Chapter Fifty-Four
“I don’t like this,” Catherine grumbled, crossing her arms. She tapped her foot and glanced around, looking for a way to help. “I know we had an agreement but… I just… It doesn’t feel right. I have to…” Catherine shoved upward from the table.
Graham whipped around and pointed his spatula at her. “Sit. Down,” he ordered.
Catherine narrowed her eyes as she slowly sank back down into her chair. Graham kept his spatula pointed at her until she was fully seated. Then he turned around and flipped the omelette he’d been working on. She used her hand to hold her head up as she watched her mate cook breakfast for her. His sweatpants hung low on his waist and his bare feet slid over the floor as he checked the waffles.
When Catherine woke up and noticed the height of the sun, only Graham’s firm grip kept her from sprinting to the packhouse. He’d hovered over her, placing kisses along her shoulders, collarbone and chest until she’d stopped struggling to get up.
He told her they were having a day off together, their first since they’d met. He told her they would be sleeping in and not leaving the house. After a few more persuasive flicks of his tongue, Catherine settled against his chest and fell back to sleep with a contented smile on her lips.
Catherine took another sip of her coffee. She’d slept in til 9, the latest she’d slept in years. Graham hummed as he plated the breakfast he’d prepared. He set the plates in front of her with a smile and kissed her head. Catherine looked down at the fluffy, golden omelette. She glanced up into the proud face of her mate. He sat back in his chair and sipped his own coffee. Catherine took a smile bite and let a moan slip past her lips.
“That’s… really good,” she said, causing him to chuckle. She’d forgotten how much better food tasted when she wasn’t the one having to make it. She dug in more heartily, stabbing a few chunks of waffles to go with it. “Why didn’t you ever tell me you could cook?”
Graham shrugged as he took a few bites of his own omelette. “I’m not one to complain when a fantastic chef wants to cook all my meals for me,” he said
with a wink.
Catherine guffawed. “Well, your cover’s been blown. I expect at least two breakfasts from you every week from now on.”
Graham grinned at her over the table. “I can live with those terms.”
The two finished their breakfast in silence. While Graham loaded the dishwasher, Catherine finished her coffee. “So what is the plan for today?”
“I was thinking we could go for a run together,” he said.
“A… a run?”
Graham glanced over at her and smiled. “Not a shifted run,” he explained, placing his hands on her hips and drawing her closer. She ran her hands up his bare chest. “We can wait for that til you’re more comfortable shifting. Just a normal jog through the woods since you like to do that. Then we can just hang out, maybe watch a movie, lay out in the grass, whatever we feel like doing.”
“Well… let’s get going then,” she said, kissing his lips softly.
True to his word, Graham and Catherine set out on a run through the backyard. He took her on a path she’d never taken before, one hidden within the thicker crop of trees that wound around the river, and over a wooden walking bridge. They cooled off in the river, stripping to their underwear to enjoy the feel of the cold water rushing over their bodies. Once they got home they took a bath together, and soaked in hot, steamy water until Catherine felt nearly
comatose.
“How many was that?” Catherine asked, staring up at the canopy of trees surrounding Graham’s back porch.
Graham chuckled beside her and threw another peanut into the air and caught it in his mouth. “It doesn’t matter, Baby, twenty questions was just a starting point. I won’t hold you to the actual number.”
“Well in that case…” Catherine said, thinking.
They were laid out on his porch, soaking in the sun and watching the clouds pass over the trees. They’d just finished their lunch and were letting their meal settle while they played twenty questions. It was how Catherine discovered Graham’s favorite color was forest green, he’d first shifted when he was twelve and that his first celebrity crush was Jessica Alba.
“I got one,” Catherine said, rolling over and propping her head up on her hands. “You have a tattoo on your buttcheek.”
Chapter Fifty-Four
Graham laughed softly. “You’ve noticed that, huh?”
“It’s on one of my favorite pieces of your anatomy so… yeah,” she blushed.
Graham threw another peanut and smiled. “What’s your question, Baby?”
“What does it mean and how on earth did you get a tattoo on your butt?”
“Theo
“Should have known.”
He rolled his eyes and his smile grew wider. “Before he knew Natalie was his mate he got involved with this shewolf from the Crescent Halo pack.”
“Oh yeah, I’ve heard of them. The women are the trackers. They’re supposed to be the best,” Catherine said, taking a few peanuts for herself.
Graham nodded. “This particular girl was attractive but not quite right in the head. When he tried to break up with her, she took him to her family cabin in the Yucatan Peninsula. Theo got a message out to me. By the time I’d found the cabin, he’d already escaped. In order to throw her off his trail he made a sort of… scent maze.”
“You’re joking,” Catherine laughed, shaking her head in disbelief.
“You’ve met Theo, what do you think? Anyway, by the time I found him he was nearly starved and frostbitten in all of his extremities. Since I saved his life, I could get it tattooed if I wanted so to keep him conscious while I got him back home, I promised he could pick the spot.”
Catherine barked out a laugh. “And of course he chose your buttcheek!” She rolled to her back and cackled.
Graham laughed too and shrugged. “It is for his own sake too. Not many people see it so I don’t have to explain how he nearly got killed by a 90 lb shewolf who had gone dick-crazy.”
“I got another one,” Catherine announced.
“I thought we were supposed to take turns?”
