AN; Wow! 161 reads and 29 votes. The OG readers are amazing. I hope all of you are enjoying this story! I know I am!
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I jumped out of my bed and stared down at him. He was still radiating the same golden light, but it had dimmed slightly.

"Why are you here!?" I whispered. "My eyes flew over to Beatrice on the other side of the room. She was fast asleep, snuggled under her bedsheets, and every once and a while a little snore would escape through her lips.

"Where even am I?"
I could feel his confusion radiating off him while his eyes danced around my room.

"My bedroom."

"But it's so small... and why is there another person sleeping in here too?" he gestured towards Beatrice's bed.

"One of the many perks of being a Lunera, you never have to sleep alone. Did..did you follow me here?"

Grayson gazed up at me, " No, I'm not sure how I ended up here. But at the risk of sounding crazy, I don't think I am actually here."

"You do sound crazy, what do you mean?"

"My spirit is here but my mind is somewhere else. The last thing I remember..." he trailed off

"The Alpha was whipping you, why did you lie to him? He probably wouldn't have punished  you if he knew what happened."

"You and I both know the answer to why?"

"Because you didn't want the Alpha to be ashamed that you had a Lunera mate?"

"I'm not sure that I do understand," I said instead.

"I was worried that he would kill you?"

"How did he...oh."

"Stop reading my mind and stop lying! It would be so much easier for you if you could just find another mate! That way you could  avoid the shame."

"I don't want to avoid anything, especially if that thing is you. Shame and honor be damned!"

"Shame and honor be dammed," I repeated and let out a small laugh, which earned me a stern like from Grayson. I could feel his growing annoyance. "I'm sorry, but you didn't even know I existed until I made the mistake of helping you with your tie! And now you are trying to tell me, you would sacrifice your honor to be with me? You don't even know my name yet!"

"It's Aurelia. I looked it up under your number, 23."

I took a step back from the bed. "Wow, you looked my name up under the number your father assigned to me! Am I supposed to be flattered!?"

"You didn't tell me it!? So how are you supposed to know?"

"Because you were supposed to leave me alone or kill me quickly! You don't need to know my name to do any of those options!?"

"Those aren't options for me, because you are my mate!" he roared and stood from the bed. His eyes blazed yellow.

A wave of intense anger suddenly rolled over me. And I gasped, I stumbled back. My feet tangled under me, and I fell backward only to be caught before I could hit the ground. I found myself face to face with Grayson. His muscular arm cradled my back and kept me from tumbling backward onto the hard wooden floor.

My eyes darted over to Beatrice, but she was still fast asleep, somehow despite all the noise.

My mind didn't ponder that for too long though. I could feel the warmth of Grayson's skin through my dress. The sensation sent tingles through my entire body. Why did something so dangerous, feel so good?

"I'm sorry," he steadied me on my feet and rested his hand on my lower back. "We are going to have to close our link to each other's minds. When I'm near you...starting when I stepped into my dad's office..I could hear what's going on in your mind. And it's overwhelming."

"Is there a way to close the link? I can't really hear what you are thinking, but I can feel what you're feeling ever, and it is also overwhelming."

"I think I know how to fix this.... can you close your eyes?

I nodded and let my eyes flutter shut. 

I hated to admit it, but I was enjoying his arm around me. Too bad he couldn't touch me more than this.

Grayson chuckled softly and I felt my face heat up. I was really looking forward to when he couldn't read my thoughts anymore.

"Picture a hallway stretching between me," he whispered into my ear. "Picture a door in front of you, behind it lies your mind. All your memories, all thoughts, and everything you've ever felt. Do you see your door?"

"Yes.."

"Open your eyes.

I was standing in the middle of a dimly lit white hallway with white and black checkered floors. In front of me stood a door that looked like the front door of The Barn. An exposed light bulb on a thin wire hung over it.

I turned and saw Grayson standing at the other end of the hallway in front of a red door. A lit chandelier dangled above it.

"Where are we?" I asked. I noticed Grayson no longer had a glow around him.

Grayson turned to face me. "I was glowing?" he gave me a sheepish smile. "I didn't mean to read your thoughts."

"It's okay this time but yeah you were."

"You were glowing too when saw you appeared to me in my room. And to answer your question, we are in the space we just created in-between our mating bond."

"But we aren't mated...right? You have to bite me first."

"I'm aware. But it's like we are, this is not a normal bond."

"How do you know what a mating bond should be like? Have you been mated before?"

Grayson shook his head. "It's an alpha's job to help his pack, and that includes helping those whose mating bonds are too strong. When that happens, an alpha helps create space in-between the two people to lessen the effects of the bond."

He pointed to the red door behind him, "That's my door, and the other is yours. Both are opened, which symbolizing how connected our two minds are right now and we need to close them. Go ahead, close your door."

I turned back to The Barn's door. I walked down the hallway and stopped right in front of it. Through the crack that led to space beyond, I could only see darkness.  I placed my hands on its worn wooden surface and pushed it closed.

The second the door closed, a wave of relief cascaded over me, and I realized it was Grayson's relief and not mine. I looked over my shoulder at him. Grayson had his back to me and was standing in front of his red door.

I frowned, the relief, Grayson's relief, was starting to turn into something else, curiosity, excitement, a few nerves.

He looked over his shoulder at me. "I want to try something, hold on!"

He grabbed the frame of his door and threw it open. Instantly, I was blinded by a bright white light.

I threw my arm in front of my face while my eyes adjusted to the glaring sunlight beating down on me from a cloudless blue sky."

I was standing barefoot on a wooden dock still dressed in Beatrice's blue dress. Before me, stretched a greenish-blue bay filled with hundreds of boats. The smell of salt and fish hair filled my nose, while the sounds of people and seagulls overwhelm my ears.

How...how did I end up here?

"Aurelia!" Grayson called out from somewhere in front of me in the bay.

My eyes searched the busy scene until they spotted him gliding towards me in a sailboat with a tall white sail. Instead of only being dressed in his dress pants, he now wore a salmon-colored shirt and a white pair of cargo shorts. A pair of white-rimmed sunglasses were perched on his nose.

He pulled the boat along the dock and in one fluid motion, he jumped off the boat and joined me on the wooden planks.

Grayson grinned and draped his arm around me. His blonde hair had been pushed back and his skin glowed with a dark tan. He smelled like sunscreen and salt.

He gestured across the bay, " Before you ask, welcome to one of the great best places on earth, Marina Corricella, Italy!"
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Anyone else want to go to Italy instead of work/school if you aren't already living there?