Tessa

by Gabelman, Teresa

  Jared stood beside her, his hand again on her arm, though he was silent. She kept looking his way but it was as if he wasn’t even in the room. “You okay?”

  “I should be the one asking you that,” Jared responded with a smile, but she knew it was fake because it didn’t reach his hard eyes.

  “The last set of X-rays look great.” Slade sounded happy about that fact. “I want to take another round in an hour. Then we can decide whether I’m keeping you here or if you can go home.”

  “Home,” Tessa said quickly, setting the cup on the table next to her. “See, that didn’t even hurt. I’m fixed. I’m fine.”

  “We’ll see. I honestly don’t want you here any longer than you need to be. The sooner you feed, the better.” Slade gave her a stern look. “Now rest and I’ll be back. The other surgeons are probably going to be coming in to check on you also.”

  “Okay.” Tessa pressed her head back on the pillow with a frown. She really wasn’t a very good patient, but honestly, she never ever wanted to go through what she just went through again, so she was going to be a good girl and listen. “Thank you, Slade. For everything.”

  Slade gave her a wink, then she noticed the warning glare he gave Jared.

  “What was that about?” Tessa turned her head to stare up at Jared.

  “What was what about?” Jared asked innocently, his eyes shifting to hers. “Are you really feeling okay? Nothing hurts?”

  “It’s still tender in my rib area, and my back is sore, but—” With each word she spoke, his rage reflected in his eyes. “You know.” It wasn’t a question, but a hard fact. He’d found out what her father had done.

  “You will never have to worry about him again, Tessa,” Jared vowed, and she knew he was trying to keep the anger out of his voice, but he failed miserably.

  “I don’t want you to do anything to him.” Tessa knew that statement would go over like a fart in church, as Gramps would say.

  “Don’t ask that of me.” Jared shook his head as if refusing to even consider such a request.

  “I just did.” Tessa put her hand on his and squeezed. “I have to do this for myself, Jared. He did this to me, not you. As soon as I’m released, I’m going to the jail and pressing formal charges. I need to do this my way. Please understand.”

  “Do you have any idea what you’re asking of me?” Jared growled, running his free hand down his face.

  “I do.” Tessa nodded, then decided to see where his heart really lay. It might not be the best way, but it was the way she wanted it. “I don’t want you killing my father. If one day we have a child through adoption, I really don’t want to explain why they have no grandparents by saying, ‘Daddy killed your grandpa.’”

  Jared’s eyes shot to hers. “What did you just say?”

  Before Tessa could reply, the door opened and in walked everyone. Steve led the pack. “Great, you told her.” Steve smiled as he hurried toward the bed. “Raven is really cool.”

  Tessa gasped in shock as she looked from Steve to Jared. “What?”

  “Ah, fuck.” Steve wheezed in fear. “Oh, hey. Don’t listen to me. I talk out of my ass and most of the time make no sense.”

  Sid knocked Steve out of the way and headed toward Tessa, with Lana close beside him. “How you feeling, babe?”

  Knowing that Sid was trying to cover what Steve said, Tessa wasn’t falling for it. “What did he mean? Told me what?”

  The uncomfortable vibes coming from everyone suffocated her. Even Pam and Jill glanced away from her. Tessa’s gaze landed on Raven, who stood with Van and Charger. None of them were looking her way. “Who are you?”

  Raven’s eyes shot up to hers, then to Jared before she rushed out of the room. The devastated look in her eyes confused Tessa even more. Jared watched her go, then leaned down and absently kissed Tessa on the forehead. “I’ll be back.”

  Never in her life had she felt the devastation she felt now. In fact, she would go through the pain of broken ribs healing wrong for the rest of her life rather than the pain racing through her. Was Raven from his past? Did they have a romantic past? She was younger than Jared, but so was she. Confusion filled her brain as she stared at the door Jared and Raven disappeared through. Slowly, her gaze looked at each face in the room and the looks they were giving her were too much.

  “I’m sorry.” She cleared her throat, then lied. “I’m not feeling well. Please leave.” Proud of herself that she didn’t scream for them to get out at the top of her lungs, Tessa kept her cool and politeness. Though she knew she was close to losing her shit.

