TYLER POV
Well, tonight is definitely not how I expected it to turn out the way it did. I was just meant to go to a simple party but I find my mate instead and bring her home with me. This wasn't going to be easy for some people. I knew that.
But when Tessa came out of the shower, normally a mate would be drooling over that sight, but it made me want to kill someone. The state that she is in right now made so much sense as to why she couldn't get that suitcase down and why she wasn't letting anyone touch her tightly or anything.
She actually thought I was going to reject her. I would never reject her for getting beaten by her father and I would definitely never reject her for being gang raped and then send her back to the people that were hurting her.
The only thing I was sure of was that when I caught her scent at the party and I saw that animal with his paws on her, I wanted to kill him there and then. I fucking should have. I never should have left that house without hurting one of them.
It was lucky that Cade mind linked me and told me that we needed to go with her to gather her things together. He told me that we couldn't leave her alone with her father. That was definitely a good call. She never told me what he said to her in the bathroom but I can only imagine. Most likely telling her to keep her mouth shut about what he was doing to her.
But then when Rachel was still planning the wedding, I think I was about ready to snap. But I couldn't do that to Rachel. Her life was just turned upside down as well. But that's no excuse for her still planning the wedding. Not when she knows that it's over. It's fine for her to be upset about the wedding being cancelled, but not to be in complete denial.
I'm not a fool. I know exactly what Rachel is like. She probably thinks that Tessa won't be here next week. So that's why she's still planning the party. But Rachel is in for a rude shock if she thinks that's what's going to happen. Tessa isn't going anywhere.
When I finally got Rachel to leave the house I headed back towards the stairs and saw Tessa and Aria standing on the first floor landing. Aria looked satisfied but I couldn't read Tessa's face. She looked conflicted. But I walked up to them and Aria would wipe the smirk off her face.
" Aria. Isn't there somewhere else you need to be." I insisted while keeping my eyes on Tessa.
" Yeah. Carter is probably looking for me. Tessa, it was great to meet you and we will talk more tomorrow." Aria says. And Tessa looked at her and smiled. But that was all.
She didn't look back at me though. She looked down at the floor like she was in trouble or something. I really couldn't read her at all. She was all over the place. I guess things are a little worse than I thought for her. So I slowly reached out and held her hand and we headed back up to her room.
I closed the door behind us and I mind linked Cade and told him to keep everyone away from Tessa's room. We need to talk about a lot of stuff and I don't want any more interruptions like Aria.
" I'm really sorry you had to see that. There's a lot of history with me and Rachel and her brother. She likes to use her brother as a bargaining chip whenever she can." I explained.
" And you let her. Where is her brother?" Tessa asked looking down at her food.
" He's dead." I say.
" And she uses him as a bargaining chip. I'm sorry but I don't find that acceptable at all. I don't care how bad things are in her life right now, but you don't use you're dead brother to get what you want." She said with a little sparkle in her eye. I could tell that she was actually pretty passionate about that subject. It was good to see her actually fighting for something like that.
" I know. But it's hard with Rachel. She's in a different catagory." I say.
" Is me being here going to be a problem? Because she obviously doesn't want to call off the wedding. And then I walked into the picture completely unexpectedly." She tells me.
" No way. You being here isn't a problem. She needs to accept this. It happens. Relationships break up all the time because one of the people have found their mates. She just needs to bow out and respect that. But if I'm being honest with you, I really can't see her doing that." I admitted.
" Neither can I. I've known people like her. Especially with those crocodile tears she was putting on downstairs." Tessa says.
" Yeah. They are pretty fake, aren't they?" I asked and she smiled. Well, that was progress. This was good.
I wanted to talk to her about more serious stuff. About her past. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. Not while we were sitting here having a conversation and I was actually getting positive reactions back from her.
When we finished eating I took the dishes down to the kitchen and straight back up to Tessa's room. When I went back into Tessa's room she was sitting on the edge of her bed with the remote looking at the TV on the wall going through the different apps on the smart TV.
" Have you picked a movie yet?" I asked as I sat beside her.
" No. I don't even know what I'm looking for. Just something interesting. Nothing too serious." She tells me.
" Have you seen A Million Ways To Die In The West?" I asked curiously.
" No. That sounds weird." She commented.
" It's hillarious. Trust me. You'll love it." I say grabbing the remote and pulling that movie up on the TV.
So we sat back against the headboard of the bed as the movie started and Tessa started yawning. I knew it wasn't her fault. It had been a long day and night for her. She told me that she made all the food for that party that she didn't get to eat. I was stunned that she made all the food. She's the Beta's daughter and that's the work of an Omega.
I pulled the covers back and got her to lie down but she looked at me a little worried.
" I promise. I am staying on this side of the bed and my hands will be to myself the whole night." I say putting my arms up in mock surrender. I definitely wasn't going to force her into anything until she was ready. Not after everything I had learnt today.
So we both lied down and she was yawning a bit but once we got into the movie a bit she started laughing and couldn't stop laughing at the movie. It was the sweetest sound to my ears and I was smiling just because she was laughing. I was glad that I picked this movie. She obviously really liked it.
Tessa fell asleep before I did and I couldn't help but watch her sleep. So soundly in this new house. I was surprised. I thought she'd have trouble adjusting. But she fell asleep pretty easily.
'Alpha.' Cade mind linked me.
'What is it?' I asked.
'There is a little problem near the Eastern Boarder. Some rogues but their not trying to cross onto our lands. Their just staying back watching. Like their taunting us.' Cade explained.
