Chapter 5 

Grace

Why couldn't she have just waited for her mother to pop into the grocery store? It wasn't like having no milk for your coffee was a dire emergency. But Grace had been back home a few days now and felt awkward for not pulling her weight around the house. Picking up milk and bread was the least she could do for her family.

And why did she have to run right into the very last person she wished to bump into? The very first time she ventured from the house, no less.

For the entire ten-minute walk home—which had become somewhat of a panicked run since her encounter—Grace could not rid herself of the warm, tingling sensation that covered her entire body. Nor could she rid herself of the heaviness in her heart at having seen Caspian after so long. He was her biggest reason for not returning to Black Diamond. He was the ghost haunting her everywhere she turned, and being back in the hollow only made that sensation ten times worse.

His proximity, just knowing he was in town, was driving Grace mad with the odd pulling sensation she felt in her gut. Though her mind told her over and over again that she needed to stay away from him—and that she needed to keep her son away from him—everything else had wanted her to throw herself into his arms the moment she laid eyes on him.

The mixture of anger, frustration, and lust she felt for him all those years ago hadn’t changed at all. In fact, it was somehow worse now.

This can't be happening, she thought as she rushed into the house and slammed the door behind her.

"Mom, I'm home!" she called, trying to hide the panic in her tone. "Blake, I'm back!"

Nobody answered. From the sounds coming from upstairs, Grace guessed that her son was being a typical kid, playing video games on his uncle's old console.

Wandering through the house to the kitchen, she glanced out the window to see her mother was right where Grace had left her, tending to her garden. Whether Brenda had heard her or not, she did not acknowledge Grace's presence.

Perhaps Brenda was just finishing up before she intended to come inside. Whatever she was doing, her being outside gave Grace the privacy that she needed to feel frantic. Shoving the milk into the refrigerator, she thought, We never should have come back.

When she blinked, all she could see were Caspian's dark chocolate eyes glowering back at her, a question in their depths. She knew he had every right to know what she was doing back in his territory, especially now that he was the alpha of the pack. But Grace couldn't bring herself to face him. She couldn't bear to tell him the truth.

She had already kept the secret for long enough. Not even her family knew it. How could she possibly tell the man who had rejected her?

No, just thinking about it sent a shiver down her spine.

She slammed the refrigerator door shut a little harsher than intended. Her panic spiraling out of control, she hurried into the den and grabbed Blake's jacket from where he had left it on the back of an armchair, in typical pre-teen fashion.

We shouldn't have come, she thought to herself again. Clearing her throat, she prepared to yell for Blake again.

Then she thought better of it. She didn't want to panic him, too. It would be better for them all if she packed quickly and quietly before letting him in on what was going on. Besides, she had no way of knowing whether or not her decision to leave might trigger one of his shifter attacks, and then what would she do? It would only give her mother more ammunition to urge her to stay.

But bumping into Caspian on her very first outing in Black Diamond had to be a sign. As long as she remained in town, she would not be safe from him.

It was all too easy to remember what he had been like when she had lived in the hollow. He had been a self-righteous, entitled asshole, and she wasn't about to believe that becoming alpha had made him any better. The fact he had chosen Austin to be his second proved the two of them were still as thick as thieves, and though her brother had never tormented her quite as badly as his friend, he had never lifted a finger to stop it, either. She hadn't been able to count on him then, and she couldn't count on him now.

Though she was back home, she was still alone, and that Caspian knew she was there made things so much worse. It was only a matter of time before he came over to question her. It was his alpha-given right, after all.

No, it was well past time for her to go. The few days that Blake had shared with his grandma and uncle would have to be enough.

Grace grabbed her car keys from the table beside the front door and prepared to grab the bags she'd stored in the trunk. Pausing with her hand on the door, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath to steady herself.

All she had to do was get through the next couple of hours and get out of there, then she and Blake could go back to normal. Not that she had any idea what “normal” looked like anymore. She wasn't sure that she ever had.

Still trembling, she pushed down the door handle and opened the door. She had barely lifted her foot to walk out when she came face-to-face with those same chocolate eyes that had haunted her dreams for so many years.

As her heart leaped into her throat, her mind screamed, What the hell do I do now?