Bunny and I dragged the unconscious Silver for a while both of us too tired to shift after all the fighting that had happened. In the end though I had made the executive decision that I would shift because at the rate we were moving we'd never get back to the house. I could feel the exhaustion of my wolf as we pushed onward with Silver draped over me. Bunny led the way back making sure to not get to far ahead of me. When the house was insight Bunny let out a loud hoot before taking off with what I suspected was the last of her remaining strength. I trotted after her not being able to get there as fast for fear of jostling Silver too much and damaging him further.

The front door swung open and Marshall took quick strides to Bunny grabbing her up in his arms without a second thought, burrowing his face deep into the crook of her neck. Leo was the next to come through the door and he spotted me with Silver. He stared for a moment in a daze before shaking his head, moving quickly past Marshall. He pulled up his hands into a surrendered position when he got close to us, "I'm just going to help Silver okay?" He asks for permission like I'm in a position to rip him apart. I let out a snort and he takes that as his answer moving forward, "Marshall I need your help over here buddy. I think your love fest can wait until after we make sure our Alpha isn't dead."

Marshall growls something unintelligible but soon he is standing beside us shirtless. I look from him toward Bunny whose body is now covered in his oversized shirt. I shake my head at the possessiveness of wolves as Marshall pushes his way in front of Leo and grabs onto Silver, heaving him up against his chest. He looks to Leo, "Well does he look alive?" He grunts as he shifts his hold on Silver so his arms are hooked around his upper chest. Leo curses under his breath, "He's alive just unconscious and probably a good thing to from the looks of him. Come on let's get him up to Lib. She's going to be a right terror about this—"

Leo bends down and grabs a hold of Silver's legs. The two of them awkwardly make there way back into the house with Bunny leading the way and me trailing behind them in my wolf form.

The boys crashed through the infirmary door huffing and puffing under the strain of Silvers dead weight. Libra spun around with a deep frown ready to throw out insults until her eyes landed on Silver. They widened and then she was moving in quick strides towards a desk on the far side of the room. In one gallant sweep of her arm all the contents are throw to the floor, "Set him down over here!" She commands and the guys shuffle towards the desk setting him down as softly as they can. I move into the room following Bunny who is back to her less imposing self.

"Get me a pair of scissors!" Libra demands, "Hurry!" She snaps when no one moves. Leo quickly scurries away from her rustling through her equipment until he grabs a pair of scissors moving back to Libra. She takes them from him and begins to cut away Silvers clothes turning them into shredded rags. I let my eyes move to the bed and find Valerie laying on it looking pale. Her breathing is labored and her brow is creased like she is in pain even though she is clearly out of it. I turn my attention back to my mate and I can see that he is getting the help he needs which helps the tension in my body ease up. I shift back into my human and sag forward, hitting the ground with my knees.

Bunny is squatting in front of me, "Grace? Are you okay?"

I peer up at her my vision going hazy making the room look like its painted in water colors, "I'm fine..." My words sound slow and muted. I fall forward, my body landing on the hard floor with a light thud. I knew that all that shifting back and forth between my two forms would take it out of me. When I was a captive the rogues had forced me to shift back and forth by electrocuting me cattle prods--pain is a good trigger. For the first time, I'm glad for what I suffered--it made me stronger, it made me useful. I hear Libra let out a slew of curses as heavy footsteps move towards me. I close my eyes, "I'm fine—just tired—worry about Silver..." I mumble as I drift away into the realm of the unconscious.

Something cool is resting against the heated skin of my forehead making me sigh with ease as my eyes flutter open. The room is a bit hazy for a couple seconds as my eyes adjust to the light in the room. I find myself suddenly staring up into Valerie's scowling face as she removes the damp cloth from my face, "You know you might be a lot more trouble than you're worth..." She mumbles to me.

I tilt my head to see her dipping the cloth into a bowl of water and wringing it out. I feel my lips turn down into a frown, "Than why are you helping me?" I ask in a soft voice. Valerie turns her attention back to me not meeting my gaze as she places the soothing cloth to my face with surprising gentleness, "I'm not doing this for you." She finally meets my gaze. I can see that she means what she says and I feel my frown change into a small smirk before I close my eyes, "Its for Silvers benefit then." At least that's what her words implied and it was something I could live with. I didn't care if the woman liked me or not but I knew she would never betray Silver and therefore she would never betray me.

"How long have I been out?"

"About a day..." She replies before pulling back a distance with a tired sigh. I turn my head and open my eyes to look at her again, noticing now how tired and frazzled she looks. I feel a swell of concern for her even though we seem to have a strange relationship I am thankful that she has clearly helped in nursing me back.

"Much faster than the last time..." I mumble as I look back to the ceiling overhead.

"The Last time? Does this happen often?" She questions in confusion.

I shrug my shoulders before I lift myself up using my elbows as support, "Can I see Silver?" I turn the conversation towards something else. Valerie's eyes narrow before she heaves a heavy breath, "If you can walk to him on your own then by all means, but don't think I'm going to help you."

I shot her a smile knowing that if I needed help she would help me she was just being difficult, "Awesome..." I pull myself up and out of the bed without much of a struggle. My limbs feel a bit weak and shaky but it's all just side effects. The forced sleep has definitely helped me regain more of my strength. I stagger forward a bit gaining a look of annoyance from Valerie before I straighten myself up, smiling. I walk across the bedroom that they must have carried me too and out the door. Valerie is trailing behind me mumbling unintelligible things under her breath.

