He’d screwed up again. God, he couldn’t stop screwing up with her. She was angry at his reaction, obviously. He’d been shocked, though. A deaf shifter? How did that even happen? They had amazing abilities to heal. It couldn’t be from a childhood illness because shifters didn’t get sick. Had she been deaf her whole life?

She’d slammed the door. He didn’t know much about women, but a slamming door wasn’t a good sign.

“Greyson!” Ben yelled. “Are you listening to a word I’m saying?”

No. “Of course. Yes,” Greyson murmured, forcing his attention from the hallway where Genevieve had disappeared.

“Dude, you’re a total chode,” Jaxon said. Why was his face red like he was pissed? “Gen is literally the nicest person ever. She flipped you off. You done messed the fuck up.”

“H-has she always been deaf?”

“Yeah,” Eden said in a pissed-off tone. “Since birth.”

“What the fuck is she doing here?” Ben asked, looking from face to face like everyone had lost their mind but him. “Seriously? Gen? Genevieve the daughter of Layla and Kong? Of the Lowlanders? You brought a motherfucking gorilla into my mountains?”

In a half-assed explanation, Greyson muttered, “I didn’t bring her here. We just matched up on Bangaboarlander.”

Jaxon snorted and pursed his lips against an annoying grin. “Only losers go on bangaboarlander.”

“Correction,” Anson said from where he was leaning on the front wall. “Only desperate losers go on bangaboarlander.”

“I’m gonna kick all of y’all’s asses if you don’t shut up,” Eden gritted out. “Obviously, Gen was on bangaboarlander, and she’s neither desperate nor a loser. She’s awesome. You,” she said, jamming a finger at Greyson, “get a D minus for manners. I’m gonna go check on her.”

“No!” Greyson rushed out, bolting for the hallway before she could get there.

“What?” Eden asked. “Why?”

“Because I should be the one to check on her.” He wanted to go knock on the door so bad and apologize. Wait…would she hear a knock? “How am I supposed to talk to her?” he asked Eden.

“A gorilla!” Ben repeated, hands on his hips and a pissed-off glare trained on Greyson. He lifted his pointer finger. “Lions.” His middle finger was up next. “Falcons.” Ring finger. “Gorillas. Are you all going to get us in a war with every goddamned bloodthirsty shifter culture in America?”

“Yes,” Anson answered with a grin.

“Shut up,” Ben growled.

Jaxon raised his hand. “I’d like to point out that my mate is a panther shifter, so I shouldn’t be in trouble.”

“You’re a grizzly!” Ben yelled.

“Thank you?” Jaxon said, looking confused, the idiot.

“All I wanted was a panther crew. Simple. We could hide, we could avoid registration. Not a single one of you listened when I initiated you into this crew. Panther mates only, or no mates at all. Now we’ve got a fucking menagerie!”

Annalise spoke up. “But I like grizzlies, not panthers. Jaxon’s hot.”

Jaxon winked at his mate. “Thank you, baby.”

“Nope.” Ben walked out. There was no more explanation, no more yelling. He just left, and his mate Jenny followed with an oh-shit look on her face. “Greyson, get her out of here by morning!” he yelled over his shoulder as he disappeared around the front of the house.

“How rude,” Anson said, pulling his mate Kaylee close against his side. He kissed the top of her head with a loud smack. “Ben left the door wide open.”

Kaylee yawned and snuggled closer to Anson. “Ben’s going to kill us all eventually if we keep disobeying him. I think he’s getting tired of being the C-Team.”

“Why is everyone still here?” Greyson asked.

“Because we’re bonding, asshole,” Barret scoffed. “Geez, Greyson, when was the last time anyone even wanted to hang out in your cabin with you? You’re welcome.”

Greyson stifled the snarl in his chest. All he wanted to do was check on Gen. “Seriously, get out.”

“Sometimes, I hate you,” Barret said. “Come on, Eden, lets blow this popsicle stand. Hey Greyson, you asked how you talk to her? Why don’t you use sign language? She already taught you your first words, Romeo.” Barret stuck up a middle finger. “Fuck.” He stuck up his other middle finger. “You.” He turned with a flourish. “Murder Kitty, out.”

Eden snickered as she followed her mate, like Barret was actually funny and not the most annoying creature on the face of the entire planet. Love was weird.

“If you hurt her, I’ll kill youuuu,” Jaxon sang as he was the last to leave. He slammed the door so hard Greyson’s house rattled, and he barely resisted the urge to throw the entire kitchen table at the door. He was so freaking angry all the time lately, and it was their fault. Everything had been fine when it was mostly a bachelor crew. Then they’d started pairing up, and now they wouldn’t stop petting each other, kissing and fondling and giggling, and fuck! Now Greyson, for the first time in his life, wanted all that. Their fault. It was their fault Genevieve, or Gen as everyone seemed to call her, was even here. He’d done bangaboarlander out of sheer desperation to get his panther to stop shredding him from the inside out since they’d made him want a bond and a relationship a man like him had no business wanting.

Stupid Red Havoc. He’d picked the wrong damn crew, but what other choice was there? He was a black-marked panther with his only blood relation in shifter prison, and no one but Ben would’ve taken him.

He muttered a soft curse and made his way to the bedroom door. He knocked loudly, but she didn’t answer, so he pulled the key off the top ledge of the doorframe and unlocked it. Please let her be decent.

