Wyatt's POV

Nine days. It's been Nine days since I last saw her. It feels like I'm slowly going insane. I can't eat, I can't think, I can't sleep and Kieran is probably considering finding himself a new Beta. I guess I wouldn't blame him. I haven't been much use to anyone.

I lean over the bar and pick up a bottle of whisky while the bar tender busies herself with another patron. I decide to bypass the glass this time and go straight for the bottle. I take a long gulp.

To any other person it would look like I was wasting my life away here in The Trenches. Stupid name for a bar. I didn't choose it. I see the same faces every time I come in. They don't judge me, they're just as bad.

I pick up on bits and pieces of their conversations. I feel like I'm beginning to know their lives. Brett is here to forget his ex-wife. He tells the bar tender as much every night. She left him, took his kids, and is currently suing him for child support.

Travis is here to pick up women. He's single and he prefers it that way. He doesn't like commitment and neither do the girls he gets involved with.

Alex, he's in a band. He comes here to drink and write lyrics. He doesn't bother anyone. He's the quiet type.

But me, I'm here for a different reason. I'm not trying to forget anyone, or pick anyone up. I come for the alcohol. It helps me sleep. And if I sleep, I don't think about her as much. I don't do it for me. It's for my wolf. My wolf is restless. The alcohol numbs him a little. He relaxes more.

I say he, but he's just another part of me. A part of me that needs Grey. I stop to think of her name. I haven't thought about her name in a while. It's beautiful. I don't know why her parents picked it out for her, but it fits.

It's the calm before the storm. When the sun begins to fade to the background, when the grey rolls in and takes over the sky. It's color is a promise of something more- a warning of the storm to come. That's when the world is at it's quietest. They are all waiting to see what comes of the grey, how bad it will be.

That's the way I think of her. How bad is it going to be? She hates me- thinks I'm insane. She wants nothing to do with me. How hard is she going to make this for me? I never thought a simple human could do this to me.

She's leveled me. A once tall, strong building now in ashes and mortar on the ground. There's nothing left.

I take another drink and lay a fifty on the bar.

Time to call a cab. I need to get home before the buzz wears off. I can't sleep then. I've tried to drink at home, but she haunts me inside those walls. I see her everywhere. She was only there for half a day and the place was already hers. She was in my room. My room. How the hell am I supposed to sleep there now?

I've screwed everything up. I don't know even know how to fix this.

My phone rings. I struggle to pull it from my pocket. It gets caught at the end and falls from my hand onto the hardwood floor. I reach for it, and wince at the half broken screen. It was a shitty phone anyway.

At least the screen still works. "Hello?"

"Kieran is looking for you."

"Hello to you to, darling."

"You're drinking again, aren't' you?" Claire's soft voice floats through the phone.

I laugh, or try to. It ends up coming out as a grunt. "Am I that easy to read?"

"Your words are slurring." I can hear the disappointment in her voice. She sighs. "Okay. I'll just tell him you're out. Do you have a ride home?"

"I'll call a cab."

She sighs again like she doesn't know how to deal with this- with me. "No. Don't do that. Kieran will see the cab pull up and he'll chew you out again. I'll come get you. What's the address?"

I looked toward the sign on the wall even though I already know the place. "The Trenches."

She makes a disgusted sound. "Alright. I'll be there in fifteen. Stay where you are."

I hang up the phone sit back down at the bar. The bar tender is here now and she's staring at the bottle in my hand. She's pretty, with long black hair, dark skin and a tattoo on the inside of her elbow. I've asked her about it before but she never wants to talk about it.

"Cleaning me out again?" she asks. She's not angry, just stating the facts.

I nod and push the fifty toward her. "For your trouble."

She picks up the money and pushes it into her bra."It's not my trouble I'm worried about. How are you getting home?"

"A friend."

She raises her eyebrow. "A girl?"

"As a matter of fact, she is."

She smiles. "I thought you weren't here for that."

I shrug. "I'm not. She's a friend."

She shakes her head and starts to walk away. "Well, tell your friend to keep a better eye on you. One day you're going to wonder in here and never leave." She looks to the other end of the bar where a balding man is sleeping next to a half full glass of beer.

I do my best to light a cigarette, but the rain won't let up. I push myself under the overhanging roof, outside the bar but it's not enough to keep me dry.

A pair of headlight swerve into the parking lot and stop beside me. I don't have to see the driver to know who it is. It's the only one of Kieran's cars that Claire likes to drive. It's all but hers now. She leans over and opens the door for me.

I get it and smile. "Such a gentleman."

She tries not to smile, but she does anyway. "Shut up."

"Is that any way to talk to your Beta?"

"Is that any way to talk to your Luna," she counters.

I close the door and she pushes through the rain and pulls out onto the road. I lean back into the seat and close my eyes letting the roar of the engine soothe me into sleep. I don't know how long I sit like that, but after what feels like a few minutes Claire shakes me awake.

I force my eyes open. "Yes?"

"I'm dropping you off around back. Kieran is in the pack building finishing up some business. He won't hear or see us."

I nod and close my eyes again. "Good girl."

"Don't sound so approving," she says. "I lied to Kieran for you."

I open my eyes again. "And why did you lie to him? I can handle him."

