Chapter 22

[Greyson]

Age 10

"Bennett, stop it!" Mommy giggled. "Lexie will wake up and you know how hard it is to get her to fall asleep."

I peeked into the room and cringe because it's really gross and pink. I hate the color pink and I'm positive my new baby sister hates the color too. She cries so much, I can't go anywhere in the house without having to hear her.

Dad and Mommy don't see me tippy-toeing into the pink room. They are both hovering over Lexie's crib like they do almost every day. When mommy's stomach wasn't big anymore, Lexie started living with us. I wasn't going to be their favorite anymore. I had to share mommy with my baby sister.

Dad said, that I should always protect my baby sister and keep boys away from her. Leo and Vince are boys, last I checked, so I guess they aren't allowed to play with her. I don't get why though, but if dad says so, then his orders, I have to follow.

He's alpha you know...

Why can't we just give her back from where she came from? It's not like I asked for her.

Their backs are to me and dad has his arm around mommy. I snicker to myself, thinking maybe it would be funny to come up from behind them and scare mommy. She is really funny when she screams.

"Isn't she adorable?" Mommy lays her head on dad's shoulder.

Dad turns his head to her and smiles. "Want to make another one?"

Mommy playfully punches dad in the shoulder. "Don't even think about it!" Dad laughs, which he rarely does except when he's with mommy.

Make another one. What does that mean?

While I'm thinking inside my head, dad lowers his face and starts sucking mommy's face off. Mommy's smiles and leans back so dad can drool over the rest of her face. Ew... gross.

"Yuck." I didn't realize how loud I said it until both my parents looked over their shoulders stunned at my appearance.

"Baby, what are you doing in here?" Mom whispers, because Lexie might start crying again and no one wanted that.

"It's past your bedtime young man." Dad frowns and I immediately rush over to mommy's open arms because dad would never yell at me when I'm with her.

"Daddy was eating your face again." I wrinkly my face and stare disapprovingly at my mommy.

"Shhh. Use your quiet voice Greyson. Your sister is sleeping." She picks me up and lifts me in her arms--my favorite place. I could see my baby sister sleeping on her back. She looked really weird. Why doesn't she move? I frown, wondering what was so great about her that mommy doesn't want to play with me anymore. All she does is throw up, poop, pee and cry all day. The first time I held her, Lexie puked all over my shirt and I almost dropped her.

Dad was really mad at me that day.

"I wasn't eating your mom's face, pup." Dad smirked and ruffled the back of my head. "I was kissing her. She is my mate after all. I'm allowed to do that."

He tried kissing her again but mommy turned her head and dad ended up kissing her on the cheek. Yuck! Mommy pretended to hate it but giggled when dad nudged closer. I didn't like that he was making it uncomfortable for me to stay in mommy's arms, so I pushed him away by slamming my palm to his face.

That got him to move away.

I've seen them do this before, but I never heard of the name of the act. Kissing...

"Don't stop me from loving your mom, son. Do you know, your mom and I made you after a couple kisses?"

Mom punched him for real this time. "Bennett, he's too young to know those things!"

Dad rolled his eyes. I copied him because I'm a big boy like him and mommy needs to know that. Dad saw me do it and chuckled. "When you kiss your mate for the first time Greyson...you will know she's the one. Your wolf will make you go insane for her. So make sure your first kiss counts and do it when you know she returns your feelings."

***

Present day

Damn it

This was not how I planned our first kiss to happen. Hell, I didn't even know how to make it happen. But it's too late. We were doing it and it felt really good. Oh god, I didn't realize kissing my mate would feel this amazing.

When we plunged into the water, both out eyes shut closed and I gripped her around her waist hoping to somehow protect her from impact. Though nothing could prevent us from both becoming soaking wet. My first thought was her safety. She could hit her head on a rock, or something.

Instead, my mouth just naturally blended in hers and moved on its own accord. She was unresponsive at first. I was shocked as well, but I felt her fingers grip at my biceps and she didn't pull away. It was most likely a visceral reaction not to drown, but I went on ahead and pressed our bodies closer, trying to savor this moment because I may never get this chance again.

Don't point fingers at me! I am a man after all...

My wolf instincts were practically cheering on my boldness. It was like my wolf was screaming, "finally, you idiot!" If she forced us to stop the kiss I think I would probably go insane.

I opened my eyes to observe her face. Her brows were pulled together in bewilderment and I thought she looked really adorable. My lips moved against hers and her eyes slowly opened in confusion. Her mouth tentatively moved against mine and I cautiously glided my tongue across her bottom lip.

Bubbles rapidly left her mouth, her body thrashed as she tried to detach from my strength.

Mentally I groaned, knowing that delicious time was over. My feet kicked along side hers and we resurfaced. Celeste curtly coughed, wrapping her arms around my neck to stay afloat. I waited for her to speak first.

She continued to cough, until her throat was clear of water. "I thought this stream was shallow?"

"Some parts are a little deep." I gripped her firmly against me.

She flashed me an uncertain look before turning her head away to avoid my gaze. My forwardness was making her uncomfortable, but right now, I didn't give a damn.

"Celeste, will you let me properly court you?" I asked her.

