I wake up to streams of light dancing off of the floors and walls of Grayson's bedroom. I can feel Gray's arm draped over my side as I wake, his hand resting on my stomach as his thumb lightly slides back and forth against the silk sheets pressing against me. I don't want to move- I'm so warm and comfortable underneath the thick blankets. Grayson's back also keeps me warm, and his light hand movement against my abdomen almost makes me fall asleep again.

I close my eyes and bask in the warmth- not just physical warmth, but emotional warmth as well. My heart could not feel fuller than it does at this moment. Grayson marked me last night, and as nervous as I was about that happening, he made it special and as pain-free as possible. Now that I think about it, my neck isn't sore in the slightest- must be werewolf magic or something.

Grayson's hand begins to lightly rub up and down my stomach with a little more force, then he continues to stroke me lower until he's extremely close to my lower region. Since I'm supposed to be sleeping, I keep my eyes shut and try to sit still so I can observe what Gray would do when he thinks I'm unconscious. Does he always caress my body like this?

He gets really close to touching me there, but he never does. His hand just massages my lower stomach as I clench my eyes tightly and control myself so as not to make any embarrassing sounds that would let him know I'm awake. I don't want him to stop.

Grayson cuddles into my side even more, and his lips find my neck as he spreads light kisses to my newly formed mark. I can't help the small intake of breath when his lips touch my skin, and I inwardly curse at myself for possibly drawing attention to my awakened state.

The rumble of laughter in my ear makes my heart pick up speed. How does something as simple as laughter become attractive?

"I know you're awake, baby. I could hear the change in your breathing and your heart rate picked up the more I touched you."

I can feel him smile into my neck, and a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance fills my mind. He was teasing me!

"Freaking werewolves," I mumble. I nudge his arm off of me as I make a move to push the sheets off of my body and get up. Then I realize that I'm completely naked. I'm completely naked?! Oh my God! I must have fallen asleep right after he marked me- that's so embarrassing! We didn't have sex and he didn't even get anything sexual either! I'm the worst mate in the universe. I'm so selfish that I didn't even attempt to make him feel as good as he made me feel.

My cheeks instantly heat up as my thoughts turn dirtier by the second as I imagine ways to make it up to him. Some ideas involve lingerie, some involve my hands, others involve my mouth. I'm probably too shy to actually do any of them, but the thoughts alone twist my insides and excite my body.

Gray grunts as he hugs my body to his, my front now plastered to his. He rubs his nose against mine as he releases a throaty sound that almost sounds like a purr.

"Stop thinking such dirty thoughts or I'm going to have to act on them."

I freeze at his confession as alarm bells ring in my head. Can he hear my thoughts? I didn't think that was possible, even for mates! Did Cooper leave out an extremely important part of the marking explanation? Oh no, did he hear my sexual fantasies?

He smiles and kisses the tip of my nose.

"Relax, love. I can't hear your thoughts if that's what you're freaking out about. I can only get a sense of your emotions, therefore, I knew you were getting turned on. I can help you out, little mate." He grips my hips and grinds his body into mine. When I feel something long and hard pressing into my stomach, my cheeks light on fire and I stutter out something incoherent. All my focus is on the feeling of him against me.

Apparently he loves to tease me, because he only laughs and then flips my hair over my shoulder to view my mark. His once joking demeanor instantly shifts to concern.

"Does it still hurt? I tried to make it as painless as possible, but there was no way to avoid it." His thumb lightly traces the area and I shiver in response. Nope, nothing feels wrong about that. It's strange how accurate Cooper described the sensation to me.

"It doesn't hurt at all. Is there a big scar?" I ask in a small voice. I'm almost afraid to hear the answer. What if it looks like he took a huge chomp out of my neck? I don't want to have any noticeable marks on me for the rest of the world to see.

"Go check in the mirror." He nods his head in the direction of the bathroom, and I motion to my sheet-covered body and stare at Grayson until he understands my predicament.

He rolls his eyes and puts a pillow over his face.

"I've seen it all before," he mumbles into the pillow, his voice becoming extremely muffled.

I quickly search his drawers for something to wear. I almost do a double-take when I see he has female clothes in his drawers- all in my size. I'm not sure whether to feel guilty or grateful for the fact that he spent more money on me, so while I'm figuring it out I slide on a new pair of underwear, a bra, and a pair of jeans and a cute lavender crop sweater. The clothes fit perfectly.

