Reckless Regrets
Chapter 5

Kade

I woke up early in the morning and went to training like I always did. Everything would be business as usual. It was a relief to see that everyone seemed to want to put all the drama behind us. Besides, it had been a week already, so by then, Marisol was old news.

After breakfast with the crew, Morgan and I went for a walk to spend some quiet time alone. It seemed like these moments were far and few in between; there was always something pulling our attention away from one another. She was actively working on her business plan for her bakery, wedding planning, I hoped, and keeping up with the pack’s warriors and their training and rotation schedules. She was terrific; this pack was beyond lucky to have her. After maybe fifteen or twenty minutes, Xander linked me asking me to meet him in his office.

“I’ve got to go see Xan really quick. But stay out here and relax, I’ll be right back, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll be here waiting,” she said with a smile.

She went and sat in the bench swing in the gazebo while I headed back to the house. I walked into the office to see Xander holding his head, looking more stressed than usual.

“What’s going on? Why do you look like somebody just died?”

“I just got off a call with Alpha Thorne. He wants to know why you’re ignoring Marisol.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me! I told her I had nothing to say to her; we still have two weeks until the test results come back. When they do, I’ll tell her ‘good luck,’ and that will be the end of it.”

“She’s driving him crazy from what I’ve been told, and she wants to sit down with you one day and talk.”

“f**k him, f**k her, and f**k that!”

Xander sat back in his seat and sighed. He was the middleman in this bullshit, which wasn’t fair to him at all. But this was the burden the title of Alpha carried. Another reason I didn’t want it.

“Why can’t you just talk to her? You don’t have to go back to Oregon; you don’t have to have a meal with her, you don’t even have to see her. Just let her talk and see whatever is so important to her. Get her father off my f*****g phone every day. Give me some god damned quiet!”

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and powered it on for the first time all week. The peace was nice while it lasted.

“Seventy-three new text messages and thirteen voicemails, from another unknown number. I wonder who they could be from, Xander. How many phones does this b***h have, and how did she get my number anyway?”

“My guess would be from her father. Alphas have access to the contact information for all ranked pack members.”

“This is harassment; I can’t deal with this shit.”

“Maybe. But just reach out to Marisol and give her something so I can get some work done without taking call after call from Thorne.”

I scrolled through all the messages and watched as they escalated in insanity. I felt sorry for whoever ended up with this chick; no one deserved this.

“Can I ever just have a simple day? I need a vacation; you people are driving me crazy.”

I looked up from my phone over to Xander. “What’s up now?”

“I just got a link. Border patrols found Marisol trying to sneak onto our territory. Luckily for her, she’s a fast talker and dropped your name before they ripped her throat out.”

“Yeah, we’re all so lucky. Do not let the patrols bring her here. I don’t want her anywhere near Morgan.”

“Me being Alpha means I have my fair share of common sense, Kade. They’re holding her at the northern border.”

“Thank you, and sorry about all this.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just go get rid of her.”

“Gladly.”

***

“Is this the way you treat visitors here? I hope you leave the Neanderthal s**t behind when you come back home!” Marisol spat.

I had to fight to hold back a laugh. The patrol guard Raul had Marisol face down on the ground with his boot planted firmly on the side of her head. His partner Eric was standing in wolf form, ready to snap her in half if she even breathed wrong. And since we’d recently had heavy rain, so she was covered in mud and leaves and who knows what else. I squatted down and looked her over.

“You’re not a visitor; you’re trespassing. And this is my home, only here and no place else. Do you understand?”

“What I understand is-”

“Wrong answer. Listen to me very closely. You. Are. Trespassing. On Blue Moon territory. I’m sure you’re very well versed with wolf law, you and your father are trying to trap me with it, but in case you’re not, I’ll enlighten you. Any wolf found trespassing on another pack territory unannounced can be killed on site. I’m not your biggest fan right now, so that law is currently my favorite. One wrong word from your mouth, and it’s all over for you. So, do you understand that?”

“Yes.”

“I was hoping you’d say something else stupid so they could kill you, but today isn’t my lucky day. Raul, you can let her up,” I stated.

“Yes, Beta.” He took a step back and crossed his arms over his chest.

Marisol jumped up, ready to yell and scream at him until she saw how huge he was and the unimpressed look he always wore on his face. She wisely stepped away and turned to me.

“So, are we going to the packhouse now? I’d like to get cleaned up.”

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“No. It seems like a pretty straight forward answer to me. You understand the meaning of the word ‘no,’ don’t you, Raul?”

“Yes, Beta. It is a negative used to express dissent, denial, or refusal, as in response to a question or request.”

“Exactly,” I replied.

