Playing The Part

As Giselda ran away from us, Annie hurried over to me with her hand out. “Gerry, are you alright?!”
Before I could reach up to take her hand, Logan grabbed her around the waist to pull her against his side. Kraven growled in my head and it took everything in us not to let it out as Logan glared at me.
“I don’t know why you came here, Gerald, but if you came here to disrupt her life, I would rethink it,” he warned before positioning himself half in front of Annie. “I would definitely rethink coming to fuck up mine and Annie’s relationship even more.”
I shook my head as I pushed myself up from the ground, dusting myself off. “I didn’t come to mess anything up,” I told him, barely managing to restrain my anger. “I just want to apologize to both Giselda and Annie.” I took a deep breath before meeting his eyes. “Even you.”
“Me?” He repeated, raising his eyebrow.
“Yes,” I answered, sticking my hands in his pockets. “I never should have interfered in your relationship. And for that, I am truly sorry.”
“Mhmmm. You apologized. You can leave now,” he said.
“Logan, I–”
“You dare to address me so informally when you come onto my sleuth land after harming my mate?” He hissed with his teeth bared.
“Logan,” Annie called softly, “he is my brother. Please, give him a chance. For me.”
I could see him grow angrier at her words and before he could respond to her in a way that I knew would make my control snap, I cleared my throat, drawing his attention back to me.
“It’s okay, Annie. I knew that this was a possibility before I came. I understand. I really messed up and I took advantage of you in a way that I never should have. He is only trying to protect you and Giselda. If I were in his shoes, I would be acting the same way.”
“But, Gerry–”
“No, Annie. It’s okay. I promise you it is. I will just go. Maybe when Giselda calms down, she will be more willing to hear me out.” I paused to lower my head so I would appear submissive to get them to lower their guard. “I just hope that one day that you will forgive me too, Annie. I hope that one day we can be in each other’s lives again without all of this uncertainty between us. I swear to you that I am not a threat to you, Annie. Nor to you, Logan. I am just trying to fix my mistakes and make them up to the people I hurt. Especially Giselda,” I pretended to confide in them, making my voice purposely soften on her name. “I know I will probably be waiting forever, but that’s okay with me. I deserve this. I deserve to be alone, rejected, and shunned. I know I have no right to ask for your forgiveness, and that is why I am begging.” I intentionally made my breath hitch in my throat as if I was fighting back tears. “You deserved so much better than what I did to you. Logan seems like a great guy, Annie. I’m glad you have him. You made the right choice,” I added, hating each and every word that fell from my lips.
Was I sorry? No. Did I want her with Logan? Hell no! Was I determined to show her just how wrong he was for her? Yes. Was I just waiting for the moment for him to slip up so I could swoop in and take her away from him? Hell fucking yes, I was. I raised my eyes, meeting hers as she peeked around Logan.
“I’ll just go. I’m sorry for disturbin–”
“Where are you going to go?” Annie asked, her voice thick with concern.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Going home doesn’t feel right. I know where I want to be, but I know I am not welcomed.”
“Where’s that?”
“Here, Annie. With Giselda. She’s my mate. I just want to be with her,” I said softly.
Annie gripped Logan’s arm harder. “Logan–”
“We’ll talk about it, Annie. I’m not going to commit to anything right at this moment. He just showed up. I need time to think without him in my face,” Logan murmured to her.
I let my shoulders slump forward. “It’s okay. I wouldn’t let me stay here either. Thank you for allowing me to apologize to her. Please, let Giselda know that I’m sorry. Goodbye, Annie. I wish you well.”
No the fuck I didn’t. I wanted to claw his face, and tear his heart out of his chest. After one last apologetic look, I turned back to the gate. I had only taken a few steps when I heard Annie say his name again. I fisted my hands in my pockets, longing to fuck him up. He had what I wanted, and no matter how temporary it was, I hated him for it. He sighed.
“Yo, Gerald!” He called.
I stopped walking instantly before turning back to them after a few seconds of standing still. “Yes?”
“There’s an inn just over the border. I will get you a room there until we can get this sorted out,” he grumbled while Annie beamed at him.
“That would be lovely, thank you,” I told him.
“Yeah, well, I’m only giving you one chance. If you mess this up, you won’t get another,” he warned.
I gave him a grateful smile while grinning like a cheshire cat inside. He had no idea that he was opening himself up to lose everything. At the end of this, both Annie and Giselda would be mine, and if I had any say about it, Logan would be 10 feet under. 10 feet, not 6, because I was going to stomp him down another 4. One for every time that he tried to take her away from me. Annie hesitantly walked up to me with Logan flanking her closely, obviously ready to rip her away from me. She stopped in front of me, anxiously twisting her hands in front of her body, and making me want to just toss her over my shoulder and run away. She finally tipped her head back to run her eyes over my face.
“I’ve missed you, Gerry,” she whispered.
“I’ve missed you, Annie,” I repeated back to her, desperately fighting to not pull her into my arms and mark her again.
“No, you don’t understand. I’ve missed the Gerry that I grew up with. The Gerry that would have never hurt me and only wanted the best for me. The Gerry you became after we started– after we became involved was not the boy that I loved. He was someone I feared and someone that I wanted to be with,” she admitted while a blush stained her cheeks. Logan tensed when her hand landed gently on my arm. “I know that if you can continue to be this Gerry, Giselda will forgive you. This Gerry is the one that knows how to love people. He’s who spent countless hours in the woods with me, playing with foxes and hand raising the pups. This Gerry is the Gerry that spent an infinite number of hours, laying under the sky with me, daydreaming about his mate. This is the Gerry that deserves to have everything he wants. Not the other Gerry. I’m glad you’re back.”
I lowered my eyes to her hand on my arm. “Thank you, Annie, for all of your kindness.”
I spoke seemingly appreciatively, but she was wrong. She said I was scary when we were together, well, she had no idea how scary I could be. She would soon find out though. They all would. I would force Annie and Giselda to give me every single last one of my fantasies. I would spend hours breaking them. And I was going to enjoy every last fucking second of their screams. It was the only thing that would ease the betrayal they put me through. They didn’t have a choice. I placed my hand over hers as I lifted my eyes to hers.
“I’m sorry.”
“I know. Get to the hotel and if it’s okay, I’ll link you tomorrow after Logan and I speak.”
I nodded. “Yes, Annie. I would like that very much. I pray that you can forgive me. Even if I have to grovel.”
She giggled as she gave me a loose hug. “You don’t have to grovel, Gerry. You just have to be you.”
“I will, I promise.”
Kraven growled inside of my head again. ‘You and your fucking promises to her! She doesn’t deserve them!’
‘I didn’t say which Gerry I was going to give her. She’ll find out soon enough,” I told him.
‘Yes, she will,’ he agreed.
“GERALD!”
My eyes snap to an angry boar storming down the street toward us. I narrowed my eyes on Milton as he stormed down the street with a frantic Giselda behind him. A growl erupted from my lips as Giselda tried to tug him to a stop to no avail. So, this was who she was supposedly dating. I fucking knew it. As they neared me, I let Annie go. The only thought on my mind at that moment was: this motherfucker.