Finally, she walked fast enough to get just ahead of him and she made him stop. Teri could see how pissed off he was, and she almost went to the side, but she wanted him to see her and for them to understand each other.
“I’m not going anywhere, so we might as well get along. I am going to have your grand cubs soon.” Teri wanted to reason with him for the sake of Ben. It didn’t seem like that was going to work though. He got closer, grinned even, but it wasn’t the sort of gesture that was nice to see. Instead, it was hard to know that he had so much malice for her, but it was coming out of every pore he had. Teri was taken aback by how much it stung her. His words were even worse.
“Watch, Teri. You won’t be here much longer. If I were you, I would get out of here before something bad happens to you. This is rough terrain and someone like you might fall and hurt themselves.”
Teri shivered with his words and moved out of his way. What was she supposed to say to that?
“Don’t forget that I warned you,” he cautioned. Teri didn’t think that she was ever going to forget what he said and his warning. Teri was shaken and she was feeling like they were never going to see eye to eye. The two of them getting along just wasn’t going to happen. As sad as that was, Teri knew she just had to accept it and stay as far away from him as possible.
Chapter 23
Ben
Since his father being the Alpha was only going to last a little while longer, Ben told himself that he was going to do what was necessary to get James out of his life. The more he talked bad about Teri, the less Ben wanted to hear it. It was a shame really, because Teri was a great woman if his father would get to know her. But he wasn’t going to. His prejudice was more than her goodness, and Ben was just going to leave it. He told Teri to leave it as well, but she didn’t seem ready to admit defeat. It was one of the many things that he loved about her.
His first meeting was way out in the mountains. It was a meeting with one of the nearby clans. His clan did trade with them and had helped each other on occasion, but Ben wasn’t sure what to think. He was clueless about all of it. He had been so focused on having fun before he met Teri, that he didn’t know enough. He had no idea what he was walking into and when he got to the leader’s tent and knocked, he wasn’t expecting the sultry voice that told him to come in.
The tent was dark, and Ben could barely see. The light that came in from the door was the only thing that was illuminating his surroundings. It was then that Ben saw that he was not alone. There was a woman in the corner in a bed and she wasn’t wearing anything. The door flap closed and it took a minute for his eyes to adjust. By the time they had, the woman was so close, too close.
He started to jump back, but she followed him and giggled at how uncomfortable he was. Ben didn’t know what to think, but he did know that he wasn’t supposed to be alone with another women. He was married and it meant something to him.
“Woah, I am here to meet with your leader.” Ben wasn’t sure if the woman advancing, the very beautiful blonde-haired woman that reminded him of his ex, was there for a reason or not. It felt like an ambush, one that he wasn’t sure of the reason, which made him even more nervous.
“You have come to the right place. I talked to your father, and you have been promised to me for the night. I need your spunk and you will have a good time giving it to me. Take your clothes off.”
It wasn’t what anyone would normally say, so Ben was having a really hard time believing that was what she just said. It didn’t make sense. None of it did. Ben was so turned on that he couldn’t help the hard length that tightened in his pants. She was beautiful, it was dark, and she was touching him before he could object to it. Would he?
Ben scoffed with disgust at himself. Of course it was wrong, and he didn’t want to betray his wife. He took a step back and heard the whimper in the woman’s voice. His own voice was shaky when he finally said something. “Look, you’re beautiful and all, but I am mated to another woman. I take my vows seriously.”
The woman was confused and said that she thought that his new bride was killed. Ben paused and his eyes narrowed. Was this woman saying that she was going to do something to Teri? Was she threatening her? Ben didn’t like the feeling that came over him all of a sudden, and he wanted to know what she meant by that.
“Nothing really. Your father said that you were recently widowed, and it was a real tragedy.”
Ben was sure that he was wrong with everything. It wasn’t that she had done anything, but where had she heard that? What did his father know, what was he going to do?
He couldn’t think straight, so he told the pretty woman that he wasn’t interested. He didn’t want to stay another moment, so he didn’t. He wanted to get back to Teri and make sure that everything was okay. If anything happened to her…
***
He went to go see his father and ask him what in the world he thought he was doing. Ben was mated, to the woman that he had been told to marry, by his father, so why would he do something like that? Ben knew that he was set up, and he knew that his father had expected him to go for it. But then what would have happened? He knew his father well enough to know that it would have been a plan, not just that. What was the long game, and why would he tell that woman that his wife was dead? Ben didn’t like to think about it. As he made his way home, he tried not to be all worked up, but it was impossible.
James was with someone that he looked to be very close to. It was a redhead that he’d never seen before and was certainly not his mom. He had never seen his dad with someone else before, but he knew by being around them for just a moment that they were intimate. His father cheated on his mother? Why hadn’t he known that, and what was he supposed to say to that? Ben didn’t want that sort of marriage. Did his mom know?
“Ben, what are you doing here?” James at least had the decency to look a little guilty like he had been caught. It was telling though that he didn’t think that he would come back so soon. He thought that his son was going to be just like him.
“I want to talk to you about what meeting you sent me to. Maybe your little friend can leave.” Ben cast the woman a dirty look and asked her if she had somewhere else to be. Ben wasn’t usually so rude to his dad’s friends, but that woman was more than a friend. He didn’t like the idea of him cheating on his mom. It actually enraged him.
When the woman left, thankfully picking up the hint, Ben was able to breathe again. He was disgusted with his father. All he wanted to do was turn around and leave, but he had to know what was going on. He wanted to know what was said about Teri. Ben had to check up on his wife just because his dad had claimed she was dead. It had messed with his head, and he wasn’t sure if she should be alone without him now. It was not the feeling he was supposed to have in his own home. Divule, the small village in the snowy mountains he called home, no longer felt like he belonged there.
Ben asked his dad why he would send him to such a meeting.
“What’s the problem? Ariel is beautiful and that is how her people do business. I have been with her and her mother, maybe the grandmother as well. It’s been a long time. They are driven shifters and they want your children. It’s how they pair up with our clan, through children that we have together.”
Ben was finding it hard to imagine that his father had done such a thing. It felt vile to think that he had been with that woman sexually. She was about as old as he was, younger possibly.
“You can’t be serious.”
James said that he was and worried out loud what she was going to think about him taking off like that.
