Chapter 508: Explain
Both Graeme and August remained quiet as they laid together, legs and arms entangled, unwilling to break the perfect satisfied hum that surrounded them. Finally they were back together, and it seemed Graeme’s hands were not entirely convinced it was reality, because they continued running over his mate’s back and her face, tracing the contours of her—the shape of her, memorizing it as if it was not already etched into his very being.
Their child was nestled between them, August’s belly pressed against the warmth and safety of her mate, and it was just as it was meant to be. They were home. Zagan’s portal and the insane vampire trapped there may well not exist for how content she was. At the moment, all was well. All was right. She was home with him.
It was Graeme who broke the silence with a heavy sigh. "I need to explain."
August’s eyes slid to his, a pang of nerves dancing in her stomach. She knew what he was talking about.
"Your eyes are blue again, darling," his rich voice resonated in her chest, and he kissed each one of her eyes that fluttered closed.
"Yours are back to normal, too," she breathed against him. "It must have something to do with us being together. That doesn’t surprise me," she chuckled softly.
"I see the gold around us that you told me about," he smiled and sat up, his gaze following what appeared to be stardust dancing in the air, pulsing around them. They had their own combined aura. It was breathtaking.
August followed him to a sitting position with her legs crossed, pulling the sheet up around her shoulders and draping it over her. She shivered with his warmth no longer at her side.
"Tell me," she said simply.
Graeme found her hands hidden under the sheet and ran one of his own lightly along her palms.
"It was still the night of Samhain. Greta, Sam, Selah, Lucas... we were all in the medical wing talking to Zoe, to Neoma. She had returned by using a portal to escape her old pack where she arrived first, and she was recovering. I didn’t remember anything about being back here. It’s like everything after finding you in the Grimm was erased, but I was trying to understand.
Everyone was kicking around ideas... how to get you back, how to help you, how to help me remember. Neoma wanted to offer herself in trade to Zagan. Selah said she could take us to where you were. I didn’t remember anything... it was a nightmare. But the alyko had returned," he smiled recalling that moment when he saw those females and pups who everyone believed had been killed.
"I was going to stay at the pack house instead of returning here, and when I left Neoma’s room alone, Violet was in the hallway. I could tell she was badly injured and she called me over," his forehead feathered at the memory, and August’s hands curled into fists in her lap.
"She must have overheard that I lost my memory. I followed her into her room because I was concerned. I couldn’t remember what had happened to her of course, and her injuries were so bad. It was alarming. I didn’t get into bed with her," his eyes snapped to hers. "She was terrified. I could scent the genuine fear, and there was no one else around to stay with her. It was the middle of the night, so I agreed to sit in the chair in her room while she slept."
August let out a heavy sigh, pushing the anger that was slowly accumulating out through her nose and trying to focus on the sincerity of his words and the unusual circumstance he was in rather than her emotions. She wanted to be furious—at Violet for luring him in and at Graeme for taking the bait. But what use was that now? Violet was gone.
"She had a nightmare. She was screaming in terror, and I tried to wake her. Finally I did. I was just... I was just trying to calm her. Not as her past partner, but as her fellow pack member and Alpha. That protective instinct is in me for all of them, every pack member, especially when they are acting like someone is after them."
"So that is when you got into bed with her," August said, the words falling heavily in the air. She squeezed her eyes shut.
"Yes. I didn’t touch her. She just... she curled up next to me like a pup, you know? Like a terrified pup. It wasn’t anything more than that. And I finally came to my senses, getting out of the bed when I realized how it might be perceived.
I didn’t remember you my love, but there was never a second in my mind when our bond was questioned. I could still feel you. I could scent you—the most perfect, alluring scent I had ever encountered. Anyway, that’s when I saw Cassian at her window and Lucas and I ran the perimeter of the pack house."
"He was already there that night?" She said, her bottom lip dropping at the realization. That would mean that not only was Zagan there, but shortly after so was Cassian.
"Yes, it seemed so, but we couldn’t find any trace of him. Not even a scent."
"Did you go back to her then? To protect her?" August swallowed, avoiding his eyes.
"No. Someone else stayed with her."
"You said she knew you lost your memory. How did you know that? She must have said something," she said, not fully knowing what made her return to that detail, but it stuck out.
"She tried to tell me that you were an intruder, that you were manipulating me to get control of the pack," he said softly.
"Did you believe her?"
"No," he said quickly. "I didn’t remember you, but like I said, I could feel you. I was angry that she suggested I could somehow be fooled into experiencing a mate pull. I was there to calm her down, but I never forgot what she was like. She was injured, and it was horrific. But she hadn’t changed. I was aware of that."
"Okay," August said softly. She knew how she wanted to feel about this, but there were so many complications to everything that had happened. And now Violet was gone. Graeme had leapt into fire to try saving August from her.
"How did it get this far with Violet? Why was she on trial today? I don’t understand."
Graeme groaned and raked a hand down his face. He should have dealt with Violet differently. That was clear. If he had, it would not have come to this.