Once I'm dressed, I tell Grayson he can look, thank him with a hug for the clothes even though he didn't have to buy me anything, and then walk into the bathroom to face the mirror. Tilting my head to the side, I trace a finger over the light silver mark on my neck. It's completely healed from last night. It looks like the scar has been there for ages instead of a single night, and the bite itself takes up a large portion of my shoulder and neck area.

The mark is so light that nobody would even notice it unless they looked hard enough, so that's a relief. Just the thought that other werewolves will know I'm claimed by Gray is secretly thrilling. He has officially claimed me as his, and he's stuck with me now.

I don't think it has really sunken in yet that we'll be together forever. Forever seems like such a long time, and in human relationships it's really hard to promise forever to one another. There's marriage, but a piece of paper can change that. We're connected now- we can feel each other's feelings and emotions. That's powerful.

Gray comes up behind me and hugs my body to his as we both admire the mark and what it stands for. I subconsciously lean back into his strong body which is unfortunately covered in a shirt and sweats now. He stands at least a foot taller than me, my head only reaching his chest.

"Did you unhinge your jaw like an anaconda?" I joke, tracing over the large bite mark on my neck. It's so large that I can't imagine how he could have even done that. I guess when his canines came out he was partially shifted and could extend his jaw more.

"Sorry about that," he says with a nervous smile. He rubs the back of his neck, something I've noticed he does when he's uncomfortable or nervous. "The size of the bite indicates how powerful a werewolf is. The larger the bite, the larger the wolf. I'm an Alpha, so it's pretty big."

I turn around and place my hands on his chest. I look into his blue eyes and feel so much love and appreciation for him- my wolf.

"I'm glad you marked me. I love you." I grip his t-shirt in my hands and tug at it. He gets the gist and bends down to erase the space between us. The kiss is light and playful as he grips my hips and growls in appreciation. I suddenly break from the kiss and cover my mouth with my hands.

"Crap, I haven't brushed my teeth yet! That's so gross," I whine as I fumble around his bathroom until I find my toothbrush for when I stay over. I'm brushing my teeth at lightning speed as Grayson only chuckles and begins doing the same.

"Just so you know," he says after he rinses his mouth, "I don't care if you haven't brushed your teeth. I'll love you regardless of your nasty morning breath."

"Hey!" I scream at him as I slap his arm. He feigns injury, but we both know that I couldn't hurt him even if I wanted to.

"Kidding!" He throws up his hands in mock defense. "You don't have morning breath. I could kiss you all morning. I could do other things to you all morning as well..."

I roll my eyes and brush past him as I head for the kitchen. He's so horny. It's almost ten o'clock in the morning and I haven't had coffee yet. I need coffee to wake up.

Walking down the stairs and making my coffee becomes a little more difficult when Grayson is always touching me. His hand on my hip, or touching my shoulder, or splayed across my back- he's always touching me in some way. I slap his arm away a few times, but he only reattaches himself to me in another way. I give up trying to stop him.

I decide on cereal for breakfast because I don't feel like cooking and neither does Grayson. The other pack members have already woken up and eaten breakfast, so we can't recruit anyone else to cook for us. Well, Gray tried to reason that he could just order one of the guards to make us food, but I claimed that was cruel and an abuse of power. Hence the cereal.

Halfway through my bowl of cereal Grayson mutters a small "sorry" to me. I'm about to ask him why he's apologizing when Cooper comes running around the corner while screaming excitedly.

I jump out of my seat a little, not expecting the sudden change in pace. The coffee hasn't fully settled in my stomach yet, so I'm still not fully awake and ready to be a functioning member of society.

"GIRLLLL," Cooper squeals with so much energy that I'm not even sure is legal. "You got marked! Let me fucking see it!" He half yanks my neck into his line of vision so I'm left leaning uncomfortably over the counter on the tall stool.

Grayson immediately slaps Cooper's hand away and picks me up so I'm sitting in his lap with his strong arms holding me in place.

"MINE!" he growls, his eyes turning black immediately after another wolf made contact with me. He glares at Cooper who backs up immediately with his arms up in the air in surrender.

