Chapter Twenty Six-Regret

I woke up the following day alone and feeling better than I have since all this shit started, maybe even better than that. I felt like I could probably finally kick Teddy’s ass, and I fully intended to when he came back today.

My neck was still sore, but all the other pain was gone. I went into the bathroom and took a look at Logan and Jacob’s handiwork. It was still bruised, but not so much. 

Unlike wolves who have accelerated healing, witches do not. This would take some time to heal completely, even with the Alpha’s blood in my veins. Even when it did, the mark would remain forever, even into my next life. 

When werewolves take their mate, they bite them. This causes their DNA to mix with their mates, solidifying the bond between them. But werewolf DNA is more intelligent than your average predator. It enters the cell and bonds with it. Every time the cell replicates, so does the mate bond.

That’s why I felt so incredibly shitty all this time. Their DNA, this werewolf virus, was injecting itself into every molecule in my body. When they bit me, we literally became one. They were part of my very genetic makeup now. I could never be truly free of them.

These boys had a year on me. They’d learned everything possible from Teddy’s lips, and I was hurt. My brother and I rarely saw things through the same lens, and all Jacob and Logan knew about me was the sugar-coated version of events that Teddy told them.

Our lives thus far had been riddled with violence and loss. Teddy was always looking for comfort and a safe place to run to from the horror of it all, but I was always looking to fight. There was something deep inside me that told me I had to. That something big was on the horizon, and I had to be prepared for it.

I roamed the house freely in Jacob and Logan’s absence. They told me more than once that this was my home now, so I looked through every cupboard and drawer, and when I came to a picture of me on Logan’s nightstand, a little piece of the wall I put up against him crumbled. I wanted him, and he wanted me, and part of me wondered why I was even fighting him anymore.

On my tiptoes, I stretched up and peeked out the peephole when a knock came at our door.

The one good thing from this stupid bite is that my powers seemed to be a little sharper, and I wrenched my neck. The door swung open, and I crossed my arms as I leaned in the living room doorway. “How’s it going, fucker?”

His teeth clenched, and he sucked back through them when he saw my neck. “I heard about what happened. Damn! If it makes you feel any better, I’ll be getting mine tonight.” Closing the door behind him as he followed me into the living room, he rubbed my shoulder. “How are you feeling?”

I stabbed at the remote buttons, then tossed it to the table when I found Judge Judy. “Never fucking better.”

He sank into the chair beside me and leaned back against the cushion. “Yeah, you look like it.”

“Is there something that you want?” I flicked my finger to the television. “Because I’m kind of busy right now, and you’re on my shitlist anyway.”

He shrugged, and his hands flung up in the air. “So, how’s your love life?”

I sighed and picked up the bottle of whiskey I found in the basement playroom. “Glorious. I’m stuck with two assholes I don’t even want. How’s yours?”

“Tess!” He leaned over and took the bottle from me. “Stop. You and I both know that’s not true.”

His finger tapped on his forehead. “You can’t hide your thoughts, Sugar.” Like everything that’s happened to me so far since I’ve been there was not a big deal at all, he curled his lips and shrugged his shoulders to my situation. “What’s done is done. Time to fix this now.”

My finger pointed at him. “What the fuck makes you think I have any intention of fixing a goddamn thing?”

His finger circled the air around my face. “Tessa, it was a dick move what they did to you. But that little love bite on your neck, that’s like a ten-carat diamond ring. They wanted to show you, show everyone that you belong to them and that they belong to you. It’s special. Only you get that.”

The little glass elephant that sat on the coffee table flew into the wall. “I didn’t want this. You wanted this. It’s always fucking about you.”

The gentleman, who was too arrogant to lose his temper, nodded as his hand patted the chair. “That’s right, I did want this. We’re finally part of something pretty goddamn good here, and you’re just pissing it away. Tessa, all this family wants is for you to be part of it. I just don’t understand at all why you’re fighting this so hard.”

He tugged at his pants as he scooted to the end of his seat. “Tessa, I realize how ass-backward this place is. How it is for women in this pack.” His hand came to his chest. “You think I want Stella or any of my children living like this?”

The hand swept away, and his finger pointed at me. “You’re Logan’s mate. You’re going to be in a position to change things by force if that’s what it takes. You’re meant for greatness. I have no doubt you can get the job done.”

Teddy lifted my chin so I looked at him and wiped my tears away. “They’ll be home shortly, and you need to decide if the three of you are going to be happy or miserable. Do you want them or not? If you want out” —he clapped his hands and wiped them against each other— “then leave. I won’t stop you again.”

The little voice in my head sounded like Logan now and spoke to me constantly, and I blinked the fat tears from my eyes. “Is it true what Logan told me, that he asked you to bring me here a year ago?”

He nodded and rubbed at his chin. “Oh yes. Begged is more like it.”

I pulled the blanket tight against me. “So, why didn’t you?”

His two fingers uncurled as he explained things to me. “A. I was still annoyed with you and B. Look how resistant you are. I couldn’t deal with just meeting my family and have you coming and fucking it all up.”

I shrugged and twisted my lips. “Yeah, that’s fair enough.” I leaned back and checked the clock on the wall. I hadn’t spoken to either of them in days, and I was missing them, honestly.

The ticking of the clock on the wall caught my attention, and I leaned back to check the time. “Well, I suppose I should call for food or something. The two of them will be so shocked that they may just drop over dead when they see dinner on the table, and all this will be over anyway.” 

Before he walked out the door, he laughed and turned back. “I think you’re going to have to work a little harder than that.” His fingers tapped against the door frame, then one pointed at me. “I love you, and I hope you’ll think about this for a minute before you make any drastic decisions.”

His head moved back and forth slowly, and his words brought goosebumps to my skin. “You don’t want something terrible happening just to find out you really wanted them after all. There’s not a thing more painful than regret.”