After I had Grace collared I decided that I would take her someplace that might cheer her up. I knew that she had been through a lot since she'd gotten here and I wanted to give her something even if it was something small. I took her to the abandoned part of my fathers house, making sure that no one had followed us.

"This place could use some cleaning up." Grace comments as she runs her hand over the dusty table with a look of disgust. She flipped her gaze back to me over her shoulder, "Don't you guys have maids or something?" I could hear the teasing behind her words. Her lips turned upward with amusement. I felt my chest tighten at the sight, if I could I would always have her smiling at me like that. My body burned with the desire to touch her again like I had when we were in my room.

, My wolf paced back and forth in my mind. I rolled my eyes at him even though I wanted to finish what I had started with my mark now was not the time.

I cleared my throat and moved towards her, "No one comes here anymore because my father forbid it after he took the throne—" I met her gaze and marveled at the way the sunlight streaming in through the window made her silver eyes sparkle. Her smile got bigger as she leaned forward towards me, "What a rebel you are..."

She pulled back after a moment letting her eyes wander around the large room, "So why did you want to bring me here anyway?"

I moved closer to her and grabbed her hand in mine. A small gasp of surprise left her lips and hit me right in my stomach. I tried to ignore the desire that swelled in me, making me want to hear her gasp again but for a different reason. I tightened my hold on her hand, "Well I figured their might be something here about your father—this is the alpha councils meeting room..." Grace looked up at me with an unreadable expression and I felt uncertainty swirl in my mind over the decision to bring her here.

l lifted my free hand and scratched the back of my neck, "Maybe this was a stupid idea—" I stopped talking when I felt the feather touch of her lips against mine. It was a quick kiss but it still had shockwaves of desire rippling through my body. I swallowed hard as I looked down at Grace who was smiling up at me, "Thank you Silver. This is very thoughtful of you."

My wolf pressed with amusement probably over my reaction to her brief touch.

Shut up! I growled at him.

Grace pulled away from me and moved deeper into the room assessing everything with curious eyes. I watched her as she moved through the room not wanting to disturb the moment for her. I knew that she missed her father and this was a way for her to connect with him again, even if he'd kept this part of himself a secret from her. I must have zoned out because the sound of a startled Grace had me standing at full attention. My eyes roamed the room quickly afraid that someone had done something to her.

I calmed though when I saw her standing in front of a wall that was revealing an opening that hadn't been there before. She glanced back over her shoulder at me, "Did you know this was here?" She questioned in a soft voice. I shook my head as I closed the distance between us, "I've only snuck in here a few times as a kid, but I never found this—" I peered into the dark hole.

We both stood there silently for a moment before Grace reached out and grabbed my hand, "Come on! Lets find out where it leads." She pulls us through the small opening and into a tight hallway. I have to bend my body forward to fit completely in the space. We walk about fifty feet before Grace releases my hand, "I think there is another door up here—" I feel her move further away from me which makes me feel anxious because even with my enhanced eyesight this place is to dark to make out anything.

"Grace?" I call out to her when I feel a rush of air hit me. When she doesn't answer me I feel my anxiety spike, "Grace?" I move forward quickly.

"Grace!" I see a bit of light filtering in through a hole and then Grace's head pops into view, "What's taking so long slow poke? Hurry it up!" She teases me before disappearing from my view. I let out a small sigh of relief as I push my way out of the small hallway into the hidden room. It looks like some kind of secret office. There is a dirty love seat and a dusty desk covered with opened books. Grace was opening the drawers to the desk and shuffling through there contents.

"Jackpot!" She pulls out a small leather book. I eye it in confusion as she moves towards me, "What is it?"

"My father always had one of these with him. It was how he kept tabs on everything and everyone in the pack. He said it was important to keep records—" She opened the book and started flipping through the pages quickly. The smile of excitement that had been on her lips slowly faded into a frown. I came to stand behind her to see what she was looking at exactly, "What is all this?" I question as I looked at page after page of names.

"It looks like some kind of manifest..." Grace mumbled as she continued to turn the pages.

"It's too many names to be just the council members." I comment.

"Hey—" I reach out and steady her hand mid-turn, "I think I recognize one of those names." I make her pull back to the previous page. My eyes scanned the names quickly and sure enough, "That name—" I left my hand from hers and point to the name, "He is retired but he used to be a captain of the guard for my father's father."

I stared at the name harder and noticed a strange marking next to the name. I scanned the whole page of names and noticed several other names with the same marking. My lips pull down into a frown, "What does that mean?" I poke the symbol. Grace brings the book closer to her face to examine it before she pulls it away and starts flipping back through the previous pages quickly, "I have no idea but loads of these names have the same marking—it must be some kind of code..." I can hear the frustration in her voice.

I wrap my arms around her when I hear a sound echo down the hallway, "We need to get out of here before anyone notices us." I whisper into her ear. She gives me a small nod as she clenches her hand tightly around her fathers book. I release her before turning back to the hallway. I listened carefully as I lead us back through to the council room. I could feel Grace's frustration in the back of mind as if it were my own making me wish that I hadn't brought her here. It was supposed to be a sort of gift but now it felt like I had only upset her more.

I held out my hand to Grace when I pushed back through the small opening. She took my offering without hesitation, "I'm sorry if this upset you. That's not what I was trying to do..." I whisper down at her. She gave my hand a squeeze, "I'm not upset that you brought me here. I guess I just wish that my father hadn't keep these things hidden from me. I always looked up to him and to hear that he might have been some kind of—" She waved her free hand, "Rebel or whatever is a lot to take in..."

I reach out with my free hand and tuck some hair behind her ear, letting my hand linger on her face. She stared up at me with same vulnerability I'd seen the night I'd woken her up from her nightmare, "Baby—no matter what you may find out about your father, it doesn't mean he wasn't the man you knew him to be. It will never change the way he felt about you—he obviously loved you very much, which is why he probably kept it a secret. To protect you." A small tear trickled from her eye and ran down her cheek. The sight made want to pull her into my arms and shield her from the world, but I knew she wouldn't want that.

"This isn't a life I would have wanted for myself. You saw for yourself how harsh it can be—" I wiped my thumb across her cheek, smearing the wetness, "He probably wanted something better for you."

My chest tightens and can tell I'm smiling like a kid in a candy store. Grace lets out a warm laugh as she shakes her head at me, "Come on lover boy let's get the hell out of here. I could really use a warm shower and some food, it's been a long couple of days." We made our way out of the room, Grace still clutching her fathers leather-bound book in her hand like a life line.

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Song: Make it--MyPet