"Jeez, tell your wolf side to calm the fuck down. I'm gay! Not interested, buddy. No offense, Thea. You're hot, but I like dick." Cooper's nervous rambling only seems to infuriate Grayson more. I don't think the "hot" comment made him feel very secure.

It's so weird being able to feel someone else's emotions; It's like there's a separate section of my brain where I am able to tell which emotions are his and which are mine, but they all still feel a bit jumbled. I'm becoming partially agitated because Grayson is livid, and even though I logically don't have any issues with what Cooper did, I still feel worked up. This is going to take some getting used to.

Thankfully, Axel turns the corner and sees the pathetic showdown where Cooper is slightly sweating under his Alpha's glare.

Axel seems to know how to diffuse the situation by hugging Cooper from behind and backing up slowly. "What did you do now, baby?" Axel directs the question at Cooper who squints his eyes at him and drops his jaw.

"Why the fuck do you always assume I did something wrong?"

"Because you usually do?" Axel smirks, then kisses the tip of his nose.

"I may have smelled Thea's new scent that mixed with Grayson's-"

Grayson growls again, still angry and picking a fight with the helpless Cooper.

"FINE- Alpha Grayson, and I may have... possibly... grabbed her neck so I could see the mark. But I only did that because I was so excited and couldn't believe that they finally-" Axel cuts off Cooper this time.

"Never go in between newly-marked wolves. You should know how possessive they get. Remember what happened with us when you were newly marked?" Axel questions. It seems like an innocent comment, but Cooper's reaction is anything but. He blushes like a tomato and I find it hard not letting my mind wander to what Axel may be referring to. Cooper pulls his navy blue beanie over his face and mumbles something that my human ears can't make out.

While the two of them talk about something I probably don't want any details on, I snuggle into Grayson's side and run my fingers through his dark hair. It's really soft, and the combination of his contented rumbling and his bodily warmth almost puts me back to sleep once again.

Gray continues to give me soft kisses here and there as I finish my breakfast- he finished five bowls of cereal while I'm still working on my second. When I'm done, Cooper sighs dramatically and motions for me to get up.

"Oh my Goddess, you are the slowest eater ever! Please go check on your pet warlock because he has been whining all night, and since the Alpha was a little busy last night," Cooper says while waggling his eyebrows, "that responsibility fell on me and Axel."

My heart immediately drops as I jump off of Grayson's lap before he can keep me still. I'm the worst friend ever. I never checked in on Eli to make sure he was situated in the pack infirmary! I ended up driving home with Gray while Eli got moved by pack members that don't give a crap about his well being, and then I fought with Grayson which turned into us professing our love for one another and then he marked me. A lot has gone on in the past 12 hours, but it doesn't make up for the fact that I feel extremely guilty for not thinking of him.

Grayson must sense my spiraling thoughts because he places a hand on my lower back and rubs it soothingly. He sends a death glare to Cooper.

"Thanks for that reminder, Cooper. 0 for 2 this morning." Grayson grunts more than speaks, and then his focus is entirely on me. "Calm down, baby. He's absolutely fine. I'll take you to him right now, but I have some rules."

I ball my hands into fists and look at his gentle yet stern face. What kind of rules could he possibly have?

"What are your rules?" I grind out, a little annoyed that as my boyfriend he seems to think he has the right to decide who I can and can't see.

"It's simple. You can only see him if I or a designated wolf is with you. You aren't permitted to see him alone, and you aren't allowed to touch him. Although you trust him, I don't. I allowed him on our pack lands, possibly endangering our people all because you trust him. I don't think it's too much to ask for you to follow these simple rules."

Grayson looks proud of himself, like he put together a nice, convincing speech. He crosses his large muscled arms across his chest and smirks at me like he's being the best boyfriend ever. I bet he feels generous for even allowing me to see him. Except, it's not his place to allow me to do anything.

This is absolutely ridiculous, but I know I won't be allowed to see Eli unless I agree to his terms- or at least pretend to agree. So, I play along and nod my head. Grayson smiles at my lack of resistance and holds my hand to walk me to Eli.

I'll follow his rules- for now. But the first chance that I get, I'm talking to Eli alone to get the real scoop on what's going on in his coven. I have a feeling there's more than meets the eye.