His father wanted to know where he had been, naturally. He had duties to his Alpha and him just taking off was considered rude, among other things.
“I just needed a few days alone with my wife. This has all been quite an adjustment.”
His dad scoffed. “Why would you need more time than you already had? You had only been back one day. I don’t see why you would need to leave.”
Ben sighed. It wasn’t going to be as easy as he had hoped, it never was with his father. Ben didn’t want to play the game, going back and forth and watching all of his words so carefully. That was the last thing that Ben wanted, but he had no choice.
“She is overwhelmed with her new surroundings. It’s a lot colder and desolate here than what she is used to. She has no family and Teri was close to her people.”
James made a snickering sound. “I remember how poor her father’s clans were. She should be happy for where she is. She married up, that’s why it was a favor. It was the last thing I wanted to do if I am completely honest. I didn’t want to put you in bed with someone so beneath you. Are you telling me that she can’t handle her new role? You need to figure this out now, before you ascend and are stuck with a Queen that is not up to it.”
Ben asked him what he meant by that. James shrugged. “I thought it was obvious. You don’t have to keep her as a bride, if you find her to be subpar. You don’t want your heirs to come out weak after all, son, do you?”
Ben agreed that he didn’t, but it wasn’t like he felt that way at all. He loved Teri and was so glad that she was going to be the mother of his children. Ben couldn’t think of anyone else that would be as perfect for the job, or for him. Ben wanted to know why his father was so quick to go back on his word, but James just grinned. “If you find her not to be worthy, then it’s not my fault, and I have done what I said I was going to do. You are married, aren’t you?”
“Fate agreed with the union, Dad. Me breaking up with her is never going to happen. I just want you to know that.”
James wanted to talk about it, debate it like it was even an option. For Ben, it wasn’t. He was never giving Teri up.
Chapter 22
Teri
When Ben got back, his face was red and he had a strange quality to his voice, like he had been yelling a lot or something. Teri didn’t know what it was about, but she was starting to think that his meeting with his dad had not gone well at all. She wanted to know what was going on, but he was so distraught that the last thing she wanted to do was make it worse.
Instead, she laid down and called him to her side. Teri was learning quickly what made Ben happy. She knew that it wasn’t going to matter what was said. She could touch him and distract him enough that the sad look on his face would be gone. That’s what she was looking for. Teri wanted him to calm down before he told her what in the world was going on. She had to figure it out.
Later, much later by the darkness shining through the window, Teri asked him what was wrong. He was obviously bothered by something, so she wanted to help any way she could. Ben was reluctant to talk about it, which told her that it was likely something bad and she was involved. His father didn’t seem to like her. She’d never even met him, but he was filling Ben’s head with bad thoughts of their mating. Apparently, he never wanted to agree to them getting together. She wasn’t good enough, no doubt.
When her worst fears were realized, Teri didn’t know what to say. It was much harder to pretend like she was unfazed when she was no longer guessing. What she worried would happen, had happened. She wasn’t wanted there and that wasn’t what she wanted at all. Teri had hoped in the back of it all that everything would turn out okay. She was naïve in thinking that, obviously.
“You shouldn’t worry about what my father says. He isn’t going to be Alpha for that much longer. I don’t know why we worry about him at all.”
Teri didn’t know what to say. She hated that she wasn’t liked. She had done nothing but be who she was, which was enough to make her unworthy. How could she fight against such prejudice? Teri didn’t know how to combat it or if it was even possible. She just nodded and half-smiled with his answer. She wished that she hadn’t asked at all. “What can I do to make sure that your dad at least likes me? I hate that he doesn’t.” Teri finally confessed, though she didn’t want to and could barely look at him when she said it. Teri felt like she had failed, though she didn’t know how she could change who she was. It didn’t make any sense to her.
“Don’t worry about him, really.” Ben kissed her and told her that it wasn’t her place to make him like her. She was perfect, he said. It made her smile, but it was still sad. Teri wanted everything to work out and that meant that she needed to get his father on her side. Teri didn’t know how she was going to do it, just that she needed to.
Ben assured her that everything was going to be okay. He didn’t believe it and Teri didn’t either. She would never understand why Ben had to pretend like it was all okay. She would have much rather he told her the truth. At least then they could be on the same page and Teri would have known that it was going to be okay.
***
Since Ben was gone with his duties all day, it gave Teri lots of time to think. She, of course, was trying to figure out how to make things better between her and Ben. She wanted his father and possibly the mother that she never heard from, to be on her side. This was Teri’s new home, and she was doing her best to make sure that nothing bad happened. She was going to make them like her.
Teri was convinced that she could make them like her. She didn’t know what she had to say, but Teri went through the village toward where James was staying. She got a lot of looks, but Teri tried to smile at everyone and make herself as friendly looking as possible. It was easier that way, rather than being hostile and for no reason. Teri figured that they were just curious. She was curious too.
Since James was the Alpha and he was busy, Teri tried her best to be as patient as possible. She was told by someone that was like an assistant to him, a tall woman with no nonsense eyes, that he had no time because he didn’t know she was going to be there. Teri insisted that she was going to wait as long as was needed. Teri wasn’t sure how he was going to feel about it, but she had to wait. She had to show James that she wasn’t going anywhere. He didn’t like her yet, but he would. Teri would make him like her one way or another.
When it was later that night, much later, the only reason Teri finally got to see her new father-in-law was because he was leaving for the day. He hadn’t bothered to see her or say hello, or anything that would have been the right thing to do. Teri wanted to find out why he was so against their union, but he had such a clear aversion to her presence as well.
“You’re still here?” James asked as he walked briskly through the room that she’d been waiting in. He didn’t stop to listen to an answer or anything like that. He just kept walking until he was out of the room altogether. He was leaving and he wasn’t going to stop. If Teri wanted to talk to him, she would have to chase after him. It wasn’t dignified by any stretch of the imagination, but it was enough. Teri wanted them to get along that badly, that she was willing to put up with extra crap because of it.
She chased after him and caught up not too far away from the opening of the building. “I was hoping that I would be able to talk to you,” Teri said, walking fast and trying not to sound too out of breath. She was certainly feeling like she was getting a workout. He wasn’t going to stop for anything.
“There is no need. My son married you and that was our obligation. I don’t have to converse with you as well. I won’t be punished forever because your father saved me.”
Teri almost stumbled. She had not expected him to be so open with how he felt about her. She knew that he didn’t like her, but he could have pretended that it wasn’t that bad. It was. He hated her existence and talking to her was a punishment.
She didn’t know if she was really that far beneath him or that he was simply delusional. She couldn’t be sure and part of her didn’t want to know. Whatever it was, he treated her horribly.
