-Juliette-

As the signs of morning began to filter into the room I began to stir, but hated to wake up, I kept my eyes closed and relished in the fact that little Grace hadn't woken up yet.

I could feel an arm around my middle and couldn't help but admit I liked the feeling of being hugged, even if it was only from the cute as a button Gracie.

I smiled and snuggled to get closer to her.

But upon snuggling into the embrace I came face to chiseled bare chest and my eyes flew open.

I remained frozen still as I quickly realized that it wasn't Grace who was hugging me but Dylan.

Of course it felt just as nice to be held by him, if not a little better as his embrace is much warmer and more comforting...but where was Grace, and furthermore...when had he arrived?

I knew it was wrong but I looked up and marveled at his sleeping face. His long lashes fanned over his cheek bones perfectly, his even breaths told me he was zonked out. His face was so relaxed.

I've never been this close to him before, I noticed that even though he had shaved yesterday before we left for the hospital he was already sporting a light stubble on his chiseled jaw, he also had a sprinkling of very light freckles that touched his cheeks and a little on his nose. His blonde hair that had always seemed either light brown or dark blonde depending on the lighting had slight touches of varying shades of yellow and gold.

Finally my eyes fell to his mouth, he slept with his mouth closed and I looked at his lips, his top lip was slightly thinner than the fuller bottom lip, but upon closer inspection I could see his bottom lip was busted.

'Had he been in a fight?' I thought to myself a little concerned.

My concern took over my common sense and I sat up in the bed, I scooted up to the pillows and took it upon myself to grab his face and begin inspecting it. Upon further inspection I found a faint bruise on his upper left cheek just under his eye and a deeper bruise on the left side of his jaw.

"As much as I do enjoy you ogling me duchess...can we do this a little later in the day?" He asked, his eyes still closed, a slight smirk on his face.

"What happened to you Dylan?" I asked a little worried.

"Nothing much." He said, finally opening his eyes to look at me. "...coulda been worse, I'm just really tired." He said before yawning. "Ahh fuck."

I watched as he winced and rolled onto his back a little away from me.

"Don't worry, just got my ribs hit pretty bad."

Of course I pulled the blanket off of him, this time he jumped up and now I could see a harsh purple bruise that went from the side of his body and around to the back.

"Jeez Dylan...please, don't try and tell me nothing happened."

He sighed, "look I did what I had to last night, for this pack, for those that couldn't do for themselves, and also a little for personal reasons that I don't want to discuss at the moment." Then he sighed before looking over at me, his blue eyes burning into me. "You're not going to drop this are you?"

I shook my head.

"Fine, I challenged an Alpha for his title last night."

"What does that entail?" I asked curious.

"Well typically any Were can challenge any Alpha for the right to take over...but most Alpha's are good and care about their pack so no one really challenges, plus when you challenge it's usually to the death."

His words lingered in my head.

"Oh my god did you kill someone last night?!" I asked slightly panicked.

He shook his head, "I won't deny that the thought did run through my head, but I knew the consequence for doing so, it would hurt someone I care about and that's why I challenged him to submission or knockout...we fought, just me and him, human forms...while he got me a few good times I ultimately won."

"Wait, so you beat up a guy...sooo does that mean you get to be an Alpha now, like is that technically even legal?"

He nodded, "the challenge has a legally binding contract, I've already talked to the council and everything...they now acknowledge me as the new Alpha and therefore the people of the pack will also acknowledge me as their new Alpha."

I nodded, "I feel kind of bad for the people, don't they get a say on if they want to have you as their new Alpha?"

He nodded, "Well the bottom line is I am the new Alpha, but they will have a say in if they want to go back or not...I have to go to the field to break the news to them after breakfast."

And with that last statement everything clicked.

Dylan had challenged Dorian.

He did it because he wasn't being a good alpha, and they need their homes back...

But more so, I couldn't help but think about the comment he made when I asked him if he killed someone.

"I won't deny that the thought did run through my head...but it would hurt someone I care about..."

'Could he mean me?'

I looked at him, his eyes seemed to watch me, as if expecting me to breakdown or yell at him any minute, I could see he had braced himself for the worst.

But what happened next shocked him as well as myself.

I threw my arms around his neck and slammed my lips against his.

It didn't take long for his arms to find themselves around me and his mouth to move in sync with my own.

When we finally pulled apart I was panting and slightly out of breath. He was smiling.

"Thank you." I said.

"As much as I'd like to take credit, I only did what was right..."

"No" I cut him off, "you've helped my people from the very beginning, made sure they got to stay together, provided them with shelter and protection, and now you've given them their homes back...you are a good man Dylan, and I'm so lucky to have met you."

He kissed my lips softly once more as he caresses my cheek gently. "I think I'm the lucky one...and while I helped the people of Harmond because it was the right thing to do, I have to admit a small part of me did want to impress you."

I smiled, "we both know you really did it because you are a caring man."

He shrugged, "whichever makes me more attractive to you."

Still smiling I became bold and this time took the liberty to straddle his lap (taking care not to hit his bruised areas), "you couldn't be more attractive to me than you are right now." I confessed as I wrapped my arms around his neck and began to kiss him.

I could feel that the kiss was growing into something more emotionally, and I was fine with that, but before it could become anything more than a kiss we had to pull apart.

"Good morning Daddy." A little voice sounded, reminding us that we weren't truly alone.

I carefully got off of him and tried to cover myself up as I suddenly became ultra aware that I was only wearing my underwear and one of his t-shirts, something I'm sure he noticed.

"There's my Gracie." He smiled as he got out of bed and picked her up.

His body was magnificent, but seeing him so lovingly interact with his daughter made my heart melt for him even more.