FIFTEEN

Someone once said a lot of people struggle with sleep because sleep requires peace.

After my encounter with Lucine, peace was the last thing I felt as I left my room that night. Once I disposed of the flower petals, I decided there was no way I'd be able to sleep on my own, even less with Seren who I learned is a kicker. If there was one place I'd be able to find that peace, it would be at Rheon's side.

My feet padded against the wooden floors as I travelled from one wing of the castle to the other. There was a constant nagging in my head that urged me to peer over my shoulder every few seconds – just in case any shadowy figures were following me again. Lucine made her message perfectly clear, she wants me dead, and I should tread lightly.

How unsettling it was; before the threat on my life, the castle at night made me feel like a princess, wandering the magical halls in search of adventure. Now, every moving curtain sent my heart racing, every painting seemed to be watching, and every object reminded me of the silhouette with its tendrils of smoke.

Ultimately, I picked up the pace, desperate to find Rheon and feel safe once again.

I climbed the stairs to the wing where his room was located and rounded the corner in haste...and bumped solidly into a figure that appeared out of nowhere.

My breath hitched as the first thing I thought was: Lucine found me. She was going to kill me right in this hall and leave me to bleed out for Rheon to find the next day.

However, all rational thoughts returned when a pair of soft hands came to rest on my arms, giving them a comforting squeeze. "Easy there, dear. Deep breaths, now. It's only me."

I blinked against the dark until the person came into focus. No shadow tendrils, no red hair, no soulless black eyes, only soft wrinkles, and grey hair. My muscles relaxed when I realized it was only Grandma Selene.

With my hand above my heart, I breathed a sigh of relief. "Sorry, I should've been looking where I was going. I just thought..." My voice trailed off. Best that I didn't mention my encounter with the witch earlier, neither the flower petal message she left for me on the floor. "Never mind."

"You look troubled, dear," Grandma Selene said, her voice laced with concern. "Did something happen?"

"Nothing worth to linger on, Grandma, I'll be alright." I blinked when I realized what I called her, and she seemed just as surprised. Perhaps a bit satisfied too judging by that glint in her eyes. Feeling my cheeks heat up, I said, "I think I'll head to bed. No doubt, tomorrow will have a few surprises of its own."

However, as I turned to be on my way, a thought came to mind.

"Grandma, if you don't mind me asking," I began, "where were you that night when Rheon lost control? His roars shook the whole castle, there's no way you could miss it." Odd how she wasn't there but that silhouette was.

There was a moment of palpable silence before she smiled warmly. "You're careful about Lucine, I understand that. But to put your mind at ease, when it comes to my family shifting, I try staying out of their way. I still have the delicate senses, but the wolf inside me has died a long time ago." With a final pat on the shoulder, she said, "Good night, dear. Don't let the bedbugs bite – I'm referring to my grandson, to be clear."

Without explaining what she meant by saying the wolf inside her is dead, she left the hall, her footsteps fading down the wooden stairs.

I entered Rheon's room near midnight. He was only half-awake as I contemplated whether to tell him about the flower petals and the face in the window. I came close, though, but in the end, my courage failed me, and I crawled into bed with him instead.

As the sun started to rise to announce the new day, I turned my head to look at Rheon and how at peace he seemed while he slept. He was nearing his final days as a free man. It blew my mind how he could act so calm about it, how he could actually sleep with the constant reminder that his birthday is his deadline.

That's why I didn't say anything about last night. Lucine's coming for him one way or another, he should be at peace during the little time he has left.

Rheon sighed in his sleep and threw an arm over me. My heart leapt as he pulled me into him and nuzzle his head between my shoulder blades. Dammit, I could lie next to him forever - or at least until we need to go eat.

My body shook when, all of a sudden, the door burst open. Rheon and I both shot upright, him with his claws out and ready to take on any threat.

"Hell, calm down, will you?" Seren smirked, winking at me, "Look at you two, getting your cuddle on."

