"Hey, little wolf," Greyson softly said as he took a step inside the room, causing me to press myself against the head of the bed and a small whimper to involuntarily slip passed my lips.

"Hey, man. Just stay right there," Matthew said as more of an order than a suggestion. Greyson's jaw set as his eyes met mine, begging me to let him close but I couldn't. I didn't want to get hurt again. I looked away, and out of the corner of my eyes, I saw him sigh and reluctantly take a step back.

"Listen Avery...I'm sorry. Goddess, I have so much that I need to tell you, but over everything I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry that I hurt you. I shouldn't have let myself get so out of control, but more than anything, I shouldn't have tried to hide this side of me from you. It was stupid and now...I've hurt you." I could hear the regret and pain evident in his voice and in his eyes where tears were quickly pooling and spilling over onto his cheeks. "And I hate myself for it. I hate myself so much for letting that bastard hurt you and I understand if you hate me and reject me. I love you more than anything, but don't deserve you Avery, and it kills me. But my selfish wants are nothing compared to your safety. I know it's a lot to ask, but please let me explain everything and then I'll leave you alo-"

"Greyson stop," I softly said as I looked away, unable to look at him. This was the most vulnerable I'd seen him, and it sucked that it was under these circumstances. But I just didn't know if I could trust him. I'd promised my parents and I couldn't let them down but... "I...I need some space," I said, my voice barely louder than a whisper as I looked up at him, wrapping my arms around myself. Hurt was evident in his eyes. "I mean, you almost killed me, Greyson, don't you get that? We go back and forth over and over. One minute we hate each other then the next we're in love and I don't want to keep doing that Grey. I can't. And the secrets and the lies, I mean were you even going to tell me about your first mate?" I didn't realize I'd gotten out of the bed or moved a muscle until I was standing right in front of him.

Once the realization hit me, fear pulsated through me. All he had to do was reach out his hand and rip out my throat or my heart... I swallowed the fear. I couldn't show fear in front of him, or any weakness. I'd made that mistake too many times before. Natalie gave me a weary look but I gave her the look that told her I had it.

"Of course I was going to tell you, Avery. I was just waiting until the right time," Greyson quickly defended before running his hand through his hair. "I've been wanting to tell you everything since the day we met, but I just didn't know how. I was scared. I still am and I'll never not be scared. And the part you unfortunately saw was only scratching the surface." He sighed. "Please, Avery. I'm just asking for a chance to explain then after that you can reject me, curse the ground I walk on, whatever you want." He reached out to cup my cheek but I stepped back, knowing I wouldn't be able to stand on my own two feet once I feel the addictive sparks I'd missed so much.

My wolf stirred inside me. She wanted to hear him out and wrap him in a hug and feel his soft lips against my own, but I knew better than to listen to her. "I need space," I repeated, despite the pained look my words aroused in Greyson's eyes. "I'll let you stay in the house, but there will be rules. We will have either Matthew or Natalie here with us at all times and we definitely won't be sleeping in the same room, or even on the same floor for that matter." I felt a heavy weight settle on my chest and the familiar pressure of tears building up behind my eyes, but I held it back as I stepped back toward the bed where I'd be in the protection of Matthew.

Greyson's face was stony, though tears were still freely falling down his face. The visual was haunting, but I couldn't allow myself to fall back into his arms only to get hurt again.

"I think it's time for you to go now," Natalie said, causing Greyson to nod though his eyes stayed glued to mine.

"I'll stay with him, Nat. You stay with Avery, okay?" Matthew said as he approached Greyson and led him out of the room, all the while Greyson looked back at me with a pained and regretful look, but I refused to look at him and instead committed to viciously blinking away the moisture that plagued my eyes. And as soon as I heard the faint click of the front door closing, indicating that they'd left, Natalie wrapped her arms around me and I sobbed.

***

"You see? Then you just wrap the wool around here then bam! You're done," Natalie said as she effortlessly finished off her neatly knitted scarf that she was teaching me how to make.

"I don't think I did this right," I said as I displayed my mangled wad of yarn, looking at it with knitted eyebrows. "I think there's something wrong." Almost simultaneously, we both burst out laughing as I tossed my failed experiment off the side of the bed we were sitting on before I ran my fingers through my hair. "I'm a mess."

"Aren't we all?" She asked as she laid back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling and I followed her actions. She was laying on my side of the bed and I on Greyson's because no matter how mad I was at him or scared of him I was, my body craved every ounce of him, especially his mind numbing scent.

We stayed in a comfortable silence before I finally broke it by saying, "Matthew told me your story. I'm sorry." She was silent for a moment and swallowed, obvious conflict and pain in her eyes. "Trust me, I know how you feel, and if you ever feel like you need to talk about it or anything for that matter, I'm here."

"Thanks, Avery," she said as she slid her hand in mind and gave it a light squeeze before retracting it. "It's just...so much has happened since Matty found me to now. Good and bad, and I've grown from it, far more than I should have grown for my age, does that make sense?" I nodded knowing the exact feeling. That's basically been my life from the moment my parents died, each phase getting worse and worse, but I remained silent and let her vent. "There's a lot that I should probably get off my chest in order to keep myself sane, but there are a lot of memories that are buried in my brain and I think they need to stay that way for a while until I'm sure I can handle it. Thanks though."

I nodded once more. "I get it. I just wanted to remind you that you're not alone and that you've finally got another girl to talk to in the midst of all these gross, smelly men."

She laughed and playfully shoved me. "Yeah, it's kind of nice, even if Matthew can do a basic cross-stitch better than you blindfolded."

"Hey!" I said as I shoved her hard enough for her to roll off the bed causing a low thud to ring throughout the room followed by our combined laughter.

"Oh Avery, I don't think you know the competitive beast you've just awoken within me," Natalie playfully said, shifting her eyes.

I shifted my eyes too. "Bring it on, Nat." In the blink of an eye, we were both armed with our weapons of choice: pillows, and stared each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move.

After growing impatient, Natalie let out a wild battle cry and lunged at me, her pillow wildly swinging in such a way that told me that I'd be toast if it hit me. We made moves toward each other, our laughter filling the air once more, and in that moment I almost forgot the situation at hand with Greyson.

But I couldn't ignore the weight in my chest or how badly I yearned for him to hold me and call me his "little wolf" and tell me loved me one more time.