Chapter 46 TRICKY SITUATION
The wind blows through my loose, blond strands, making my hair whip around me like a silk blanket offering it's smooth comfort.
Dylan, the man standing just a short distance from me watches me carefully, waiting for me to run at him, attack him, try to make him pay for what I deem as traitorous behavior, but I make no such move. I only stare at him with open and unashamed contempt.
He can't hide the hurt my bitterness and scorn bring him, and for a moment I think he is the old Dylan, not the Dylan who turned on his pack and brought Noah out of there.
"I have to talk to you," he says. "You have to know the truth."
He walks toward me, slowly, carefully, like I was a wild animal that would attack him given the wrong move. "Grace, listen to me. I know you probably have tons of questions for me right now and I promise to answer them all, just let me explain-"
With loud smack against the his left cheek, his eyes widen in surprise at the girl who has slapped him. There is already a red mark forming along his smooth, peachy skin, the heat from the impact burning as a reminder of what he's done.
He grabs at his cheek and rubs the searing burn my hand has left, our eyes locked. His look of surprise is gone as quickly as it had come, and in its place is understanding. "I guess I deserved that." He sighs and takes a step back from her. "But I promise I can explain this if you'll listen to me. Samuel-"
I smack him again, this time harder and more forceful. I don't let the little bit of distance put between us stop me from displaying my anger.
"Don't you ever speak his name again! You don't deserve to say it. You are a liar and a traitor and what you've done to him is unforgivable. I trusted you. He trusted you. And now you've betrayed us both. That's punishable by death."
I lift my hand into a fist and I am getting ready to land a blow to his face only this time he sees it coming and makes a move to stop me by trapping the hand in his fist before it can make contact with his skin.
"Would you just listen to me for a minute?" he shouts in frustration. "It's not what you think."
Not hearing him I lift my other hand to do what he has stopped me and I meet the same end. He grabs my other fist now and he isn't letting her go.
"Dylan, let me go," I grind out between my teeth.
"Look," he says. "I can't tell you what's going on now. Not here and not now. It's too risky. I just need you to trust me and meet me tonight, Okay? I promise I'll tell you everything you want to know."
I laugh bitterly. "You're kidding me, right? You really expect me to just hand over my trust to you, no questions asked? If so, you're dumber than I thought."
I begin pulling roughly to free my arms from his grasp, but he is unrelenting. He won't let me, not until he has what he wants; my trust.
"You have to, Grace. You just have to, okay? If you won't do it for me, do it for him. Whatever I do, I need you to just go with it."
"The only thing I can do for him is kill you!" I quickly spin on him, my back to his chest now while he still has my hands clutched. I remember everything Logan had taught me in training, fighting my her human form was never my strong suit, but thanks to Logan I am much better at it now.
With a quick shove of my arms I force my elbows back into his ribs,temporarily knocking him back and ripping away his grip on me. I have just enough time to advance on him. He no longer has my hands restrained so I am at full advantage again.
He sees me coming at him, but he doesn't have enough time to react, I am too fast for him. Before he knows what is happening my fist is flying at his face, his arms are pinned behind his back and his feet knocked out from under him bringing him to his knees with me standing behind him.
He winces in pain from the throb of his face, but here is a smile upon his face. "Wow. I'm impressed. It seems you've learned a thing or two since you've been here, Luna."
His proper address catches me temporality off guard. It has been so long since anyone has called me that, I haven't been expecting it or the sudden memories that it brings back. Dylan takes advantage of my distraction, rips his arms free and brings me down to the ground over his shoulder. He pins me to the ground under him, my arms in tight grips above my head. I can feel his hard muscular form against me and I know in this position fighting him is futile. He has easily overpower me here.
"Well, you've got me now. So tell me what you want me to know before I have the chance to rip you to pieces."
He glances down at me and smiles, completely unaffected by my words. At first I think it is a smile of mockery as if I couldn't really do it, but as I look at him more closely, I realize it is nothing other than fondness. "I can see what Samuel see's in you. He was right to bring you to our pack. You're twice the Luna Josephine could ever be."
I am not quite sure why I have blushed in the situation I am in, when I clearly should have been furious, but I do anyway. Dylan sees the heat on my face and chuckles lightly. "I don't mean anything by it other than a compliment. You're Samuel's and my Luna. I'll always respect that."
I see in his eyes everything he is saying to me is the truth and I slowly start to relax under him. I take the time to truly notice his beautiful features now. I had always thought he was handsome, but I had never really looked at him until now.
His light brown hair hung down in his eyes, brushing his long eye lashes. His angular cheek bones set high on his face angle down and disappear near his nose. His skin is more tanned than mine, and soft. He can make a great mate for someone someday and I hope they were deserving of him. Dylan really isn't a bad guy all things considered.
"I'm going to let go of you now, but you have to promise you won't attack me when I do," he says. "I don't want to have to do this again."
I nod and he removes himself from her, sitting on the ground next to where I lay. I place my hands by my sides on the ground and push myself into a sitting position, knocking the dirt off my clothes.
"Why are you here, Dylan?" I ask. "If you're telling the truth and you respect Samuel then you being here doesn't make sense. You should be there with him, helping him, not returning our prisoner back to his pack and playing ally to our enemies."
He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "I had to. I didn't have a choice. I had to act."
"Well you did. You bought him back and now they seem to trust you. Why is that?" I ask. "You seem more than a random stranger around here."
