Chapter Forty-Four

Jasmine’s POV

I and Lena had finally spoken.

We talked late into the night and eventually fell asleep around the late hours of the morning.

Regan had not returned and I knew it was because he knew that Lena and I needed each other.

It was another reason why I loved him.

He was very thoughtful and always put my needs before his.

When Lena and I woke up the next morning, we held each other for a while before leaving the bed to go about our daily routines.

Lena returned to her room and I washed us before Regan returned.

When he finally did, he knocked once in the door to let me know he was coming in before pushing the door open and entering into our room.

I took one look at his face and knew that something had happened.

“What has happened?” I asked, making my way over to him and taking his hand.

He simply shook his head, a sad look on his face that worried me.

I pulled him over to the bed and gently pushed him to sit, before taking my place beside him.

“Please, tell me what has happened”, I asked.

He took in a long breath and let it out.

“I did something awful”, he finally said, looking down at our joined hands.

My mind began to wander at his words.

What could he have done that was so awful?

Lifting up a hand, I placed it on his chin and lifted his face so I could see his eyes.

He looked away immediately.

“What did you do?” I asked him, willing his eyes to meet mine.

He hung his head in shame.

“I hurt Luke”, he said, his voice coming out in a whisper.

I felt my body tense up before I could stop it.

Granted, I had not expected such surprising news, especially in regards to Luke.

I forced myself to focus on him and not allow myself to accommodate such thoughts of concern.

“I am sure it was an accident”, I told him. “And he has healed from it already, has he not?” I asked, my voice filled with the worry I tried so much to hide to leases his guilt.

He shook his head slowly.

“Nana would have to help for him to fully recover”, he said and I gasped in surprise. Still he went on, his head hanging lower as he spoke. “And it was no accident”, he said.

I didn’t realize when I let go of his chin and pulled my hand to my chest.

Just how badly had he hurt Luke.

“What happened?” I asked instead.

He took another breath before answering my question.

“We were angry and Rage snapped”, he said. “I tried to stop him but maybe a part of me just wanted him to hurt too”, he confessed.

I looked closely at him, clearly seeing the guilt, regret and sadness.

“Why were you hurt?” I asked him, placing a hand on his shoulder in comfort.

He went silent.

When I realized that he was not ready to speak of the cause of his hurt, I changed the topic.

“What did Nana say of his would?” I asked instead.

He slowly lifted a shoulder in a shrug before putting it down.

“I do not know”, he said. “I came here immediately”.

“But I wonder”, I said, thinking aloud. “What could Luke have possibly done that would make Rage attack him?”

He turned his head the other way, staring down at the floor.

“Nothing”, he said. “He did nothing”.

I was shocked into silence, not knowing what to say to even comfort him.

We sat together in silence until he started to speak.

“I don’t know if Lena has ever told you about her mate”, he said.

I remembered Lena had once confided in me that she already knew who her mate once and that she had met him once before.

So, I nodded.

“If she ever asked me to, I would not hesitate to allow her go to him”, he said. “But she has never. She says she is content to know where he is and that when she is ready, she will go to him”, he paused for a while before speaking again. “But Luke…”, he started and trailed off. “Luke has never asked anything of me”, he shared.

“He has always been my closest friend, right from when we were just pups”, he said, looking far away.

“Do you know what he has always wanted to be?” He asked and I shook my head, even though I knew he did not see. “A good mate”, he finally revealed.

“Not a great warrior or the greatest Beta”, he went on. “Luke just always wanted to be a good mate”, he said, a small smile on his face as though he was remembering a happy memory.

The smile slowly faded from his face.

“And when Gina died, he was more devastated than me”, he said. “Not only because he had just lost his cousin but also because I had lost my mate”, he said. “He would try everything to comfort me and would excuse my nasty behavior towards him because he knew it was from the pain I was feeling. Perhaps that way when I had started doing it, and before long, I had gotten used to doing it”.

I was confused as to what he was talking about.

“Doing what?” I asked, not hiding the confusion I was feeling.

He turned to face me then.

“Pouring my emotions on him”, he said. “Taking them out on him”, he confessed. “Because I knew, that Luke would always excuse my behavior. Because I knew that he would always forgive me”, he said, the sadness in his eyes too deep for mere words to explain.

“Regan”, I could not help but call quietly, feeling the sadness deep into me at his words as though I could feel his emotions.

“And I did it again today”, he went on, looking downwards once more.

