The music was pumping out of the radio as Grace, along with Faith, methodically worked their way through her mother’s house. It was going a lot faster with help, and Grace was grateful that Faith had volunteered to lend a hand. It would only take a couple more days for the house to be ready to put on the market if they kept up this amount of effort.

They were currently starting on what had been Grace’s room when she was a teenager. Grace had hardly been in here when she’d come back, preferring to sleep in the spare room that her mother had set up for guests. Her old bedroom had been untouched, and looked exactly as it had when she’d left if fifteen years ago. Perhaps her mother had kept it that way in the hopes that Grace would come home, but she should have known that was never going to happen.

“God, this room is like a museum.” Faith said as she looked around the bedroom. “Were you a frequent visitor here over the years?”

“The first time I was back in this house was a couple months ago when I came back to mate with Logan.” It felt weird to talk so casually about hooking up with Faith’s mate, but she didn’t seemed bothered by it. “It wasn’t until I came back that I realized that my mother kept it this way.”

Faith must have seen by the look on her face that she didn’t want to talk about it. Her mother had very clearly chosen her stepfather over her, and Grace had been unable to move toward reconciling with her mother in the years that she’d been gone. When her mother and stepfather had died in a car accident five years ago, she’d felt relieved that he was gone. There was some sadness there too, for the loss of her mother but unfortunately it had been too late to mend the rift in their relationship.

“Is there anything you want to keep out of here?”

Grace looked around and knew that she wouldn’t be keeping anything from this room. The girl that had lived in this room no longer existed, and as Grace stood in the middle of it, it was like it belonged to someone else. To a stranger.

“Anything that is in good shape I’ll donate, and anything that is trash can be trashed.” Grace grabbed one of the larger boxes and went over to the closet. She opened the door and saw that all the clothing she’d had still hung on the hangers as if she’d just left the room fifteen minutes ago instead of fifteen years ago.

Faith headed over to the other side of the room, where there was an enormous bookshelf. Grace had been a voracious reader as a teen, and the shelf was full of love stories. She had no interest in such books now, since she knew that it was fiction and not at all like real life. “Make sure that you save any boxes that you fill for me to carry into the other room. I’ve been given strict orders by Logan not to let you lift anything.”

“Yeah, I know. I was given the same lecture when I told him I was coming to help you.” A rueful smile came over Faith’s face as she rubbed her hand over her flat stomach. It wouldn’t stay flat, and the reason that Logan didn’t want her lifting was because of the baby that was growing inside her.

Grace turned back toward the closet and started sorting through the clothes, putting anything that was way too dated into a rag bag and anything that wasn’t went into a box for donation.

She was almost finished with the contents of the closet, and she turned to see how Faith was doing. She’d filled a couple boxes and was almost finished with the book shelf, when something fluttered out of one of the books and she bent to pick it up.

“Grace, come look at this.” Faith turned to her, with a photograph in her hand and Grace came over to look at it.

As soon as she took it from her, memories came flooding back of the day it was taken. It was a picture of her and Mason, taken at the lake about a week before everything went wrong. She sank down on the edge of the bed as she stared at the couple in the photo. They were so young looking, and looked happy and in love as they stood there smiling for the camera with an arm around each other’s waist.

“I didn’t know you and Mason were in item once.” Faith came over to her and the edge of the bed sank down when she sat. “May I?”

Grace handed her the picture. “Mason and I were together a long time ago. It feels like ancient history now.”

Faith looked at the photo for a few more moments before handing it back to Grace. “What happened?”

Grace looked down at the picture and traced her finger over Mason’s face. Looking at him in the picture she saw something that she’d hadn’t seen on his face for a long time. He was so happy in this photo and she hadn’t seen that look on his face since she’d been back. Perhaps he’d looked like this since then, but she didn’t know about it since he certainly didn’t wear this look when he was with her.

“Depends on who you ask. If you ask Mason, it ended because I ran off and left town to be with another man.” Grace set the picture aside. She couldn't look at it anymore, because it only held up for her just how far apart she and Mason were now, and she didn’t think that distance would ever be breached.

“And is that what happened?” Faith’s voice was quiet, and the urge to tell her everything was so strong that Grace had to clamp her teeth together to keep her secret inside. She’d never told anyone the truth of what had happened, and she wasn’t going to now.

“What happened was far worse, and I don’t want to talk about it.” Grace forced a smile on her face to soften the bluntness of her words, and to give Faith credit she didn’t push.

“Well, things must be good between you now. Now that you’re bound together.”

“I wish that was true, but Mason and I have a long way to go before things will ever be good between us. I sometimes wonder if they ever will be. He doesn’t trust me. I feel this distance between us and I don’t know how we are going to get over it. We are bound together out of duty and necessity. We are supposed to make a baby together, and we are not any closer to getting physical with each other than we were when I got back to town.”

