Chapter 24 - Grayson

I wasn't sure how much time had passed after Kenzie had found me. Time was a blurry soup of chaos while I was there, and I knew that I was still trying to process the drugs they'd used to keep me "docile." They're fucking words. Damn hunters .

Still, consciousness was gradually returning, and with it, my ability to understand what had happened, to a degree anyway.

"Fucking hell, my head hurts."

I reached up, rubbing absently at my temples and eyes. I could someone still taste those foul chemicals in my system, and the stench of that damn place still lingered in my nose. I'd seen so many other wolves, too many, locked in cages as more of those hunters had brought them in.

There was a receiving area of sorts at that blasted base of theirs. And the entire room had wreaked with a combination of terror and sweat and piss. Oh, and blood. So much blood.

Some of the wolves had been dying in those cages as they were brought in. I could sense it, sense how much they were hanging on by a thread. Their spirits had called out to me, registering me as an Alpha, and it destroyed me that I couldn't do more to help.

We need to end those fuckers.

"Well, I'm not surprised. Those drugs were definitely messing with your system. But it should get better. Willow's given you some fluids and what she called a ‘bodily flush.' So I'm imagining a lot of peeing."

My stare shot over to the door where Kenzie stood—coming back into the room, it seemed—and she had a bottle of water and something else in a brown paper bag.

"Kenz," I whispered, my chest cracking open at just the sight of her. "Oh, Gods. You're all right."

She walked over, sitting down in a chair that had been pulled up to the bed. I was in some sort of medical bay, a feature I hadn't seen yet during my first explorations of my new home.

"Mostly, yeah. I mean, I'm physically fine. The baby's fine. But that place…" She stifled a shiver. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a damn moron. I got myself captured." I shook my head, which was a bad idea because it sent the world spinning. "Ugh, can I have that?"

I blindly held my hand out for the water, and Kenzie placed it in my palm. The cool temperature of the bottle was immediately refreshing, and I took a sip. It was amazing, and the roiling in my stomach backed off.

"Grayson, I…" Kenzie chuckled, but I could scent the char to her fragrance, worry and doubt coloring it. "Look, there's no good way to ask this, so I'm just going to get it off my chest. Okay?"

My brows raised, and I just nodded.

"What are we doing? Am I staying here? Am I your mate? I know what the magic says, what our wolves say, but I need to hear something from you. This entire situation has been a mess, and I'm still…"

She looked up from fiddling with the blanket that covered me, and the expression she wore knifed through my gut.

"Scared."

My body felt like it was held together by string, shoddy and likely to tear at any moment, but I didn't care. I sat up, swinging my legs over the bed and sliding down to kneel in front of Kenzie. The stone floor bit into my kneecaps, and I was so damn wobbly, a cooked noodle that couldn't stand straight.

"Grayson, you should get back in bed. Willow didn't know how long it would take the drugs to wear—"

"I will, but first, I need to do this because you're right. You do need something from me, and I intend to give it to you."

Her eyes flared, and a glassy sheen smoothed over those gorgeous blue irises. After sucking in a deep breath, I took her hands, meeting her stare and letting it all go. There was no fucking reason to hold back anything now, and I didn't want to. Kenzie deserved the damn world. More. She'd saved me; she was carrying our child, and I owed her the truth.

"I love you, MacKenzie Edwards. I've loved you since the moment that we were old enough to think about such things, but I've always been too afraid to do anything about it. It seemed like an invitation for pain, keeping my heart open after losing my parents, after basically driving Kit away. I pushed you away. I rejected you, and it was all because I was too much of a coward to face my own feelings."

My entire body was rigid, my wolf stalking silently with his hackles up. It wasn't like either of us to admit our failings like this. But Kenzie deserved it. I'd hurt her so much. I needed to make it right.

"I don't want you to leave. I never really did. I want you to stay. I want you to be with me—properly. I promise you, I'll never pull that shit again. I want to see our child grow up. I want to become the family I thought I'd lost so long ago."

Kenzie could barely look at me, and I could sense the swirling emotions racking her. Her scent was flaring brightly, and every inch of me just wanted to plaster myself to her and show her how much I cared.

It was still silent between us, and nervous energy began to thread itself through my veins, weaving in and out like stitches of insecurity.

"Grayson, I…" Kenzie cleared her throat, sniffling, and then looked back up at me. "I expect some things in this relationship. I'm not about to let you treat me like you have. I need a real commitment."

I nodded. "Anything. Name it."

She cocked her head, narrowing her stare on me. "You need to announce me as your wife, partner, and mate in front of the packs again. Like Kaiden did for Kit."

"A wedding? Done." I smiled. "It was actually really fun. Next?"

Kenzie fought back her smirk, squinting at me. "Okay. You also have to be honest with me. No secrets, no keeping things to yourself because you don't want to deal with the fallout. We're a team. I expect you to keep me in the loop about everything."

"Done." I nodded once again. "In fact, I'll tell you right now, Kenz, that…place? It terrified me. And I'm not ever going to feel safe again unless we can do something about it."

Her expression warred between sympathy and her own fear. "I…get that. I wish I could have done more while we were there, but—"

"You got me out, Kenz. That's more than anyone could expect. I'll be forever grateful for that."

At this point, Kenzie wasn't fighting back her smile, and the way it lit up her entire face made me beam internally, her light strengthening my own.

"Thank you for saying that. I know…I know the other wolves want those hunters to pay, and I'm down to help you make that happen. But don't hold me back. I'm pregnant, yes, but I won't always be, and until I'm too big to actually fight, don't think for a moment that you can bench me."

I shook my head. "Never."

"Good." She grinned, squeezing my hands. "Last thing then."

"Let's hear it."

"I need you to promise me that you won't make proving yourself as Alpha or stopping those hunters a vendetta. You have a family. I expect you to be here for it. Literally and figuratively."

My chest pinched, but I knew what Kenzie was getting at. There had been too many arrogant or furious wolves who'd lost their lives to a hunt for revenge. If I did that, I'd be leaving her and the baby alone.

That was unacceptable.

"I promise you, Kenz. I promise to be the best father and mate I possibly can. I promise to be there for our child—and any we might have in the future. I promise to listen to you, to heed your wishes as best I can, and to be a true mate. Not just one on paper."

Kenzie's smile widened all the more, and then she put her hands on the sides of my face, pulling me toward her. She touched our lips gently, and I embraced that perfect connection that had grown back between us.

I'd fucked things up before. I'd let this mate bond die, and I would never do that again.

"I love you, Grayson Edwards-Williams." I cocked a brow at her. "Look, to me , you'll always be an Edwards. Now, you just have a little extra something."

"I have more than a little, Kenz. I have everything." I lifted onto my knees as tall as I could, putting a hand on her lower stomach. "I have you, and I have this incredible V?lva child. I can't wait to me them."

"Her," she added. "I'm pretty sure it's a girl."

I smiled, chuckling lightly. "Amazing. I can't wait to meet her ."

Kenzie positively glowed with happiness, wrapping her arms around my neck and holding me close.

"Kiss me, Grayson. Kiss me until I can't remember what it's like to feel anything but your lips, and then kiss me some more."

So I did, and I had no intention of stopping there.