Ashleigh woke just as Granger came back into the room.

“Granger? Are you ok? Where did you go?” she asked as she quickly got up and rushed to him.

Granger opened his arms to her, hugging her tightly.

“Your dad stopped by. I didn’t want to wake you, so we chatted in the hallway.”

“Granger, you’re the patient, not me! You should have stayed in bed. What if you got dizzy again?”

“I’m fine, Ash,” he smiled, happy to hear the concern in her voice.

Ashleigh pulled back and looked him up and down. Thankfully, the bruises were already starting to fade.

“Well, you do look better than you did earlier, and you seem to have more energy.”

“Benefits of our fast healing nature,” Granger winked.

Ashleigh smiled back, though she found it curious how fast he was healing. He seemed barely able to lift his head earlier. Now the only sign there was something wrong was the bruising.

“Granger,” she said, pulling him to sit on the bed, “don’t you think you should tell me what this was all about?”_.

Granger looked away.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Ash,” he answered sadly.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want you to blame me,” he sighed.

“What do you mean?” she asked. “Didn’t you say that Galen attacked you? Are you saying he didn’t now?”

“This is what I mean, Ash.” Granger sighed, pulling away from her.

“I don’t understand.”

“You’re already questioning me; already think I’m lying,” he said, hunching his shoulders with a heavy sigh.

“No,” Ashleigh quickly replied, putting a hand on his shoulder, “I didn’t mean it like that, just that… I’m sorry. Please, just tell me what happened. I promise I won’t blame you.”

“You’re not going to believe me; you’ll just say I’m being jealous and misunderstanding.”

“Granger, just talk to me, please,” Ashleigh pleaded, pulling on his shoulder to make him look at her.

After a long moment, Granger nodded and took a deep breath.

“I was cleaning up at the training grounds. Saul stopped by to talk to me about some of the scouts acting up. I told him I’d take care of it, and then he went home. So I went back to cleaning up. Suddenly out of nowhere, I was being thrown to the ground. I tried to get back up, but he hit me again and again.

“He lifted me up, held me in the air like I was nothing. A ragdoll he could just toss around however he wanted.”

Granger looked away from her as though the memory were painful. Ashleigh felt an aching grip on her heart.

“It’s ok, take your time,” she said, comforting him with a gentle hand on his back.

“I tried to talk to him, tried to ask him why… he said… he said… he was teaching me a lesson in respect.”

“What?” Ashleigh was shocked and confused. “What does that mean?”

“He threw me around, pounding my chest with his fists. Then, finally, I managed to get away from him. I grabbed a bow and some of the practice arrows; I shot at him, just hoping to get him to stop so we could talk. But he just kept coming.”

Granger stopped and closed his eyes.

“I tried to run; he caught my legs, slammed me to the ground, and then climbed on top of me. He was stronger than I expected, much stronger. He held me down with ease. I was terrified.”

Ashleigh felt a tear run down her cheek. He had gone through so much; she thought they had just taken a sparring match too far. She put her arm around him and laid her head on his shoulder.

“That’s when he explained what he meant by teaching me a lesson in respect.”

Ashleigh looked up at him. Sad anger settled into his eyes.

“He said I was just another wolf that needs to learn not to touch what doesn’t belong to me.”

Ashleigh pulled back, her brows furrowed, and she shook her head in disbelief.

“I knew you wouldn’t believe me….” Granger said quietly, turning away from her and looking to the floor.

She got down on the ground before him, putting her hands on his knees. She looked up and caught his eyes.

“No, Granger, that’s not it! I believe you, baby, I do. I can see how hard this was on you,” she said, “I’m just confused, is all. I don’t understand why he would do that or even say that!”

“It seems obvious to me,” Granger said. “He did it because Caleb told him to.”

Ashleigh tried to hold back her reaction, mask her doubt and anger at his accusation, but he saw it.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense, Ash,” Granger said softly, “I mean, he did walk in on us in a pretty intimate situation.”

She looked away, casting her eyes on the floor. Granger assumed she felt shy, remembering the day that Galen had walked in on them. At that time, Granger had his hands all over her, kissing and caressing her.

He couldn’t stop the slight, satisfied grin that crept over his face at the memory. Knowing Galen was about to enter the room, smelling his disgusting Summer scent, Granger made sure to put on a good show that day.

Ashleigh was embarrassed.

‘You told me before that you would never be our Luna. I should have listened to you then.’ Galen’s words had burned themselves into her mind. Repeating again and again. Reminding her that she had let him down.

She shouldn’t have cared, but she did.

Granger looked at her again, expecting to see the embarrassment, the shyness. But, instead, he saw something that infuriated him. It was regret and guilt.

“He told me he was protecting Caleb’s property,” he said, “that he was going to make sure I couldn’t touch you ever again.”

Ashleigh looked back up at him now.

“Bell was right,” Granger admitted sadly, “I did hurt him.”

“What?” Ashleigh asked.

“When he was on top of me when he said that… I thought he would kill me, Ash, the look he had, the glow in his eyes… “ Granger closed his eyes, and once more, he played the part of the victim, and Ashleigh believed him.

“Baby…” she whispered, reaching a hand to his cheek.

He looked at her through tear-filled eyes.

“I swear, Ash, I thought it was a practice arrow!” he cried out, “I just meant to surprise him, to hit him and make him lose focus long enough that I could get away. I didn’t mean to hurt him! Not really.”

Granger began to sob. Ashleigh stood up and wrapped her arms around him, kissing his head and telling him she understood. Soothing him with her voice.

She comforted him for half an hour, laying in the bed beside him and falling asleep in his arms.

Granger looked down at her as she slept, her face curled into his chest. He smiled and ran his index finger tenderly down her cheek.

“I’ll never let you go,” he whispered. Bending down to kiss her forehead, she shivered. He pulled her closer.

‘You are mine, and mine alone,’ he whispered to her in his mind. ‘Whether you stay with me in this life or go with me to the next.’