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Granger didn’t like seeing them together. In fact, it set every nerve in his body on fire.

But he realized that if he rushed in now, as the hero saving her from that arrogant prick, she wouldn’t thank him. Instead, she might even defend Caleb.

No, it suited him more to allow her to see Caleb as a villain rather than himself as a hero.

Granger stayed back, watching. But then Caleb shouted at her with such force even the birds flew away. He gripped the tree he was hiding behind, splintering the wood. He couldn’t hold back the low growl that made its way from deep within him.

‘Bastard!’ he thought to himself, ‘how dare he treat her that way!’

Caleb walked away into the woods on the opposite side.

“Finally!” Granger whispered to himself. He took two steps forward before he stopped. He watched her fall to the ground on her knees and saw the way her shoulders hung. She was crying.

There was a lump forming in his throat. He swallowed it and continued walking. Finally, Granger stopped fighting the pull he always felt to her, letting her feel him coming. He watched, painfully, as she hid her tears from him. Then, when she stood up to look at him, she smiled. Never

before had he felt anything but joy from her smile.

Until now.

***

“You understand, right?” Ashleigh asked nervously.

“Ash, I already told you I understand. We’re all good, babe,” he reassured her with a smile and a kiss on the cheek. “I was more worried about you than anything.”

Ashleigh nodded.

When she had felt Granger approaching from the trees, she was afraid he would misunderstand. That he would make assumptions about why she had been alone with Caleb or question why she had even invited him to her birthday, to begin with.

But to her surprise, that wasn’t at all how he had reacted. He had been concerned about their conversation but only because he had heard when Caleb had lost control and shouted in his Alpha tone._.

He wasn’t jealous. He was worried.

Ashleigh stopped walking and hugged him close. That prompted Granger to laugh as he wrapped his arms around her tightly.

“Not that I mind, but what did I do to deserve this?”

“I am so sorry,” she whispered; her voice shook slightly.

Granger pulled back to see her face, her tears streaking down her cheeks. He put a hand to the side of her face and used his thumb to wipe them away tenderly.

“Hey, hey, you have nothing to be sorry for,” he whispered back.

“Yes, I do,” she choked out between tears. “You have been so good to me; you have been patient and loving and wonderful.”

Granger smiled and kissed her forehead.

“And why is that something to be sorry about?” he laughed.

“I’m serious,” Ashleigh said, trying hard to stop her tears.

“So am I,” he whispered before kissing her lips gently. “It’s you and me forever, baby. I love you. Everything else, I’ll deal with it.”

Ashleigh sniffed and wiped away the rest of her tears. She smiled at him before jumping into his arms and kissing him with a fire she had never shown before. A flash of grey in her mind. She squeezed her eyes tightly until all she could see was the flair of white from the pressure against her irises.

“I love you, Granger,” she whispered against his mouth between kisses. “I love you so much.”

Granger smiled and kissed her once more.

“I love you too.”

The rest of their walk had gone by without incident. Granger had walked Ashleigh all the way home, holding hands and smiling the entire time.

“Oh man, is this what’s it going to be like from now on?” Bell asked, smiling as she pretended to be grossed out.

“For the rest of our lives,” Granger said as he pulled Ashleigh’s hand to his mouth and kissed it softly.

“Oh, Goddess help me,” Bell whispered. “Ok, ok, that’s enough of your mush!”

Bell reached out and playfully pulled Ashleigh to her side.

“It’s time for the Princess to prepare for the ball.” Renee laughed, peeking out from the door.

“It’s ok. I have to finish my surprise anyway.” Granger smiled.

“Surprise?” Ashleigh asked, looking at him curiously.

“See ya tonight.” He winked at her before he walked away.

“Oh, wow, you guys are gross.” Bell laughed as she pushed Ashleigh into the house.

***

Caleb returned to the room he shared with Galen and immediately got into the shower, desperately trying to scald the frustration out of his body.

When he entered the bedroom, he found Galen sitting on the bed waiting for him.