“I am sure you did not mean to”, I said in an attempt to console him.

He shook his head. “But I did”, he countered. “I knew his mate was a very sensitive topic for him and do you know what I did?” He asked, rhetorically. “I mocked him for not having one”, he confessed and brought a hand up to run across his face, something I realized was a habit of his.

My heart broke for Luke.

There was no point in chastising Regan. It was clear to see that there was nothing anyone would say to him that would ever be worse than what he was already saying to himself.

Regan was wrong and he knew it.

Wrong to mock his friend. And worse, wrong to attack him.

And acknowledging that one was wrong was always the first step to repentance.

“You owe Luke an apology”, I told him quietly.

He nodded his head. “I know”, he said.

“It is good that you know”, I told him. “But what would be even better is if you did something about it”, I said. “Go, find Luka and ask for his forgiveness. He did not deserve the way you treated him and he deserves to know that you are sorry, and that you regret your actions”, I told him. “So find him, and apologize”, I said.

Before he could respond, the door to our room was slammed open and Lena stormed in.

“Why did you do that to Luke?” She asked furiously, glaring down at him and looking positively livid.

Regan hung his head lower but made no move to respond to the fuming she-wolf. Something I was certain would infuriate her further.

So, I stepped in.

“Lena”, I said, standing from where I sat beside Tegan and moving to make my way over to her to take a gentle hold of her arms.

“Regan was just about leaving to go and find Luke so he can apologize to him”, I told her, giving Regan a pointed look that her thankfully understood.

He slowly stood to his feet and began leaving the room even as Lena answered.

“An apology does not tell me the reason he attacked him like that in the first place”, she said, loosing some steam after she caught the guilt-filled look on Regan’s face. “Have you seen him?” She asked and went on to speak before I could shake my head. “He looks like he was mauled by a creature from the depths of hell”, she said. “Although since it was Rage then I am sure that is what happened”.

I pulled her away from the door as Regan shut it behind him and pulled her towards the bed, pushing her to sit the same way I had done to Regan not too long before.

“Rage is not so bad”, I said in his defense. “He can be the sweetest creature you have ever known”.

She scoffed.

“To you”, she said. “You are his mate after all”, she reminded. “He cannot be a creature from hell with you”, she pointed out.

“Lena please”, I said. “Regan already feels awful for what he did to Luke”.

“Well, he should be”, she said, unsympathetically and I gasped in surprise.

“How can you say that?” I asked her, feeling both taken aback and defensive on behalf of my mate.

She rolled her eyes. “Calm yourself, Dearest”, she said, sounding very much like Nana. “I am not saying it out of spite or simply to be mean”, she explained. “But Regan has a terrible habit of always taking out his emotions on Luke. And Luke has the cowardly habit of always letting Regan get away with it without so much as an apology”, she said. “In a way, it is good that this has happened”, she said. “It would teach both of them a valuable lesson. Regan, to never take his anger or emotions out on Luka again, and Luke, to stop being such a coward all for the sake of being a good friend”.

Reluctantly, I had to admit that she was right.

But something else drew my attention foremost.

“How bad are Luke’s wounds?” I asked, the one question I had been dying to ask Regan but had been unable to bring myself to ask.

Lena sighed hard.

“Nana says she can heal him but there would be a scar”, she said.

I gasped, bringing my hands up to cover my mouth in shock.

“That bad?” I asked, feeling the worry I had been trying to suppress only heighten.

She nodded.

“He almost lost an eye”, she said. “Luckily for him, his grandmother happens to be a half witch and possesses special skills that would save his eye”, she said. “If not, there is nothing we could have done”.

I ran a hand through my hair in concern, standing from the bed and starting to pace around.

“Calm yourself”, Lena said again. “He will be completely fine and have only a small scar to remember the day by”, she said. “I am glad you will not have to see how gruesome it once was”.

“But how could Rage have hurt Luke?” I wondered angrily. “Luke is family”.

Lena simply shrugged a shoulder.

“My guess is whatever they had talked about had something to do with you”, she said. “That is the only reason I can think of for Rage to attack Luke”.

“So I caused this?”

“Certainly not!” She said firmly before I could begin to feel the guilt. “This is simply the outcome of two foolish werewolves needing to lean a lesson”, she said and stood to her feet to take my arm and link it with hers.

“Come now”, she said. “You must eat to help you recover faster”.

With that, she pulled me out of the room.