"Seren," Rheon sighed heavily and retracted his claws, "would it kill you to knock?"

She tapped her chin sagely. "Maybe if the door handle was silver...oh wait, no, that won't stop me either." My cheeks flushed when I remembered that first awkward dinner with the pack. "A few of us are heading out to do some grocery shopping. Apparently, we're all out of flour. Want to come with?"

"We're good." He eyed me pointedly as if saying 'It's your fault we're out of flour'.

"Great. Alex and Clemmy are staying, though. She has an online piano lesson in a few. I'm off, then." Seren waves at us as she strutted out of the room and down the hall. "Later, love birds. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"The door..." Rheon sighed and threw his head back, "She never closes the door behind her." Then his eyes were on me, and he was smiling. "Slept well?"

No, because every time I closed my eyes, I saw Lucine's reflection staring at me through the window. I knew it was physically impossible for her to be outside my window in the first place since it's on the second floor of the castle and there were no balconies, but then again, she is half-witch. Sending people eerie reflection messages was probably not the hardest spell to master.

I couldn't exactly lie to Rheon; he'd pick it up with those keen werewolf senses. So, I changed the topic. "I ran into your grandmother on my way to your room last night."

"Oh no," he muttered, "Did she appear out of nowhere like a ghost and almost scared the crap out of you?" When I only stared at him pointedly, he sighed deeply. "She does that. I think it brings her a special kind of joy to scare people. What did the two of you talk about? Knowing you women, you always have something to say."

He laughed softly when I delivered a light punch to his arm. "No one likes stereotyping, wolfie." A beat, and I added, "But yes, we did speak. She said something about the wolf inside her died a long time ago, and that is why she stays clear of you when you shift."

Rheon's peaceful expression faltered as a deep frown settled between his brows. Instantly, I regretted bringing that up, fearing that it was another sensitive topic they didn't like talking about.

Before I could overthink it too much, he cleared his throat. "Gran was a human when she met my grandfather Ramsay. She was quick to accept their bond, as well as the mark, hoping it would turn her into a werewolf like him. But sometimes, fate has a cruel sense of humor." He inhaled slowly before concluding, "Gran never transformed."

My eyes widened. "Never?"

"Not once. She got all the enhanced senses, the healing, as well as the speed and strength, but she could never transform into a wolf. And when my grandfather passed away, she lost half of those abilities too in the years she mourned him."

I recalled what he told me about werewolf mates that day in the forest, how not even death can do them part. Slowly, I connected the dots. "So, for a werewolf to lose their mate, means they lose their power."

"If they're lucky. Some are too corrupted with the pain of loss; they join their mates in death months after." He fiddled with the blankets and added morbidly, "The only reason Gran is still with us, is because she promised my grandfather she'd look after our legacy. It's because of us that she's still alive."

I couldn't imagine the constant agony she had to be in after losing her mate. To think, she's been carrying that weight for years, and yet, she managed to smile and radiate that caring warmth toward her family. I might not be a werewolf who could feel the bond as strongly as Rheon, but the thought of losing him alone was enough to spark something cold and depressing within me.

Feeling that this early morning conversation has taken a rather morbid turn, I decided it's time to change the topic once again. "Were you cuddling me before Seren barged in?"

Rheon's relaxed expression quickly turned guilty, scrunching his face as he spoke, "It's... normal wolf behavior. We can't always help it."

I thought back to Seren who kicks in her sleep and couldn't help but snort. "So, you're saying you'd basically cuddle with anyone within cuddling range."

"No, that would be weird." He shook his head rapidly. "I'm just saying wolves are social creatures, werewolves even more so. We seek our mate's contact even while we're asleep." Running his hands over his face to hide the tint to his cheeks, he inhaled slowly and asked, "Hungry?"

After heading to my room to get dressed, Rheon and I found each other in the kitchen. There was no sign of Edda and no leftover breakfast for us to help ourselves to. Opening the fridge, all I found was milk, eggs, butter, and a few other basic kitchen ingredients - no food.

