I stalk down the stairs and outside, trying to contain myself. I run off into the forest as a deep growl escapes my throat.

"She fucking likes them more than us" Dante hisses in anger.

"I know! What the hell?!" I reply as I shift, letting Dante take over.

He lets out a loud howl as we whip between the trees. We run for a while before we get to the borderline. He follows the boundary for a few minutes before picking up two scents that are all too familiar.

The twins.

God, the last two people I want to see right now are out on a run too. I keep running till I find them sitting in a clearing talking. I shift, put on some shorts and walk over to them.

"Hey Grayson," Bella says happily.

"Hey," I reply, tartly.

"You okay, bro?" Beckett asks curiously.

"I'm fine," I say, trying not to lose it. The twins look at each other and they can tell something's not right.

"Spit it out," Bella says, turning back to look at me as she crosses her arms over her chest while raising her eyebrow.

I groan and run my hands over my face.

Annoyingly, I can't keep secrets from them. They're my little siblings and even if I try to, they manage to find out on their own anyway.

"Acacia likes you two more than she does me," I say, annoyance still present in my voice.

"Oh," Bella replies, shocked.

"How do you know?" Beckett asks, equally as shocked.

"Because she's still fucking scared of me, she told me herself earlier, but she seems to really like the both of you two" I growl back.

"I'm sorry, Grayson," Bella says, frowning.

"What's worse is that it seemed like you were flirting with her, Beckett" I hiss, glaring at him.

"Excuse me?!" he says, anger racing onto his face.

"We're not mated yet because she's fucking scared of me which means that any unmated male could take her from me."

Bella stares at me in shock while Beckett just glares at me.

"Grayson, look I'm sorry. But I wasn't flirting with her and you know that. Clearly you're just jealous" Beckett says quietly, anger dripping in his tone.

"Jealous?!" I boom, glaring at him. I go to move closer to Beckett when Bella jumps in front of me.

"Grayson, stop it!"

"But he-"

"But nothing. You're being an absolute baby right now. You're the Alpha of this pack and quite frankly, an adult, so stop being a bloody drama queen!"

I glare at her and she glares right back.

"Whether you like to admit it or not, we all know that Beckett wasn't flirting with her and I can't speak for Acacia but I know she wouldn't be flirting back. Plus, she's been held captive for ten years, I highly doubt she even knows what flirting is"

"How-"

"Because I just know Grayson. We get it, shit's hard right now. But just because things are hard right now, doesn't mean you need to throw a tantrum like a fucking child and take it out on Beckett" she says, frowning at me.

I groan and huff in annoyance. She's right.

"I know. I'm sorry" I start, my annoyance slipping away and being replaced by a feeling of sadness.

"It's just frustrating knowing she likes you guys more. She's only just met you guys and it made me annoyed so I left, which in hindsight, is really stupid of me because Acacia is alone at the moment which is not ideal but I didn't want to blow up in her face" I reply sighing, rubbing my hands over my face.

"It's going to be okay Grayson," Bella says optimistically.

"That's what everyone keeps saying but how am I supposed to believe it when shit like this keeps happening? I can't even keep my own bloody emotions in check" I mumble.

"You just have to trust everything will work out. Gain her trust first, Grayson. The quicker you do that, the quicker she'll let you mark her" Beckett says with a small smile. I nod and sigh, knowing they're right.

"Yeah. Well, I should probably get back to her" I say as I stand up. Bella walks over to me and hugs me tightly.

"Love you Grayson and remember, earn her trust," she says grinning before grabbing Beckett's hand and running off into the forest, leaving me by myself.

"God, those two are strange," Dante says chuckling. Laughing at his comment, head back into the forest.

I make it back to the house a couple of minutes later, put on some clothes and head inside, locking the door. I quietly head upstairs to my room and open the door to find a very wide-awake Acacia sitting on my bed.

"It's almost two am. Where were you?" she signs, watching me carefully.

"I went for a run," I reply simply.

"Right," she replies, still watching me.

I make my way over to the bed, the whole time, her eyes glued to me. I sit down on the corner and after a while, she breaks the silence.

"What's wrong?" she signs frowning at me.

"Nothing" I reply with an unconvincing smile.

"I don't believe you. What's wrong Grayson?"

"Nothing."

"Bullshit. When you're deaf, you get really good at reading people so don't lie to me."

"I'm not."

She looks down at her hands before looking up at me, tears welling in her eyes.

