"Where were you when it happened?" I ask my father, pacing back and forth in annoyance.

Levi and Bentley watch me closely, leaning against nearby trees while my father still sits on the ground.

"About half an hour from here, five minutes out from the human city. Neutral ground" he replies as he puts his shoe back on.

"It will be Zane's rogue pack. They would have set the traps up to try and catch Acacia if she were to run past" I growl, running my hands through my hair.

"What did you just say?!" my dad asks, staring at me in shock.

"What?" I reply, confused as I stop to look at him.

"Zane?! As in Zane Hardy?! That stupid rogue we've been hunting for years because he never stays in one spot long enough for us to track him down?!"

"That's the one."

"He was the monster who kidnapped Acacia?!"

"Mmhmm."

"How long have you known this for?!"

"A while now"

"So you've known for a while now that Zane kidnapped her but you only found out that she was the missing Blackwell girl yesterday?!"

"Yup."

"Grayson?! What the hell?! Is that why you've been getting us to spread her scent around everywhere?!"

"What's going on?" my grandad asks, appearing out of nowhere.

"Acacia is the missing Blackwell girl" my dad spits out, annoyed.

"Yes, I know that. You did discover that fact in front of everyone, William" my grandad replies smirking.

"Zane Hardy was her kidnapper," my dad continues, glaring at him. I watch as my grandad's face darkens as he turns to look at me.

"How long have you known?" he asks calmly.

"I don't know. A week or so maybe?"

"Why didn't you tell us Grayson?!" my dad asks annoyed.

"Because Acacia has the right to privacy and it was a big deal for her to even tell me that information in the first place so I didn't then want to go spreading it like wildfire. Plus I knew you two would have the same reaction as you're having now. We were doing a good job keeping her safe until you went and stood in one of their traps, now they are gonna know something is up because it's your blood on that trap dad!" I yell back, equally annoyed.

"Boys" my grandad booms, shutting us both up. I turn and look at him and he watches us both carefully.

"First of all. Grayson, I understand that you couldn't tell us about Acacia and Zane for many reasons. You're correct, she does have the right to privacy but I just wish you could have told us sooner so that we could have potentially come up with a safer way to deal with this whole thing. Yes, you have a responsibility to protect your luna, but you also have to protect your pack too and the lack of communication definitely isn't helping things" my grandad starts.

I nod, running my hands through my hair as my father rolls his eyes. I glare at him and he glares back.

"Secondly. William, stop acting like a child. You're a man in your late forties for god's sake. Grayson is an adult and he knows what he's doing. He's Alpha, remember. Has been for five years in fact."

My father's face changes and stares at the ground in shame and anger.

"Sometimes, I regret stepping down from Alpha" my father mutters under his breath.

I stare at him in shock. Did he really just say that?

Dante rises to the surface and I go to step towards him but my grandad blocks my path.

"William, you dick" he groans, looking at my father.

"What?!"

"You know full well that you were ready to step down from Alpha so don't say that shit just because you're in a bad mood."

"But-"

"No buts! You're just being an arsehole for the sake of being an arsehole and the wolfsbane still in your blood definitely isn't helping the situation."

My father groans and runs his hands over his face.

"Sorry, Grayson," my father says quietly.

"It's fine."

I look at my grandfather for a moment, still in shock at my father's comment.

"We'll talk about it later" he mind-links me before looking back at my father.

I nod and flick Levi and Bentley a glance.

"You guys can go, I think we'll be okay" I mind-link them quietly.

"You sure?" Levi asks, raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'll update you later."

"Good" he replies with a nod before both of them disappear back towards the house.

I let out a sigh before turning back to look at my father, who is staring at me sheepishly. Grandad must have said something to him.

"Lastly. Grayson, what have you been doing to keep Acacia safe since she got here?" my grandfather continues, aloud.

"Well, we started getting the rogues arriving at our border a couple of days after she arrived" I start, trying to remain calm.

"So I started planning and I realised that we cannot keep her perfectly safe because they will eventually come here to look for her. I then decided that to delay the inevitable, I would go out and rub her scent everywhere around the neutral grounds and neighbouring packs so that the rogues would get thrown off. Hence why I got shot by hunters because I was out doing that."

I pause for a moment to take a breath.

"Then after that worked, I started getting the pack members to do it for me so that it would be a new scent each time, to cover our tracks and not get caught. I doubled patrol and everything was stable until dad ran through one of their traps."

My father shoots me an apologetic look as I continue.

"Obviously, he got drugged which is why he went off at Acacia and I and it now means that his blood is out there and the rogues will get suspicious. I wouldn't be surprised if they come here within the next day or so."

My grandad nods and thinks for a moment.

"It's a good plan in theory" he starts, looking at me.

"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.

"Did you think about the fact that spreading her scent everywhere after she's been missing for a month is just going to confirm she is still alive and give them hope to try to find her again?"

Oh shit.

"That's why they are still showing up... Jesus, I'm an fucking idiot."

A growl from Dante escapes my throat as I walk away, annoyed.

"Grayson-"

"God, I didn't even think about that!"

"Grayson"

"What?" I ask, whipping around to face my grandad, pissed off.

"Chill out. You were preoccupied, caught up in everything that was going on. It was a mistake."

I groan and rub my hands over my face and through my hair.

"But that's the thing. I can't afford mistakes. Her safety is just as much of a priority as her health, and I've gone and fucked it up. Apparently, I have a knack for fucking a lot of things up recently"

"Yes, but there's not much we can do about it now. Right now, we need to think of a new plan to keep her safe" my grandad continues, calmly.

