Thanks to MysticalBeing for the cover!

I woke up to the door busting open. When I looked over in my sleepy haze, Grayson was shaking his head while looking at the ground. His clothes were a little baggy on him, so he'd probably gone on a run to run off his frustrations before the rest of the pack came home.

"I thought staying in my room was a good indication that I'm not feeling up to talk right now." He said grumpily.

I shrugged, "If you want to blame someone for me being here, yell at Amanda. She's in a great mood." I said sarcastically.

"So she sent you in here. You didn't come of your own free will?"

I shook my head, "Nope."

He nodded and came towards his bed. "So what are you doing here?"

"I came to talk."

He changed course and headed to his closet.

"About?"

"You’re more perceptive than that. Why else would I come seek you out?"

He came out of the room with some new clothes in his hands.

"I'm going to shower, then we'll talk."

He didn't even give me time to respond, he just left me there. So I laid my head back down and got comfortable.

When I woke up again, the room was dark. I rubbed my eyes and looked around. The bedside clock said it was 1:00. I had slept through the whole day. Grayson hadn't interrupted my sleep, that or he just didn't want to deal with me.

I felt refreshed for the first time since everything happened. I could still sleep some more, but I needed to find Grayson.

So I went to the only place the Alpha werewolf would be a one in the morning...the kitchen.
Just as I thought, Grayson was rummaging through the cabinets. I knew that he was well aware that I was there. No one could sneak up on him.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I asked as I leaned on the doorway.

He shrugged, "You were snoring, so I let you sleep."

My immediate reaction was to deny that I had ever snored.

"Did you talk to Stephan?"

He shrugged, "Maybe I have, maybe I haven't."

"So yes," of course he called Stephan, I'd bet that Stephan told him all about his theory of why I couldn't sleep. "What did he tell you?"

"That I have a guest in my basement."

I nodded. I had completely forgotten to tell him, I would've remembered eventually. "What are you planning on doing with her?"

He smirked. I loved it when he did that. "I already took care of it."

"You killed her?"

He nodded, "She made some threats and stupidly tried to attack me." He shrugged, "She knew the consequences of her actions."

"Finn's not going to be happy that you killed on if his wolves."

Grayson nodded, "He gave me an earful while you were sleeping. He decided to let it go. He knows the situation between us."

"So what are we going to do about this situation between us?"

"I don't know." He sighed. "Just don't leave again."

"You want me to raise my child in a pack house?"

He nodded, "You're carrying he child of an alpha, that'll make it a target for rogues."

"I can protect my child from werewolves."

"Then keep my child here for me. I want to be there to raise my child, even if you don't want me to."

"It's not that I don't want you there. You hurt me more than anyone else ever could and you know it. Maybe I could've understood the Miranda situation if you explained it to me. But you decided to just break my heart all over again."

He looked regretful. "That wasn’t my intention."

I sighed. "You could have handled it better."

He nodded. "You're right. I'm sorry."

His apology felt real, but it wasn't enough.

"So what's your plan now? Are you going to leave again?"

I shook my head, "I'm not going to leave, not yet."

"Yet?" He raised a brow.

I nodded. "I can't live in a pack house forever. I'm not pack."

"You're pack enough to the ones that matter."

"I'm not going to stay here. There's going to come a time when I'm ready to move on and I can't stick around through another one of your girlfriends."

"I'm not going to have another girlfriend."

"Why not?"

He looked away, "It doesn't matter."

"Sure it does. You can't be alone forever. You're going to live for a very long time. You can't be alone forever."

He shook his head, "I'm not going to talk about it."

"Fine." I tried to go through his mind, but there was nothing there. He was blocked from me.

"Aubrina shut you off from me, didn't she?"

He nodded with a big smile, "So don't try too hard or you'll short circuit yourself again." He teased.

"Why won't you tell me? It's not a big deal."

"It’s a big deal to me."

"Don't be a little girl, just tell me." I honestly don't know why I wanted to know what he was hiding from me. There was a lot that Grayson had kept from me.

He paused for a moment. "I don't want my child growing up without one of its parents. If you move out, I can't be there all the time. I'm not going to jeopardize having my child in my life over some woman."