It takes me a moment to find the infirmary because the house is clouded with Silvers scent. When I reach the room the door is open and the rest of the pack is hanging about. Bunny and Marshall are snuggled up together near the supplies cabinet whispering amongst each other. Leo is sitting near the window staring out it with a rather bored look on his face while Libra is cleaning up the mess that had been made of her room. The attention in room seemed to switch when I passed through the threshold. All of them turned and looked toward me, "Hello..." I say and lift my hand in a awkward greeting.

Silver's head snaps up off his pillow at the sound of my voice. His eyes eat up the length of my body before settling on my face. I try to keep myself calm but the heat is already rushing to my cheeks as I remember that I am now undoubtedly this mans mate. His claim stands out against my skin like a beacon for the rest of the world. As if he is reading my thoughts a low rumble echoes through the room and I clench my legs together when I feel my body responding to the sound.

Someone clears their throat, "Should we leave the room or..." Leo suggests only causing embarrassment to flood through me that the others had probably scented my reaction to Silver.

"Shut the hell up Leo!" Marshall growls at his pack mate which makes me want to laugh a bit.

Valerie pushes past me into the room bumping shoulders with me as she did. My wolf wanted me to snatch her back and force her to submit to me but I held back. Valerie wasn't a threat to us. She was just another she-wolf who had a chip on her shoulder that most likely had absolutely nothing to do with me. She walked across the room to Silver, "How you feeling chief?"

I can still feel Silvers gaze on me and I look to him as he quickly looks away. I notice a light pink stain to his cheeks as if he's a bit embarrassed that I caught him staring at me. I smile to myself as I moved further into the room ignoring the aches and pains of my muscles.

"I'm feeling about as good as someone can feel after getting staked..." Silvers deep timbre works its way around the room and sends as comforting warmth over me. I pull my bottom lip between my teeth and begin to nibble on it for a moment, "That's my fault. Those hunters were—are after me."

"Yes, but why are they after you Grace?" Valerie questions me throwing a suspicious glare over her shoulder. I could feel all eyes on me once again. I felt panic swell in my chest I didn't want to tell these people the truth because then there would be more questions. Those question would without a doubt drag up the memories I want to leave buried in the deep recesses of my mind.

"You don't have to tell us—" Bunny comes to my rescue with her sweet unassuming way of being. It only causes me to feel guilt swirl in with the panic, "No—I do because it's effecting you guys. I've put you all in danger by staying here as long as I have..."

I close my eyes and swallow back the urge to turn and run, "My uncle wants me dead. He thought that I was dead after he sold me over to the rogues..." There is a loud growl and I know it's Silver which somehow causes me to relax a bit more. I open my eyes to find everyone looking at me with guarded expressions waiting for me to finish, "I was their prisoner for two years until I was able to escape—" I didn't need them to know what happened to me there.

"I was staying with friends until I healed up. I was headed back to my pack to challenge my uncle when I ran into those hunters—you basically know the rest..."

Everyone in the room looked tense. Silver was the first one to speak, "It's not your fault Grace." His voice is firm but full of some foreign emotion I didn't quite understand, "I'm glad that my pack found you and were able to protect you..."

"Yeah..." I say back softly rocking back on my heels. I know I had left out big parts of the story but I wasn't ready to talk about my parents murder or the torture I endured. I had told them what was important for them to know.

A hand touched my arm and turned my head to see Libra looking up at me with knowing eyes. She knew about the scars on my body—she knew that I had omitted things but by the look in her eyes I knew she wasn't going to say anything. I gave her a grateful smile which slowly slipped back into a frown when I turned away from her, "Speaking of which..."

I straighten my back, "We can't stay here."

"Yeah, and where do you suggest we go? It's not like we can go far with Silver like he is..." Valerie crosses her arms over her chest.

"I'm just fine..." Silver mumbles.

"No you're not!" Valerie and I proclaim at the same time. We spare a quick glance at each other before focusing back on Silver.

He is frowning as he looks between the two of us, "Wonderful, now I have two nagging women in my life..."

I roll my eyes and look away from him, "I know a place we can go that the hunters will not risk getting close too and it's not that far from here." I say to Valerie knowing she is the one who needs the convincing right now. She tilts her head towards me, "Where exactly?"

"Ever heard of the rogue Alpha?" I question with a small smirk. I knew that they'd all probably heard about Noah though I doubt most of what they'd heard was the least bit true.

Silver growled, "No way! We're not going anywhere near that pack!"

Valerie however was staring at me with a calculating gaze and I knew she was mulling over my suggestion. She nods her head a bit and I know she's going to do it, "Silver since you're in no condition to make decisions for the pack at the moment. I agree with Grace's suggestion—We will seek refuge with the rogue Alpha." The room grows incredibly tense and Valerie turns away from Silver moving towards me with pointed steps.

She stops in front of me so that there is only a small distance between us, "If anything happens to anyone in this pack—I'm holding you personally responsible." She whispers before she scoots around me and walks out of the room. Leaving me to deal with a not so happy looking Silver and a roomful of shocked wolves.

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Song: 'Closer' -Kings of Leon