"Court me?" She repeated.

"Yeah." I nodded.

Her face cringed and I thought maybe she would reject me.

"What century are you from? Who says court anymore?" She removed her arms from my neck and pushed her palms against my chest. She turned around and paddled back to shore.

"Celeste." I swam after her and we both stood on shore dripping wet like a shaggy dog.

When I reached her, I grabbed her shoulder and forced her to look at me. Her face was completely flustered and she looked at me like she was about to cry.

Freak, what did I do? I started to panic. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

She got redder by the second and despite already being wet, her eyes swelled with unshed tears. Consulting crying females, this was totally not in my Alpha job description. To my utter disbelief, she smacked me across the face.

"You jerk, that was my first kiss!" I'm tempted to tell her it was my first kiss too, but I was too ashamed to mention that. Dad made it his job to always keep me busy with pack work that I never considered having a relationship. As if I would even think about another girl who isn't my fated mate.

"It was an accident, but I don't regret what just happened." I say flatly.

Speechless, Celeste innocently plays with the corner of her shirt and gasps when she realizes that her very wet shirt is clinging magnificently around her body. She looks at me and I quickly avert my eyes to avoid getting caught looking. The sky looks very interesting to me all of a sudden. She groans in frustration and I hold back my laugh.

"Hey." I catch her wrists before she stomps away.

"Don't touch me." She hisses.

"That's a hard request to adhere to." I smirk, because I love watching her reactions.

Shoving me hard, she turns around and grumpily wrings her clothes. I see her skin form goose bumps from the cold.

"So what's the verdict?" I joke.

"For what?"

"My question..."

"You sound like your mother."

I roll my eyes. "What she did earlier was uncalled for. This is me asking to have a relationship with you. Forget the fact that I'm a werewolf, future alpha or your mate. Celeste, will you please be my girlfriend?"

The look on her face had me holding my breath. She had the ability to do that to me. Always keeping me on edge. Placing myself in her shoes is kind of difficult considering we are both different species and grew up in different social norms. I kidnapped her from home, I'm sure that is socially unacceptable to humans like her. Now I'm asking her to date me and eventually marry me.

She hasn't failed to mention how nuts she thinks I am.

"I..." I stand taut, waiting for her to complete her sentence.

All of a sudden, I sense something off and my wolf instincts have me growling. Celeste is instantly shielded behind my back as I crouch in defense mode. Shit, why do we always get interrupted! I swear if someone planned all this, I would

"Greyson, what are you doing."

I shush her. "Quiet. I thought I heard something."

"What-

Silencing her again, I lift my nose to the air and sniff down the cause of my wolf's unrest.

It was that smell again. It was faint, but it was there; the same vile odor that lingered within the maze. A few of the men who came with me also detected it, but we assumed it was a stray mountain lion that entered the maze and left when it marked it's scent on one of the rock's surfaces. The scent wasn't robust enough to be considered a big threat, so we ignored it without informing dad.

"Stay behind me." I told Celeste.

"Greyson, you're scaring me." She whispered.

I didn't want her in distress. Not only was it bad during this predicament, but also my wolf was feeling guarded and having it worry about Celeste wasn't going to make concentrating on the problem easier.

I heard the rustling of leaves and growled in its direction.

"Greyson, it's probably just the wind." Celeste tells me, but I'm not buying it. The wind never smelt this odd before. My wolf alerts me to keep my focus on our surroundings. He wants out, but I'm not giving it to him just yet. I had to be sure I knew what the danger was before being rash on my actions.

For one thing, Celeste was with me. She has never really witnessed first hand, how werewolves transform. The first time watching can be frightening to some people.

"It's not the wind. If anything happens Celeste, I want you to run as fast as you can and find my father. Don't even look back."

"Greyson, don't be silly. You're acting paranoid. Nothing-

It happened in just five seconds, but I heard the sound of a gun unlatch from its safety. Without another second to spare, I quickly transformed into my wolf and jumped when I heard the gunfire. The bullet was purposely aimed at Celeste and my wolf was seething mad-I was seething mad.

"Greyson!" Celeste scream, echoed across the open sky.

In a few minutes, the area would be surrounded by my pack, but by then the shooter would already be gone.

"Oh god, Greyson! You've been hit!"

With my wolf backing me up, I stood back on four legs and kept a steady wall between the threat and Celeste. She was human and a shot through her would easily kill her. Werewolves were built to withstand almost about anything.

I need to protect her.

"Greyson, stop it. If you move, more blood will come out!" Celeste cried.

If this weren't a dire situation, I would be in amazement by the amount of concern she had on her face.

She held parts of my ripped jeans and attempted to press it on my wound. It hurt like hell, but the pain wasn't my main focus.

Go! I nudged her with my giant head, telling her to leave like I told her but the stubborn woman wouldn't move.

"I'm not leaving you!" She roared.

And earlier, she didn't want me touching her...

Sniffing the air again, the smell disappeared. Replacing it was the smell of burning flesh. The adrenaline in my veins must have distracted me from the agony, but the bullet that pierced through my body was obviously tainted with Aconitum, or what most people would call wolf's bane.