"And you'd be okay with me moving on, have a relationship with someone else?"

He sighed unhappily, "If that's what it's going to take."

Grayson wanted me to stay here so he could be with his child, even if I was going to have a boyfriend. It was surprising, but it was an improvement from how he used to be.

I nodded, "Fine. I'm not going anywhere."

He yawned, "I'm going to bed."

I nodded and started walking to my room. When I got there, Grayson was right behind me.

"How did you sleep in my bed?"

I turned around, "Good, why?"

"Stephan said you were having trouble sleeping while you were with him. If it helps you to sleep in my bed, you can."

I didn’t see anything other than genuine concern in his eyes. If I had spotted any kind of mischief in his eyes, I would never agree to sleep in his bed.

"Where will you sleep?"

"Somewhere else."

What's the harm in trying? "Just for tonight, we'll test his theory." He nodded and left me as I entered my room.

I went into my room and got into some pajamas. Grayson was lying on his bed when I got there. He patted the bed when he saw me hesitate.

"I won't bite."

I hesitantly took a step into the room, "I thought you said you were sleeping somewhere else."

He nodded, "I will."

I sat on his bed, "So..."

"Lay down."

I shook my head, "You're going to trick me into doing something I’m going to regret."

He shook his head, "I won't."

"Phillip can do that influence thing, just like you can."

Annoyance flashed in his eyes, "Well he would know." He shook his head, "I've used that on you maybe 2 times."

"When I slept with you." I muttered.

"Only once for that, but you started that all yourself."

"Oh really?"

He smirked and nodded, "The only time I've used it on you, was at the lake. But it was only after I knew that your boy was getting too close."

"So you tricked me?"

He shook his head, "That was old fashion seduction. The influence just added the extra sensation to make that a quickie. You slept with me because you wanted to."

"And what was the other time?"

"That was when we were younger, back in high school. I used the influence to let your brother know that I could have you if I want you."

"When we made out right in front of him?"

Grayson nodded, "That’s the only time I've ever used my influence on you."

"Then what's the point of having the ability if you never use it?"

He shrugged, "I wanted you to want to be with me because that was what you wanted. I didn't want to trick you into being with me."

"And what now? Do you still want to be with me?"

He sighed and looked away, "Yes and no."

"What does that mean?"

"I want my child to have its mom and dad just like the Muse children will have theirs. But we can't be together, not yet."

"We have too many issues." I agreed.

He nodded, "Exactly."

"So do you want to work in those issues?" I did my best to sound neutral. I didn’t want him to think I was hopeful that we’d have a future together.

He just nodded; his eyes were glued on my bump.

"You can touch it if you want." I rubbed my hand over the bump, outlining it. "You put it in there."

He nodded, "I guess I did." He put his hand in my belly. "You should've told me."

I nodded, "I know."

"Do you know what it is yet?"

I shook my head, "I wanted to wait to find out until I told you."

"When can we find out what it is?"

"Brian wants to do an ultrasound tomorrow, so we can find out then, as long as you're there."

He nodded, “I’ll be there." He got off the bed, "I'll be down the hall."

It suddenly felt wrong being in Grayson’s bed. This was where Grayson…spent time with Miranda.

"Did you sleep with her here?"

He shook his head, knowing who I was referring to. "Nope."

"I meant on his bed, at all?"

He shook his head, "I never slept with her."

"But I heard her."

“She whined and complained a lot because I didn’t sleep with her. That may be what you heard.”

“Why didn’t you? She was your girlfriend.”

Grayson sighed. “Yes she was my technically my girlfriend, but she was also very sick. I didn’t want to be with her. Plus, I knew you’d hate me forever if I slept with her.”

“I don’t believe you.”

He shrugged. “Well then you’ll just have to live with it. You won’t have access to my mind unless you turn into a werewolf and complete a mating bond with me.”

“That’s a lot of steps just to figure out if you’re telling the truth.”

 “We’ll get there eventually.” He said with a smile and a wink.

I shook my head while smiling. “We’ve got a long way to go.”

He nodded. “See you in the morning.”

I curled up in Grayson’s bed and slept better than I had in a very long time.