been too long. How are you?" Cheney asks sweetly.

"I'm well, and you?" Amelia asks her.

Cheney's expression changes to curiosity when her eyes move over me.

"Who's your companion, Logan?" She asks. "I'll admit I'm a little disappointed you didn't bring the others. Where are Noah and Doreen? Noah always knew how to liven a place up."

Grog is the one who speaks up. "Noah is a little occupied at the moment. Though, I expect him back soon."

Cheney claps and cheers. "Good. It's not nearly as entertaining around here without him."

I swallow the lump rising in my throat and feel a little sick with worry. They are talking about him as if he was never captured by another pack. As if he is away somewhere willingly and can return whenever he wishes. Gone on business or something.

But we captured him. Samuel's pack did. They locked him up for trespassing. A voice in the back of my mind knows better though. It knows what is really going on. It was a set up. Noah wasn't captured. He volunteered.

The nausea in my stomach grows increasingly fast. If I had a mirror I'm sure it would show how green I am at this very moment.

"You don't look too well, Grace.."

I look up at the person has said so and bawl my hands into fist at my side. If I jump now, I can land on top of him and get a few good swings on him before Logan pulls me off. But then what would happen when I got back to the pack?

I'd meet my death. Or worse, be tortured.

Grog waits for my response. I look at him briefly and force myself to a bar stool at the far end of the bar. Logan follows behind me.

"Water," he says to the bar tender.

I grab it and sip it slowly welcoming the cool of the liquid down my throat.

"Where is Noah?" I manage to finally ask Logan. I don't meet his eyes.

"What?"

"Grog said he was expecting him soon. Where is he now?" My voice shakes slightly.

Logan shifts his weight and takes the seat next to me. "I don't know. But he's close."

I breath slowly through my nose. I have to do some deep inner breathing to keep from soaking the bar with my afternoon lunch. It doesn't work.

I stand up quickly. "I-I have to...excuse me."

I rush toward the women's bathroom and throw myself into the first stall I come to. Ina matter of seconds I expel everything that has been in my stomach. After a few dry heaves I settle myself on the tiled floor next to the toilet and catch my breath.

Okay, Grace. This isn't as bad as it seems. So the capture was a set-up. Think, why?

It is clear he came back to retrieve Doreen, but maybe Doreen hadn't really escaped. Maybe she was made to think she had which gave Noah reason to be on Samuel's territory. The pack wouldn't believe one of the underground pack would be dumb enough to wonder onto enemy territory alone without reason. That would look to suspicious.

But what is Noah's reason for being there? What was he retrieving if not only Doreen?

I gulp. I think I already know the answer. It was for me. He was getting me for Logan until I stumbled upon him on my own and he took me first.

But one thing still doesn't add up. How will Noah possibly escape our pack and come back here? He can't. Not unless someone helps him. Like someone from inside the pack.

Oh no.

Another wave of nausea hits me hard. I am retched into the toilet again, but nothing came up. There is nothing left inside of me.

I breath heavily again, trying to steady my breathing again when the bathroom door opens.

"Grace?" a voiced asks. "Are you okay?"

It is only Amelia. I sent up a silent prayer. I'd half expected Logan or Grog to come in after me, thinking I'd made an attempt to escape.

"I'm fine," I tell her. "Just a little nauseous, I guess."

Amelia pushes the stall door open and stares at me in horror. I'd not had the time to lock the door in my rush to find a toilet, not that it really mattered. There aren't many females in the bar anyway.

"You look terrible." She bends down next to me and throws an arm over my shoulders. "Here, let me help you. We'll go to the sink and get you cleaned up."

I let her hoist me to my feet and take me to the sink. I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and gasp. I can hardly believe I am looking at myself. To say I look terrible is an understatement. My eyes are heavy with bags under them, and my hair is stuck up in all directions and somehow I look about five pounds lighter than I did an hour ago.

"I-I don't..."

Celia runs a paper towel under the water and dabs it on my head. "Shh. You're alright. You gonna be fine."

"It's just..." I begin. "I heard about Noah and...he can't be free. He can't. If he is that can only mean one thing and I don't want to face that right now."

She shakes her head. "I know it must be terrible for you, but you can't let yourself think about it. You're getting yourself too worked up and you're gonna reveal yourself too early. You can't convince them if you let yourself become worried over this."

I stare at her mirror reflection in shock. "Y-you mean, you know?"

She nods. "I have a sense about these things. I guess you could say I'm good at guessing human nature. Or werewolf nature I guess you could say."

"And you're not going to say anything?"

Her eyes fills with sadness. "No. I can understand where you're coming from. If I were in your position I'd hope someone would pay me the same courtesy. You're here against your will while your mate is still out there somewhere. If my mate were still alive, I'd be fighting tooth and nail to get back to him too."

My expression quickly mimics hers and I feel smaller than I ever had. I know her circumstances, but it never dawned on me that she might still be missing her mate. She may love Grog, but it is clear where he heart still belongs.

Werewolf emotions and matings are a weird thing. I'll never fully understand it.

"I'm sorry," I tell her. "I've heard stories about you and what happened and I just want you to know that I don't judge you for anything. I don't know what I'd have done if I were in your shoes."

She tares her eyes away from me and puts on a cheerful smile again, as if switching off all the emotion of her loss. She drops the paper towel back down into the sink and wets it again, before dampening my whole face with it.

"This should help you feel better. You really shouldn't be so stressed in your condition. You have to find an outlet for your anger before it takes a disastrous turn."

I move back from her and furrow my brows. "I'm sorry, my condition? There's nothing wrong with me. It was all the news of-"

"It's okay, Grace. I know."

I shake my head in confusion. "Know what?"

She sighs. "About the ba-" she quickly cut herself off and really looks at me then recognition hits her face. "Oh, you don't know, do you?"

I am starting to get annoyed now. "Know what?"

Her eyes fall from my face to my stomach then back up to me again. "You're pregnant."

It feel as if the world had shifted under my feet and I start to fall back. My quick reflexes grabbed for the sink to steady myself.

"But I'm not," I say. "I can't be. I've not been with anyone in..." I trailed off to do the math. Almost three weeks.

Oh.

"How do you know? I haven't even I had any symptoms," I tell her.

She smiles. "Some things I just know. It's female intuition. And I've been pregnant twice."

I stare at her. I have a feeling it is something more than that. She has a lot more insight than any she-wolf I've ever met. I don't want to pry, so I let it go. If she wants to tell me anything she will.

"Now, come on or the boys are going to come in here after us."

I follow after her then pause before she reaches the door. "I can't just go out there now. They'll know."

She quickly faces me. "No they won't. You put on brave face and walk out there like nothing ever happened. If anyone asks, you're not feeling well and that's all. I'll ask Grog to take you back to the pack. You're staying with Logan now, but since you're "sick” he not going stay with you tonight. If he does it will only be to care for you. He does seem to love you despite how he shows it. You can do this."

The look on her face tells me I can and I straighten
myself up and put a calm expression on my face. I will march out there to them like everything is fine despite Noah being free and I will protect my secret with my life.

Now I have an even bigger reason to get back to Samuel and I will make sure that it happens no matter what.