He props his knee up in front of him and throws his arm over it lazily. He stares into the trees as he speaks to me. "I stand by what I said earlier. We can't talk here. We need somewhere more private and secluded. Somewhere we don't have to worry about someone overhearing us. They won't be occupied with Noah for long."
I want answers. I want them more than I have ever wanted anything in a long time. My mind searches for a way for us to be alone together then I recall Amelia's garden from earlier. She'd told me it is only for her use, but surely Amelia wouldn't mind if she knew the circumstance. Amelia wouldn't help me, but she wouldn't stop me from receiving help.
"It's okay. I think I know just the place. We'll have to go in at night though, when most of the wolves are asleep."
"What about the guards? Won't they be a problem?"
He shakes her head. "No. Where we're going its completely safe. No one goes there. Only Amelia and whomever she invites."
He looks at me skeptically. "And she won't mind us using it?"
I shake my head. "No. I don't think she will."
He is silent for a minute. All I can hear is our breathing patterns and the wind in her ears. Then finally he nods and drops his leg back to the ground. "Okay. We'll meet there tonight or in the morning depending on your perspective. One A.M okay with you?"
I don't even have to think about it. Of course it is okay with me. If he has any information that would be of some value, it was worth the risk we're taking. "One it is. Let me give you the directions."
At midday Logan finds me sitting against the big oak tree on the training grounds staring at the kids fighting against each other. All of them are in their wolf forms except the little girl that still hasn't assimilated yet. Logan notices my gaze on the girl and sighs, taking the spot on the ground beside me.
"She's a lot like you, don't you think?" he asks. "She's reluctant, just like you were when you first came to us."
"I didn't come to anyone. I was taken," I state. I am able to keep the resentment out of my voice as I say it. It hasn't been without some practice though.
"But you are here nonetheless," he says. "You are one of us now and you are going to help her."
I continue to stare at the girl with pity. I want to go over to her and take her up in my arms and tell her everything will be okay.
As if the girl could sense our stares, she turns and looked at us. Her eyes meeting mine last. They only lingered on me for a brief moment and then she quickly looks away.
"I want to meet her," I say. "I want to know her." Logan reaches out and places his hand over mine that rest on the root of the old tree. "And you will. She's ours, just like I promised. When we are fully mated she'll stay with us in our part of the house."
I have to fight down the nausea rising up in me like it does every time he mentions our mating and keep focusing on the girl.
"Are you feeling better now?" he asks me. "I've been thinking about you all day."
For a moment I want to tell him the truth and say that I am fine, only pregnant, it's only natural, but that thought snaps back on me like a rubber band stretched too far, effectively waking me up to what I have almost done.
"I'm still a little ill. I'm sure it will pass with a little time."
"Maybe," he says, gripping my hand. "But it still wouldn't hurt to see the pack doctor. We could go see Gabriel and make sure everything is alright. He may be able to recommend some herbs to you for your stomach."
At that, my stomach tightens and my heart begins thumping slightly erratically. Why hadn't I foreseen this? Why didn't I realize it might come to this? He was Logan after all and he seems to take notice everything about me. I can't hide my condition from him for much longer. He would eventually put it together and I'd have to deal with the repercussions.
"No," I say firmly. "There's no need for that. I'm alright. Or I will be."
I put on an optimistic smile for him and he smiles back. "Okay, if you say so." He picks his hand up off of mine and wraps his arms around my back. He pulls me into him so that there is no distance between us any longer and I have to remind myself not to stiffen at his touch.
To any onlooker it might appear romantic, that we are just another couple sitting under a big oak tree. That we were sitting so close because we love each other and enjoyed being in each other's company. How misleading a picture from the outside can really look.
I am not sure how long we had sat there watching the children fight, enjoying the silence between us, but at some point we had been joined by Grog and I hadn't even noticed.
"I hope I'm not interrupting," he smiles pleasantly. He is so good at putting on a good face for everyone. It is hard not to believe it isn't actually real. If I didn't know him any better, I'd never believe he is the devil himself underneath all his exterior.
"No, of course you aren't," Logan says looking up to meet Grog's eyes. "Grace and I were just talking."
Grog's grin widens. "Did you tell her?" His eyes leave Logan and rest on me.
"Tell me what?" I inquire. I don't like being kept in the dark under normal circumstances, but in these times, secrets never hold anything that is particularly good for me. I am almost afraid to know.
"I didn't," he replies. "Not yet."
"Come on, Logan. It involves her too. You have to tell her." There is a teasing to Grog's tone that seems too forced to pass off as real. He doesn't remove his eyes from me. I can feel myself burning under his stare. It is unnerving.
"Tell me what?" I ask again a little fiercer since they've obviously chosen to ignore me the first time I asked.
"We've talked about and we've decided to make you a complete member of this pack. You've proven yourself to us in your training and through cooperation that you're worthy of being a part of our Pack," Logan answers. His voice waives somewhere between happiness and nervousness. "It's a great honor to be had. And you deserve it," Grog adds, his brown eyes boring into mine. "There is just one thing that concerns us."
I can't help myself. I ask. "What?"
"Your attachment to your old pack," he answers me matter-of-factly. "Logan told me of your mating to that Alpha, Samuel Jackson, and to my understanding that hasn't changed. How can we expect your full allegiance to us if you're still connected to him?"
It suddenly it occurs to me what all of this is about; my mating to Logan. I swallow hard as my heart begins to beat in my throat. All I can hear now is the blood in my heart..
"What we're saying is, in order to completely make you one of us and an official member of this pack we have to complete the mating process tomorrow night," says Logan.