Rheon emerged from the pantry after taking inventory of the shelves. He placed three ingredients on the island counter: salt, bananas, and oats.

"We're making..." he reached into his pocket for his phone and frowned at the screen, "...easy and healthy banana and oat pancakes?"

"Let me see." I grasped his hand in mine to get a look at the recipe. "What do you know, it doesn't need flour. I wonder what inspired you to choose this recipe."

"Yes, I wonder."

Breathing a laugh, we set out to gather the rest of the ingredients. After that came the complicated part, figuring out the recipe.

Rheon squinted at his phone's screen, not tearing his eyes from it as he used a measuring cup to scoop up some oats and adding it to a mixing bowl. He paused and scowled at the contents, shaking his head and scooped a bit out, muttering 'too much' under his breath.

I watched him closely while mashing the bananas with a fork. He looked like the epitome of a confused puppy. It was honestly the funniest thing in the world to watch him try measuring the ingredients and adding the eggs to the mix.

"Fuck..." he cursed under his breath when he dropped an eggshell in the bowl.

My eyes were the size of UFOs, my jaw nearly hitting the floor. "Did you just curse?"

He froze. "No?"

"Oh. My. Word... Alpha Rheon Balfour, a duke, just cursed. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

He flashed me a warning glance. "If you tell my mum about this -"

"You want me to tell your mother about this?" I cut him off with a mischievous grin, "She's not here, actually, but I guess I can start with Alex and Clemmy." I sucked in a breath to call their names at the top of my lungs, but before I could even make a sound, he made a grab for me.

"No, you don't!"

Shrieking, I managed to escape his arms and dashed around the island to put some distance between us. Quirking a brow, Rheon inched to his left, causing me to do the same, making sure to keep the counter between us. He moved to his right, and I copied him.

"You should know not to tease a wolf, Ashlyn," he warned, although it only made him thousand times more attractive. "We are hunters after all."

I was fighting an inner battle to suppress my giggles as we circled the counter, his eyes locked on me like the predator he is. Under different circumstances, being pursued by a werewolf would have scared me senseless. This, however, was a turn on. His gaze sent waves of hot flushes crashing into my body, making me feel lightheaded and my stomach fluttery.

And he used that to his advantage.

The next thing I knew, he shot to his left, making me do the same. However, he changed direction in a split second, causing me to run straight into his arms.

"You're mine now," his voice against my ear sent shivers down my back as I squirmed to break free. As my last resort, I grabbed the first thing I could reach and chucked it at him.

Rheon sucked in a breath as a cloud of white powder exploded in his face. Letting me go, he wiped his eyes and looked at me as despondently possible, "Again?"

"Technically, that's baking powder," I pointed out innocently, "First time for everything, right?"

He nodded sagely. "You're absolutely right."

My breath hitched when I felt a cold and slimy substance hit my head, spreading over my hair, and dripping to my shoulders. With a victorious grin, Rheon stepped back to reveal a crushed eggshell in his hand.

"Now you did it." In a flash, I threw another handful of baking powder at him.

Rheon managed to dodge it and answered by chucking a banana peel at me. We grabbed everything we could get our hands on to use as ammo.

Ingredients were flying in all directions as a full out food war ensued. He received an egg to the back and chest, and I was the victim of a handful of fruit in the face. But I hit the ultimate jackpot when I got my hands on the bottle of syrup and aimed a blast at him. Rheon sidestepped it but slipped over the banana peel he threw me with earlier and dropped to the floor like dead weight.

"Oh shit, are you okay?" I rushed over to see if he was alright, worried that he might have fractured a bone or something. What I didn't expect was for him to grab me by the waist and pull me down with him. Shrieking, I blasted him with more syrup to defend myself but ended up getting some on my clothes anyway.