'Keep and eye on it. Let me know if anything changed.' I ordered and cut the link.
I ended up getting comfortable and watched a bit more of the movie before I finally passed out as well. I knew that I would be woken up if anything came through the link. But I really didn't feel comfortable leaving Tessa in the state that she's in right now. Not after everything I found out about her today.
I was woken up half way through the night by Tessa talking. So I rolled over to face her.
" What's the matter Tessa. Are you alright?" I asked leaning up on my elbows but she was facing the other way and still lying down.
" Don't. Leave me alone." She muttered. And I realized that she was still asleep. She was dreaming. She was dreaming about those bastards.
I reached over gently and shook her shoulder trying to wake her up. But she was really stuck in this nightmare. It was hard to wake her up. I shook her a little harder and she suddenly jumped up and she started fighting immediately.
She pushed my arm off of her and backed away from me with panick in her eyes and I put my arms up in surrender and I backed away from her as well. I could tell that she still wasn't fully awake.
She was breathing really heavily and sweating and her eyes were darting around everywhere. Like she didn't know where she was. Which made sense. It was a new room. A new packhouse.
She blinked a couple of times and I saw her start to come back to reality and she looked at me who must have had a shocked look on my face with my arms still up letting her know that I wasn't going to hurt her. And I saw a single tear slip down her face.
" Oh my god. I am so sorry." She said breathlessly.
" It's alright. Don't apologize. It was a nightmare. Everything is alright." I assured her.
It took a bit for her breathing to even out but I could still hear her heart beating fast like it was going to jump out of her chest.
" I didn't want you to see that." She muttered.
" How often does that happen?" I asked.
" Every night. Always different things though." She admitted.
" Is it alright if I touch you?" I asked cautiously. And she looked at me but slowly shook her head yes. So I shuffled over closer to her and I pulled her to my chest and hugged her while rubbing her back.
That's when I felt her really start to relax. I know that the touch of a mate can relax you when you're angry or upset. And she definitely needed something to help her relax. But I had a feeling that she was holding in a lot more tears then what actually escaped. Like she didn't want to break in front of me.
" It's okay to cry. I promise not to hold it against you." I whispered into her ear.
" I can't cry. I'll get beaten if I cry." She answers. And then I was the one that needed to be calmed down. She wasn't even allowed to cry or she would get beaten. This son of a bitch needed to pay for what he did to her. How the hell could he do this to his own daughter.
He has completely broken her, she might try to hide it, but I can tell that she's broken. And I swear that I will be the one to pull her back up. She will not live like this for the rest of her life. I silently promised that to myself, to Tessa and the moon Goddess.
This was definitely the reason why I went to that party. I needed to save her. I wasn't going to go. Cade was the one that convinced me to go so that we didn't get on Alpha Matthias' bad side. But now I want to kill him and his Beta. They weren't getting away with this. And I wasn't going to use the werewolf council to get my vengence on them.
" Are you feeling better?" I whispered.
" A little." She says. But she made no attempt to pull away from me. I guess she was confortable with me holding her. And with everything else I was feeling, that actually made me smile a little.
The door then slammed open and we both jumped at the intrusion and Rachel was standing there. But by the way she looked and the way she swayed, she was definitely drunk. She didn't go home. She went to the bar in town.
" Oh. Isn't this cosy. We have been engaged for two months and not once have we ever slept in the same bed. You wouldn't even have sex with me until we were married. That was pathetic. And now you're already sleeping in this slut's bed." Rachel yelled. And I couldn't help but growl at her calling Tessa a slut.
" Rachel. I told you to go home. Now leave." I ordered.
" You're a bastard. We were meant to be getting married and you're already in bed with another women." Rachel yelled coming into the room. I knew that Tessa needed me right now. I wasn't going to leave her in this state to deal with another women so I mind linked my gamma Carter.
Carter and Aria both came to the bedroom and Aria looked less than impressed.
" Get the fuck out of this packhouse Rachel. No one wants you here." Aria says.
" I was going to be your Luna." Rachel yelled almost falling over but Carter caught her.
" And thank fuck Tyler found his mate before that happened. None of us wanted you as our Luna. You don't give a shit about anyone but yourself." Aria yelled.
" Tyler. Listen to the way she is talking to me." Rachel says starting to cry. I looked at Tessa and she just stayed there quietly. So I nodded to Carter and he grabbed Rachel by the arm and dragged her out of the room. And I linked him and told him to actually take her home.
" Sorry Tessa. She is probably going to be a problem for a little while." Aria says as she shut the door behind her. But all Tessa did was nod her head.
" I'm sorry too. I need to explain this. I'm 25 years old and I didn't think I was going to find my mate. I knew how Rachel felt towards me so we got engaged because I thought I had no choice. But then I met you." I explained to Tessa.
" Do you feel anything towards her?" Tessa surprised me with that question.
" No. Not like I do with you." I admitted. Which was the truth. Rachel was basically just there because I thought I would never find Tessa.
" Why does your wolf keep coming to the surface?" Tessa asked looking at my eyes that were obviously changing colours.
" Because he wants to meet your wolf." I say.
" He can't. I can't shift." She admits.
" Why not?" I asked confused.
" Because of the poison. It suppresses my wolf. I can still talk to her, but she hasn't been able to come out." Tessa explained.
" How long has it been since you shifted?" I asked curiously.
" About three years." She says.