The Women Between

Chapter 8: Regret

Gregory and Thomas rushed down to their office that they had neglected for the last eight days. They had been gone for less than a week and two of the eight days they were with Cassandra. It was a blessing that turned into a nightmare. They could feel their mate’s anguish from their carelessness and still see the hurt in her eyes. It weighed on their minds that they would decide to do something reckless that would endanger her life. A marking is not entirely dangerous if done right, and they were sure that they had made the right decision until she said otherwise. They were disheartened to hear her sound so lost and angry over it. She even had a point about humans and a double marking. How her chances of living are lowered because of two marks.

What surprised them the most was that she knew the consequences of a forced marking. She even put herself into the mate bond to ensure her survival. They almost glowed with her intelligence, until they found out that she had done it to preserve her life and not for them. Guilt and hurt had filled them and it still does over how she protected herself from their actions. They should be protecting her from others and danger, not the other way around. She should not have felt like she would die with them as her mate.

That made their turmoil worse.

“Do you think we did wrong?” Thomas asked worriedly as he looked up from his light brown wooden desk.

Gregory looked at him with his brows raised, wondering if he was reading his mind through their bond. He was feeling exactly the same way with the same questions burdening his mind, but he could not voice it just yet. The guilt is eating at his soul and tearing it to shreds, which only made him hate himself for making her fear them. He cannot take the thought of being a bad mate.

Instead, Gregory looked down at the messiness of his brother’s desk, wishing he knew why they were the opposite of each other. His dark brown desk has everything in its folders and slots, while Thomas' desk has every paper splayed across it. Some of the ink pens are turned upside down with the stapler on its side. Then, there is the laptop that is darkened and not shut down like his is. He wonders how no information leaks out from his carelessness or whether he finds the things he needs. Even his attire is sloppy, from his white button-up shirt opened at the neck to his grey slacks that bear a few wrinkles. His attire is black slacks with a white button-up shirt and a black jacket that is all wrinkle free. His dark blue tie is even wrinkle free.

Gregory shook his head before saying, “I think we need to make this up to her immediately and show her that we value her life.”

“It cannot look like she is valuable for just producing babies,” Thomas warned while receiving a look from him.

“I know that!” he snapped, sounding irritated that his brother would assume he would think like that. “I don’t know what to give her or do for her to make her see that we are going to protect her.”

“If I was her,” Thomas said sadly, “I would not believe a damned word either of us said. She has every right not to trust us.”

“I think desperation got to us, Brother,” Gregory agreed firmly. He curled his lips inward, feeling his gut ripping in two at the words replaying in his mind. She had all but said that she was protecting herself from them. If she had said it, he was sure that he would have broken into pieces. “I don’t think we should have marked her.”

“I agree,” Matt said, walking in with a brown folder in his hand.

He bowed to them before surveying their office, like he usually does, to ensure their lives. His eyes trailed to the tall white bookshelf holding a vast number of books that were untouched. A step ladder is in place next to it for anyone to climb on or maybe hide behind to blend in with the shadows. The thick glass window on his left is shining sunlight onto the green carpet covering the brown wooden floor and the two desks are formed in an L. There is a break between them, leaving a space for Her Majesty's desk to be placed for when the occasion calls for her appearance. Finally, there is the top floor, where more books can be found in brown wooden bookshelves with a black iron railing encasing the upper floor.

There is no danger, nor has anyone disturbed the books on the floor or the papers left strewn all over the place. He felt his shoulders relax from the tension of a potential threat, but it renewed when he looked at Gregory. The kings waited for him to finish his scan like always with anger marring his face.

“I want your mate on the throne, Your Majesties,” Matt continued to speak, hoping that he did not die today. “It is the fact of her mentality that I was trying to tell you about while you were with your mate. If you would not have shut me out, then you would have been better prepared to deal with her. Now, you are going to have to work to gain her favor and the Councils.”

He walked to Gregory and handed the folder over with a grim look aimed towards him. It did not take him long to see why their beta looked that way. After reading the first page, his gut felt like someone had punched him hard and threw him across a field. He understands now why she reacted the way she had when she woke up. He closed it, giving a shake of his head, while Thomas marched over and grabbed it from him.

“She was the abused human, Brother,” Gregory stated sadly.

“That’s not all,” Matt stated on a breath, feeling relieved that he was not going to be beaten over this touchy subject. “She hates alphas. She left the pack two years ago to be with her grandma, who died recently, before coming back to stay for six months. In those two years, there was nothing other than school and work. She got good grades and excelled in her subjects, but her psych report says that she has anger issues as well as panic attacks. It is two years old, and she needs another one done to certify that it is still the same.”

“Does the Council have this?” Thomas asked worriedly.

He knows that if they see this, then she may not become queen. They will have to fight for her to have any real power or to make any public appearances with them. They will most likely insist on a figure head to supplement her. That will not go over well, but his brother, he is sure, will have no problem arguing with them.

“Yes, they are waiting for you to come to a meeting to bring it up,” Matt answered flatly. “I suggest that you do not do anything rash.”

Thomas could not help but chuckle as their beta looked at Gregory. He is the one that will make a decision that will cost them in this kind of situation. If it was war strategies or financial issues, then he could make a decision with no harsh cost to them. This is their mate, though. They need to handle this delicately or risk losing her.

“I am not going to do something irrevocably idiotic,” Gregory yelled, defending himself from the silent insinuation. “I have a forethought for everything that I do.”

“Is there anything else, Beta Matt?” Thomas asked as he avoided correcting his brother and starting an argument.

“Yes, the reports are on your desks,” he answered with a wave to them. “Each report is about the ongoings from when you two were gone, as well as the tracking of the slave traders and drug dealers. It is more like drug mules, but either way, it is the same. The financial reports are for the quarterly as well as the Council’s verdict on mating balls occurring, again. That is a flat-out no.”

“I knew they would do that,” Gregory huffed, giving a roll of his eyes. “Maybe, our Luna Queen can change their minds.”

“If she becomes it,” Thomas muttered angrily. They looked at him, shocked to hear his melancholy side in his voice. “She is my mate and has a right to be by my side, as I rule. She should be ruling by it, too.”

“Don’t forget, Brother,” he warned, looking at him angrily, like he had just been slapped by Thomas. “She is my mate, too, but if the Council is willing to suspend her power, then how are we to get it back?”

“Proving what they cannot see,” he retorted sharply.