“You saw her, didn’t you,” Galen asked.

Caleb let out a heavy sigh but said nothing as he crossed the room to the dresser.

“Guess it didn’t go well,” Galen answered himself.

Caleb rolled his eyes as he pulled a grey t-shirt over his head.

“How else could it have gone?” Caleb huffed.

“Words. Nice.” Galen pumped his fist.

Caleb threw his wet towel at his friend as he finished getting dressed.

Galen laughed as he caught it and threw it into the dirty clothes hamper.

“Man, seriously, if that’s what you think, then why are we even here?” Galen asked, leaning back on his bed.

“We were invited.”

“We get invited to a lot of things; we don’t usually go because of that huge stick up— of responsibility you carry around….” Galen smiled brightly at his friend, changing his words midway when he noticed Caleb’s glare.

Caleb gave him an irritated look.

Galen stood up and walked to him.

“For real, what happened?”

Caleb clenched his jaw and looked away.

Galen sighed, walking into the bathroom. “Fine, whatever. Just don’t take it out on anyone who doesn’t deserve it.”

“I already did,” Caleb answered.

“What do you mean?” Galen asked, backing out of the bathroom, turning to stare at Caleb attentively.

Caleb sighed and sat on his bed. Galen sat across from him, waiting for the answer.

“I didn’t seek her out. After training this morning, I was feeling off. I was thinking about something… anyway, I needed to walk. So I just ran into her by chance.”

“What do you mean by chance?” Galen asked.

“By chance, unplanned. I was standing somewhere, and she ran that way.”

“So, she ran into you?”

“No.”

“You ran into her? I thought you were walking?” Galen queried using his hands like puppets, making them run into each other.

“No. What? Does it really matter?” Caleb snapped.

“Hey, I am just trying to get into your headspace, ok? I gotta see the setting, feel the atmosphere,” Galen retorted dramatically.

Caleb sighed and rolled his eyes.

“Fine,” he huffed. Caleb took a deep breath before continuing quickly, “I was in a small grove of trees, I caught her scent, and before I realized it, I had followed it to a go-bag. I opened it and found her clothing inside. So I pulled out a shirt and inhaled her scent.”

Embarrassed by his own words, Caleb ran a hand through his hair.

“I realized the ridiculousness of my actions and threw the item back inside and the bag to the ground. As I attempted to calm my senses, I heard Ashleigh’s voice. She had happened upon me, she asked for the bag and—”

“Wait!” Galen shouted as he stood up and stared down at Caleb with eyes wide, “do you mean that she was… that she had no….”

Galen gestured at his clothing, placing an arm over his chest and groin and making a shocked expression. Caleb jumped up and snarled at his friend.

“Do not dare imagine her!”

“Dude!” Galen shouted back, insulted, “that is my Luna! Have some respect!”

Caleb hollered once more in frustration.

“Ok, ok!” Galen raised his hands in annoyance, “just skip to the part where you screwed up.”

Caleb looked back with a glare.

“What? Gonna tell me you didn’t?” Galen replied, giving him a knowing look.

Caleb sat down, defeated.

“We got into an argument about the conflict that exists between our packs. I got angry.” Caleb leaned forward with his head in his hands, “I yelled at her. I used my Alpha tone.”

Galen sank down onto the bed beside Caleb.

“Maybe you can apologize. She is your mate. She will under—” Galen tried to comfort him.

“Hah!” Caleb laughed bitterly. “That’s the best part.”

Caleb locked eyes with his friend as he continued his story. Galen could not look away when he saw the redness that laced his eyes. A level of emotion Caleb had never shown before was written on his face, hidden under layers of practiced control ripped away in an instant.

“I did go back. I walked for a few minutes and realized I couldn’t leave it that way. I wanted to apologize for the way I treated her.” Caleb clenched his jaw once more and then turned away from Galen. “When I found her again, she was a bit busy, attached at the mouth to that black-haired rat she left Blood Moon with.”