Chapter 44

Grace’s tears streamed down her face, and I almost regretted telling her the truth. Her blue eyes showcased her fears in all the ways I’m sure she didn’t want. A part of me wanted to yell at Leon and Sawyer, so I did through the mindlink.

“She’s crying.” I growled at them.

“Well, it’s a lot to take in.” Sawyer justified.

“It would have been worse if you kept everything from her any longer.” Leon answered, a hint of a laugh in his tone.

“What do I do?” I asked.

“Just be there, man,” Leon answered, and cut off the link. I felt annoyed at them, but I knew I had to do this on my own, like a man.

“Grace, no matter what you shift into, it doesn’t change anything between us. And your brother, he doesn’t seem like a monster at all,” I said gently, kneeling in front of her, wiping the tears from her face with my thumb.

“Yea right.” I wrote.

“It’s true,” I told her softly. “He seems to just want to protect you. That’s why he’s here.”

“He hasn’t done a good job.” She scribbled with a sob, making my heart hurt. “And you probably hurt him.”

“I did not, nor did allow any of my men to hurt your brother once he told us who he was. I wouldn’t do that to you,” I told her seriously, not liking the negative way she was thinking of me.

“Why?” She asked. The W was wobbly on the board, and I knew this was probably going to be my chance to tell her. Leon was right. I needed to tell her.

“Grace, I know this might be scary to hear, but I’ve been keeping one more really big secret from you... The truth is, Grace I really think you’re my mate.”

Her face paled even more if possible, and the look of surprise was something I would never be able to get it out of my mind. It wasn’t the look of happiness that I had hoped for, but it also wasn’t a look of disgust that I had half expected so I took that as something.

“What?” She wrote.

“I am pretty sure you’re my mate, I’m your mate, Gracie,” I said again slowly.

Her hand immediately went to her neck where the mark she didn’t even know she had a few weeks ago was imprinted on her skin. I knew her fears before she wrote anything. She was worried that it affected everything, and it did, just not in the way she thought.

I pulled her hand down, engulfing it in mine.

“That mark, it’s one-sided. It has no effect on your true mate, Grace. You have a true mate. And I think it’s me. That mark has no real effect on your what is rightfully yours.”

“Not true.” She wrote, but I could feel her trembles in my hand.

“What’s not true?” I asked with a frown.

“Mate.” She wrote.

“I assure you that I am almost positive you are my mate, Grace. I have never felt like this with anyone else. But I understand your fears,” I told her, not sure if what I was about to do was dumb or smart, but I felt like I had no real choice.

I got up and opened the door to the office. It was quiet in the hallway. I knew Sawyer was probably at the hospital, and I hoped Leon was in his office with door closed. No one else should be around, so if she wanted to escape there would be little in her way.

“I’m not telling you to go,” I told her seriously. “I am giving you the option to go if this is too much. I don’t want to force you into anything you don’t want. I don’t want to pressure you into talking about such big things that you aren’t ready to. I want to give you time to process everything you need to. So, if you need time to think, you have it, Gracie.”

I sat back down at my desk and opened my laptop, but I could see Gracie’s tears seemed to stop, and to my surprise, she didn’t bolt for the now open door.

“Is this because of our deal?” She asked after a while.

“Our deal?” I asked in surprise.

“Saying I’m your mate.”

“Um I’m not sure what you mean.” I frowned.

She frowned, and I knew she was trying to find a way to tell me what she was thinking, but I just wished she would speak to me. I wanted so badly to hear her voice, to know her every thought. I wanted to know exactly where I stood.

She picked up the marker and began scribbling again but looked up at me every couple seconds as I waited with bated breath for whatever she was about to tell me.

“You say that to every girl,” I read when she flipped the board, her brows raised in accusation.

I took a deep breath and tried not to be offended. “I do not say that to every girl, Gracie. Yes, there have been others before you,” I told her honestly. “But none of them have ever mattered before. I have never wanted someone as much as I want you. I have never felt the way I feel when I’m with you. I chose you as chosen bride originally. That is true. But I have been drawn to you since the first day we met, and it has only gotten stronger the more time we spend together. You consume my every thought. I have to lay eyes on you every couple of hours because I need to know that you are okay. I have never worried so much about anyone in my entire life. And I think you feel that too.” I took a breath before continuing, my eyes never leaving hers. “You feel the safety and comfort, and love. When we lay together at night, how natural it and right it feels. How you find comfort in holding my hand. How you fantasize about what our days and nights could look like. I know you feel it too, Gracie.”

She looked betrayed that I seemed to know her deepest thoughts, but it was the truth. I knew she probably didn’t believe me still, but there was nothing I wouldn’t do to prove it to her. So, she could doubt it all she wanted, but I would spend the rest of my life proving to her that it was real. That we were real. And there was nothing I wouldn’t do for the pretty blonde in front of me.