"You are Grayson. I've been lied to for the past ten years, don't be one of those people. Something is bothering you. Please tell me" she signs, trying to hold the tears back.

I instantly feel bad and move closer to her but she moves back.

"Right, Grayson. You need to save this or she's going to hate us" Dante says quietly, nerves present in his tone.

"Just tell her because then if she knows, maybe she'll let us mark her."

I sigh and look at her and she looks back at me.

"The mate bond. It's starting to break" I sign slowly, trying to find the right words.

"What do you mean?" she asks, confused.

"Well... Ummm... usually when two mates find each other, they seal the mate bond by marking each other and the longer they go without marking, the higher the chance of the bond breaking or one half finding a new mate" I continue, frowning.

She watches me carefully, waiting for me to continue.

"It's been almost two weeks since you came onto my land and we still haven't marked each other, Acacia. Today, when the twins were over, the bond started breaking because you and Beckett were just being nice to each other but I thought you guys were flirting. That's why I wanted you to sit on my lap the whole time so that the pain wouldn't get worse. I left earlier because my wolf and I were pissed off because you clearly like the twins more than you like me. It's stupid, I know. I just don't want to make things worse by rushing into things you're not ready for."

She stares at me in shock but I continue anyway.

"I don't want to lose you, Acacia. You're my mate and the thought of losing you kills me."

"You need to mark me" she signs simply after a while.

Shocked, I nod and watch her nervously.

"I know you want to take things slowly but I don't want to lose you".

"I know. I know I don't trust you fully yet but I don't want to lose you either. I can't explain it, but you make me feel safe and cared for and that means a hell of a lot to me. So you can mark me Grayson" she signs watching me.

I nod again and awkwardly move closer to her.

"I have a question" she signs, a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah?"

"Can you smell my marking spot?"

"Yeah, it's on the left side of your neck. Why?" I asked, confused.

"Oh okay, good. It's just... When I was held captive, the leader tried to mark me but he obviously couldn't smell it because he wasn't my mate and would always go for the right side" she signs nervously.

My mouth drops open.

A low growl escapes from my throat and I feel my eyes change for a moment as Dante tries to gain control but I quickly regain my composure.

Acacia looks at me nervously and gently touches my hand.

"I'm sorry, Grayson. I just thought you might want to know."

"Thank you for telling me," I say with a small smile. She nods and wiggles nervously.

"Lie down princess" I continue, moving into the middle of the bed.

She nods and lies down, watching me carefully.

I smile and gently move her legs apart and kneel between them.

"Now, I'm going to need you to stay as still as you can. I don't want to cause you any more pain than this already will. It will sting at first but it will feel way better after that" I sign, watching her carefully. She nods and I lower myself onto her, resting my weight on my hands, making sure not to get too close.

Our faces are so close I could kiss her but instead, I begin to gently kiss down her neck.

A gasp escapes her lips and I grin. I find her sweet spot and begin to suck on it. She lets out a quiet groan and I know she is feeling things she's probably never felt before.

I grin and pause to let my teeth come through.

I gently graze my canines against her soft skin, causing her to gasp again before sinking them into her sweet spot. She tenses in pain and whimpers but very quickly loosens up and moans.

Music to my ears.

Heat shoots through me as the mate bond seals and I happily pull my teeth out and lick the wound clean. I lazily kiss my way back up her neck, trying really hard not to get too aroused and find myself face-to-face with her again.

She watches me for a moment before reaching her hand up and touching my cheek. She blinks, gently trailing her finger along my jawline. I shudder and close my eyes, grinning. I know I should get off her but I'm starting to like this too much.

I open my eyes and see that she is nervously biting her bottom lip. I watch her for a moment and she slides her hand around to the back of my neck and plays with my hair.

Dante purrs in the back of my mind and I know he's enjoying this just as much as I am.

Suddenly, she gently pulls me towards her and presses her lips gently onto mine.

Fuck. It's happening.

I kiss her back, our lips moving rhythmically with one another.

I slide my hand under the curve in her back and pull us up into a sitting position with her straddling my lap. Her arms wrap around my neck as she melts into the kiss. I wrap my other hand around her waist as we continue to kiss.

This is perfect.

I guess my siblings were right.

_____________________

Hey Guys,

So I hoped you enjoyed that chapter! Thanks, for sticking by me through all this and feel free to leave me a comment below letting me know whether you liked this chapter!!

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Thanks,

- Allamy xx