Chapter Forty-Five

Regan’s POV

I wasted no time in going to find Luke.

Especially after seeing Lena so angry.

Despite the fact that she tried really hard to hide it, I could tell that Jasmine was disappointed with me.

I knew that she had grown very fond of Luke since they had started training together.

So hearing that I had hurt him, she was bound to be upset.

I knew Luke would be wherever Nana was.

And Nana was almost always at the healing house.

So I headed over there, stilling my muscles in readiness for the scolding that I was sure was coming my way as soon as she caught sight of me.

I was right.

As soon as Nana saw me, she made her way over to me and fixed me with a glare so intense that I felt my self flinch.

“Why would you do that to him?” She asked, her voice strangely calm but I knew she was trying to hold back because of the werewolves around.

She did not want to disrespect me, as her Alpha, in front of everyone.

“Come with me”, she said when I did not respond and turned to walk father away from hearing range.

Knowing her, she had taken Luke to the furthest room on purpose so that our conversation could not be overheard no matter how much anyone tried.

As soon as I had entered after her and shut the door behind me, she whirled around to continue her berating.

“I have told you time and time again to stop taking your anger out on Luke”, she said. “You have never listened and now look”, she said, pointing towards where Luke sat with his back to us. “Look what that beast of yours has done to your friend”, she said and shook her head tiredly.

“I am sorry Nana”, I said, head hanging low in shame and remorse.

“Well, I hope you are”, she said. “Besides, it is not me that you owe an apology to”.

With that said, she gently pushed me out of the way and left the room, slamming the door shut and leaving me alone with Luke, who still had his back to me.

“Luke”, I started, taking a step towards him. “I am sorry, my brother”, I apologized. “I did not mean to hurt you and I am sorry that I have”, I told him.

He was silent for a while before he finally responded.

“Liar”, I heard him say quietly. “You meant to hurt me”, he said.

Momentarily taken aback at his words, I quickly recovered before taking a deep breath and letting it out.

“You are right”, I told him. “I was wrong”, I said. “It was wrong of me to want you to hurt whenever I was hurting. As a matter of fact, it was diabolical of me to want you to hurt with me”, I told him. “I took advantage of our friendship and for that I will always be sorry. I only ask that you find a way to forgive me”, I said, head bowed and awaiting his response.

After a short while of silence, I heard him turn around.

Slowly, I lifted my head up, dreading what I would see as an image of his earlier mauled face flashed through my mind.

I would never forgive myself if I had disfigured him permanently.

As my eyes came to rest on his face, I felt myself take in a deep breath of relief at the sight of his face.

Other than a faint scar running from across hoe eyebrow and down just past his eye, there was no other injury in sight.

How Nana had managed to heal him, I would never know.

But a sudden image of how exhausted she had looked earlier, one she had hidden well with annoyance, told me that she had used up a lot of her energy in healing Luke.

Although he wasn’t smiling, the jovial look he usually sported was back on his face.

“Look what you did to me”, he said, no sign of aggression or resentment in sight. “Now my mate would have to see me like this and doubt that there was ever a time that I was absolutely perfect”, he said, a small smile appearing on his face.

But despite how relieved that I was that he seemed to have forgiven me, I could not bring myself to return his smile.

Instead, I took steps to lessen the dust between us.

On seeing my face, his smile disappeared as well.

“I am truly sorry, Luke”, I told him, the remorse I felt making it hard to speak. “I do not deserve your friendship nor your loyalty but I will always thank the Moon Goddess for bringing us to meet and for making you think I am worthy of your friendship”.

Luke simply watched me for a while.

“You have my forgiveness”, he finally said. “But on one condition” he added.

“Anything”, I said readily, knowing I could never refuse him his first request.

His face took on a far away.

“When this is all over”, he began. “Everything with Blackmoon. And once we’re left with no doubt that Jazzie would be safe”, he said. “Then, will you give me permission to go and find her?” He asked.

I knew exactly who he was talking about.

His mate.

And if I were a good friend, he would not have to ask such a thing of me. I would have already seen to it that we had found her.

I knew it had always been his greatest wish, his greatest desire, to finally meet his mate.

And I had had the power to grant it to him all along but I never did.

And like that had not been enough to crime against him, I had gone ahead to mock him.

I could feel Rage’s emotions as he could feel mine. And as I allowed the regret to drown me, I could feel him allowing his guilt to do the same.

‘Tell him I am sorry’ he told me, the first time my proud wolf had ever made such a request.