She's quiet for several long seconds, and then she shifts gears and turns onto our driveway. "Because I don't want you two to damage your relationship anymore than you already have. You two are supposed to be best friends and it's been different lately."

"Who's fault is that?"

"Yours," she says matter of factly, then quieter she says, "And Kieran's. It's hard for him to understand what you're going through. This thing with Grey..."

"He doesn't understand because he doesn't want to. He's worried about the pack because she's human."

"That's true, but we're going to figure it out."

"It's been nine days, Claire. You said you would help me if I gave it a couple of weeks. That time is almost up. What are you going to do?"

She blinks a few times and glances at me. In a low voice she says, "I don't know."

I run my hands through my hair. "I'm losing it, Claire. Like, really losing it. I'm seeing her everywhere. And last night I dreamed of her. I can't even escape her there anymore."

"I'm sorry-"

"You don't get it. No one does."

She hits her hands on the wheel. "Okay. You're right. I said I would help, and I will. I owe you that much. You did save my life."

"You don't owe me anything for that."

She pushes her hair out of her face. "I do though. And it doesn't matter because I would help you anyway."

"You know Kieran won't like this."

"Yeah, well, I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." She glances at me again. "I'll help you Wyatt, just let me come up with something first." We pull up to the back of the house and Clair nudges my arm. "Now get out of here before Kieran shows up and chews us both out."

I push the door open and wobble until I get my balance. Claire looks concerned, but I assure her I'm fine and close the door behind me. I don't wait for her to park the car before I make my way inside the house.

I come in through the Kitchen. All the lights are off except the one above the stove and no one is there. I bump into a few chairs as I pass them but no one hears me. The stairs are another matter altogether. I catch myself several times before I fall and one time I do fall.

Everyone must be in their rooms for the night because no one comes out to see what the disturbance is. I am relieved when I make it to my room. The room only barely spins. I barely get the door closed before I take down a lamp beside me.

The shade falls off, but the bulb doesn't bust. I groan. I'm a mess. I fumble for the bed, ready to collapse when I vision in red catches my eye. She's standing by the bed in a long red dress with her long red hair spilling down her back.

She smiles at me, but doesn't speak.

"You again," I say.

She sits next me after I throw my arm over my eyes to block her out. I think I feel the bed shift. Or maybe it was me that shifted. I can't really tell.

"You're torturing me. But it's better than being alone." She touches my hair and I sigh. "Where are you?" I ask.

She taps my forehead. "In here."

I roll over and face her. "You won't make this easy for me, will you?"

Again, I'm greeted with a smile and no words. Jesus, she's beautiful. Her hair, her dress, her light freckles that decorate her nose and cheeks, the lips that always look a little bit pink. She'll kill me if she isn't careful. I've fallen so deep.

"Go to sleep," she whispers. "It's always better in the morning."

I look at her, really look at her. She looks like Grey, but not the hard, tough girl I remember. This girl is soft and gentle. That's when I really know my mind is messing with me. If Grey were here she'd be angry. Hell, she'd probably punch me. No, this isn't Grey. This is just my mind.

I smile at her and she at me and that's all I see when the lull of sleep finally pulls me under.

At Nine AM Claire wakes me, her eyes are bright. She's standing over me smiling.

"Are you watching me sleep?"

"Don't flatter yourself." She nudges me in the arm. "Get up."

"Why?" I groan.

"Kieran has an errand for you."

I force myself to sit up. "You seem far more excited about that than I am."

"You'll want to do this, trust me." She's practically beaming. "It was my idea."

I nod. "So that explains it. What are you having me do?"

"We're going to the pharmacy to pick up few necessities. I suddenly ran out of prenatal vitamins last night."

"So I'm your errand boy."

"No, you are going to meet Grey."

As if I drank a shot of pure caffeine, I feel awake and alert. I jerk. "How?"

She looks down, sheepishly. "I've been having Leland keep an eye on her until I figured out what to do." She looks up. "Her mom works as a pharmacy tech and she's picking up her mom from work today."

I jump up. "Let's go right now."

"Whoa, whoa. Hold on." Her hands shoot out at me. "Her mom won't be off work for at least seven more hours. We can't just show up now and hang out all day. That will look suspicious."

I groan and rub my face. "So we sit here all day and wait. Why did you even wake me up?"

"Because I thought you'd want to know the plan!"

"The plan would have been the same two hours from now."

She crosses her arms. "And... you need to get up and get yourself together. It's time to start proving yourself stable to Kieran. Go do your duties. Be a beta. If you pull it off, he won't feel so nervous about you leaving with me later."

I nod. "Good point."

"Exactly." She pushes me toward my bathroom. "Now go clean up. Time is ticking."

I smile. "As you wish, Luna."

I pad to the bathroom with bright smile on my face. For the first time in weeks, I feel like I have something to look forward to again. Today, I was meeting my mate and I wouldn't let anything go wrong. Not this time.

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A/N

This book is officially over; I just wanted to give you a little intro to Grey and Wyatt's story. I'll be working on that soon with alternating POVs. I hope you enjoyed it and thank you for sticking with me. I'll add an update to this book when the next book is up!

All the left over stuff, Clare's pregnancy and Axel still alive and kicking, will be carried over into Wyatt's story. I'm still weaving the thread.