“Mmm..ok..mm….” Ashleigh mumbled against Granger’s mouth, trying to get a word in between kisses. “Grange…mmm…I need to…. mmm.”

He moved her backward until her shoulders pressed against the wall. His hands snaked down the sides of her body, stopping just below her waist. His fingers kneaded along the muscle of her lower back softly before pulling her hips roughly against him. Eliciting a surprised gasp from her, he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss.

Granger had taken to kissing her fervently at every chance. At first, she felt awkward with the change. But it happened so frequently since that day in the forest that she was getting used to it. There were times when she found it exciting and pleasurable, but other times it made her uncomfortable.

Her genuine concern was what came next, how much farther he would push. Ashleigh had felt confident about her decision when she made it. She had been the one to tell him that they could move forward in their physical relationship. But she hadn’t expected how quickly things would change.

In the past, they had been affectionate, but it wasn’t every moment they were together. Now, it seemed that even if they only saw each other for a few moments, he always managed to put them in positions like the one she was in now.

Granger’s left hand slid away from her lower back. He moved slowly around to her hip, giving it a light squeeze before continuing confidently past her stomach until his fingers slithered over her breast. He kept his other hand firmly on her lower back, pinning her lower half firmly against his.

Ashleigh felt the warmth spreading over her. A low moan crawled its way up from somewhere inside. Granger smiled against her mouth. Her heated cries were like music to his ears. He groped her breast aggressively as he pressed himself against her.

The running shorts she wore left little to the imagination of how excited he was by their activities.

His mouth finally pulled away from hers. Granger growled against Ashleigh’s throat as his hand squeezed her breast and ground his pelvis into her.

Ashleigh turned away from him. She couldn’t deny that her body was feeling some pleasure in what he was doing to her. But his aggressiveness was making her feel uneasy.

“Granger,” she called out to him. He didn’t respond, continuing to kiss and grab at her. “Granger, it hurts… please…stop.”_.

His hand let go of her breast, sliding around to rest on her back. He let go of her hip, allowing her to pull away from him a little.

“Are you ok?” he whispered tenderly, still peppering her throat with kisses.

“Yea,” she whispered back, pushing him away from her. “We should stop.”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you, Ash,” he said, turning his eyes to the floor.

Ashleigh looked at him and saw the shame written on his face. She reached out and lifted his chin. When their eyes met, she saw the unshed tears he held back.

She felt a pang of guilt in her heart.

“It’s ok, I know, baby. I know,” she said, “but I don’t feel comfortable with how fast we’ve been moving.”

“You said it was ok,” he said quietly as he turned away from her.

“I know,” she replied with hesitation, “I just think we need to slow down; we aren’t married yet.”

“We should be!” Granger shouted.

Ashleigh flinched and took a step back from him.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly. “I’m sorry.”

He turned away from her.

‘He is right. We should have been married two months already. The only reason he is suffering now is because of my problems,’ Ashleigh thought to herself.

He felt her arms wrapping around his shoulders and the soft weight of her head against his back. A wicked grin spread over his face, fading away just as quickly.

“You’re right,” she mumbled into his back.

He turned around carefully, so her arms were wrapped around his neck, and her head found a new resting place on his chest.

She adjusted her position so her chin was on his chest, and she looked up at his face. He smiled at her, giving her that familiar warmth she craved.

“You’re right, we should be married, we should have been a long time ago,” she said confidently, “and we will be, soon.”

“When?” he asked.

“Soon,” she said.

His smile disappeared, and he looked away from her.

“Granger…” she started.

He pulled away from her and crossed the room. He turned his back to her, reminding her of the morning after Blood Moon, how scared she had been that he would leave her. Panic began to settle into her heart again.

“I’m sorry, but we still don’t know what is happening with the rogue wolves. We can’t just ignore that,” Ashleigh said, hoping to make him understand.

“I’m not saying we should ignore what is happening. I am saying that there is no reason we can’t get married at the full moon. It’s not like either of us plans to stop training or fighting just because we are married, right?” he said.

“No, of course not,” she answered. “But it’s just not the right time. How can we have a wedding when there are reports of people dying?”

“What?” Granger asked, turning to look at her. He hadn’t heard of any deaths. “Who died?”

She hesitated.

“There were twenty-eight casualties reported this morning from Summer,” she answered.

“Summer?” He asked. He took two steps closer to her. “Why are you getting reports about Summer?”

“I’m not getting reports. All of the packs received a full report from Alpha Caleb this morning. My father shared the details with me because he knew I would be training with Galen today. He asked me to explain the situation to him,” she stated.

“What situation?” Granger asked. His voice was different. She didn’t recognize the tone, but she took another step back.

“There haven’t been any attacks in the past two days, and scouting reports show no sign of rogues in the area anymore. Therefore, Alpha Caleb will be returning to Winter to resume his duty in two days.”

Granger let out a low growl. He opened his mouth as though he would say something but suddenly stopped. Ashleigh saw his eyes turn briefly towards the door. She turned but saw nothing. When she looked back, he was standing in front of her, his eyes held that wildness she had seen before, instinct told her to move away, but it was too late.

“You are mine!” he snarled before he wrapped an arm tightly around her waist, pulling her against him so roughly that the air was pushed out of her lungs. He crashed his lips down onto hers, sealing her airway.

She tried to struggle, but her burning lungs and panic overwhelmed her, and she couldn’t think.

“Hey, Ashleigh, sorry you seemed to be running late, so I thought—Oh….” Galen’s voice came from the opening door.

Granger let her mouth go, panting and licking his lips, while Ashleigh coughed. She turned around, leaning on the table for support. Her eyes met Galen’s a dark look she could never have expected stared back at her. He looked away as Granger kissed her throat lightly.

“My apologies,” Galen said, turning to walk out, adding, “I don’t mean to be rude, but I did have a scheduled training. We’re already ten minutes behind. So I’ll be outside. Please join me soon.”

Galen shut the door behind him.

***

Ashleigh walked quietly behind Galen; they hadn’t spoken since he had seen her with Granger.

“Galen?” she called out to him, stopping.

“Yes?” he answered, turning to face her.

“Listen, about what just happened—” she began.

“It’s none of my business,” Galen answered quickly, continuing to walk towards the training grounds.

“Galen, wait—” she called out to him.

Galen turned to face her. His expression was enough for her to drawback. Galen had always shown her kindness and humor, but what she saw now rivaled Caleb’s coldest glare.

“There is nothing to explain,” he said, “You met your mate when you were sixteen, right?”

Galen waited to continue until she gave him a short nod.

“I should have listened to you before; I apologize for my arrogance.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“You told me before that you would never be our Luna. I should have listened to you then.”