“Rage wishes to tell you that he is sorry”, I told him immediately.

His eyebrows lifted in surprise at my words, drawing my attention once more to the new scar on his face that was all because of me.

“Well, that is a first”, he said, a smile lifting a corner of his lips.

“And to your request”, I said. “You need only let me know when you are ready and it will be granted. Even if you wish to leave today, I will grant it. I will never stand in your way”, I vowed.

He nodded his head and stood to his feet.

“I do not know how to handle you looking so forlorn”, he said, raising a hand to place on my shoulder. “You have my forgiveness”, he said. “But just so you know, if that beast of yours attacks me again, I will not hesitate to give him a scar to match mine. Alpha or not”, he warned, a smile on his face but a devilish promise in his eyes.

“Fair enough”, I said with a nod.

He gave my shoulder a pat before pulling away and making his way to the door.

“Well, come now”, he said. “There is plenty of work to do and no time to waste”, he said, pulling it open and walking out.

I followed after him.

“You do not have to work today”, I told him, falling into step beside him as we made our way out of the healing house.

“Then what am I supposed to do with myself all day?” He asked.

I though for a moment as we walked.

“You could take a day off and rest”, I suggested.

“Rest”, he said, thinking over my suggestion. “That sounds quite tempting”, he said. “But I have too much to do and they will only be waiting for me afterwards if I decide to rest”, he said.

“I could do them for you”, I suggested and he came to a sudden stop.

I came to a stop as well.

He stared ahead for a moment before slowly turning to me.

“I understand that you feel the need to make it up to me, and that you feel guilty for scarring me”, he said. “But you have asked for my forgiveness and I have given it”, he said. “So there is no need to continue to try. Let that be the end of it”, he said. “Are we in agreement?” He asked, bringing forth a hand.

I looked from him to the hand and back before grabbing a hold of his arm as he did to mine.

“We are”, I said with a firm nod.

“Good”, he said. “Now, I shall be on my way to the training grounds”, he said. “There are young wolves that need to be taught what it means to be a warrior”, he said.

“And I will head to my study”, I said. “There is work that needs to be handled”.

“Very well then”, he said already turning away. “I shall see you later for supper”, he said and began walking away before stopping and turning back.

“And do give my thanks to Jazzie”, he said with a knowing smile. “I have known you all my life and not once have you actually managed to apologize to me, even when you are dying to”, he said. “And assure her that I am well, she tends to worry quite often”.

For the first time since I had seen him, I felt my lips curve into a smile.

“I will be sure to do that”, I said and with a half wave, he turned and walked away.

I watched him go until he was out of sight before making my way to the pack house and towards my study.

As I approached my study, I caught her addicting scent and knew she was there, waiting for me.

I pushed open the doors and entered to see her seated in my chair behind the desk.

The moment she heard me come in, she hastily stood from it and made her way around it, blushing and looking very much like a pup who was caught doing something they should not have been doing.

I felt the final weight in my heart lift at the sight of her and I could not help but smile at her antics.

“I just wanted to know if it was comfortable”, she said, still blushing and looking down at her feet.

“I am sure you did”, I said, unable to stop a laugh from escaping me.

At the sound, she looked up and made her way over to me.

“How is he?” She asked, not bothering to hide the worry in her voice or on her face. “Was Nana able to heal him? Was he scarred really badly? Is he in much pain?” She asked all at once.

I placed my hands on her shoulders to stop her.

“Calm yourself, love”, I said, steering her towards a chair and pushing her gently into it.

“He is fine”, I told her. “In fact, he told me to assure you that he is well”, I said and watched as relief began to seep into her features.

“He is truly well then?” She asked once more.

I nodded my head.

“He is”, I told her, crouching down so she would not have to look up at me and hurt her neck.

“That is good to hear”, she said. “I suppose you apologized to him?” She asked and once again, I nodded.

“And he has accepted my apology”, I assured, knowing she would ask.

“And the scar?” She asked, her eyebrows creasing with worry. “Is it terrible?” She asked.

“It is not terrible”, I told her. “He has said he will come for supper so you will see for yourself that it is not too bad”, I told her.

“I suppose he is well then”, she said, almost to herself.

“He is”, I assured again, pulling her into my arms and planting a kiss on her head.

“Now go back home and rest until then”, I told her. “We need you strong and fully recovered”.

She nodded at my words and stood to her feet to plant a kiss on my head before heading towards the door.

Once she reached it, she turned back with a smile.

“I will see you at supper then”, she said, and I nodded my agreement with a smile before she finally left.