Grace's soul entered Jame's detection early in the morning. The sun hadn't quite risen yet when she changed her heading and started towards him when he sent out a prodding touch.

Climbing out of bed, he slipped out from under Luna, and laid her back down gently, just for the Fenrir to wake up and rub her eyes.

"Where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"Grace is here," he whispered.

Grabbing his arm, she pulled him back into the bed. "I don't care." Licking her lips, she swung her legs over his waist. "You woke me up, so now you must pay."

He wanted to laugh at her boldness, but found her alluring gaze to be too distracting. When she started grinding against him, he promptly reacted and grabbed her hips. With a twist, he switched places with her and kissed her once. Jumping out of bed, he finally laughed and hurried out the door.

"I hate you!" she screamed after him, waking the rest of the house.

Amber peeked out of her room as he passed, meeting his gaze and shrinking into herself. He didn't know why he did it, but he grabbed her arm as he walked past and pulled her from her room, making her walk with him.

"James!" she hissed as she pulled her cloak out of her ring to cover herself. It was only then that he found that she was barely wearing underwear.

"Not sorry," he said. "Let's go."

He let her go long enough for her to put the cloak on, then continued to pull her out of the house. The burning winds fluttered their clothes as he moved to the edge of the hamlet.

"Why did you bring me with?" Amber asked nervously.

Glancing at her, he found her eyes filled with moisture and vulnerability. She was tense and forcing a smile she wasn't feeling.

"We needed to talk," he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I just…" she couldn't finish her sentence as she started crying.

"You wanted the best for me," he said. "You didn't want me to turn into a killer and only desire to fight."

Nodding, she sank to the ground, crouching with her tail between her legs. Ears laying flat, she whispered, "I didn't know what to do. I saw what was happening and jumped to fix it however I could. I love you so much it hurts…"

Kneeling with her, he wrapped his arm over her shoulder. "You could have had me. I would have been ecstatic if we got together. I can't help but love you, Amber."

"I'm such an idiot." Sucking in a shaky breath, she turned to him. "I want you so much, James. It hurts so much, knowing what I did to you and how you distanced yourself. But I refuse to lie to you. I would do it again if it meant driving you from being cold and a killer."

"Dammit, Amber." Holding his head, he sniffled and only then realized he was sharing her tears. "It hurts, knowing you manipulated me. Yet, I still want you, even more fiercely than before. Why can't I escape you?"

"Because I would follow you no matter where you go. You're more than just my person, James. You're my reason for living."

Blowing out a slow breath, he stood and pulled her to her feet. "Grace is nearly here. Can we finish this talk later?"

Taking his arm, she wiped her tears on his shoulder.

"Eww!" Pushing her away, he stared in horror at his now wet shoulder.

Giggling, Amber stuck her tongue out at him. "Just sharing my love with you."

Wiping his shoulder off, he grimaced. "Disgusting."

Amber laughed harder and they both enjoyed the moment until Grace came into view. The skunk was still running and wasn't slowing as she approached. James felt his brows furrow as she grew closer and closer without stopping. Opening his arms, he thought maybe she was going to fly into a hug, but she passed him in a blink of an eye and tackled Amber to the ground, punching her in the side of the head.

"What the fuck did you do to him!" Grace screamed. Grabbing Amber's hair, she slammed the nekorian's head into the ground.

"Get her off!" Amber begged.

"Oh, fuck!" Luna gasped as she jogged over.

Grace looked up, glowering at the Fenrir and stood. Kicking Amber in the side, she tossed the nekorian away before advancing on Luna. Bringing her arm back, she slapped Luna hard enough to bring the others out of the house. Luna hit the ground, holding her cheek.

James shook off his shock and grabbed Grace. Picking her up, he stopped the kick aimed at Luna's head.

"Let me go!" Grace growled and thrashed in his arms.

"Calm down," he growled back. "It wasn't bad enough for you to kill them."

Panting, Grace's chest vibrated with anger as he set her down and she didn't leave his side. "What happened?"

James quickly explained how he was healing and how they didn't want him to turn into a killer so they pushed him away from the fights and flirted with him, changing his desires.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Amber limped over just as the story was finishing and Grace whirled on her. "I expected better from you." Panning her gaze over everyone, she added, "all of you."

"Did Zenaria get this treatment?" Luna grumbled.

Snarling, Grace tried to kick the Fenrir again, only for James to stop her. "Calm down. We can talk this out."

"I am talking! With my fist!"

"That's a language I should learn," Jamie joked.

Snapping her eyes to the human, Grace started to smile. "How are you, love? Did you reach level seven?"

Jamie skipped forward. "I did! We are just waiting on you. We might have to go to the rent to help James get stronger though. He can't reach the nest right now."

Frowning, Grace turned to him. "Can I poison Luna and Amber enough that you can harvest part of their souls?"

"Grace!" he admonished. "That would only add a small dent."

Slapping his arm, Jamie waved a finger in his face. "Don't joke like that, brother!"

Turning back to Luna, Grace tried to step forward. "Let me go, James. I'm warning you."

"Not until you calm down." Pulling her against his chest, he pinned her tail between his legs.

Relaxing slightly, she growled at the two women. "Go make me something to eat."

"Huh?" Luna's brows furrowed in confusion as she tried to process the order.

"Now! Move!"

Jumping up, Amber grabbed Luna and hurried her away. Releasing the tension in her shoulders, Grace practically melted against him.

"Feel better?" he asked.