  All the mates walked up to her, their eyes knowingly staring into hers. They understood she needed a minute and were going to give it to her. Adam was the last to walk over to her.

  “I’m going to kill him,” Adam vowed, making Tessa sigh in frustration.

  “No one is going to kill him,” she hissed, then glanced to see they were the only two in the room other than Angelina, who stood by the door waiting for him. “Lock the door, Angelina.”

  “What?” Angelina frowned at her, then glanced at Adam.

  “What are you doing?” Adam frowned, giving his sister a sideways glare as she whipped off the cover and got out of bed.

  “Getting the hell out of here.” Tessa searched for her clothes. “If you don’t want to see your sister’s bare ass, I suggest you turn away.”

  “Here.” Angelina ran over after locking the door to hand her a plastic bag. “We grabbed you some clothes.”

  Tessa pulled her into a hug. “Thank you.”

  Grabbing her phone, she ordered a Uber, then dressed quickly. Sticking her phone in her back pocket, she walked to the window.

  “Don’t even fucking think about it,” Adam warned. “I don’t know what in the hell you think you’re doing, but Jared and Ra—”

  “No!” Tessa shouted, then held her hand up, making sure he knew she was serious. “This is a conversation that Jared is to have with me. I refuse to hear it from anyone else. And you are not killing Dad. I’m going to make damn sure I make his life as miserable as he has made ours. This was done to me, so put your male alpha bullshit in your back pocket. Neither you or Jared will take this power from me. I will do this my way, and my way only. Got it?”

  “But Jared—” Adam tried again, but Tessa threw a bedpan at him, which he knocked down with a quick block.

  “I said I don’t want to hear it from anyone other than him,” Tessa warned, then glanced around frantically. “Adam, either you help me get out of here, or I’m jumping out the window.”

  “You do realize that only an hour or so ago you had ribs reset and were in so much pain you could hardly talk.” With a growl, Adam walked toward the window and looked down. He then felt around the window.

  “Guess it really does pay to be a vampire,” Tessa shot back, glancing at the door. “Ironic that healing too quickly put me in here and now healing too quickly will help me get out.”

  Adam rolled his eyes at her from over his shoulder, but somehow removed a glass panel from the window. Setting the glass against the wall, he hung his head out the window before looking back at her. “It’s a long drop.” He frowned. “Are you sure you should be doing this? What if you aren’t completely healed?”

  “Jump with her,” Angelina said, then frowned when Adam gave her a “what?” stare. “Jump with her, and you take the majority of the impact. I thought you aced physics.”

  Tessa chuckled at Angelina’s jab at Adam. “Unless you can get me past everyone out there, nurses included, then the window is the only way to go.”

  “You better hurry. I hear Slade out there talking,” Angelina said anxiously.

  Picking up Tessa, he pulled them up on the ledge. “You owe me,” Adam said, right before he leaped.

  They landed with Adam absorbing most of the impact. A few people gave them shocked looks but kept going, although more quickly than before. “No, I don’t. We aren’t even close to being even, bro.”

  Sett
ing her down, he looked her over, concerned. “Tessa, are you really okay?”

  “Physically, yes,” she replied, even though the jump did jar her a bit, but she was fine. “Mentally, I will be soon. I have things I need to take care of.”

  “You’re going to see Dad, aren’t you?” Adam walked with her as she hurried toward the Uber that was already waiting. That was the thing about Ubers; they were quick when you needed them.

  “Yes,” Tessa said, reaching the car. She turned and hugged Adam. “I’ll be fine, Adam. This is something I have to do for myself. And just tell them I jumped. Don’t get in trouble.”

  “I’m always in trouble, and I think they would know I would have stopped you.” Adam snorted.

  “Not if I didn’t want to be stopped,” Tessa shot back.

  “Yeah, right. Just be careful.” Adam hugged her, then turned to leave. “I love you, sis. Do what you have to do.”

  “I love you, too, bro.” She smiled to his back, then glanced up to see Angelina watching them from the window. She was shooing Tessa discreetly with her hands. Knowing that Slade and maybe even Jared had broken into the room, she hurried in the car and shut the door.