"Getting a taste of our own medicine, are we?" he said between laughs and pulled me flush against his chest, rubbing the syrup, egg, and baking powder off on me.

Nothing I did could free me from his grip and, at last, all I could do was wheeze of laughter and let him do with me as he pleased. Once he was satisfied with his work, he eased his hold on my waist and we collapsed to the floor. We were covered from head to toe with baking powder, eggs, oats, fruit, and syrup. The only ingredient we didn't get the chance to use, was the mashed bananas.

My stomach erupted with butterflies when his fingers laced with mine, the syrup causing us to stick to each other. I turned my head ever so slightly to look at him. "I think you got the wrong recipe."

That seemed to push him over the edge. Rheon burst out laughing and I followed shortly after. "This is the most fun I had in years."

"Same," I breathed, "This would've never happened with Matt. I don't think he even knows the difference between regular and flourless pancakes."

He snorted again and ran his thumb over my knuckles. "What an asshole."

"Yeah, what an asshole."

Somewhere in the castle, someone was playing the piano - Clemmy's lesson has probably begun. Hopefully, our little food fight didn't distract her too much.

"I didn't know Clemmy plays the piano," I said.

"Mum made all her children take music lessons," he explained, "Clemmy and Victor chose piano while Seren and Alex decided on the violin."

"And you?"

He met my eyes and shook his head. "You'll think it's stupid."

"Rheon, you're a super badass alpha werewolf," I said rather bluntly, "I bet you'll even make playing those weird triangle instrument thingies seem cool."

He seemed to contemplate it for a moment before he made a decision. "It would be better if I showed you." In a blink of an eye, he was on his feet and pulled me up in one swift motion, "Wait here and I'll be right back."

Saluting him, I watched him march out of the kitchen before hopping onto the counter, making myself comfortable in the sticky mess we made. I had this love-struck grin on my face, nothing I could think of was able to wipe it off.

"You know he loves you, right?"

My head jerked to the door that led to the back patio and spotted Alexander entering the kitchen. He hardly batted an eye at the mess but wore a smirk that could put Damon Salvatore out of business.

"No, he doesn't," I was quick to respond, "He can't, can he? I mean, we've only known each other for a couple of days."

He shrugged. "It might seem impossible for humans perhaps. All I know is the moment I laid eyes on Reyna; I loved her. It's just how we are."

He left me to my thoughts and strolled out of the kitchen. But how could I think clearly while my heart was hammering in ten places at once?

Luckily, I wasn't left alone too long.

Rheon returned with one hand behind his back, looking both excited and nervous at the same time. "Ready?"

"Bring it, wolfie." I grinned. The moment of glory; he exposed his hand to reveal... "A ukulele?"

"You said I could make anything seem cool." He faked a stern expression and took a seat on the barstool in front of me, nursing the tiny instrument in his hands.

"You're right." Nodding my head, I shifted on the counter to get comfortable. "You look totally badass with that ukulele."

"Thank you."

"Aren't you going to play me something? You know, serenade me?"

Rheon perked up with new determination. "I thought you'd never ask. Prepare to be serenaded, my lady."

He shifted on the stool, strummed a few chords, cleared his throat, and finally, he began playing a slow yet familiar tune. It was when he started singing that I thought my heart would explode and I would melt into a puddle at his feet.

Elvis Presley's Can't Help Falling in Love fell from his lips like honey, his voice had a husky tenor that could make any girl swoon and combined with the lulling sound of the ukulele, he was making it extremely hard for me not to fall in love then and there.

Rheon held my gaze throughout the entire song. As he neared the end, he lowered the ukulele and tucked an egg-covered strand of hair behind my ear. Lowering his voice to a whisper, he muttered the last line hardly loud enough to hear, "For I can't help falling in love with you."

There was a moment of silence between us before he leaned in...

Our lips barely grazed before the moment was interrupted when Clemmy stomped into the kitchen. "Could you please keep it down? I have a piano lesson for the Goddess' sake!"