Reckless Regrets
Chapter 18

Kade

It had been three days since I’ve been in Oregon and three days since I’ve heard Morgan’s voice. I’d been continuously trying to link her nonstop, and because of it, I’d had a blaring headache for two of those days.

I was miserable, physically, mentally, and emotionally and I didn’t know if I could last the eleven days until we got the real test results back.

“Hi, Kaden. Would you mind if I sat with you?” Marisol walked over to me and asked.

She’d been quiet and distant the last day or so, but I had to admit I was curious about what was going on with her. Marisol was the last person I wanted to sit with, but at that moment, I welcomed the distraction.

I nodded at her, and she cautiously settled into the porch swing; as far from me as she could. That was different.

“It’s a nice day today, and this is one of my favorite spots to come and relax,” she told me.

I didn’t respond; I just closed my eyes and tilted my face up to the sun, drinking in the warmth.

“Why don’t you like me?” she asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Do you want me to be brutally honest, or give you the watered-down version?”

“I’ve had plenty of brutal honesty lately, and surprisingly I think it made me stronger. So, tell me straight, please.”

“When we officially met a few weeks ago, I didn’t like you because you were the type of girl I used to go for, other than the fact that you’re ranked. I liked the easy girls, ones who would sleep with me after I’d put out little to no effort. I wasn’t looking for a challenge back then. I wanted the numbers, the experience. You were one of those experiences, and it disgusted me.”

Marisol frowned at my words, making me backtrack.

“Not like that. I didn’t mean to say that you disgusted me; my past did. You were a reminder of it, and it was hard to accept. Hating you was my way of placing the blame elsewhere when it should have been on me. Then you became clingy, level five stalker clingy, and I’ve never been able to handle that. You blew up my phone for days, showed up at my home unannounced, then disrespected my mate. That was the final straw for me. You can do whatever you want to me, but when my Sugar gets dragged into it, all bets are off, and I’m out for b***d.”

Marisol nodded as she listened, and it seemed that for once, she was absorbing what I was saying and not just hearing what she wanted to hear.

“I’m very sorry about that, especially for the disrespect. I’ve recently found that I’m more than a little bit spoiled and used to getting my way. Believe it or not, you’re one of the only people ever to tell me no. I didn’t know how to take it.”

I wasn’t expecting an apology. This was the longest conversation we’d ever had, and it was going much better than I ever would have imagined.

“The ring that was on your pinky when you arrived, is it hers?”

“Yes. It belonged to my mother; she died when I was sixteen, and my father gave it to me. It will never touch another woman’s hand, only Morgan’s.”

“My mother died too. It looks like we have that in common, unfortunately. I’m sorry that you lost her.”

“I’m over it now, but thank you. And I’m sorry about your mom as well.”

She gave a small smile and sighed.

“Morgan. She has a beautiful name. Could I see a picture of her? Would that be alright?”

I turned in the swing and stared at her. I could tell she was nervous; she pulled a random string at the bottom of her dress compulsively. What was her game?

I guess I’d have to play to find out. I pulled out my phone and pulled up a picture of Morgan and me the day I proposed.

I was kissing her temple, and she had the biggest smile on her face while flashing the ring to the camera. That was the best day of my life. After a few seconds, I passed the phone over.

“Wow. She’s absolutely breathtaking. So exotic and unique; I can see why you’re so in love.”

“She could look like a gremlin, and I’d still be in love. She’s the sweetest person I know, and she loves deep. She accepted me with my checkered past and never once held it against me. She made me a man, something the passing years were never able to do. I miss her.”

Marisol passed my phone back and smiled.

“I’m sure she misses you too.”

“I’d hope so, it would mean that she loves me as much as I love her, but I haven’t heard from her since we got the results back. She gave me back her ring and disappeared.”

Why was I telling her all of this? It was like I needed someone to talk about Morgan with, and of all people, it turned out to be the one person who was trying to take me away from her? When I said Morgan gave her ring back, Marisol visibly flinched; and I was immediately intrigued.

I waited silently to see if she’d explain herself. It was clear there was an internal battle going on within her. What would she do?

“I have a mate. He’s that other person who tells me no; we clash over it all the time too. We love each other and hate each other at the same time. And as much as I’d like to say that it’s all my father’s fault, that’s not 100% true. Both Nathan and I hold some of the blame as well.”

“Nathan. The kid who cuts the grass?” I asked.

“Yes,” she whispered.

So, I was right. I knew something was going on between the two of them, but I didn’t expect them to be mates.

“If he’s your mate, why haven’t you two marked each other?”

“Because my father-”

“Marisol! What have I told you about bothering Kaden? When he wants to talk to you, he will. Go find someone else to harass,” Alpha Thorne walked onto the porch and boomed.

Marisol was about to drop a bomb, a bomb that would get me home to Sugar Bear. I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity.

“It’s alright, Alpha Thorne, I asked her to sit with me. She’s going to be my wife soon, and I figured we should get to know one another. Maybe toss around some wedding ideas,” I lied.