"Much. I've been thinking about it all night." Sighing, Graced rubbed her eyes as he let her go. "It sounds worse than you are playing it off as. I can't believe they would do something like that. If I was here…" She trailed off as she started growling again.

Jamie thankfully took over. Linking arms with the skunk, she led her away. "Let's get you cleaned up. You have so much road dust on you that your white fur is nearly black."

Glancing at her tail, Grace blanched. "Let's go, James!"

Mender and Linda walked over to him before he could follow. "That was really something," Mender stated.

Linda chuckled. "If I knew that was going to happen, I would have woken up earlier. She's so fucking angry."

"James!" Grace screamed.

"I better go." Urging himself to follow, he didn't know how to react to what just happened. But he had to admit, knowing Grace cared for him that much warmed his heart.

***

Priest started to worry as he ran low on energy. He had whittled down the defensive skills of The Pact members, making them using their healing skills to recover. Their pace was slowed significantly, but they would still reach James within a few hours. There was nothing more he could do.

"Giving up!" the woman yelled to him.

"No!" he yelled back. "Just giving you a moment to use up more of those wonderful skills. How does it feel to waste so many?"

"Shut your mouth, Priest! I'll kill you after I'm done with the Valiant!"

"Big talk for a little tiger," he taunted. Slipping from the shadows of a corrupted tree, he watched the group a few hundred feet away. They were both using energy to project their voices.

"Your words don't work on me, Priest!"

They already are. Chuckling to himself, he watched the group advance toward the nest. He didn't have the energy to give chase at the pace they were keeping. His energy reserve was gone and he would need to bond with James in order to restore it.

"Done talking?" she asked.

"I thought maybe I would watch you walk into the sunrise. Since it'll be your last, I wanted to wish you well."

A growl of rage filled the air as she scanned the area. "You're starting to piss me off!"

"Finally!" Laughing, he enraged her further.

"Go fall in a hole and die!"

"You'd miss me!" They were growing even more distant, and he cut the energy to his voice. He had done what he could. The rest was up to James.

***

James sipped a glass of water while Grace tore into a steak the size of her head. The skunk devoured bite after bite while glaring at Luna and Amber. The two women were keeping their distance from both her and James.

"This is going to be a long day," he muttered.

Grace stopped long enough to growl. "They don't deserve you."

Sighing, Luna nodded. "You're right. After what we did…"

Finally smiling, Grace lowered her fork. "About time you admit it." Shoving another bite into her mouth, everyone watched as she finished off the food that she truly didn't need. She just wanted to make Luna cook for her.

"We need to head to the nest," James announced. "You have a lot of catching up to do, Grace."

Setting her plate down, the skunk stood and stretched. "I'm ready. Are you sure I can't poison Luna?"

"I'm sure." Chuckling, he started walking away. "Let's go."

Grace skipped up to his side and matched his pace. When Luna tried to take his other side, the skunk snarled at her and filled her hand with poison that James quickly squashed.

"You aren't poisoning her," he repeated. "Behave or I'm swapping you out with Zenaria."

Grumbling, Grace lowered her hands. "I'm just a tad angry."

"A tad?" Luna scoffed. "James was a tad angry when he confronted us. You are apocalyptic."

"Come here so I can shove my boot up you—"

"Enough!" James snapped. Pushing his soul against both of them, he forced them back. "Amber, come stand next to me."

Hurrying over with wide eyes, Amber fell into his pace. "Yes, Master?"

Narrowing his eyes at her, he shook his head.

The rest of the walk to the city was quiet as no one wanted to continue arguing or snipping at each other. Jamie was the only one giggling, unable to hold back her amusement.

Stepping onto the barren streets, James brought the group to a stop. "Spread out. Kill the monsters. Grow stronger. You know the drill."

Luna hurried away, putting plenty of distance between her and Grace. The skunk scoffed and jogged the opposite way. Jamie continued to laugh while wandering off with Linda. Mender shared a worried look with James before walking toward the nest. The moment Amber tried to leave, James grabbed her arm.

"Where do you think you are going?" Pulling her back to his side, he watched her eyes widen.

"To kill something?" she squeaked.

Leading her over to an apartment, he pushed her inside and up to the roof. Once they were overlooking the city, he sat on the ledge and daggled his feet over. "We never finished our conversation."

Amber joined him and wrapped her tail around his back. "I thought you wouldn't want me around anymore."

Sighing, he shook his head. "I deserve that. I'm still angry, but I can't stop the feeling I get when you are near."

"I can't either," she whispered.

"I've avoided you long enough. Why didn't you claim me when you had the chance?" He had asked the question before, but he wanted the real answer.

Closing her eyes, she slumped. "I knew something bad was going to happen to you and I didn't want you to think I was with you because mother asked me to be. My heart would have broken if you pushed me away, so I let Luna back in. I kept you at a distance and pushed Grace on you to keep you occupied."

Nodding, he linked his fingers with hers. "You gave up your right as my soulmate, didn't you?"

"I did."

"Why, Amber? You know we still desire one another. Why would you make that choice for us? I was waiting for you. I wanted you."

"You still do," she corrected. "I thought it was the best choice for you. Just like now. I keep screwing up though."

"You do," he agreed.

"Where do we go from here?"

Shrugging, he looked out over the city and the rising sun. "We work through it at our own pace. We don't force anything, and we grow stronger."

"I have to pass Luna." Getting up, she let his hand go. "I'll never leave your side, James. Even if you end up hating me."

"Not possible," he whispered.

With a soft smile, she jumped off the roof and started into the city. There were plenty of Forsaken to kill, and a competition in play.

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