"Alright Luna. I'm glad to report that your body has successfully gotten rid of all of the Wolfsbane as well as the small amount of silver it had ingested," the pack doctor announced with a grin, causing me to let out a sigh of relief. It'd been almost a week since I'd woken up and between the nightmares and throwing up the remainder of the poison that'd been introduced into my body, I'd finally found some semblance of relief.

Matthew giving my hand a squeeze pulled me back to the present, causing me to quickly clear my throat before saying, "Great, thank you."

She smiled. "No problem. You are free to go. All I have to do is inform Alpha Greyson of your improved condition and everything should be fine. He's been really concerned about your well-being." I swallowed, my heart dropping at the mention of his name. I hadn't seen him and though I'd been very adamant about not wanting to see him, a small part of me wanted him. Wanted to feel his touch and feel his lips on mine. I wanted to cry in his arms but at the same time slap him over and over and over. My mind hurt just thinking about it.

Matthew gave me a look, silently asking me if I was okay and I nodded. "Okay," I quietly said, causing the doctor to give me one more smile before she exited our bedroom. I finally let out the breath that I didn't know I was holding as I laid back in my bed.

"What's happening in your head, Av?" Matthew said as he hesitantly laid down next to me on my side of the bed, because no matter how hard I tried to fight it, I had to sleep on Greyson's side so that I could fall asleep. Matthew had been very vocal about never laying on the bed, only sitting because he knew Greyson would lose his mind otherwise, but I quickly overruled him. That's the beauty of being the Luna: he had to listen to me whether he wanted to or not. Plus, it was comforting having him around. He was so nice and genuine, which begged the question of why he was here with the merciless Greyson.

"Remember one of the first days that I met you and you said that you had a reason for being here? What is it? I mean, I can't possibly imagine you doing anything that would warrant you being here. Natalie either."

Matthew let out a sigh as he moved to a sitting position, conflict brewing in his eyes for a few seconds before he sighed, giving in. "I guess I was going to have to tell you this story eventually," he said as he crossed his legs. "Remember when I told you she had it rough before we got here? Well, that's the main reason we're here. Believe it or not, we weren't always close. I mean, I didn't even know she existed until about ten years ago when I was almost sixteen." My eyebrows knitted in confusion, but before I could ask, he continued. "You see, I was put up for adoption when I was born and even though the Beta of a pretty well known pack at the time had adopted me and raised me very well considering he did it on his own since his mate, my other adoptive dad, died when I was only three. I don't remember much about him, but I remember I loved his pancakes and he had the most contagious laugh and he always knew how to make us smile. But most of all, I remembered how much he loved me and how in love he was with my other dad but..." he trailed, tears gathering in his eyes, causing me to gently rubbing his back to silently communicate my condolences and to let him know he didn't need to continue if it was too painful, but he took a deep breath and pushed on.

"Anyway, despite my great upbringing, I always felt a bit empty, like I was missing something. So one day I asked my dad about my birth parents and he happily gave me the information, telling me that he understood that I wanted to know my other half and he knew that I didn't love him any less because of my curiosity. I found out that my parents were in a small pack about three hours from where my pack was, so I went there in search of them. And it's so weird how we as wolves just know what our blood smells like, so I instantly found them with little trouble other than making it past their border patrol, but their patrol was weak anyways.

"To make a long story short, when I found their house, it was filled with tons of men and women and everyone was high off their nuts, which is saying a lot because you know it takes a lot to get us werewolves to really feel anything other than a slight tingle. But the strange thing was that my family's scent didn't lead me to my mother or father, but instead I found a young girl who was passed out with bruises and had tons of different scents all over her. It didn't take much for me to put all the pieces together and by then I was furious regardless of the fact I didn't know much about her, not even her name." As he spoke, his skin grew warm beneath my hand letting me know his wolf was getting agitated at the mere memory of what happened. And I couldn't blame him. I knew exactly what it felt like to be in that position and I understood his anger because I recognized it as the same fire Greyson had once he found out what had happened to me. I even found myself getting mad too. Especially since Natalie was such a nice girl. No one deserved that.

Matthew began taking a series of deep breaths until he cooled down a bit then continued. "Everyone in that forsaken house had touched my sister in some way. I'd even heard some bragging about her. So I did the only thing I could do: I mercilessly slaughtered each and every one of them. I didn't let a single one live. They didn't deserve to breathe after what they'd done to her." By now his voice had turned so cold that I felt a shiver run down my back. It was hard to imagine Matthew mercilessly killing dozens of people, but I knew Matthew was definitely capable of doing it, even at the tender age of fifteen.

"As soon as I'd finished, I went back to her and started tending to her wounds until she woke up. At first she was terrified, afraid that I was someone else who wanted to use her, but when I told her that she didn't need to be afraid because we shared the same blood and were siblings, she said that never stopped anyone before. That added more fuel to my fury. But instead of freaking her out, I told her to rest and promised that I'd protect her from then on out. And she trusted me. I remembered her telling me about how something about me made her feel safe, or something along those lines."

I nodded. "You do tend to make people feel safe. You did for me."

