Chapter 160: Taking The Blame

Tessa’s POV

I woke up that morning with body pains shooting through me like I’d slept on concrete ... which, honestly, wasn’t far from the truth.

"Ahh, Kael, I’m not feeling good. My back," I called out to him, wincing before I even finished the sentence.

"Where?" He reached out to touch it and the pain exploded the second his fingers made contact.

Shit. That made it so much worse.

"It’s probably the position you slept in," Kael said.

I hadn’t even thought of that. He was probably right, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. I had been a queen just before leaving Winterwood. I hadn’t slept on the floor in ages ... not like this, not rough ground with nothing between me and the earth. I wanted to cry. I held myself back.

We needed to keep moving. We had spent the night together ... really spent it ... and now we needed to push forward and find something better than this. But I could barely move without the pain flaring up my spine.

"Kael, my back is really hurting me," I said and just lay back down on the ground, defeated.

"You have to manage until we reach somewhere we can properly rest," he told me.

That was when something snapped inside me.

"You’re the cause of all of this, Kael, and I’m not capping." The words flew out before I could stop them. "You made me lose my place. Everything I had."

He just stood there and looked at me. Didn’t say a single word.

"So you think I’m the only one at fault?" he finally said, quietly. Not shouting. Just ... hurt. He turned away from me and stepped forward, putting a little distance between us.

The silence that followed was loud.

I sat with what I had just said and realised how bad it was. Really bad. It had come from anger and pain and nothing else, but that didn’t undo it.

"I’m also to blame for this," I said. "I was horny and I told myself I was punishing Lucian by sleeping with you. That’s the truth. I’m sorry."

He didn’t turn back to face me. "I’ve always taken you as my queen, even till now. Whatever you say, I’ll accept it. It hurts ... but it’s fine," Kael said.

"I’m sorry, Kael. Please. Let’s go, I’ll manage myself," I said.

He turned around, walked over to me without a word and lifted me clean off my feet.

"I’ll carry you as far as my strength allows," he said.

I smiled despite myself. "I don’t think roasted rabbit gave you enough strength for that."

He laughed. And just like that, the tension cracked and we kept walking.

Into the unknown. The cool breeze hit my face and I let it wash over me. My back was slowly getting better ... not fully, but better. Something in there had been knocked out of place from the way I slept, a nerve or a muscle that was making its displeasure very loudly known.

We hadn’t gone much further when Kael spotted an old wolf just ahead ... a male, out in front of what looked like a modest house, watering his garden like it was any other morning.

Relief moved through me like warm water.

We had broken through the thicket. There were people here. Real people. I thought about banished wolves then, about everything they went through just to find a face that wasn’t hostile ... and I felt the weight of that fully for the first time. This was what it felt like. Now I knew exactly what I had put others through.

"Hello, sir. Please ... we’re looking for help. This is my wife and she isn’t feeling well. Could we possibly get shelter and some treatment?" Kael said.

My eyes went wide.

His wife?

I almost said something. I caught myself just in time. Smart move, actually. A solid cover.

The old wolf straightened up, calm and unhurried, and looked between the two of us. "You say she’s your wife? What brings you two out to these parts?" he asked.

"Please, before anything else ... my wife needs medical attention," I cut in, keeping my voice soft but urgent. I needed him to pause all the questions and open the door first.

He did.

He opened his home and brought us inside without much fuss ... a clean, decent place that felt warmer than anything I’d been near in days.

"Wait here. I’ll be right back," he said and disappeared inside.

I played the part ... acted like I was too weak to carry much of a conversation, let him take the lead. We had been counting on someone being hospitable enough to take us in, and we had not been disappointed.

He came back with supplies and pressed a warm towel to my back. Kael held it in place, applying gentle pressure. Then the old wolf went in again and returned with hot tea.

I could have cried for real this time ... happy tears.

It had been so long since I’d had something hot to drink. Since I’d had anything that felt like care.

"Thank you so much, sir," I said softly, still playing the recovering woman. I had to stay in character.

"It’s no trouble," he said, settling into a chair across from us. "Now ... can you tell me who you two really are?"

And there it was. The question we couldn’t sidestep forever.

"First, can you tell us where exactly we are?" Kael said. "Just so we know there’s no security risk before we speak openly."

The old wolf studied us for a moment. "You’re in Thornridge. Are you two being chased?"

Thornridge.

I turned the word over in my head. We had come a long way from Winterwood. Further than I’d realised.

"No," I said. "We weren’t chased. We were exiled."

He stood up slowly from his seat. "Am I a criminal for hosting you?" he asked, and there was something almost childlike in how innocent he looked asking it.

I got to my feet. My back protested but held.

"No, I promise you, you’re not," I said. "We were exiled for something we did ... but please, sit down. Let us explain everything. And please don’t tell anyone about us. It’s for our safety."

He hesitated. Then he sat back down.

We told him everything. He sat through the whole story and his reactions were something else ... cringes, sharp inhales, small sounds of disbelief. It was almost funny how expressive he was. Almost.

"So she’s not actually your wife?" he asked when we were done, looking between Kael and me.

"No," Kael said. "But that’s what I’ll tell everyone we meet."

The old wolf was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded slowly. "Life happens. Nobody plans for things like this. The only way through is forward ... don’t look back, not even after three years."

"Thank you. For everything," I said.

"You can stay here as long as you need to. I have a spare room sitting empty. I’m a widower ... my two children, a son and a daughter, are both outside this territory for work now." He said it plainly, without self-pity. Just facts.

He looked the age to have fully grown pups out in the world living their own lives.

"We truly appreciate this, sir," Kael said. "We didn’t come expecting this much. We only hoped ... and you’ve given us far more than we hoped for."

"One thing I’ll say though," the old wolf added, his voice dropping just slightly. "Thornridge looks quiet. But it’s brutal underneath that. Watch your steps everywhere you go. That said ... don’t let it stop you from exploring. I’ll take you to see some of the landmarks around here tomorrow. For now, get proper rest."

We went to the room he showed us and the moment I stepped inside, something in my chest settled.

It already felt like a home.

"I told you we’d be alright," Kael said behind me.

I smiled ... then caught myself and cut it short.

It was a big room with an actual couch in the corner.

"I’ll sleep on the couch," he said.

I didn’t give a fuck where he slept. He could take the floor for all I cared. Whatever he wanted.

I had been noticing something strange stirring in me toward him ... or rather the absence of something. I didn’t love Kael. I was starting to be honest with myself about that. I had slept with him because I was horny and angry and needed an outlet. That was it.

There was a TV in the room.

I wasn’t watching it. I just lay face down on the bed and let the mattress hold me.

"Lucian has gotten married to Celeste," Kael said from behind me.

I sat up sharply.

There it was ... right on the screen. The news. Lucian hadn’t just moved on. He had sprinted. Not even from me, but from the woman he had always claimed was his real love, Selene. And somehow Celeste was the one wearing his name now.

I stared at the screen and didn’t say a word.