Hardly The Fairy Tale Romance

"I'm so sorry," Damien whispered as he looked over Gretchen's sleeping face. He laid his head down beside her on the bed and softly slid his fingertips down her cheek. "I wanted to tell you Gretchen. I should've told you. I really can't blame you for being so angry. I see what you're thinking, but it's not true. It's not my fault I see things like I do. I just thought..I just thought if you could see the whole story laid out in front of you, that you'd understand why I've done the things I've done, not to make you someone else. Believe it or not, I quite like you as you are."

As he heard the door swing open behind him, Damien sniffed back his tears and sat up straight in his chair. Teddy pulled up the chair beside him and sat down. "How's she getting along?"

Damien licked his lips then swallowed back his tears. "Still sleeping."

Teddy patted the back of Damien's shoulder and said, "She's right stubborn. She'll be just fine."

Damien pushed his hair off his face, then said. "She hates me."

Teddy smirked and nodded. "That's what I heard. Don't take it to heart, things can be quite bumpy in the beginning when mates collide as they do. It's hardly the fairytale romance you hear about, is it?"

Damien shook his head and said, "No. Not at all. I wish that I could tell you that I'm not at fault, but whatever she's feeling, I've earned it."

Teddy wiped his hand across his mouth then wrinkled his nose quickly as he looked around the room. "You do know she can be quite a bear sometimes, what on Earth possessed you to provoke her?"

Damien smiled to himself. "It's not just me then?"

Teddy chuckled and leaned over in his seat as he clasped his hands in front of him. "No, Damien. I'm well aware of my daughters' poor anger control. It's in her blood, I'm afraid. That's something you'll just have to learn to live with."

Damien closed his eyes and looked back to Gretchen. "A very long time ago, Gretchen and I lived another life. She...she suffered the same ending. I couldn't protect her then, but now I'm," Damien smiled then pushed himself back in his seat, "Now I'm one of the most powerful warlocks in all the Realm and she just fights me every chance she gets. She's always running towards danger and just..."

"You just want her to behave herself and let you take care of her?" Teddy interjected.

Damien nodded. "That's what a man should do isn't it? I failed her once." He licked his lips then curled them under as his eyes became glassy. "I don't want to fail her again. I won't. I don't care if she hates me forever for it."

As their voices filled her ears and brought her back to her sense, Gretchen's eye lids started to bop up and down as she tried to wake. Damien grabbed her hand in his and kissed her knuckle as hope filled his chest. Gretchen licked her parched lips then panted as her eyes finally opened and met his.

"Get out," Gretchen said softly. Damien closed his eyes and shook his head no. She jerked her hand out of his grasp and gritted her teeth. "Get the hell away from me."

"Gretchen," Teddy said as he leaned forward. "That's enough."

Damien put up his hand and said, "It's alright. I deserve that. I'll be waiting whenever you're ready to speak to me, Gretchen." Damien put his shaking hands on his legs then pushed himself up and left the room.

"That was quite foolish, Gretchen," Teddy said while he moved to Damien’s chair and held up a disappointed brow.

A tired smile curled up on her lips and she huffed out a breath through her nose. "Well, I always did pop off hot, didn't I?"

A wide grin slid across Teddy's face as he chuckled quietly. "Yes, you do, sugar. Though, I suppose it just comes natural to you." He looked around Gretchen's drowsy face and said, "So, tell me about that man of yours. We haven't really been properly introduced yet."

Gretchen closed her eyes and shook her head gently as she groaned. "I'm still too..." Gretchen waved her hand in front of her, "I'm too angry with him right now, daddy."

Teddy pulled down his brows and twisted his lips to the side. "He seems decent enough. He's barely left your side."

Gretchen closed her eyes tight to pinch back her tears. "Oh, daddy, these people, they're...they're devious. I don't want to be here anymore."

Teddy put his cheek down on the bed beside her and pushed her tears off her face with his fingers. "He seems just racked with guilt over what happened to you and that fella over there."

Gretchen rubbed the middle of her forehead as the shooting pain of her stupidity burrowed into her thoughts. "Yeah, he should. Like I said, this family's devious. You can't trust them, daddy. All they've done since I got here is scheme against me and manipulate me."

With a creak, the ancient wooden door slowly opened, and Tessa peeked around the corner. "Is it alright if I come in, honey?"