“So, what do you expect me to do here? I’m covered in mud and s**t because your guard dog has no idea how to handle a lady.”

“That’s not my problem; what do you want, Marisol?”

“I want to talk to you alone. We need to discuss your future as Canyon Woods Alpha. We need to discuss our son.”

The smug look on her face told me that she planned this. Maybe she thought that she would be exposing my dark secret to the pack and cause dissent among my family. Too bad for her. Right on cue, Raul started laughing, and Eric did whatever it is a wolf does when they hear something this hilarious.

“I told you guys, insane. Keep it in your pants for real, don’t be like I used to be. It’s so not worth it,” I said to them. After a few more seconds of laughing and pissing her off, I addressed her directly.

“You’re funny. I really needed that, so thank you. Anyway, there will be no alone time for us. If you have anything to say not relating to your pack or your son, say it here and now. Otherwise, you’ll be immediately escorted off our land. There’s a gas station a few miles down the road you can use to wash your face.”

“Why are you so mean to me? I’m just trying to give you the love and attention you deserve. Don’t you want that?”

“From you? No.”

“But-”

“No buts. Now, what is it you need to talk about?”

Before she could answer, my phone rang; it was Morgan.

“Keep her here. If she takes even one step, you know what to do,” I told Raul as I stepped away.

“Hey, Sugar Bear. Are you alright?”

“Where are you? You said you’d be right back, but you’re not in the house; I got worried.”

“I’m sorry. We had an unannounced visitor show up that I had to deal with. I’ll be home soon, I promise.”

“Okay, be careful.”

“Always, Angel. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

I turned back to see Marisol fuming mad.

“You’re a real piece of s**t, you know that? You’d take a call from that b***h when I’m right here offering myself to you?”

That b***h was their Beta Female, and neither Raul nor Eric appreciated her being disrespected. The deep growls escaping them made that evident.

“We can still legally kill you; say one more disrespectful word about my mate, and it will be your last. Now get the f**k off my land while you still have the chance.”

We didn’t allow her to say anything else. Raul grabbed her arm and began walking with Eric right behind. There had to be something that could be done about her.

Yes, we had laws, but I was not bound to her. For the next two weeks, at the very least, I shouldn’t have to deal with her bullshit constantly. I needed to talk to the elders.

***

“Xander, I can’t keep doing this. Somebody has to keep that chick away from me,” I blurted out as in barged into his office. Alaia was sitting on his desk in front of him, and I had a feeling that I’d probably just interrupted a damn good time for him. Oh well, he should learn to lock his door sometimes.

“You have got to be kidding me, Kade. Why are you here again? Why are you always here?”

“Because I don’t know what to do, that’s why!” I threw myself on the couch and shut my eyes. This was too much.

“What seems to be the problem, besides the potential preschooler?” Alaia asked.

I told her about the interaction in the woods, then showed her my phone with all the messages. Maybe she knew some way to help me out.

“This is not how an Alpha’s daughter behaves; we have more respect for ourselves than this. If Angelica ever did anything close to this bullshit, I’d kick her a*s myself,” she said, referring to her youngest child.

“Well, I can’t kick Marisol’s a*s, but you can. You want to take her out for me?”

“That’s not the way a Luna behaves either; she’s really striking out here.”

“Do you have any useful advice or suggestions, Bean?”

“Why haven’t you requested a cessation of contact order from Canyon Woods?” she replied.

“A what?”

Xander g*****d and dropped his head back on his chair. What was I missing?

“A cessation of contact order, a shifter version of a restraining order. You’ve repeatedly asked Marisol not to contact you, yet she keeps ignoring the request. Legally, right now, you don’t have to have anything to do with her, so it’s your right not to have her blowing your phone up all day and night. You’re Beta to one of the largest packs in the country; you’re a busy man, and this is interfering with pack business. Add the fact that she showed up here unannounced and uninvited, and I’m sure Alpha Thorne wouldn’t deny it.”

“I’m sorry man, I’ve had so much s**t going on that I didn’t even think of that,” Xander told me.

“It’s cool. This sounds perfect; it means I don’t have to go to the elders. And Thorne probably saw it coming anyway; he has to know all the s**t she’s been doing.”

“I’ll get it drawn up and sent over tonight. Then hopefully, we’ll both get some peace and quiet for a while,” Xander responded.

“Sounds good. I’ll leave you two to get back to whatever it is you were doing before I barged in. And I’ll even lock the door so you won’t be interrupted again,” I said while heading towards the door.

“You’re the only one who waltzes in here like you own the place, so you’d only be locking yourself out,” Xander replied.

“Still. You guys have fun.”

It was time to find my angel and cut off the rest of the world for a while.