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“We should bind,”

He has no f**king clue

“Wh–you–it…no!” I fumbled so unbelievably stupefied at his solution here.

“No?” He walked back to me. “Why?”

“We barely speak!” I was having a hard time breathing and my ears were ringing.

*This is not how it’s supposed to go; we’re supposed to bind when we’re in love.”

He rolled his eyes. “Annette we will get to know each other but your safety is more important,” He stated it so matter of factly deciding everything by himself again.

“No Grayson I’m not binding with you like this I don’t- it’s this isn’t what I want,” I shook my head.

“You want me to try, I can do that, but it might be harder if I’m protecting you from every other male on the planet,” he sat back down beside me leaning back and folding his arms over his chest.

“You didn’t trust me for weeks, Grayson!” I clamped my eyes shut. “Now you want to bind!”

“I didn’t fully trust you,” He corrected me but it did not help his argument at all.

*Seriously!

“That is the point! Binding means forever Grayson I will feel you forever! And you don’t trust me!” I got up and walked over to the window needing space.

“You need to be safe. The fact that I have considered this shows that we can do this,” He followed me.

“Oh! Oh, that’s good because you think you may want to bind with me, we should!” I laughed at him.

“I want to try. I know I don’t want to lose you. I know that there is danger. This is how I protect you,” He slowly approached me but his face was so serious and set.

“Grayson this is my life, this means that no matter how you feel in the end you and I will always be together,” I tried to get him to see the risk here but he was like a mountain staying still in a hurricane.

“Every doubt in my mind he had placed began swelling in size at this sudden change. How could I accept us binding when he barely showed me he could treat me right.

“I can’t do this,” I felt tears welling up.

“I can’t bind with my soulmate. I can’t bring myself to take this leap. This is not what I want.

“I need to go and think. I need to I need to just take a walk,” I walked away from him and out the door.

“Except I can’t take a walk. We don’t know if that weilf is still around. I don’t want to talk to anyone. I want to thin and be with myself and my thoughts and my fam and my hopes..

I decided I would pace on the porch instead.. Il wailted back and forth letting my head guide me around..

Grayson had said we should bind it was his idea but it wasn’t from a place of love it was for protection. It felt more lik he was trying to do what was right than being with me because thats all he wanted.

The intruder wolf may or may not be after me, still uncll Gryson and I bind any other wolf that could jump me, mark me and I would be theirs..

Grayson has said he would try and today was nice. It was what I would have expected almost three weeks ago.

Everyone here said I should give him a chance. They said he was worth dying for, that he was a good man, and they were lucky he was their alpha. I trusted many of their words..

I have a choice here. I bind with Grayson or I wait and risk another wolf coming for me.”

“This is up to me and only me, he’s my soulmate, the gift to me from the grocicless. If I turn away now we have no hope he will fear that I would run again forever. I had a choice to tritt him and to be with him and give him myself. This wns his iden that must mean something.

But I need something before I agree.

ahor a cool breath out of my nose and nodded my head as I headed back inside the house.

Grayson who had been sitting on the couch with his head in his hands stood up and strade to me.

“med to know that I can trust you,” I didn’t look at him feeling guilty for not sing my soulmate.

**What do you want me to do,” He stood tall and firm.

He sounded so fierce as though he might actually love me..

“Tell me why you don’t trust me,” I held my hands tightly together so my knucides, want white.

“Idant.” Gayman’s eyes went wide and his b*dy tensed. “I don’t know what you mean??!

“You haven’t let me in since we met. You have kept yourself away from me. Tell me why?” I fht my chest constrict at the thought off him telling me I wasn’t good enough.

“Annette – I just wanted a good Eunn for my people,” He used the same excuse.

“That’s out true

whimpered then I mut his eyes. “Tell me the truth or I won’t just not bind with wou go back to

my family.” I huffled. “This is what I want to know if I can trust you I need honestly,”

He backed away from mut the realization I was serious came down on him.