"Starting with what we are going to tell Zane's men when they eventually show back up here, especially because if we kill them, Zane will know."

I nod in agreement, walking back over to him.

"What are we going to do about Acacia?" my dad chimes in.

"What do you mean?" I ask him, confused.

"Well, we have to get her home to her family. She's been missing for ten years. They probably think she is dead. She needs to go home."

My mouth drops open as I stare at him in shock, anger starting to boil within me again. I go to answer but my grandad steps in.

"First of all, she can't go anywhere yet" he starts calmly. "It's too dangerous for her now that your blood is out there William. Secondly, yes she deserves to do home and be reunited with her family, but at the same time, she's Grayson's mate. Grayson's not going to give her up now that he has her. If she goes home, he goes with her."

"But-"

"The money reward doesn't matter anymore. What matters is that we need our Luna and we won't have that if she goes home."

I mind link grandad a thank you and he winks at me.

"You're right. I'm sorry Grayson. I think it's this drug that's still affecting me. Please forgive me for the way I acted. The pack needs their Luna" he says guiltily.

"Thank you, dad. I wasn't planning on it but I'm not the one you should be apologising to" I reply before pulling him into a hug. He thumps me on the back before breaking away.

"You're right. We should go see, Acacia" he says and I grin at him.

"Did she get taken to the hospital?"

I nod and we watch as he begins to run towards the hospital like a little kid, causing my grandad to smirk and roll his eyes.

"Let's just say I'm glad you're the Alpha" my grandad chuckles as we make our way behind him. I laugh and he thumps me on the back.

"Your father was a good Alpha but he's always been a child at heart. Don't let his silly comments get to you."

"I know Grandad. Thanks for having my back."

"Anytime, son! The lengths you've gone to for this pack and your mate is something I'll never be able to compare to and I thank you for keeping this pack and our legacy going so strong."

I smile at him and he pulls me into a hug. I hug him back before breaking away, grinning.

"Shall we?" he says winking, ushing for me to continue walking.

I chuckle as he falls back in step with me.

Within minutes, we are at the hospital and the three of us walk through into the room to find Acacia in the bed, still in her stunning blue dress. My mother sits calmly next to her while the twins sit at the end of the bed, having a quiet conversation.

Teresa is busy examining her body and it's then that I notice the dark purple hand-shaped bruises wrapping around her neck.

Shocked, I rush over and intertwine my fingers with hers. She looks up at me nervously, wincing slightly at the pain. I frown and look up at my dad and he gives me a guilty and slightly shocked look in return.

"She's going to be fine," Teresa says aloud to all of us. I let out a sigh of relief before kissing Acacia on the top of her head.

"Nothing is damaged internally, she just has some severe bruising which will clear up within a few days."

I nod and glance at my dad for a moment before looking back at Teresa, who hands me yet another bottle of pills.

"Give her these for the pain. It will hurt for her to swallow for a while."

I take the pills and smile a thank you to her.

"She is free to go now" she continues before going to leave.

"Teresa, can you stay for a moment?"

"Sure, Alpha. What's up?"

"The reason she has the bruises is because my dad strangled her."

"Yeah, your sister was telling me that before."

"We think he may have been drugged."

"Oh my god," Acacia signs, looking mortified.

"What's wrong, Princess?" I ask, concerned.

"He was drugged with wolfsbane, wasn't he?"

"Yeah..."

I watch as everyone's else faces change into looks of shock, apart from my dad and grandfathers, whose faces turn to ones of confusion at her question.

"How did you know that?" I ask, curiously.

"I can smell it."

"You can?"

"Yeah. It's not very strong. Sort of a wet, woodsy scent. I was saying to Bella before that I could smell something and it made me feel funny and reminded me of when I was held captive and now I know why."

I watch as she shudders slightly before looking at my father.

"You stood on a trap, didn't you?" she signs, frowning.

He nods, still confused as to how she knows.

"I was on patrol outside our territory and got stabbed in the foot. I thought nothing of it but clearly, it's done some damage" he signs back with a sheepish look.

"It's okay. I know how it feels."

"You do?"

"Yeah, they had traps set all over the place to catch me if I ever tried to run away and I used to get a daily injection of it too. Wolfsbane is nasty stuff," she continues with a sad smile.

"Oh, your poor thing" my mother cries before pulling Acacia into a hug.

Acacia winces slightly at the sudden contact before relaxing into my mother's arm.

"You're safe here, please know that" my mother continues quietly.

I shoot a glance at my grandad and he gives me a reassuring nod.

"William, do you mind if I examine you for a moment?" Teresa asks after a moment, breaking the silence.

"Sure but I need to apologise to Acacia first" he replies before walking over to us.

"Acacia, I'm really sorry for the way I acted. It was the wolfsbane and I had no control over myself. I promise it won't happen again" he signs to her sheepishly.

She gives him a small smile in return before looking up at me.

"Can we go home, please?" she mind-links me quietly.

"Of course, Princess. I think there's been quite enough excitement for one night anyways" I reply with a small smile before scooping her up, saying goodbye to everyone and walking out the door.

________________________

Hey Guys,

I hope you enjoyed this newly edited chapter!! This is technically a new chapter to the book, however, it is actually a continuation of what was originally in the previous chapter.

Thanks for sticking by me through all this and feel free to vote and leave me a comment below letting me know whether you liked this chapter!!

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Love,

Allamy xx