Grym quickly stopped his horse in front of his house, his chest straining with fear. He looked back at the three men, seeing them turning and moving away from him. His eyebrows furrowed with suspicion before returning his attention to his house. He swung his leg off of the horse and stalked toward the door.

The door was unlocked.

Grym's heart beat wildly as he opened the door and stepped inside. His mind raced back to this morning. He remembered hearing Melione lock the door behind him. She would never have opened up the door to anyone other than him. She hadn't known that he would return home early today.

Why was the door unlocked?

Grym didn't like the view of the darkened hallway. Melione wasn't there to greet him. That alone confirmed his suspicion that something was wrong. He reached into a dark corner by the door and pulled out his two swords, gripping them tight in each hand. He slowly moved down the hallway, looking into each room carefully.

Grym's stomach tightened when the smell of metallic blood reached his nose. He closed his eyes and took a couple of deep breaths, praying to whoever would listen to him that he wasn't smelling Melione's blood. He made his feet move across the floor, stopping in his bedroom doorway.

His vision went red at the sight in front of him.

Two men were lying on his bed. They were lying in a pool of their blood. More blood splattered the wall behind them. Blood dripped off of the bed and pooled onto the floor. Grym knew that they were dead by the amount of blood that was out of their bodies. Lucky for them. If they weren't, he was going to make their death long and painful.

His mind wandered to Melione as his eyes searched the room. She wasn't anywhere that he could see her. Grym turned as he heard a small cry coming further down the hallway. His feet crept as he made his way toward the cry. Grym stopped in front of the washroom, the door closed. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door, tears filling his eyes at the sight before him.

Melione was sitting in the corner of the washroom, her hands tied in front of her with a rope. Her dress this morning was torn in many places, revealing her skin underneath. Blood splattered her pale skin. She was trembling as she stared at him. Her eyes were wide as she reached her hands out to him. "Grym?" her voice cracked.

Grym dropped his swords as he lunged toward her. He ripped his mask off of his face and threw it behind them. He didn't care if he had damaged it or not. Melione was too important. He quickly worked to untie her hands from the rope. His eyes saw red again as he looked at the red welts marking her skin.

"Grym," her voice called out desperately to him.

Grym snapped his head up. His heart broke that this had happened to his mate. She was supposed to be protected. His father had fucking promised that no one would touch her without his permission. Grym has done everything Ryfon had told him to so Melione would not be hurt. Was it all for nothing? Did his father order this?

Grym let out a deep, threatening growl before he could stop himself. Melione's hands clutched to the collar of his robe. He hated to see her like this, scared and weak. When he had first laid eyes on her, she was the strongest woman he had ever known. He knew that she was his instantly.

He kept on failing her.

Grym stood up quickly and grabbed a rag. He dipped it into a bucket of water and sat down in front of Melione. He brought the rag up to her face and began to wash the blood from her body. As he was cleaning the blood away from her, he found fresh bruises forming across her body. Once the blood was gone from her skin, he pulled her into his arms. He leaned his back against the wall and held her tightly.

Melione wrapped her arms around his shoulders and dipped her head into the crook of his neck. "Grym," she sobbed into his neck. Her body shook as he held onto her.

Grym didn't know what to do. He couldn't kill the men because she had done it herself. Once again, he was failing her. He brushed her head back from her face and kissed softly against her temple. "Melione, I'm so -"

"No!" Melione snapped as she sat up quickly. She shook her head as she stared hard at him. "Don't you start. I don't want to hear any sympathy about what happened. I don't want you to start thinking that you failed me. Because - fuck - you didn't, Grym." She pushed against his chest, but he wouldn't let her go. "You weren't here and-"

"Exactly," he snapped back. "I wasn't here. I was off doing whatever that fucker wants me to do, leaving you here alone."

"Will you fucking listen?" Melione took a deep breath. "You were out there protecting me. Those men," she stopped short and shuttered, falling back into the comfort of Grym's arms. "Those men did not care about your father's rules."

Grym ran his hands up and down her back in a soothing motion. "He didn't do this?"

Melione shook his head. "Your father is many things, Grym, but he does not break his promises." She took a deep breath as she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Just hold me, Grym. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"I need to get you out of this house," Grym mentioned quietly. Melione only nodded her agreement. She flinched as the sound of hurried knocking sounded at the door. Grym shrugged off his robe and wrapped it around her body. "Stay here," he tried to order her, knowing that she would follow him anyway. Melione held onto his hand tightly as they went to the door.

Grym pushed her behind him as he opened the door. Grym couldn't help the growl from his mouth as he sat Ryfon on the other side of the door. The three men who followed him home were standing behind him. "What do you want?"

Ryfon peered into the house, spotting Melione standing behind Grym. Grym could still feel her still trembling behind him. "What do you want, Ryfon?" Grym growled as he repeated himself.

Ryfon turned his attention over to Grym. He motioned behind him. "The men felt as if something was wrong here and rode back to let me know."

Grym straightened as he stared at his father momentarily before nodding. He squeezed Melione's hand as he backed them up, allowing Ryfon entrance to his home. "We did have a problem." He looked down at Melione and gave a quick nod.

"Two men forced their way into our home," she explained. Melione straightened her back and rounded her shoulders. Grym could see the hurt expression on her face, but her body was trying to tell a different story.

Ryfon's eyes searched Melione. His eyes went dark as he saw the bruises littering her skin that was shone. "Where are they?"

Grym motioned down the hallway. "In the bedroom."

Ryfon's eyebrows furrowed as he immediately turned on his heels and marched down the hallway. He stopped in the doorway of the bedroom and cursed loudly. "They deserved the death given to them." Grym watched as he took a deep breath before walking back to them. "It is not safe for either of you here. You will follow me to my house and stay with me."

Grym started to shake his head, but Ryfon held up a hand. "There will be no discussion on this." He looked back down the hallway. "I will have someone come in and clean this up." With that, he walked out of the door, leaving the two of them alone.