Divorced My Husband, Married His Brother

CHAPTER 13

In the bathroom, Charlotte stared at her reflection. She couldn't believe that she had mated with her brother-in-law. "Moon goddess, please forgive me," Charlotte said. As the Luna of the Norfield pack, it was quite an embarrassment for her to be labeled as an adulterer and a backstabber to her husband. Charlotte knew that Teddy wanted to get rid of her, but she never knew the actual reason before. Now she knows.

Standing in front of the mirror in the small bathroom, Charlotte stared at her arms where Teddy Hudson had flogged her the previous night. She was supposed to curse him, but she didn't. She wasn't feeling the pain, and maybe that was because she had made up her mind to move on.

Looking away from the mirror, Charlotte turned the faucet to allow water to flow. She decided to bathe, so she searched the bathroom for any available sponge and soap and decided to take a quick bath.

Jack stepped into the parlor and knew that Teddy might soon arrive, as he knew Lawrence didn't trust his response. He wasn't afraid of his brother or the guards; he only worried about Charlotte's health and couldn't believe that his younger brother would be disciplining his mate, a Luna at that.

Jack went back into the kitchen to prepare his tea as he noticed Charlotte was in the bathroom bathing. When Charlotte got out of the bathroom, she was left with no option but to dust off her pink dress she wore the previous night as she prepared to return home.

"I have to go back home now. Who was at the door before?" Charlotte asked as she entered the kitchen and saw Jack sipping on a cup of tea, as if he didn't have any problems in the world or wasn't a wanted man at the moment.

"Jack," Charlotte called to get his attention as Jack had his back to her. He was indeed deep in thought and turned back to gaze at the broken woman standing in his presence.

"Are you going back home? Why not stay here with me?" Jack said, placing the teacup he was holding on the kitchen cabinet as he took a few steps closer to Charlotte.

Charlotte, feeling bashful, shook her head and looked away from Jack. "No, I have to go back home. I don't want to be here until Teddy and I are completely divorced. I don't want him to involve you in our fight and make it seem like you're the cause."

Jack's eyes darkened. "Teddy wouldn't dare. That's not my problem at the moment. You do not have to worry about me." Jack approached Charlotte and cupped her face with his right hand. "I feel like disciplining Teddy for what he has done to you in my absence. Even though he didn't love you, there's a limit to what one can endure. But I'm trying to understand why he left Anne and accepted you as his mate since he never loved you."

Charlotte didn't want to speak about the past, so she looked away from Jack.

"Do you love my brother?" Jack asked, wanting to know why Charlotte had accepted to marry Teddy and bear all that she underwent in the name of marriage.

"Jack, please. It's a long story. My father and yours wanted the marriage, so they offered me to Teddy. I truly did like him then, but I never knew that he didn't feel the same way about me until we finally started living together. Teddy accepted to marry me because your father told him if he chose me as his Luna, he would take over the pack even if you returned. He would still be the Alpha."

"I'm not interested in the pack affairs. I thought we weren't civilized enough, so I traveled to the western world to mix with the people there. They were good people, but I felt left out. What I want is to be with you now. I do not care if you were offered to my brother; I would try to speak to him to agree to give you up," Jack said, turning back to face Charlotte.

"We will start our own business and live our lives happily while Teddy continues ruling this pack," Jack concluded.

Charlotte knew Teddy's behavior. How wouldn't she know the behavior of the ruthless man she was married to for four years?

"I don't think Teddy would let me go, but I will try. Last night, I was lucky to have escaped his clutches, and he meant it when he told Anne that he wanted me to bear his pups. He got jealous, and he didn't care if he was hurting Anne. I didn't know they were mates. I only knew she was his assistant," Charlotte tried not to sob. She was feeling guilty instead of brave. She felt like she had committed the worst sin. And if there was anyone to blame, she blamed herself for it.

"You don't have to cry. Come sit, let me help you massage your face. It looks swollen. Does your family know that Teddy normally beats you up like this? Or was it because he brought Anne home?"

Jack wanted to understand what had happened the previous night. He hadn't been there for long, and loving his mate meant understanding her too.

"Last night was the first time Alpha Teddy brought Anne home. They only discussed things in his office, and she accompanied him for his outside pack functions," Charlotte said, sitting down on the stool that Jack kept for her. She watched him prepare a bowl of hot water; her left cheek looked swollen, and her left arm was bruised from the severity of what Teddy did to her.

Charlotte wasn't an Alpha wolf. Her father was the pack's beta before Teddy took over the Alpha's position and gave the beta position to his best friend, Caleb Brown.

Charlotte was an Omega, the lower-ranking she-wolf, and Anne was stronger than her in strength. It was just the fact that Ex-Luna Sandra liked her and taught her all the values of becoming a true Luna. Also, she was kind, compared to Anne, who was aloof and unfriendly, not caring about others' needs.

Silently, Jack took a small towel and helped Charlotte massage her cheek. It hurt as she hissed in pain, but soon she felt relief as Jack helped her apply some ointment.

"I don't want you to leave my sight again. I want to be there to protect you always since Teddy is not in his right frame of mind. He has no right to beat you. A pack's Luna, he is supposed to be stripped of his Alpha's position as the magistrate would feel he's doing well at home and is a loving husband. If only you had spoken out before, Teddy wouldn't have hurt you this much. Why didn't you tell anyone, including my sister or parents? What if Teddy had killed you in rage?"

Charlotte fought back her tears. "Teddy warned me never to disclose his unruly nature to anyone, and I just couldn't. He told Susan to stay away from me, so we weren't close."

Speaking of her sister-in-law and how she had been hiding all of Teddy's brutality at home, Charlotte couldn't even inform her own parents about what she was going through. She had to wear long gowns to hide any marks on her body, and she usually wore sweaters or long-sleeved tops to hide any marks on her arms.

Fighting back her tears as she watched Jack apply the ointment on her face and arms, he assured her, "I'm here now, and no one will hurt you again. I cannot believe no one is aware, and I would like to see what Teddy would do to us, given that he's the Alpha."