When The Wolves Come Out

Chapter 25

"Ash?"

My eyes slowly blink open and I look around, confused. I was back in me and Ethan's room, lying on the bed. Ethan is sitting on a chair next to me, his hands wrapped around one of mine.

"Thank God, you're awake." He smiles.

"What happened?" I mutter.

"Grayson says that you fell and hit your head pretty hard."

Memories of what happened begin to flood back into my mind. I kissed Grayson. Oh, my God. I pray that Ethan didn't already know the truth.

"When did I fall?"

"Apparently he was walking past and you two bumped into each other, and then you just fell over. Must've been a pretty big fall."

Lies, I think to myself.

"Oh. I can't really remember much after dinner."

There's a knock on the door and Grayson walks in, staring at me. He flicks his eyes to Ethan, taking in the situation.

"Hey, Ashlyn. Just wanted to see how you were doing," he says.

"I'm fine," I reply, playing along.

"You hit your head pretty damn hard, huh?"

"Yeah. Maybe it's best if we just forget about it?" I say, not talking about my head.

Grayson picks up on what I meant, nodding before slowly turning around to leave.

"Oh, and Ashlyn?" he says over his shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Let's keep an eye on one another in the future, okay?"

And for some reason, I didn't think he was talking about falling over.

~~

The guilt was killing me. Every day I would wake up in Ethan's strong arms and he'd smile at me, promising to spend as much time with me as he can outside of pack business. Grayson keeps giving me smirks and checking me out when Ethan's not looking, mostly because he knows it's getting on my nerves.

And the worst part is, I know that I feel something for Grayson deep down, and that's what hurts the most.

I know that I have a mate, but there's something that intrigues me about Grayson. I have some sort of pull towards him and I know he feels it too.

To clear my head, I go to school more often. There's something about having a normal routine that places my life back where it should be.

I walk downstairs on Thursday morning after getting dressed and eating breakfast. Usually Lacey or Ethan would drive me to school but neither of them are waiting for me as they commonly are.

"Surprise!" Grayson says, standing at the bottom of the stairs. "I'm driving you to school."

"Yippee!" I reply sarcastically. "Where's Ethan and Lacey?"

"They're discussing 'Alpha business' which apparently has nothing to do with me."

"Maybe if you were more mature you'd be allowed to go to those meetings."

"You wish." He winks, heading towards the car. I follow him and we both get in before driving off to school.

I decide to ask the question that's been bugging me for days. "Why did you kiss me?"

Grayson shrugs. "Felt like it."

"We both have mates, and you kissed me because you 'felt like it'? Who do you think you are?"

"Grayson Black," he replies, smirking. "You're lucky I covered for you when you fell over."

"Whatever. Let's just not talk about it."

"You sure about that, love?" he teases. "I can tell you enjoyed it. Stop pretending already."

"It was so bad that I fainted, actually."

"Oh, yeah? I thought it was pretty good."

"Douchebag."

"Amateur."

Amateur. That was what he called me the first time we met when I forgot to hide my colours. And then I think about it: I thought Ethan was the only one who could see my colours. He said that mates could see each other's colours... Does that mean—

"You okay, love? You look worried there," Grayson asks, interrupting my thoughts.

I can't look at him. Not now that I know...

"I'm fine," I answer slowly.

"Whatever you say." He sighs. "We're here." He pulls into school and I get out quickly. "Bye, love! Think of me!"

I know he's only joking, but somehow his words get to me in ways I can't explain.

I slam the car door shut, getting away from Grayson as quickly as possible.