Grace of a Wolf by Lenaleia

Chapter 175: Caine: Her Reaction

CAINE

My first instinct is anger, but between Fenris’s nagging and the look on Grace's face the moment | walk through

the door, it disappears.

She's so pale I'm certain she'll faint at any moment, and her entire body’s trembling as a disturbingly familiar,

sour scent rolls off her.

Fuck the cat. And the dog.

This is a bigger problem.

Grabbing her wrist, | drag her to Lyre’s bedroom, trying to block the pounding in my head.

You shouldn't just snatch her like that. It makes it worse.

1 know.

| fucking know.

But if | open my mouth right now, who knows what'll cout.

Your restraint would be commendable if you weren't scaring her even more. Still, | suppose it's progress.

My wolf is on my last damn nerve.

| pull Grace to the bed, setting her on the edge of it before releasing her wrist. She jerks it to her chest

immediately, rubbing it with her other hand as if | hurt her.

This doesn’t seem like a conversation we should have near the children, but my attempt to buy us privacy seems

to have made the entire situation worse.

Her eyes fix on the floor, shoulders bunched so tight they nearly touch her ears. The scent of terror is thick in the

air, and it makes my stomach twist.

Grace is afraid of me.

It isn’t the first time. Her fear was present through most of our beginning encounters, but it hurts to scent it now.

We've cso far from the girl who flinched every t| so much as looked her way.

You've made it worse, Fenris notes, like | don’t have fucking eyeballs.

Every instinct demands | touch her, pull her againstuntil her trembling stops. But this ridiculous issue with

transference...

My molars grind together as | fight to keep my temper at bay. No point in fuming over something she can’t

control; it will only make her worry. Grace seems to take the blfor things onto her shoulders, even if it isn’t

her responsibility to bear.

Even when she’s trying to put boundaries between us, she backtracks when | get angry, or softens her words.

Things she doesn’t need to do in front of me.

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For speople, this is an ingrained reaction of the weak before the strong. But this isn’t what's happening with

Grace.

You act like you're the one who's noticed all this about her. Givescredit, will you?

| kneel in front of her, making sure to keep space between us. Her hands twist in her lap, shaking with the force

of her grip. Her blueberry muffin scent is thicker in here, and keepscalm even as her fear agitates something

deep inside.

| wish Brax could cback to life so we can kill him again. This time, I'd do it myself. But slower, torturing him

until he’s begging for relief.

"Why are you like this?" | demand, sounding more aggressive than | mean to be.

Great job, idiot.

Grace's lips barely move. "I don’t know. I'm sorry."

| frown. This isn’t the woman who stood toe-to-toe withat the camper site, arguing about car seats. She has

fire in her veins and a spark in her soul; this is like a pathetic shell of herself.

She looks broken.

Keeping my breathing calm takes more effort than it should, and | keep a tight hold on my alpha aura. Even a

flicker of it at this state will make her withdraw further, and | can’t have that.

"This isn’t like you," | say, keeping my voice soft and even. "Why are you afraid?"

She shakes her head.

"Do you think I'll hit you?"

She shakes her head again, quicker and sharper this time, but still doesn’t look at my face.

She seemed to think you would be very angry about the cat, Fenris points out, finally being helpful instead of

just annoyingly observant. Like she expected an argument.

But it isn’t as if we haven't argued before. She stood toe to toe withonly hours earlier.

If it isn’t the argument... is it my anger? But she’s faced that, too.

Which means...

Punishment, Fenris murmurs. She's afraid of punishment.

| exhale slowly. "I don’t care about the stupid cat, Grace. Fenris already toldeverything."

That makes her look up, finally. Her grass-green eyes go wide, reddened with the hint of tears brimming.

The sight makes my chest tighten.

"Aren't you angry?"

| sigh, rubbing my hands over my face. What the hell kind of monster does she think | am?

Considering your past—

Lay. Off.

Normally, with the adrenaline rush | felt the moment | saw her terrified face, I'd be pacing. Burning off the

energy flooding through my veins.

But moving would only spook her more. It’s like handling a wolf gone feral.

"No, Grace. I'm not angry."

Her brows pull together like she doesn’t believe me, and she studies my face. Fenris huffs in the back of my

mind.

"You're capable of making decisions

in the moment," | say, Rael

voice even. "Ange fot thrilled

ybu Stepped outside where any

bastard could see you, it's not like |

don't understand why you did it." The

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She looks so damn small sitting there. Vulnerable.

"I'm not your jailer, Grace. The demands | make are for safety reasons, not to control your every move."

She nods, quick and jerky, but her eyes remain unfocused. | might as well be talking to a wall. She’s not really

here with me—she’s somewhere else entirely. Somewhere | can’t reach her.

"Was Brax often angry with you?"

Her eyes slide away from my face, focusing somewhere off to the side.

Finally, she shakes her head. "Not often. He took very good care of me."

A growl rumbles up from my chest before | can stop it. "Don’t lie to me, Grace."

She flinches, drawing further into herself. Her scent spikes with fear again—sharp and sour.

Control yourself, you imbecile, Fenris snaps, his disgust evident. You're making it worse.

I know, damn it.

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| clear my throat and start over. "What | saw of your treatment was terrible."

Grace meets my eyes for just a second before looking down at the floor again. "That was after. He treated me

like his own before."

"That doesn’t explain why you're reacting like this now. I've been annoyed before, and you've never shut down

like this." | gesture to her hunched form. "This isn’t normal."

She gives a one-shouldered shrug. "I'm not lying. He did treatwell. But sometimes... only when | was really in

trouble, he would get mad."

She's being evasive, and I’m not sure how far | can push.

Grace settles her hands in her lap but

picks at her fingernails. The urge to

place my hand OVeRNeTy adStbp'the

nervaudtidgefing is almost

overwhelming, but | resist. At least

it's better than rubbing her wrist like |

assaulted her. The content is on

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If you want to get technical—

Enough.

—never mind, then.

"| think there's more you aren't telling

me," | say. "When you're ready tofalk

about it, I'm reg foXlicibn But I'm

nbt ahah) Sout the cat, and I'm not

going to lecture you. So can you

please relax?" The content is on

novelenglish.net! Read the latest

chapter there!