  “You Tessa?” The driver eyed her in the rearview mirror.

  “Yes,” Tessa replied, and glanced back up at the window to see Jared searching the area looking for her. She scooted quickly away from the window. “County jail, please.”

  Tessa gasped as the other door opened. Turning quickly, she stared in shock as Raven bent over, looking at her.

  “Going somewhere?” Raven cocked her eyebrow, then gave her a half grin. “Don’t worry. I’m not going to tell them, but don’t be too hard on him. After you and… Jared talk, I’m here to answer any questions I can. He’s a good man. Just has a shitty way of showing it sometimes.”

  Tessa opened her mouth to speak, but Raven had already slammed the door and walked away, leaving Tessa confused and speechless.

  Chapter 21

  Jared watched Raven walk away. Jesus, when did his life get so fucking complicated? All he seemed to be doing was hurting the people who mattered most to him. Raven felt that he was ashamed to tell Tessa about her as well as still being hurt when he’d walked away from the Dark Guardians.

  “Fuck!” Jared hissed, knowing that nothing was resolved with Raven and now he had to face Tessa, who he’d just walked away from. He felt like a piece of shit. As he headed toward Tessa’s room, Jared saw the dirty glares and disappointed looks on everyone’s faces, clearly indicating they thought he was a piece of shit, too.

  He noticed Slade pounding on the door. “Tessa,” Slade called out. “Open the door.”

  “Ah, she’s getting dressed,” Angelina’s voice responded nervously from the other side of the door.

  “She shouldn’t be out of bed.” Slade’s voice turned hard. “Open the door. Now!”

  “Tessa.” Jared nudged Slade out of the way, working the handle.

  “We already tried that, Einstein,” Sid informed him, in his usual sarcastic tone.

  Not caring, he lifted his foot and kicked the door open just as Adam was coming through the window. “Yeah, well you didn’t try that.” Jared grunted. Not seeing Tessa anywhere, he rushed that way, gently moving Angelina, but Adam not so much. His eyes roamed the area, but there was no sight of Tessa anywhere.

  “Where is she?” Jared glared at Adam, controlling himself enough not to grab him by the throat. “And don’t tell me you don’t know.”

  “I don’t know.” Adam shrugged, pulling Angelina toward him. “Tried to catch her, but she got away.”

  “He said not to say that,” Steve whispered to Adam, but was ignored as per usual.

  Jared looked at the glass, then back at Adam. “And I guess you want me to believe she did this?”

  “When Tessa puts her mind to something….” Adam started then frowned. “Nah, I did that. I also jumped with her, so she didn’t hurt herself further. You got a problem with that? Tough shit. You shouldn’t have walked away when she asked you a question. It seems to be your go-to nowadays.”

  Most of the Warriors had left as soon as they discovered Tessa was going to be okay. Duty called. Jared glared at Adam, but honestly, what could he say? The damn kid was right. He walked away from her when she questioned him… again.

  “I have to set this straight, Adam.” Jared toned down his attitude. “Where is she?”

  “She went to see her dad,” Raven said as she walked into the room. Then looked at Adam. “His dad, their dad. Whatever. You both need to let her take care of this in her own way. Support her, but don’t interfere.”

  “How do you know this?” Jared frowned, not liking the thought that Tessa was heading to her piece-of-shit father alone.

  “Because I just sent her on her way in an Uber.” Raven walked over to stand next to Val.

  “And you didn’t stop her?” Jared cursed, rubbing his forehead. “What the hell, Raven? She just had major trauma and should be—”

  “You know what? You’re right.” Raven’s face scrunched up in anger. “She should be here in bed with you at her side, but instead, she’s facing something alone because she feels she needs to, and you know why she feels she needs to?”

  No one said a word. They just stared at Raven, who grew angrier by the minute. Okay, that wasn’t true. The men just stared at her, but the women who were left were nodding as if they knew the answer. And then someone did speak.

  “Why?” Yep, Steve, the curious vampire of the group, just had to ask.

  “I think I can answer that,” Jill said smugly, looking directly at Jared. “Because Mr. Dickhead has been an unsupportive asshole.”

