Page 29 of In My Closet

Judging by the lightheartedness of her tone, I would assume she was. On the other hand, this situation was not one to be taken lightly. I held a huge secret from her; technically, not all of it was out of the bag.

Huffing, Gracie jutted her hip at me, bumping my abdomen with her ass. "I can't believe you kept this from me like it was some life-or-death situation. I wouldn't have freaked out or anything if you had told me or showed me."

Gracie continued to mumble under her breath for a good while before turning around to face me with a soft glare. "Did you think I was going to reject you or something? Haven't I already told you and shown you how much I love you at this point? Why didn't you tell me about anything beyond using it to tease me? I mean, you could have told me what you looked like, at the very least." Damn my heart for cracking with her voice and getting burned by the sight of her tears.

Frowning deeply, I looked at her with apologetic eyes while bowing my head in shame. "I am sorry about not saying any of this before, especially after getting your hopes up by filling your mind up with fantasy after fantasy. I just…" Sighing deeply, I sunk myself further into the bed and buried my canine-like face into her stomach. "I didn't know how to bring it up to you, and honestly, I shouldn't have continued after I found out what I did about the gate."

I didn't want to look at her look of disdain when I said the last part to her; I couldn't bear any more shame right now, or I might die from it.

Unfortunately, Gracie didn't have any of it.

"Ow, ow, ow," I winced and hissed in response to her grabbing my wolfish ears and pulling at them, forcing me to pull my head back. "Careful! You should know better than to pull a dog's ears."

Shoving her tense face right up into mine, she bared her teeth at me. "You're lucky all I'm doing is pulling your ears right now." With my ears still in her palms, she twitched her hands to grab ahold of my horns to bunch both parts of me in her small hands.

Jerking my head around, she finally released me with a very violent huff and shove of my head. "You have a lot of talking to do, so I suggest you start before I make you sleep outside in the backyard tonight." She threatened with narrowed eyes.

"Excuse you? I am not a dog." I scoffed with my upper lip pulled back.

"Speak." The single word came out curt with her upturned chin.

Of course, I was confused as fuck. "What?"

"Kiss me." Gracie kept up with her stern tone, this time smiling smugly as she leaned close to me.

My body reacted to her demand before my mind could question any of it. Leaning my head in, I stuck my tongue out and licked her cheek.

"Down." She bit out right as I was about to dip my tongue into her sweet mouth.

Pouting with a whine, I relaxed my body away from her to give her some space while eagerly awaiting her next words.

As her smug lips stretched into a sarcastic smile, I couldn't help but tilt my head at her and raise a brow. "You follow my commands perfectly like a dog, and dare I say, even better than Goldie." She spoke with a stifled snicker behind her grin.

"Why, you little…" Somewhat offended, I grabbed Gracie by her sides, digging my fingers into her playfully until she laughed uncontrollably. "I don't know whether I should be offended or praise and spank you for playing me."

Grinning, Gracie reached out and held me tightly with a giggle. "You can do that after you explain yourself." She spoke into my neck while petting my head.

Relenting with a sigh, I relaxed against her body. "Besides losing control… I couldn't take on this form without losing my other because of the gate." Too late at this point, but I had no regrets.

Pulling back, Gracie grabbed my hybrid canine face and furrowed her eyes at me. "What do you mean? Like you're stuck like this forever?" She didn't sound upset or disgusted, so maybe this might go over well.

Giving her a sad smile, I carefully swept her hair out of her face. "To be free from the gate, I had to sacrifice a part of my soul… To be cursed to walk the world as nothing more than a beast for the rest of my days." Sighing heavily, I nuzzled the side of her face. "If I weren't with you, then I wouldn't care because I really don't mind living in this form. The only issue with this form is my size and beastly features that can make life a little cumbersome, but I can deal with it along with the animalistic drive."

I already towered Gracie before in my normal form, being around seven feet in height, but I was practically a mountain to her in this form at around nine feet. Normally, I posed a danger to Gracie given the stark difference between us, but like this? The danger intensified at least a hundred times. Being in this form was akin to being in a heightened state of excitement—ready to fight or hunt at a moment's notice.

"You are really starting to sound more and more like a dog, ya know?" Gracie remarked with a soft laugh and pet of my head. "Or a domesticated werewolf? I mean, you kinda look like a weird werewolf of sorts."

Snickering, she reached up and grabbed ahold of my ears, rubbing and scratching the area behind them, causing my tail to rapidly thump against the bed in response. "You are so adorable!" She squealed while rubbing her face into my chest.

Pulling back, she leaned up and kissed my snout. "It's going to take some getting used to, but we'll make it work." I couldn't help but fawn over her optimism about this whole situation and the warmth she radiated.

Sadly, the uplifting mood didn't last long as her smile slowly flipped upside down. "But… Last night, what happened exactly? I mean, I remember bits and parts, but I just remember a lot of pain and screaming." Sitting up, she looked her body up and down while patting it.

"A malevolent spirit came after me for revenge and decided to attack you to hurt me. He got his claws into you, tore you up more than I want to admit, and you blacked out from the shock." Grasping the bottom of her shirt, I pulled it up to reveal her fading scars along her left side. "After you passed out, I lost it. I couldn't bear to let anything happen to you because of me. It's also a bit of a blur for me after I shifted. When I came to, the spirit was torn to bits and sent back to Hell."

Hesitantly, I brushed my clawed fingers along her scars with a pained frown. "I shouldn't have hesitated to save you. I should have leaped out when we both sensed something was wrong." I'd never stop beating myself up for her scars and the mental trauma of last night's events. "I am sorry for being a bad mate. I swear, I'll spend forever apologizing and making up for it." I swore with sureness, peppering kisses with my tongue against her cheek.

Chuckling dryly, she patted my head and pushed me away softly. "You had a lot to give up with doing what you did. Don't apologize when I'm not even upset at you for it. I'm just thankful that you chose me over everything." I sensed no hesitation or flatness in her tone to suggest her words meant otherwise.

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