Fighting Dirty

Osprey
I bared my teeth at him when he ignored what I said. It was very clear that he had no interest in speaking with me. I was going to have to play hardball and I was not above manipulating the asshole. I dragged a chair over to the bed before taking his sock off and stuffing it into his mouth. After pulling my phone out of my pocket, I sat down in the chair, facing him. I placed it on speaker while it rang.
“Osprey?” She said excitedly when she answered. “How’s everything?”
Gerald’s eyes snapped to mine and I smirked at him.
“Good afternoon, Annie. Everything is fine here. How are you?” I asked.
“I’m great! I am really enjoying it here. Everyone is so nice. And the territory! Oh my Goddess, Marsha and I can run for hours and never reach the end.” She fell silent before sighing. “Osprey? Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“How do you help someone get over losing their mate?”
I glanced at Gerald. “Annie, can I call you back after I think about it for a while?”
“It’s just– she’s so sad,” she whispered.
“Who?”
“Giselda.”
Gerald’s eyes widened while I sighed. “Annie–”
“No, Osprey. She is so hurt. I know she cries all the time, but she won’t tell me. I also know that Gerry is her fated mate. He knew and he never told me, and she knew we were involved. I am so angry at myself for not realizing it, but she never blamed me for it. She has always just been so kind to me. I just want to help her.”
“Annie, honey, sometimes you can’t help people. Losing a mate is just one of those things. They have to work it out for themselves,” I told her, glaring at Gerald.
Gerald and I both flinched when Annie started crying. I panicked, immediately reaching for Scarlett’s link to beg her to send some warmth through their link to Annie. I hated when she cried. Hell, I hated when any of the sows under my protection cried.
“Why did you have to kill him?” She sobbed, making my eyes widen.
“You think I killed him?” I asked in complete shock.
“Yes! Why else would she be so hurt?” She became overwhelmed with her sobs, pausing until she got them under control enough to continue speaking. “Besides Gerry, Giselda is the only friend I’ve ever had. If I lose her, that’s two people you’ve taken from me.”
I groaned. Between her tears and her accusation of making her lose people she loved, I was feeling guilty as fuck. I narrowed my eyes on Gerald, who I was shocked had tears in his eyes while he was watching me. I swallowed hard. If I did this right, maybe I could get him to open up to me and possibly let me help him rewire his brain so I didn’t have to kill him.
“Annie, what if I told you that I didn’t kill him?” I inquired softly.
“I would ask you to prove it because I don’t believe you,” she sniffled.
“Hold on,” I said before muting myself so I could speak to Gerald without her hearing. “If I let you talk to her, are you going to behave yourself?” He nodded and I hesitantly got up to remove the sock from his mouth. Before I took myself off mute, I warned him. “If you hurt her anymore, you will force me to take the only two people she’s ever had in her corner away. Please, don’t make me do that. If you really love her, then behave yourself.”
“I won’t.”
After glaring at him hard for a moment, I took the call off of mute. “Annie, sweetie, are you still there?”
“Yes,” she whispered sadly.
“I have someone here who would like to speak to you.”
“O-okay.”
I nodded at Gerald who opened his mouth before closing it again.
“Hey, baby,” he finally said, making me bare my teeth at him.
“Gerry?” She cried. “Is that really you?”
“Yes, Bannanie. It’s really me,” he confirmed.
“I thought you died,” she sobbed.
“No, Annie. Osprey has been helping me,” he told her, making my eyes snap up to his.
“Helping you with what?” Annie questioned him.
“With letting you go so you can be happy,” he answered, shocking me even more.
“Why did you hurt Logan?” She whimpered. “You promised to let me go if I wanted to.”
He closed his eyes as anger crossed his face. “I know, baby. It was just so sudden and–”
“Don’t call me baby!” She snapped before taking a deep breath.
Gerald’s eyes flew open to stare at my phone. “Fine, ‘Annaria.’”
“Gerry, I’m sorry, but I’m with Logan now. I don’t want anything to upset him and our past relationship is a big thing.”
“Okay, Annie,” he said defeatedly.
Everyone was quiet for a moment before Annie cleared her throat.
“Gerry?”
“Yes, Annie?”
“Why don’t you love Giselda? She is a really beautiful, sweet person. She clearly loves you.”