“You will know me then him unvone else,” he spoke softly.

I strained my ears to listen to him. Hewassthreathing unevenly and his shoulders were right.

“My father he. He saw me and he didn t want anything to do with me,” Grayson turned away from me, hiding fün

“The second I saw you 1–I was yours. Then the thought that you would come here, meet my people, be a part of hayy life….and then realize you deserved better. He composed his fears to me.

I stepped forward and placed a hand on his list. The big man my mate was, flinched at my touch.

I slowly encircled my arms around his torso assscityand gently as i could, giving him plenty of time to stop me..

“I’m not going to leave. I will stay when it’s hard wheyyamoy me when I annoy you, when you try to keep me s safe I get angry. I will stay,” I placed my head on his back.

He put his big hands over my little ones and ribbed first thumbs.wver my knuckles. His b*dy was very tense and I don think he was used to a touch like this.

“So then it’s settled?” he asked me..

it’s settled?” he asked.

Illet go of him. “No,”

“No!” he spun around.

laughed. “You have to ask me properly,”

The sigh of relief that he huffed and the stern aggravated face I got wassertect withheld my laugh as he stepped forward and went down on his knees.

Annette Julianne Maloria, will you bind with me before our goddess? Heefimalwasked.

Thenextdday all the preparations began. I called my parents to let them knowwewercelliniling “My mother shrieked

mille red atihow.amazing it all was.

There wasallottto do and not a lot of time to do it. Grayson and agreed omone week togettonverything ready.

liitake my dress, get flowers, and make a menu. I had no clue what the binding rituaitsweerellare and that wa the mustiinportant thing to leam.

“Aipha willlstay with Matthew or his mother all week. You two cannot see each other.onthedayyumill the reveal at t party Blizzirgan explaining to me. This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“It’s more lilkafetival, Elladinterjected. “You’ll be bound Sunday night when the mooniis aliteed. The days het you and the didn willl go through different rituals and there is dancing and food and fights,”

“Yes. Those thirt:www.ilyesforday and Saturday you will trade off on ceremonies and rituals. Yingbaw ade youİ İN to do, a ceremony with Amana, you have to be welcomed by the women in a ceremony and then the men mandiner

ceremony. There is the feast where you serve everyone and then in turn Grayson serves you, and that’s not even the actual day of the binding. “She looked very bored with it all.

1

“You had to do all of that to bind with Aarron?” I gasped.

“No, well some because he’s Delta. You have a lot more to do because you’re becoming our Luna,” She smirked at me.

“Has your mother sent the fabric for the dress?” Ella grabbed my hand.

“Oh it’ll come in a day then we can make it.” I looked between them

“I have flowers and a list of food!” Charlotte burst through my front door. She was holding three baskets of flowers and leaves and her phone.

“Great lets pick flowers,” Elizabeth was like a drill sergeant with this planning process

“Okay here are the flowers of the repon flowers from your family s region and the binding flowers,” Charlotte laid them all out.

“There will be table runners, ones that hold lanterns, garlands, and anything else you want.” Ella was giddy beside me.

We decided on Cherokee roses, daisies, and dahlias all in white for my region flowers to go on the table for my family, For the rest of the tables bunchberry, Labrador tea, sweet lover, and camas for Grayson’s territory.

We would have moonflowers, tuberose, and cereus on the main table where Grayson and I would sit. They all bloomed

at night which is why they were binding flowers

All the flowers had to be white for our goddess and so our love would last. I decided on extra garlands to wrap around

the trees and posts of the pavilion.

“Food, we will be having four full–blooded alphas who will have battled so Annette how much can your father and brothers eat?” Elizabeth inquired as she held her cl*pboard.

“Who are they battling?!” I did not miss that little detail.

“Grayson,” the three women spoke in sync and looked at me as if it was the most obvious answer in the world.

“Oh goddess be

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