  “Give that girl a smiley face sticker,” Raven said, but her eyes remained on Jared. “And let me clear up the confused look on your face. I’ve been asking questions and the ladies have been more than happy to tell me everything.”

  “You could have asked me.” Jared frowned, not liking the fact that everyone knew his business. Then again, keeping secrets had got him in this mess in the first place.

  “No, actually, I couldn’t.” Raven shook her head. “I wanted an honest answer.”

  Okay, that fucking stung… a lot. “I wouldn’t have lied to you.”

  “Not telling me everything is a form of lying. Secrets are a form of lying.” Raven took a step forward. “I am sick and tired of men thinking they need to save us women. We don’t need saving. We would like to be supported, especially by the men who vow to love us… our mates and yet, the strong women will survive. Shocker to most men, I know, but true. Your mate is a living example.”

  “Dammit, Raven, I was trying to protect you,” Jared stated, then realized by the anger flashing in Raven’s eyes that was definitely the wrong thing to say. “It’s because of me you’re unsafe.”

  “No, it’s because of the evilness and greed of a demon that I’m unsafe from hundreds of years ago. But if you want to get technical, no one in this room is safe.” Raven hissed her words in anger. “What you’ve done is alienated your mate and now my chances of ever having a relationship with her is close to zero because of you trying to keep me safe. I don’t need you to keep me safe. I’m a big girl and have more demon kills than you will ever have.”

  “Oh, snap,” Steve whispered, but could be heard by everyone.

  Jared cursed, shaking his head. “I did what I thought was right. What I was taught as a Warrior.”

  “You know, let’s just take care of this little problem now, shall we?” Raven moved to the middle of the room and looked at the ceiling. In position, she screamed, “Jozzar, you piece of shit demon spawn. Here I am, Raven Kincaid. Come near me or my family and I will send you back to hell! There, that should do it.”

  “Hey!” Steve stepped back, also staring at the ceiling. “When I signed up for this shit, I never said I was cool with summoning demons. And I sure as hell didn’t read that in the fine print. Did you?”

  “Shut up, Steve,” Jill warned, but she t
oo was staring at the ceiling.

  “Now that’s settled, get the fuck out of here and set things right,” Raven ordered with a cocked eyebrow.

  “Watch your mouth.” Jared’s eyes narrowed at her.

  “Whatev.” Raven rolled her eyes, then added in a sarcastic tone, “Dad.”

  “Jesus, she’s a female version of Jared.” Sid gaped, then sighed. “And isn’t that fucking scary!”

  “And don’t push our luck with that asshole, Raven.” Jared ignored Sid, glaring at Raven. He was damn proud of her bravery, but bravery and cockiness could get someone killed quickly. He cursed when she just shrugged. Looking away from her, he glanced at Slade. “Do you need me to bring Tessa back here?”

  Glaring at the window, Slade also cursed. “Well, she definitely doesn’t need to be jumping out of fucking windows, but I think she will be fine. I would like to have one more X-ray, especially now to make sure she didn’t do any damage.”

  “Then I’ll bring her back,” Jared said, then glanced at Angelina who stomped her foot, her arms crossed angrily. “After she’s finished what she needs to take care of. As long as she is okay.”

  “Call me when you’re bringing her in, and I’ll make sure I’m here,” Slade said as Jared passed him.

  “I can’t believe Tessa escaped.” Jared heard Steve say as he headed for the door. “Didn’t she escape you guys once before?”

  “Yeah, she did,” Sid answered with a chuckle. “Out a window as a matter of fact.”

  A grin spread across Jared’s face at the memory as he stepped out of the broken door and into the hallway. He remembered that day as if it were yesterday. They had just found Tessa while trying to find Adam. She had tried to deny who she was and that she, in fact, wasn’t the woman who’d broken into their compound to kidnap one of their prisoners.

  After walking through the lobby, he stepped outside and jogged to where his bike was parked. He knew the exact moment he’d fallen in love with Tessa Pride. It was when he’d found her gone from upstairs at Gramps’s place that he’d raced outside and discovered her hanging from a large tree branch. He’d been very attracted to her when she had broken into the compound wearing a baseball hat and sunglasses, but it took her escaping them through a window and dangling from a tree for him to realize that she was his and always would be.