“It’s not that I don’t love her, Annie…” He said, trailing off toward the end.
“Then what is it? Because it’s not fair that she’s grieving over you. She’s trying to mend her broken heart on her own when she doesn’t have to. She could be with you, but she doesn’t think you want her. It’s not fair. Meeting your fated mate is supposed to mean that you would never be alone again. It’s supposed to mean that you will forever belong. That you will never have to wonder if you’re good enough.” She took a deep breath before softly saying, “Logan makes me feel that way. Giselda should feel that way too. I know that if you just spent a little time with her, you would see how wonderful she is.”
“I know how wonderful she is, Annie.”
“Then why don’t you want her?” She asked.
“I do.”
“Then why didn’t you choose her or even tell me that she was your mate? I wouldn’t have forced you to stay with me,” she said almost silently.
“I know you wouldn’t have.”
“Then why didn’t you choose her?” She repeated.
“Because I had already committed myself to you. I meant it when I said I loved you and wanted to be with you,” he told her.
“But she’s your mate, Gerry. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
“Of course it does.”
“Then why didn’t you choose her?”
“I wanted to. To be honest, I was selfish. I wanted both of you. I wanted to protect you. I never thought that you would find someone who you would want to do that for you. I wanted to be the only one for you,” he admitted, making me a little less angry.
Listening to their conversation gave me a view on their relationship that I hadn’t had had before. He really seemed like he truly loved her. I couldn’t fault him for loving his chosen mate. The only thing I could blame him for was choosing our little sister to be said chosen mate.
“You should have talked to me about what you wanted,” Annie said. “I mean, I wouldn’t have been okay with it, but I would have told you that it was okay to be with her and that I would have been fine. Then we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“I didn’t want to lose you,” Gerald instantly responded, making Annie sigh.
“I was never yours to lose. I was always Logan’s, Gerry. I thought we were going to have forever, but we both knew that the Goddess would frown on our relationship. That’s why she gave you your mate and why she gave me mine. She didn’t want us to be together. Can’t you see that what we were doing was wrong?” She asked sadly. Gerald did nothing but stare at the phone until Annie spoke again. “Are you still there?”
“Yes, we are,” I answered her when Gerald made no effort to respond to her himself.
I nudged his leg with my arm. He bared his teeth at me, growling lowly.
“Please don’t be angry at me. I just want you to be happy and I think the only way you can do that is to be with Giselda. Don’t you want her to be happy too?”
“Of course I do. I am just not sure that it should be with me,” Gerald responded slowly.
“She wants it to be. Dating that guy is not enough. He’ll never create the same feelings that you would,” she argued. “Trust me, I know. I thought nobody would ever make me feel the way you did, but things with Logan, they’re just incredible. I want that for you and her. You both deserved to have everything.”
Gerald stiffened. “What guy?” He growled.
“Uhmm, just a guy,” she mumbled, making me let out a relieved breath.
Gerald didn’t need to add anyone to his to kill list. He desperately needed reprogramming before he would be allowed to leave the cabin.
“Stop changing the subject. We were talking about whether or not you wanted to be with her.”
“Annie, even if I wanted to be with her, I’m not sure she would accept me. I really messed up. I went a little crazy, and I will never be able to apologize enough for the pain that I caused both of you,” Gerald murmured softly.
“STOP SAYING THAT! YOU DON’T KNOW HER! SHE LOVES YOU! I LOVE YOU! JUST STOP FIGHTING US!” Annie screamed. “FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE CAN YOU PLEASE JUST FUCKING STOP TRYING TO FIGHT WHAT IS RIGHT?! WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH JUST TRYING?!”
“There’s nothing wrong with trying, Annie, but I don’t think she will forgive me. If I were her, I wouldn’t forgive me,” Gerald responded calmly.
“Well, lucky for you, she’s her and not you. You’re not dead. Please, try. Please. For her. She needs you.”
“And what about us?” Gerald inquired.
“Us? What do you mean?” Annie replied curiously.
“Me and you. What happens between me and you if Giselda does forgive me?”
“You and I will be related in-laws,” she giggled. “You will be my brother cousin and I will be your sister cousin and we will live merrily happily ever after with our mates. It really will be the best of both worlds. We can be in each other’s lives like we were meant to be, and have our mates. Isn’t that what you want?”