Chapter 74: Grace
I had avoided Rhys all day, and just when I was starting to get my feet back on the ground, everything was becoming topsy-turvy again! What was happening? My hand was just healing right before my eyes! And the Rhys’ did the same thing!
“What the hell?!” I whispered.
“I’m telling you, Gracie,” Rhys whispered. “You are magnificent.”
“I don’t understand,” I looked at Rhys in shock. “I’ve never healed like this. I’ve had injuries my whole life, I’ve been beaten nearly to death on more than one occasion, and I’ve never once healed like this or like at all.. This has to be the mate bond or something.”
“The mate bond might have strengthened you, Grace, but this is all you, baby girl. You probably didn’t heal properly before for several reasons,” He explained with a little bit of awe in his voice. “You were frequently injured at a high frequency. But now, your body has adjusted. You’ve been able to heal naturally. You’ve been able to rest and build your strength back up. And with that, and maybe me marking you, your Lycan seems closer to the surface, just waiting to break free of the bonds.”
I pondered his words. They made sense, but they also made me anxious. “But I don’t want to break free of my binds” I told Rhys unable to hide the fear from my voice.
“I’m not so sure that’s going to be a choice, my love.” He said.
He then gently ran his thumb over my check, and leaned into his touch, suddenly feeling guilty for avoiding him all day. He had just been trying to be supportive, and I had run. To be fair, I had never had anyone be supportive before, and it made me panic a little bit. But he was here and he was trying. He wasn’t the big scary Alpha King to me anymore. He was just Rhys. My Rhys.
“I should clean up this mess,” I said after a long moment when I realized we were standing on broken ceramics and my dinner.
“No, I’ll call someone to clean it-up, and I’ll have them bring you another plate.” He answered, guiding me away from the mess and to a chair at the countertop.
“I’m not really -” I started, but Rhys cut me off.
“You need to eat Grace.”
“But-”
“No. We need you to keep gaining your strength. We only just got started earlier on what I wanted to talk about earlier, but I don’t want to overload you if you need more time to process. I just unfortunately don’t think we have a lot of it to take.”
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I could do this. I could be whatever Rhys needed. It was only fair to try and be what he needed me to be.
“Okay,” I said finally. “Okay, I am ready...”
“Are you sure? Because it can wait another day if you need a little more time.” Rhys offered.
“No, I’ll let you know if I need time.” I said more confidently than I felt. “Please go ahead.”
“Okay, well as you know Leon and I were up most of the night trying to come up with a plan to counter against Adrian and Kinsley. And I believe that our first step is to call a meeting reveal your true identity to the Kingdom.”
“My true identity?” I frowned. “I don’t understand.”
“You are an Alpha’s daughter, you are my mate, you are Lycan. You deserved better than you got, but it won’t be until we tell everyone your story that you start to truly get your revenge on all those who have hurt you like you told me you wanted the other day.”
I hesitated. A part of me knew he was right, but I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. It was a huge step and would probably be the biggest I’ve taken other than maybe talking again. On the other hand, I also knew Rhys wouldn’t be asking, if he didn’t think it was necessary.
“Okay, if you think that’s the best next step, let’s do it.”
Rhys smiled and kissed my lips, as one of the servant girls, Claudia, brought in a tray of food, and began to clean up the mess I had made earlier.
“Thank you, Grace. I will have Leon send out invites tonight for tomorrow in neutral territory.”
“Tomorrow? Why so soon?” I felt my nerves flutter again as I stared at the plate in front of me, once again no longer hungry.
“The sooner the better,” Rhys stated firmly. “They seem to be ten steps ahead of us, we need to start making up ground.”
The rest of the evening went without a hitch. We finished dinner and fell into bed exhausted. I couldn’t imagine how tired Rhys must have been after not sleeping, but I was glad to know that he would be with me all night this time. When our alarms went off, it still felt too early. Rhys arranged for Alana to come and help me get ready, and before I knew it, we were off to the same place I hated just a few days ago, only this time, Rhys was with me.
“You look like you’re going to throw up, Grace,” Rhys teased slightly, his face filled with amusement.
“I just might.” I told him, my nerves getting the better of me. “I don’t think I can do this,” I told him as the streets started to become busier, and the meeting hall closer.
“I will be right there with you the whole time.” He said sincerely as he took my hand in his. “Do you know what you want to do about your brother yet?”
My frown deepened. We had talked about Ethan for a little while last night before bed, and Rhys had told me that Ethan had asked for his freedom, so he could help protect me. The sentiment was sweet, but I didn’t know what I wanted when it came to him. Rhys had been honest too, saying that he wasn’t sure what he would do in my position, nor did he fully trust him. I mean, I hardly knew the guy, so it was hard for me to think of him as family, even if he was.
“I don’t know.” I answered after a long moment as the car slowed down, approaching a large building that looked very out of place surrounded by so many tall buildings.
“Are you ready?” He asked as he gave my hand a gentle squeeze.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” I answered.
But I regretted my answer as soon as we entered the meeting hall. There were so many more people here than what I expected. For a last-minute call, over 90% of our pack, and 70% of the surrounding allied packs had showed up so far. My heart began to race, and I felt my hands begin to get sweaty, and I clung to Rhys like he was a lifeboat. This was terrifying, and we hadn’t even started yet...
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