Thorne’s face lit up like a Christmas tree, and he smiled between the two of us.

“That’s excellent news. Please, don’t let me disturb you. I’ll see you both at dinner.”

He turned and walked back into the house, never once letting the smile leave his face, and as quietly as I could, I whispered to Marisol.

“Whatever you were about to say, I need to know it. You understand?”

She gave the smallest nod of her head.

“Don’t overthink what’s about to happen. Just go with it, alright?”

Again, she nodded, and I leaned over and gently kissed her cheek then whispered in her ear.

“Take my hand and walk with me.”

She placed her hand in mine, and I stood to help her to her feet. We then walked off the porch and down the gravel path on the side of the house.

“Do you have somewhere we can go and talk where your dad won’t know?”

She fidgeted in place and sighed.

“I do. But I don’t know how well it’s going to go over.”

***

Marisol

“Marisol, Mr. Kaden, what are you two doing here?” Nathan nervously asked as we walked into his bedroom.

“We need to talk. Don’t worry, he already knows about us,” I replied.

Nathan looked even more nervous when he turned his attention to Kaden.

“You lied to me, kid; you said there wasn’t anything going on between the two of you.”

“Yes, sir. I was protecting her; I didn’t want anything to happen to her.”

“I get it; I’d do the same and more to protect my mate. So, what were you going to tell me, Marisol?”

I’d never seen Nathan so confused and nervous, so I decided to walk over and take his hand. Hopefully, it would calm him.

“So, I decided that I was tired of hiding my mate from the world and went to tell my father about us. He told me that he already knew but because Nathan is an omega, he came up with a plan to keep us apart. Long story short, you and I never slept together. My dad drugged us and staged it. Then he swapped the DNA sample and used Nathan’s DNA instead of yours.”

I turned to Nathan and took his face in my hands.

“Cameron is your son. You’ve taken care of him his entire life, and now it’s official, sort of.”

“f**k yeah!”

I turned my attention back to Kaden, who was furiously texting on his phone.

“You don’t seem surprised or hurt,” I said to him.

“I’m not. I’m mean, no offense; Cameron is a fantastic little guy, but I’ve always known he wasn’t mine. You know those daytime talk shows where they bring two people on for paternity tests and one is ‘1000% sure’? Well, that was me; this entire time, I couldn’t even remember sleeping with you, but if I did I, I was 1000% sure I didn’t do it raw.”

“Okay, but the test results didn’t sway that opinion?”

“They did, but luckily our pack doctor is a f*****g nerd genius who looked at the results and knew immediately that I wasn’t the father. The wolf genes were too weak to be a Beta’s. No offense, man,” he looked at Nathan and said.

“Uhh, none taken. I get it.”

Once again, I was shocked.

“If you knew, then why are you here? Why did you even come?”

“We’re running our own test. Waiting for results to set me free for good.”

I guess that made sense.

“Nate? Are you alright? I just told you that you have a son, and you haven’t said one word about it.”

“I want my own test.”

What the actual f**k?

“Excuse me?”

“I want my own test. I don’t know where your dad could have gotten my DNA; who knows whose cells were on that f*****g swab? No, I want to go to an outside lab, and have it done again.”

“You understand that you’re basically calling me a slut. To my face,” I said.

“I know what I’m saying, Mari. Neither of us has been saints, and you know it.”

“f**k you, Nate. And you know what, how are you going to pay for it? Do you know how much those tests cost? Hundreds! I’m not paying anyone to prove I wasn’t sleeping around.”

“You always do this s**t! It’s why we can’t ever just be happy!” he replied.

“Whoa. This conversation is creeping into ‘way too personal’ territory, and I’m more than a little uncomfortable. So, I’m going to leave now.”

“I apologize, Mr. Kaden. I didn’t mean to lose it like that,” Nathan apologized.

“It’s cool; it’s what mate’s sometimes do. And call me Kade, both of you.”

I couldn’t stop the smile. Finally, I was being accepted by Kade. He turned to leave, then stopped and looked over his shoulder.

“Nate, you find a place you trust, and I’ll pay for the test; I don’t care what it costs. I understand the need as a man to know without a doubt. Money shouldn’t get in the way of that sense of security.”

He then left the room, leaving Nate at I staring at one another.

“So, what now? The alpha just told you all this s**t, and what? Can we be official now?”

“Not yet.”

I didn’t even get to finish my thought before he was shutting down on me.

“Wait! Let me talk. I told Kade so he can help us. We can’t do this alone; if we do, your life will be in danger. We need Blue Moon to help us figure out what to do.”

“What do you mean ‘my life is in danger’? What are you talking about?”

“If you mark me, it ruins my father’s plan, and he will kill you just to make me suffer. I can’t let that happen.”

Nathan didn’t even look surprised. It’s like he’d been waiting for my father to come for him this entire time.

“Okay. So, what’s the plan?”

“I don’t know totally. But I think we need to have Kade ask Alpha Black for asylum. You need to take our son and leave.”