Grace was starting to suspect that perhaps that was part of the problem. She and Mason shared a bed every night, and had ever since she’d woken from her nightmare. But during the day they hardly talked, they went about their business as if their lives hadn’t changed at all. They needed to start letting the other in, but how could that happened when there was this secret inside her that she was terrified of letting out?

“I think I know a little bit about how you’re feeling. I don’t know how much you know about my history with Logan, but since we have a twelve year old son together, I think you can piece together that we weren’t exactly in a happy place when I came to find him. Things are wonderful now, and we’re so much in love with each other, but it wasn’t always that way.” Faith reached out and patted Grace on the hand. “The only way that Logan and I managed to find our way back to each other was by not holding ourselves back from each other. If you want to get past the distance that you have between you, you have to take the necessary steps to meeting him half way.”

“What are you suggesting?” She didn’t even know what she was supposed to do, all she knew was that she didn’t want to live in his house like they were two strangers.

“Start small. Make yourself a little vulnerable to him, and show him that you want him. When I moved in with Logan I thought that I could hold myself away from him but we only became a family when I lowered my defenses and let him in. I’m not telling you to spill all your thoughts and feelings to him all at once. But be affectionate with him and let him be affectionate with you. The reason you aren’t sleeping together is not because you find him unattractive, is it?”

Grace gave a little laugh. “No that’s definitely not why. I am very attracted to him.”

“Well start with that and build on it. There is no way for the two of you to move forward, away from the past and toward your future if you don’t get close to him.” Faith gave her hand a squeeze and she smiled for a moment. When the smile faded, a serious look came on her face. “You might have to prepare yourself for telling him the truth about what happened. If there’s anything I learned by being with Logan is that secrets have a way of coming out. When he and I were first together, he kept you a secret from me. When I found out the truth, I was devastated and a big part of that was because I didn’t find out the truth from him. If you are keeping a secret from Mason, it will come out and it would be better for both of you if it came from you.”

Grace made a noncommittal noise, that showed she neither agreed or disagreed with what Faith was saying. It was easy to say that keeping a secret was worse than letting it out, but Faith had no idea of what Grace was holding inside her.

She was right about one thing, as long as she held herself physically away from Mason, they would never move toward the harmonious relationship that she wanted with him. She didn’t know if love was possible between them anymore, but surely things could be better than they currently were. Having sex with him was going to be a big step for her, but she knew that it was one she needed to make if they were ever going to get over the past between them.

“I thought you ladies were supposed to be working?”

Grace let out a startled noise as she looked toward the bedroom door and saw Logan leaning against the door jam with Mason standing behind him. Mason was looking at her with an intensity she hadn’t seen in his eyes before, and it made her heart pick up its pace. Maybe it was seeing him after looking at the photo of him fifteen years ago, but her attraction to him took hold of her and wouldn’t let go. One thing was certain, she wanted him and after their run tonight, she was going to have him.

* * *

Relief went through Mason when he saw Grace sitting next to Faith on the bed. All the way over here, his mind had run through every scenario that they might find them in, and the look on Logan’s face told him that he feared the same thing.

“What are you two doing here?” Faith jumped up off the bed and made a bee-line for her man. Logan pulled her close to him and some of his tension eased out of his shoulders. Mason wished for a moment that Grace would come to him like that, but they didn’t have that kind of relationship.

As he walked past Logan and Faith in the doorway, he was starting to think that maybe they should. They couldn’t go on the way they were, because if Titus Parr was back in the area and had his sights set on Grace, then Mason needed to protect her. He couldn’t do that if they weren’t talking to each other.

“We thought it was time that you two packed it in for one day.” Mason reached down to pull Grace to her feet. She stood beside him and he was surprised when she didn’t immediately let go of his hand. They turned together and went toward the door.

“The moon is going to be up soon, and I wanted to spend some time with you and Connor before the run.” Logan pressed a kiss to the top of Faith’s head as he pulled her close. They’d decided on the way over in the truck that they weren’t going to tell the women the real reason for them showing up. Logan hadn’t wanted to frighten Faith if there was no reason to. “From the looks of the house, it seems like you’ve put in plenty of work for one day. The next time you come out I’ll send Rafe with you and he can help you haul away some of these boxes.”

Mason looked down at Grace, but her face seemed clear of suspicion. He and Logan had also decided that if their mates were going to work on clearing out Grace’s mother’s house, they were no longer going to do it alone. Rafe had been the best candidate because he could be here and guard them, and they wouldn’t think he was hovering like they would if it was either Logan or Mason. And Mason knew that Rafe would do whatever was necessary to keep Grace and Faith safe.

They walked through the house toward the front door, and Logan and Faith went to their truck while Mason stood beside Grace as she locked the door. Mason resisted the urge to pull her close to him. Believing that she might be in danger had shown him with a clarity that nothing else could that there was still feelings inside him for her. Perhaps it was the fact that she was his mate now that made the notion of protecting her so paramount, but he wasn’t sure that was all there was to it.