When I sense dad's presence nearby, I relax a little and the pain intensifies as the adrenaline disappears. My legs weaken and my weight becomes too much for me to handle. I see the world around me spinning, but before I fall Celeste has her fingers sliding across my thick fur and she has me wrapped up against her.

"Greyson, you idiot!"

I chuckle because she is so complex, it's adorable. There are times I think she has fallen for me, but then she makes a topsy-turvy and smacks a ball of shit in my face like it's no one's business.

I can see why dad puts up with mom all the time.

"Greyson!" She screams again.

If only she can scream like that when I'm not shot.

"Greyson!" A shadow is hovering over my wolf form.

"Dad, intruder...fined him." I mind link.

He directly gives people orders and I hear wolves shifting from different areas of the field.

"How could this happen?!" Dad thunders. "We keep a strict security on all perimeters inside and outside of the maze.

The enforcers were going to have a field day when dad gets his paws on them. They would be lucky to only receive a blow to the face from their alpha when he's pissed.

"Get Dr. O'Dell here NOW!"

"Greyson you stupid dog, I know that bullet was aimed at me. Why the hell did you jump and block me!" Celeste pressed her teary face into my fur and gripped her hands tightly that it hurt almost as bad as the bullet wound.

"Celeste, help me put him on my back."

"You're going to carry him as a wolf? Can't he change back?" She asked.

"Transforming while injured could be dangerous for his human form. The bullet could move closer to something vital and he could die. We can't allow that to happen. Hurry...the more we delay, the more it risks his survival."

Celeste gasped.

Thanks for keeping her calm dad.

"Greyson, you better be okay, or I'm going to haunt you!" She hissed.

Sweetie, I think that works the other way around. She's so distraught; she's making bad jokes. Another reason why I think she's adorable.

I growl when she touches a spot that aches. My jaws clench tight to avoid accidentally biting her.

"Easy..." Dad crouches to allow me on his back.

A few of the men help me on dad's back, but Celeste makes it her duty to take my care under her responsibility.

"What happened?" Dad links.

"Intruder. Earlier this morning the men and I detected an odd scent but we excused it as a bypassing animal."

Dad let's out a thunderous growl making most of the men uneasy.

"You should have further investigated!" He said out load for even Celeste to hear. "We hadn't had an intruder for almost half a century and this happens! I want every man in the pack to search every inch of this land until that intruder is set outside and set 500 miles away from Paradise Valley! No one sleeps until he does!"

Dad carried me all the way to the front porch of the house where mom, Lexie, Charlotte and Dr. O'Dell were waiting.

Charlotte ran to her sister and asked her if she was okay.

"Greyson got shot." She whimpered, not taking an eye away from me. "Dr. O'Dell, please see to him."

"Of course I will, I'll even fix him up so that he will heal quickly."

"Good. Because, once he's fit, I'm going to kick his ass for being so reckless!"

Mom and dad looked at each other as if wondering what caused the change of spirits. Lexie noticed it as well and glanced between Celeste and me with great perplexity.

"Are you alright?" Charlotte asked her sister.

"I'm 100% fine because of this fool." Celeste said angrily.

"We have an intruder in our midst. Laura, I want you and the children to stay inside until this threat is found. Watch the boys, they will have a fit when they find out they can't play outside for a while. Both will try to defy me."

Dr. O'Dell asked dad to take me inside and set me on my bed. Blood ended up staining the sheets, as Dr. O'Dell removed the bullet from inside. Thankfully, nothing vital was hit. Thankfully Celeste was not hit. I would not mind losing a limb for my mate. She is my future and without her I cannot be an Alpha or a true mate.

As Dr. O'Dell worked on my wound, Celeste remained by my side nudging her face on the top of my head and caressing my fur.

For werewolves, the purpose in life is to find love and be loved by your mate. Then pass on your knowledge and abilities to the next generation. If a wolf can't do that, it's like losing the ability to live. One can only take disappointment for a given time before everything falls apart beneath their feet.

"What's going on here?"

Everyone turns to the door and sees Celeste's mother standing in shock at the door. She strides into the room without a care and hoovers over my wolf. Her face was blank and emotionless, but when she bent down to stroke my face, it was weird and outrageous at the same time.

"Remington, you look just like him. My husband, Nicholas' dog" She smirked. "That stupid mutt hated me, that's why I kept him outside. Nick and I would sometimes argue over him. " She went down on her knees and leaned down to look me in the yes. "You look like Remington, but you don't have his hateful eyes. Did someone hurt you, big guy?" She turned her head.

"Why is this dog bleeding?" She asked Dr. O'Dell.

Shit just hit the fan.

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NOTE: Dec 24, 2016

HAPPY HOLIDAYS YOU FREAKISHLY AMAZING PEOPLE!!! I'M BACK!!! I've graduated and I'm ready to write again after a year of constant chaos. I have edited this book again so you will find some changes to the style of writing. This book has been closed off from the public but I have made it visible once more. SO YOU BETTER BE GRATEFUL, you marshmallows! Let's make one thing clear though IF YOU COPY MY BOOK...I WILL FIND YOU.

BE WARNED. xo