When Austin woke, he wondered why his back didn't hurt, but then he realised he was lying in his own bed. There was a weight pressing down on his chest that he couldn't quite place and he blinked his eyes open, finding Ryleigh fast asleep, her head resting on his torso and an arm draped across his stomach. His breath caught in his throat.

She was cynical and clever when awake, but asleep... Her lips were curved into an almost-smile, a thin strip of morning light danced on her hair, and the same light made her freckles stand out dark against her pale skin. She was beautiful and he barely dared to breathe for fear of waking her. He'd never seen her this at ease.

He knew he shouldn't, but he gently stroked a strand of her hair out of her face, his fingers brushing over her cheek. She stirred, inhaling his scent deeply, the corners of her mouth turning upwards. Austin's heart skipped a beat, then resumed its beating with renewed fervour, pounding in his chest so loudly he was half convinced it would wake her. It didn't.

He shot a glance at the clock hanging on the wall above his desk and noted with some surprise and more than some dissatisfaction that he'd overslept. He usually woke up early naturally. Actually, he couldn't quite remember the last time he had slept this deeply.

His arm was starting to go numb so he shifted cautiously, trying to keep the rest of him as still as possible so that she might remain comfortable. He wiggled his arm out from under her, then paused, unsure where to leave it. He decided on the only logical space, which was draped gently over her back. He was sure she would wake up and tell him off for touching her (even though she was the one all over him), but she didn't. Instead, she stirred and snuggled closer against him. He slowly released a breath, trying to turn off his thoughts.

Another glance at the clock told him that he was going to be unfashionably late for training. If he didn't hurry up, there would definitely be questions. Everyone would be able to smell her all over him – how was he going to explain that to Julie?

Ryleigh moved a little, her eyelids fluttering. "Stop stressing. I can feel your tension through the bond."

"Sorry."

She stirred again and he moved his arm, allowing her to roll onto her back. She pressed her hand against her mouth to stifle a yawn, then stretched her arms above her head.

"Want to talk about it?" she asked. She sank deeper under the covers, pulling them up to her chin.

"No." He slipped out of bed and glanced back at her. She was lying stretched out, an arm drawn behind her head, looking directly at him. "Do you want to talk about what's going on with you?"

"No. Where are you going? Training?"

He nodded. "I'm already late."

"You should have just pushed me off you." She cocked a brow. "Guess you were just too comfortable."

"Considering you're the one demanding I get in bed with you, I don't think you have any right to tease me." He walked to his closet and picked an outfit without looking, disappearing into the bathroom to get changed.

When he returned, he caught Ryleigh's glance again. She was chewing her bottom lip, her eyes immeasurable pits of darkness. "We need to reconsider our sleeping arrangements."

"What do you mean?" He ran his hands through his hair, trying to force it into submission, but it sprung up again instantly and he gave up.

"I don't think it's right for us to share a room. Especially now Julie's back. I can't imagine her approving of this."

"I explained it to her. She understood."

"She said she understood. And even if she understands, the rest won't. It gives a wrong message to the pack."

He sighed and made an 'it is what it is' gesture. "What do you suggest? We went over this. I can't let an unmated female be watched by guards at night."

"O, come one. Seth and Nate are great. They won't hurt me."

"They already guard you during the day. We'd need others."

"I'm stronger now. I can defend myself."

"Not against two males."

"I mean, I fought four Royal Guards, but sure."

"You lost."

She blinked. "That's entirely beside the point. But fine. What about female guards? I saw you have plenty of female warriors."

"No. Sky said you're a good fighter. You might be able to overpower female guards."

She sat up, the covers dropping to her waist. "So males are too strong and females are too weak to guard me? You're just looking for excuses now."

"I'm not. I want you out of here just as much as you do. I'd like my own bed back. But you've made it very clear you'll take every possibility to escape, and with those attacks of yours –"

"They're not attacks."

"They are attacks, Ryleigh, and they're bad, and I'm not comfortable putting others at risk."

"But you will sleep peacefully beside me without a care? You realise you're not even guarding me, don't you? I could kill you in your sleep and get out of here."

"I realise that, but there's guards in front of your door and I'll wake up if you do try to escape. I've proven that, haven't I?"

"I could still kill you, and you wouldn't be waking up."

"But you won't."

She chuckled. "How confident. Why's that?"

"Because you'd have done it already. You can pretend all you want that the mate bond doesn't get to you, but I know it does."

She stared at him harshly for a few seconds. "Fine. How about sharing a room with Sky? She can take me."