He’d been deeply in love with her at one time, and while he didn’t think that was what he felt for her anymore, he did care about her. But he managed to keep his hands to himself as they walked toward the car. He didn’t want to raise her suspicions about why he and Logan had come racing out here. Titus Parr already had the power to give her nightmares, he didn’t want to add fuel to that fire if his presence in the area was only conjecture at this point.

“It looks like you and Faith accomplished a lot today. You’ll be putting the house up for sale soon enough. Are you sure that’s what you want? It was your home at one time.” Mason took the keys from her and opened the passenger side door for her. She got in and smiled up at him before she closed the door. Her smile had been elusive until now, and his pulse beat heavily when he saw it.

He went around the car and got behind the wheel, adjusting the seat to accommodate his much longer legs.

“I’m sure I still want to sell. It hasn’t been my home for fifteen years, and going through everything in there has made me realize that I need to put it behind me. That house is my past and I want to go forward into my future.”

How much of her past was she going to let go of? What they’d had before was a part of her past too, did that mean that once their year was up that she was going to let him go too?

He put the thought out of his mind. A year was a long time and there was no point in worrying about it when he needed to focus on what was going to happen now.

The car ride passed in silence, but it didn’t have the same uncomfortableness that the silences between them usually had. Were they finally moving toward a point where they could be together without feeling like they needed to fill the spaces with forced conversation or worse, an argument?

The sun was starting to set when Mason pulled the car into his driveway. Very soon the need to change would overwhelm everything. They had planned to run with the pack, and if that was still going to be what happened, they would have to get to the meeting spot soon. But for the first time in a long time, he didn’t want to spend the full moon running with the wolves he’d known his entire life.

They got out of the car and went into the house.

“Are we still running with the pack tonight?” He hung the keys on the tiny hook by the door and toed off his boots. He did his best to keep his voice casual as he turned toward her.

She bit her lip for a second, as if she was involved in some sort of internal debate. She took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders and walked up to him. He didn’t think his question was that complicated, and a puzzled frown drew his brows together for a second.

“I don’t want to run with the pack tonight. I want to run with just you.” She stepped a little closer to him and he was having a hard time thinking as she looked up at him with her large blue eyes. He was fine with them running together by themselves, since it was what he wanted too, but he was curious about why she did.

“Is there any particular reason you want us to run alone?”

Her mouth pulled up in a smile, and she stepped closer to him, stroking her hands over his shirt. God she was so close that it took all his will power not to pull her to him, but he wanted to see where she was going with this and kept his hands to himself.

She was so close now that he could feel her breasts pressed against him, and he put his hands on her waist. As if she was waiting for some signal, some sign from him, she moved her hand up his chest to curl it around the back of his head. She raised up on her tip toes and gave his head a tug.

He needed no encouragement to lower his head toward hers, and for the first time since the binding ceremony they kissed each other. Only this kiss was happening because they wanted each other, not because it was required to seal the promises they’d made. They stood in the middle of his living room, with the bodies pressed together and she sighed against his lips as she relaxed against him.

He put his arms around her tightly and lifted her up off the ground so he could kiss her deeply without getting a kink in his neck. Her scent was in his head, weaving a spell over him that made him want her more than he’d ever wanted her before. The last time they’d been together seemed like such a long time ago. How different would it be this time around, now that they’d had time to mature?

If the kiss they were currently sharing was any indication, when they finally made love to each other it was going to be hotter than anything he’d ever experienced. The urge to take her was so strong that he didn’t know how he was going to wait until after the run, but he knew he needed to. He wanted to take his time with her, to explore every inch of her body, and with the moon getting plumper by the second he knew he didn’t have that kind of time.

They couldn’t stand there kissing forever, so he lowered her to the floor and pulled his mouth away from hers. There was a fire inside him, and he wanted to quench it with her. Unfortunately they couldn’t indulge themselves physically now, since the moon was beginning to ascend to the sky. Soon enough the pull of the moon’s siren call would make the need to change so strong that it would blot out even his overwhelming desire to make her his.

“Does that kiss mean what I think it does?” His voice was a rough growl and already he could feel the pull of the moon tugging him toward his more animal nature. But this was important, and he wanted to be clear that they were on the same page.

She looked up at him and he could see there was desire for him darkening her eyes. Her tongue darted out to swipe across her lower lip, and a growl rumbled in his chest.

“It means that once our run is over, I have plans for you. Plans that definitely don’t include the other members of our pack.”

That was what he wanted to hear, and he couldn’t resist her. He pulled her to him to taste her again, and by the time he set her away they were both breathing heavily. He couldn’t do any more, since the moon was calling to him now. For a moment he wished that tonight wasn’t the full moon, since he wanted nothing more than to scoop her up in his arms and take her into his bed. He settled for taking her hand and walking with her to the back of the house.