He nodded as well. "I try. But back to where I was. I waited in the house for hours, never leaving my sister's side until I heard the front door open followed by a female's scream. The familiar scent of my own kin rushed into my nose and I quickly hurried out. I remembered the man who called himself my birth father threatening me and saying he was going to kill me since I was covered in the blood of his fallen friends, but I merely tuned him out and turned to my mother and asked her if she knew what her husband had been doing to her daughter. She merely laughed and said yes. My coward of a father even said he enjoyed her. They made me sick. So without giving them a warning or chance, I slit my so-called mother's throat before I beat my father, broke a ton of his bones until I got bored, then finally I slowly crushed his skull, ignoring his cries of pain or his pleas for mercy until he was nothing more than a limp body with a bloody nub at the top."

I couldn't help but cringe at the imagery as well as the weird feeling that stirred in my chest as Matthew painted himself in this grim light. I knew he had to make those sick people pay for what they did, I would've done the same thing, but I couldn't help but let my mind wander to what he could've done to others. Could he be as merciless as Greyson even to those who are innocent like my pack?

No, no Avery. Don't think about that. Of course he's nothing like Greyson.

"After I confirmed that every sick bastard that'd wronged my sister was dead, I washed their blood off of me and carried her out of there. She was so tired and weak that she couldn't do anything on her own so as soon as I got us as far away from that sick pack as possible, I took her to a small river that wasn't too far and bathed her and hunted for her. At first she was hesitant with me, and I couldn't blame her. But on our slow journey back to my pack we slowly became close and she stopped looking at me as a potential threat and started looking at me as a brother.

"After a couple days, we arrived back at my pack and I told my father everything and he instantly welcomed her with open arms and gave her whatever she needed. But we didn't stay long because word was going around that the Alpha of her old pack was looking for us because of what I'd done and was threatening to kill us and anyone who helped hide us. So despite my father's wishes and his promises that he could keep us safe and would even convince the Alpha to let the pack go to war for us, we went rogue but I promised him that as soon as I found a new home and the danger was over I'd come and visit. He reluctantly let us go, holding onto the promise I'd made him that we would come back one day. But little did any of us know that mere weeks later he'd be killed, ambushed by Natalie's old pack while he was off hunting. Nat keeps trying to reassure me that it's not my fault, but some days I just can't help but wonder..."

"Matthew, don't talk like that," I sternly said as I gave his shoulder a slight squeeze. "If you keep blaming yourself, you'll never be able to fully heal. I used to blame myself for being too ignorant and holding my parents back when they died, and I even blamed myself a little bit for my Luna's death, but I realized that if you tell yourself it's your fault, you'll eventually believe it and it'll start eating you up inside until it completely consumes you. You couldn't have known what was going to happen to your father. Neither one of you could've. So don't blame yourself for something you had no control over, okay?"

Matthew mutely nodded as I gently wiped away his silent tears. I had to admit that in a strange way it felt good to be there for Matthew like he'd been there for me so many times before. "Thanks, Avery," he said before wiping the remainder of his tears. "To wrap this up, we basically found this place before it was this way and even then when Greyson had just turned eighteen he was the Alpha and accepted us with open arms and made sure we were okay and welcome. Once I was sure we were safe, I called my dad to tell him the good news but then my old Alpha informed me of the news and I was heartbroken. Devastated. Hopeless. All of those emotions quickly morphed into rage and bloodlust. So Greyson offered me a way to vent: he allowed me to lead an attack on the pack with the help of him and his Warriors. At first I was shocked. I knew my old Alpha would never let me do anything like this, so to have my new Alpha that I'd known for less than two weeks allow me to was insane, but an honor at the same time.

"I quickly took the opportunity and Greyson instantly began training me on how to lead and execute an attack in order for it to be successful. Nat even helped by telling me weak points in the pack and telling me all the secret entrances to the Alpha and Beta's houses. She even wanted to be apart of the attack and despite my many arguments, she remained adamant and ended up being one of our best even though she was barely fourteen at the time. And let's just say by the time we were done with the pack, there were only about thirty members left whom we deemed innocent enough to live. So as you can see, I'm not as completely innocent as you think. I might not be as bad as Greyson, but I'm still pretty rough," he concluded, before returning to a lying down position. He looked relieved to get everything off his chest.

"You're still pretty okay in my book," I said, remaining seated in a criss-cross position. "Like you said, you're not nearly as bad as Greyson. Plus, you did what you did for someone you love, which is more than I can say for Greyson."

"Would you believe me if I told you all this is happening because he loves you?" Matthew asked, causing my eyebrows to knit together.

"Not at all," I said. How could you brutally attack someone you love over and over again to the point that you nearly kill them and the only place that they're safe is in Convergence?

Matthew opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the violent slamming of a door downstairs, followed by a muffled, yet unmistakable voice yelling, "You can't keep me from her, Natalie! I need to see her." My breath hitched. Greyson.

Matthew quickly moved in front of me as Natalie yelled something back at Greyson, but I couldn't hear her over the intense sound of my heartbeat raging in my ears. "Stay behind me," Matthew lowly instructed, causing me to mutely nod as I shrunk back behind him, sweat forming on the back of my neck as fear and relief fought for dominance in my head.

Suddenly, the bedroom door swung open, revealing a shirtless Greyson with various wounds and burns covering his torso and arms with Natalie following closely behind him. I wanted to run to her and hug her and tell her that I was always there for her if she ever needed anything, but I was frozen beneath Greyson's heavy gaze. As soon as his eyes locked with mine, I felt my heart skip a beat and butterflies fill my chest.

And despite my best efforts, I found his name softly push past my lips in a breathless, "Greyson."