"Sky doesn't sleep in the mansion. She sleeps in the warrior house. Her room doesn't lend itself for sharing. And I wouldn't be near if you get another attack. Besides, Sky has a life and it's impractical for her to have to look after you all the time."

Ryleigh raised her hands and dropped them again in a sign of exasperation. "Work with me here! I'm already accepting that you insist I have guards, but you need to compromise too. Let's revisit the female guards. Surely if there's two, I won't be able to overtake them. I hate to admit it, but I'm not as strong as I used to be. And I don't intend to escape or fight. You know I only fight when I get those moments."

"Attacks," Austin said. "They're attacks."

"Fine. Attacks. I only fight when I get attacks. Just put me in a room near yours and when it happens, they can link you and then there's no problem."

"If you stay here, there won't be a problem either."

Ryleigh breathed a sigh and contemplated throwing a pillow at his head. "You're so stubborn."

"Look who's talking."

She rolled her eyes. "Guess we have something in common then. What if you want to sleep with Julie, though?"

"What?"

"Now that she's back?" She raised her eyebrows. "Pardon me if I'm wrong, but you're lovers. Lovers sleep together – that's what makes them lovers. It might be a bit awkward if I'm in the room when that happens. So..." She made a gesture with her, urging him to come with a better solution.

"You wouldn't mind if I slept with Julie?"

"As long as I don't have to watch, what is it to me?" She studied him. "We're only mates for two more weeks. You can sleep with whomever you want."

"Right."

"So, female guards?"

It was clear on his face he still didn't like the idea. "Alright." He raised a hand. "On one condition."

Ryleigh cocked her head, regarding him. She hadn't often seen him put his foot down, but she knew he was as stubborn as her when he did. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"

"You have to tell me what those attacks are."

She didn't miss a beat. "No."

His jaw tightened and he crossed his arms over his chest. Ryleigh was momentarily caught off-guard by his muscles moving underneath the thin fabric of his shirt, then forced her gaze back up to his face.

"I know it's not your wolf," he said. "You can't go feral every few days and not tell me why."

"Of course I can."

"Not if you want a room of you own."

She scowled at him. "This is unfair."

"What's unfair is that you keep putting us in danger without telling us what's going on. How can I help you if I don't understand what's going on?"

"You can't. Nor do I want you to. I don't need your help. In two weeks, I'll be on my own anyway. I need to deal with it alone."

"Clearly you can't, otherwise you wouldn't have told me to get in bed with you last night."

She pressed her lips together. She hated when he was right. "Someone is looking for me."

He stilled, his eyes widening slightly. At that point he tried to get information out of her more out of principle than because he thought it would make a difference. "Who?"

She shook her head. "Can't tell you."

"Come on. How does that even work? How do they make you go feral?"

"I cannot tell you."

"Ryleigh –"

"No. I can't tell you more than this. I can't. You want to know more about me? Fine. I'll tell you other stuff. I'm twenty-five. I'm a warrior in my pack. I'm deadly afraid of water. But I can't tell you more about this. Not right now."

"You're afraid of water?"

A breath slipped past her lips. "Yeah." She stared down at her hands and swallowed hard. "If I tell you about that, is that enough?"

He hesitated. He still wanted to know who was after her, but he had little hope she was going to tell him. "Fine."

She pushed the fabric of her nightgown off her right shoulder, showing him the silverish scar running across it. "I got shot once. Well, more than once, but this was the worst one. A silvered arrow to the shoulder." She pulled the dress back up. "I was a kid. Eleven years old. I was running away from someone. I ran over a bridge across a river, and then I got shot. The impact knocked me over and I fell into the river." She paused, sucking in a breath as though she could suck in courage. "The weather was bad so the water was rough and it dragged me with it, for miles and miles and I nearly drowned. The arrow stayed in my shoulder too long, so the wound got infected and the silver spread – that's why the scar is so bad. So now every time I see running water, I just..." She shrugged and met his eyes with her own. She shrugged again.

He swallowed, and sought for the right words to react. He didn't have any. "I'll arrange a room for you."

"Thank you."

He nodded and cleared his throat. "I'm late for training. Very late. So I'll just go..." He gestured to the door.

"Yes, by all means. Go."

He started for the door, then paused. "This person who's looking for you... Are you going to go back to them in two weeks?"

She didn't reply but she didn't need to. 

______

A/N: Finally some answers ;) Any theories on who's looking for Ryleigh? 

Thanks for reading!