Lucas
“Did you seriously lock her up inside her room?” I ask in disbelief and cross my arms over my chest as I stare down at Wesley. He is scrolling on his phone while sitting around the kitchen table. “Little harsh, don’t you think?”
He sighs and rubs his eyelids with two of his digits. “It can’t be helped. Tess is under Freddy’s compulsion and can’t be trusted to wander alone. What if she hurts someone?”
“True...” I say absentmindedly and slump my shoulders, unsure of what I’m supposed to be doing. Tess is my mate, but she...she is a human.
“You can go and check on her if you want,” Wesley says and looks up at me. “You’re worried about her, right?”
My lips twitch. “I doubt I’m the person she wants to see right now. Back when Dimitri held a knife to her throat and told me to pick between her, or surrendering myself, I froze.”
“Dimitri would have killed her either way, even if you turned yourself in.”
“I know. I think that’s why I froze in motion. I didn’t know what to do or how to save Tess’ life, which is why I’m so grateful that Freddy saved her. Like, I don’t like that bastard more than you do, but fuck, I could kiss him for saving Tess’ life when I was unable to.”
“He only did that because she is his slave,” Wesley points out before lifting his coffee cup to his lips. After he has chugged it down, he looks back at me again. “Or maybe...” He catches himself, and my eyes narrow when my Alpha seems amused.
His facial expression is pissing me off, and I grunt. “What? Why are you looking like that?”
“No reason, I’m just...” He smirks up at me, the mischievous bastard. Sometimes I don’t understand how Lily can stand being with him. The guy is sadistic. “What if Freddy has taken a liking to Tess?”
Something inside of me immediately goes tight and hot, and the idea of Freddy having eyes for my mate.
I can feel the anger boiling inside of me, threatening to burst out at any moment. “What do you mean, ‘taken a liking to Tess’?” I growl, my fists clenching at my sides. “She isn’t his fated mate. He can’t just decide to like her!”
Wesley puts down his coffee cup and leans back in his chair, his eyes glittering with amusement. “Oh, I think he can. And judging by the way he saved her life, he might already be developing some feelings for her.”
I feel sick to my stomach at the thought of Tess being the object of Freddy’s affection. “What are we supposed to do about it?” I demand, pacing around the kitchen. “We can’t just let him have her!”
Wesley laughs. “What if she likes him back?” I freeze at his words, and Wesley’s lips twitch. “I mean, have you been a good mate to her?”
Guilt pierces through my chest like an arrow. Not only was I unable to save Tess’ life, but I also...sort of...kinda...fuck. I rejected her without saying that I rejected her. I told her our kiss wasn’t supposed to feel good, and it wasn’t. I thought kissing her would make me more determined to reject her, but instead, it felt...nice.
I stare down at my shoes. “When I became your Gamma, I was very proud of myself. So was my family, and...I was sort of hoping that my kids would also be werewolves.”
“And you’re afraid mating with Tess will leave you with human children?” I give him a faint nod, and Wesley tilts his head. “I don’t think your children will be unhappy to be born as humans. So, why do you care so much?”
I run a hand through my dark hair and sigh. “I...I don’t know. To pass the torch, I guess?” I groan. “But it sounds so stupid now that I’m saying it out loud.”
Wesley grins. “If I were you, I would go to Tess’ room and try talking to her. Explain yourself. Because if I’m right about Freddy liking her, she might reject you soon.”
My jaw clenches as I remember my big failure to protect Tess from the wolves. I really hope Freddy isn’t in love with her because she would probably pick him as her mate. He is stronger than me and way more capable of protecting a human.
Damn, what if I’m not right for her?
With a heavy feeling in my heart, I turn around. “I will go and talk to her...”
As I walk down the hallway toward Tess’s room, I can’t help but feel a sense of dread wash over me. I’m not sure what I’m going to say to her or how she will react to me randomly popping up outside her room. I hope she won’t tear me apart...even though I deserve it. Ugh. Will she be able to forgive me for what I’ve done if I apologize?
When I reach her door, I pause for a moment before knocking softly. “Tess?” I call out. “It’s me, Lucas.”
There’s a moment of silence before I hear shuffling on the other side of the door. “Come in,” she says, her voice sounding tired and a little sad.
I push open the door and step inside, shutting it behind me. Tess is sitting on the edge of her bed, her head in her hands. She looks up at me as I enter, her eyes red-rimmed and puffy.
“Hey,” I say softly, taking a seat next to her on the bed. She skitters away from me, and my heart sinks. It’s obvious that she doesn’t want me here, yet I force myself to talk. “How are you feeling?”
Tess shrugs, looking away from me. “I don’t know. Alive, I guess.”
I reach out to touch her arm, but she flinches away from me. “I’m sorry,” I say quickly, pulling my hand back. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Tess takes a deep breath before turning to face me again. “What do you want, Lucas?”
I hesitate for a moment before taking the plunge. “I want to talk to you about what happened the other night,” I say, my voice quiet.
Tess eyes flicker to mine. She looks so small sitting with her legs bent to her chest and dark hair framing her tiny face. Her scars give her a unique look. In the past, I called them ugly, but they aren’t...they make her appear interesting.
“So?” Tess frowns. “Weren’t you going to say something?”
I flinch when I realize I’m staring at her and inhale. “Yeah, I just...about the other day...I know that I...” I nervously scratch the back of my neck and, eventually, just blurt out what is on my mind. “I fucked up, Tess, okay? When Dimitri was about to kill you with that blade, I just...froze. I also deemed I wouldn’t be able to do anything about it, so I gave up even though I should have just turned myself in.”
Tess studies my face with an expression I can’t read. Her face is usually an open book, but not right now. I wonder what is going on inside that head of hers. Is she mad at me?
I keep watching her, and eventually, she sighs. “Dimitri probably would have killed both of us if you gave yourself up for me.”
I blink. “So... you’re not mad?”
“Oh, I’m mad, alright,” she shoots me a glare. “But not because of that. I’m mad because you don’t have the balls to reject me even though you don’t want me.”
Her words hit me like a ton of bricks, and I stare down at my feet, wriggling my toes a bit. There is a sea of emotions within me, begging to be put into words. I want to tell Tess that I do actually like her, but I suck at talking. It’s not my thing.
So what do I do? How do I prevent Tess from picking that bastard of a hybrid? Can I even do that? Win her back again?
I glance at her. “Is it too late to say sorry?”
Tess bites her lip before whispering, “I don’t know...” And I recoil because her words hurt me more than I expect them to. Could it be that I’ve already lost her?