Teddy sat up and yawned while he stretched out his chest and nodded for Tessa to come sit down. As she pulled a chair closer to the bed, she caught a glimpse of Eason in the bed across from them. "Is he alright?"

Tessa sat down beside Teddy and he said, "Hazel said he'd be fine, he just needs some rest."

Gretchen licked her lips as a bitter tear rolled across it. "He saved me, you know. That big ole monster was going to slice me right in half and Eason stopped him. Those arrows that tore him up were meant for me and Jason. He...he threw his body over me to keep me from getting hit."

"Yes, I heard. I'll have to thank him properly when he wakes up," said Teddy. "My question, though, is why you three were even out there to begin with."

Gretchen grimaced as she pushed herself up onto her elbows. "They all knew. They knew you were here, and they didn't tell me. Well, eventually I figured it out on my own and...I had a vision that you were in trouble so there we are."

Teddy bit his lip and chuckled. "Oh, I see. So, they didn't tell you about me because they thought you'd go off and do something dumb like running into a raging battle without thinking, and you do exactly what they thought you'd do anyway. Well, Gretch, you're kind of losing my sympathy right now. If I were Damien, I would've done the same thing."

Gretchen shook her head, too ashamed to say the truth. "That's not why they didn't tell me, maybe it was small piece of it, but...it doesn't matter. All these people ever do is lie."

Tessa and Teddy looked at each other and laughed. Tessa sighed and said, "Well, shit, Gretchen that's a proud tradition for witches. I lie just to lie sometimes. I mean, not to y'all of course."

Gretchen groaned as she tried to laugh. "Not like this, Tessa. I feel so stupid, I need to get out of here before I end up delivering one of these in their mouths," Gretchen said as she held up her fist.

Tessa clicked her tongue as she shook her head amusedly. "You may have wanted to think about that before you put that pretty love bite on Damien's neck. He won't take kindly to you trying to sneak out the back door in the middle of the night, baby."

Gretchen blew out through her mouth and rubbed her forehead. "Don't worry, he'll be alright. Trust me."

Teddy crossed his arms and sighed as he tried to gauge whether Gretchen was really serious. "You'd really just walk away from your mate, Gretchen? That's fairly goddamn serious. It's not like signing some piece of paper and washing your hands clean of him. Fate will just keep throwing him back in your path. Eventually, whether you like it or not, you'll have to deal with him."

Gretchen cleared her throat of the pain building inside it and her pushed her lips together hard in defiance. "Mate," she scoffed. "He might be my mate and, I don't know, maybe I am really supposed to be with him, I guess I deserve that after some of the shit I've done, but not now. I can't let him get away with all the things he's done. I got to draw the line somewhere."

Teddy rubbed his chin stubble and pulled down his lips as he nodded. "Oh, I see. You want to teach him a lesson, then. Well, farbeit from me to deny someone their proper comeuppance when they've earned it. Why, your aunt Tessa here is one of the leading experts in torturing men for their shabby behavior. But, when you're finished punishing him for his mistakes, Gretchen, you're going to have actually work on whatever exists between you. Whether it's today or a hundred years from now."

Gretchen smiled and shook her head. "You know, I really wasn't expecting you to be on his side."

Teddy took Gretchen's hand and said, "No, baby, I'm on your side. Always. You're just not in a place where you can see the implications of your actions yet."

Gretchen looked over at Eason and though about their talks over the last few days. Before he was a knight in Daniel's army, he'd been a prince in a distant land that decided to seek out adventure instead. "I was thinking, daddy, when I'm all healed up, maybe we could do some traveling. I've barely been anywhere, and I'd like to get out there and see it all."

"As tempting as that sounds, you don't really seem like the type to just run away from your problems, Gretch."

She pushed herself all the way up to sit and smiled. "Don't worry, Damien's not going anywhere. I'll deal with his dishonest ass later because, frankly, I'm over this whole goddamn family right now. I don't want to spend one more night locked up in this place."

Teddy rubbed the back of his neck and pressed his lips together. "You sure that Daniel's going to just let us waltz out of here?"

Gretchen cracked her neck then rolled it out and sighed. "I don't know, I guess we'll see." Gretchen pulled her legs to the side of the bed then blew out the pain through her mouth as she groaned. "I'm going to go get dressed and get my shit together. The only way I'm sticking around here is if they throw me in the damn dungeon. " Then she pushed herself to stand. "Although, I wouldn't put it past these motherfuckers at all."