When he pushed open the door, his heart sank to the soles of his work boots. Gen was curled up on his bed on top of the covers, her shoulders shaking as she made sad, little sniffling sounds. Fuck. Every tear she was shedding onto his pillow was his fault.

In an attempt not to startle her again, he walked slowly around the other side of the bed where she was facing the wall. She did jerk, and her eyes went wide, but she settled fast and covered her face with her hands. He didn’t like her hiding from him. The sheet with his information was lying on the bed in front of her as though she’d been reading it again. With a sigh, he pulled a pen from the small writing desk in the corner of his room and sat on the edge of the bed, right next to her. Usually he wanted lots of personal space, but it was different with her. They were both in this together, kind of. They’d both been duped by Willa, and both had barely survived a crappy day trying to navigate these tricky waters of a forced relationship.

He started writing in tiny print on the back of the paper, and by the time he was almost finished, she was peeking out through her fingertips in curiosity.

I fucked up. It’s okay that you’re deaf. I’m not perfect either. Far from it, obviously. I don’t know how to talk around females. Never had one to take care of before. I fuck it up before I ever get off the ground with a girl, so eventually I quit trying. I got on Bangaboarlander because an arranged match seemed way more possible than a love match for someone like me. Now you go. Why did you want an arranged match? P.S. I’m really sorry how I reacted.

Gen sniffed, so he stood and got her a box of tissues from the bathroom. He didn’t know what this said about him, but Gen was really fucking cute when she cried. Cheeks all pink, full bottom lip poked out so far he wanted to bite it, eyes so blue they looked like crystals. Even her mussed hair was sexy. What he didn’t like was the smell of her sadness. It made his panther want to defend her.

Gen read it twice. He knew because he watched her pretty eyes move back and forth over the paper then back to the top. A soft smile curved her lips. I’ve never had a man apologize before, she wrote in pretty cursive letters with hearts dotting her Is. You surprise me. And then irritate me. And then surprise me again.

It won’t get any better, he wrote under her response. There is a hundred percent chance I’ll be horrible at being a mate.

Me too.

He chuckled and pointed to his question again. Why did you want an arranged match?

The smile dipped from her lips immediately, and he had to fight the urge to scoop her up and hug her. What was wrong with him? He wasn’t a hugger. He was a fighter. Fight everything, embrace nothing. Her vulnerability was tugging at all his instincts now.

He watched her scribble the pretty loops of her words. Watched the graceful arch of her hand. She was a leftie. Cute. Different. Gen was definitely different. Interesting. Beautiful. Broken. That part was easy to see. She cried too much to be whole.

She handed him the paper, but hesitated on letting it go, as if she didn’t know if she really wanted him to read it. And now she wouldn’t meet his gaze. Instead, she laid her head on the pillow and fiddled with a loose thread on the bedspread.

Nonchalantly, and just because he felt like it, Greyson scooted closer to her before he read.

I was in a family group. The females weren’t nice, and neither was the silverback I pledged to. I was at the bottom, and I didn’t want to be there anymore, but I didn’t really have a plan for a crew either. I went on Bangaboarlander because I’ve seen it match some great couples before. I was hoping for it to work on me so I didn’t have to feel like I was at the bottom of anything anymore. I don’t want to be less-than.

Greyson read the last line three times. He knew all about feeling less-than.

“Can you read my lips?” he asked.

She nodded, eyes on his mouth.

Greyson held up the information on him. “Some of this is wrong, but some is right. My dad is in shifter prison.” He made a ticking sound behind his teeth and shook his head. “I don’t talk about this. You seem easier to talk to because…” Well, she couldn’t repeat anything or talk shit about his family.

Because I’m deaf and quiet, she mouthed.

He expected anger in her eyes, but her vivid blue gaze was steady, open, curious.

Honesty was best. “Yeah.”

What did he do? she asked, forming each word slowly. Her lips were pretty. Soft, full, colored with some petal-pink lip gloss that matched the blush in her cheeks.

Greyson swallowed hard. “He killed someone. It was a challenge for Alpha that had been brewing for a long time. Only it happened in public. It was an uncontrolled Change for both my dad and the man he ended up killing. It was bad. Bloody. It wasn’t an easy death, and there were human witnesses. Human law enforcement got involved. He’s got two more years. I visit him every couple of weeks. He’s been in there since I was seventeen.” Greyson clenched and unclenched his jaw. “The sins of my father followed me. The crew I grew up in banished me immediately, and no crew would take in the son of the man who had killed another shifter in front of a human crowd. I wasn’t good enough for a long time. I thought you should know the bad, so you can run if you want to.” Greyson shrugged a shoulder up and dropped it again. “I thought you should know I am also less-than. I understand.”

Genevieve sat up and wiped her damp cheeks. With a sniff, she straightened her spine and sat cross-legged, stuck out her hand for a shake. I’m Gen.

Greyson stared at her hand for a moment and huffed a soft chuckle. He didn’t deserve it, but she was offering him a start-over. He slipped his palm against hers and gripped it. Her skin was warm, and her hand wasn’t shaking anymore. She wasn’t scared of him now. Good.

He shook her hand gently. “I’m Grey.”

Her lips curved into a stunning smile, and her eyes brightened. They sat there on the bed, two strangers locked in a handshake, embarking on the beginnings of something big, or something painful—it was impossible to tell which yet.

Either way, they were in this together.