“No, those are the rules for children,” she explained as her mate laughed to himself. “Why do people call you Grey?” Graham’s laughter died away. Catherine tilted her head to see him. He was staring thoughtfully up at the sky. “I thought it might have to do with your lycan coat but your coat is the same color as your hair.”
Graham reached over and took her hand. He brushed her knuckles over his lips and then inspected them carefully. “After my dad died I got a bif lost. I didn’t see the point in… anything really. Things got dark. I threw myself into being a soldier and I was damn good at it. When something would come up that would make other’s balk, I would step up even when what needed to be done was… morally grey.”
Catherine watched him as he spoke and noticed the distant look in his eye as he revealed that side of him. “What would be something morally grey?”
Graham shrugged and briefly met her eye. “I don’t know… Say one of our own needed to be punished for not following an order they deemed wrong. I would give the punishment. Or during a battle, if someone needed to be sacrificed, I’d give the order.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t know who gave me the nickname, but it stuck. Only people closest to me call me by my real name now.” He brought her knuckles back to his lips and kissed each of her fingers. His brown eyes connected with hers, allowing the sun to make them appear nearly copper. “I don’t ever want you to call me Grey. It’s not who I am when I’m with you.”
Catherine smiled and rolled over more so that her free hand landed on his chest. She leaned forward and kissed him. Her hand snaked up and ran through his hair. She sat back and looked at him for a moment, memorizing his face as it was now: relaxed and completely open.
“You’re mine, Graham. All of you. Even the parts you don’t want me to see,” she whispered, brushing his hair back.
“As are you… Kitty Kate,” he joked, calling her the nickname Juno always used.
Catherine rolled her eyes. “Don’t you even dare!”
2/4
Chapter Fifty-Four
The pair eventually made their way into the house and picked out a movie to watch. Catherine was sitting with her legs crossed, facing the tv while Graham was laying down with his head in her lap. They sat in mutual silence as they watched the action movie play out. Catherine played with his hair with one hand and grabbed popcorn with the other. A knock at the door made both of them jump.
Graham squeezed her knee and pulled himself up with a loud groan. “I’ll check to see who it is.”
Catherine paused the movie and set the popcorn down as Graham went to the door. They’d both turned off their phones that morning so no one could bother them during their date-day. She hoped nothing bad had happened.
“Chloe, what are you doing back already?”
“I told you what would happen and it did. I need more,” Chloe answered back, sounding angry.
“I said no,” Graham growled. “Now is not a good time. I’ll talk with you tomorrow when…”
“You don’t understand. I went to the council and they told me I needed more proof. You know how the council is. By tomorrow word will spread about what we are trying to do and Curtis will know.”
“I’m sorry but we’ll have to find another way.”
“Catherine!” Chloe yelled.
Catherine shot up and peaked around the living room door toward the front entrance. Graham had one hand locked against the open door frame, blocking Chloe from coming in. His arm was rigid, the muscles straining beneath his black henley.
“What the fuck, Chloe?” Graham hissed.
“What’s going on?” Catherine asked. Graham’s posture turned even more rigid.
Chloe squatted down so she could see around Graham’s arm. “Catherine! There you are. I need to talk to you. I need your help with something.”
“Chloe, no,” Graham warned.
“It isn’t your decision,” Chloe gritted out.
“It is when what you’re proposing will hurt my mate,” Graham reasoned.
“This is greater than a few minutes of discomfort!”
“What is happening?” Catherine demanded.
Chloe succeeded in pushing Graham out of the way. “I went to the magical council with evidence against Curtis. Because he’s been corrupted, the only people who can help are the elders. They didn’t think I had enough evidence though and I need your help to get more.”
“How?” Catherine asked, looking back and forth between Chloe’s look of desperation and Graham’s look of fury.
“She wants to look at your memories,” Graham finally explained.
“My… memories?”
Chloe nodded. “I can see the memories you have of Curtis and take them to the council. A first-hand visual will be enough to…”
“No, it’s not happening,” Graham said, looking more and more distraught.
Catherine thought of the day they’d been sharing. The sun hadn’t even begun to set and already their turbulent life was threatening to drown them again. She noticed how his shoulders were sagged slightly and his expression was no longer carefree and open. Catherine walked up to him and took his hand. She turned to Chloe.
“We can talk about it tomorrow. Today, we need time for ourselves,” Catherine said. Graham squeezed her hand and she looked up to see the trace of a smile on his lips,
3/1
Chapter Fifty-Four
“Catherine, please, you have to understand that…”
“No, you need to understand. We have been mates for almost a month and today is the first day we’ve had to ourselves. I can appreciate your predicament but Curtis has taken enough from me. I won’t let him or you take this day too. If you’ll please excuse us, Graham will give you a call tomorrow and we can set up a time for the three of us to talk,” Catherine told her firmly.
She walked to the door and held it open. She gave Chloe a smile she hoped looked patient and empathetic. Chloe’s entire demeanor shifted to defeat as she left them alone, grumbling about how she would see them in the morning. When Catherine closed the door she leaned back against it.
Graham smiled. “Have I told you today how much I love you?”
Catherine pursed her lips. “Maybe not in words. But you certainly have in other ways.”
Graham stepped up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I love you, Catherine. Now, get back on that couch,” he whispered in her ear. He turned her to face the living room and smacked her ass, sending her forward.
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Surrendering to Destiny
