Chapter 262 Old Wounds
The meeting ends with soft laughter and the promise of a bonfire tonight, but the mood changes quickly when Envy stands and says quietly, “We’ll have her brought around now.”
The warmth drains out of my chest. I know exactly who she means. Elliot’s hand finds mine under the table, fingers squeezing once. It’s a silent reassurance, but it steadies me more than words ever could. I nod at my mother, even though my throat feels tight.
“Alright,” I say softly. “Let’s do it.”
We step outside together, crossing the gardens that stretch along the side of the packhouse. The air smells of jasmine and damp soil. Someone’s clipped the rose hedges recently, and everything looks sharp and neat, too neat for how messy I feel inside. A while later, two guards wait near the fountain, and between them stands Tessa. For a second, I almost don’t recognise her. Her usual bright smile is gone. Her hair’s dull, tangled. There are dark circles under her eyes. She looks smaller, somehow, not physically, but like the air around her has deflated.
“Macey,” she says, voice barely above a whisper.
I stop a few steps away, Elliot hovering silently at my back. “Tessa.”
She swallows, glancing between us, then down at the ground. “You look good. I mean… better. Alive.”
“Thanks,” I say flatly.
Her eyes flicker up, uncertain. “You’re angry. I get it.”
Angry doesn’t even begin to cover it. Hurt, betrayed, exhausted, all of it swirls inside me. But what surprises me most is how calm I feel
right now. I thought I’d be shaking. Yelling. Crying. Maybe slapping her across her back, stabbing face. Instead, I just… breathe.
“I talked to Elliot,” I tell her. “He told me what you did.”
Tessa flinches. “I didn’t mean for it to go that far-”
“You helped him,” I cut in, my voice sharper than I mean it to be. “You helped Dean. You went behind my back. And you lied about things
that could have helped people find me a lot sooner than they did.”
Her chin trembles. “I thought-”
“You thought he loved you?” I ask. “That you were helping him “let me down easy” so that you could be together because he stuck his
rogue cock in you?”
She looks up then, eyes glassy. “He said it was the right thing to do, to let you know. That if it came from him instead of me… I swear, I
didn’t-”
“Didn’t know,” I finish for her.
- 150.
She goes silent. The wind shifts through the garden, tugging at my hair. Somewhere behind me, I hear one of the guards cough awkwardly.
but no one moves.
“I trusted you,” I say finally. “You were my best friend. And when I needed you most, you were too busy thinking about what you wanted. You sided with the man who chained me in a cave and tried to use me like I was-” I stop, breath shuddering. “Like I was a weapon”
Tessa’s tears spill over, streaking her face. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I’m so sorry, Mace. If I could take it back-”
“You can’t,” I say quietly. “And I don’t want you to.”
Her head jerks up in confusion.
“I don’t want you to erase what you did, Tessa. I want you to live with it. You don’t get to fix it. You don’t get to be forgiven just because
you feel guilty now.”
She flinches, but she doesn’t argue. I take a step closer, lowering my voice. “I don’t hate you. I’m glad I got to see your true colours. Now I know that you’re not worthy of space in my life.”
Her mouth opens, then closes. “You’re stronger than me,” she whispers.
“You think what you want, Tessa. It’s no longer a duty of mine to try to make you feel better of yourself and your shitty decisions.”
Behind me, Elliot exhales quietly. I can feel his pride like a steady warmth against my back.
I turn to the guards. “Take her home. She’s free to go, but she’s not welcome anywhere near the packhouse, or any pack–related events
again.”
Tessa’s voice breaks as they take her arm. “Mace–please-”
I shake my head. “Whatever you do with your life, Tessa, do it away from me.”
She’s still crying as they lead her away and when she’s gone, the garden is finally silent again. Elliot moves up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me back against his chest. For a second, I just stand there, letting the quiet soak in. The scent of him, the warmth, the steady beat of his heart, all of it grounding me.
“You did good,” he murmurs.
I sigh, tilting my head back against his shoulder. “I didn’t think it would hurt this much.”
“Closure always does,” he says softly. “But you handled it exactly right.”
I let out a shaky laugh. “You’re biased.”
“Maybe,” he admits, smiling against my hair. “Still true, though.”
The weight that’s been sitting on my chest for weeks feels lighter now, replaced by something I can’t quite name, not peace, not yet, but
something close.
I look up at the sky, watching clouds drift lazily over the tree line. “Do you think she’ll ever change?”
Elliot’s chin rests on my shoulder. “Maybe. Maybe not. But that’s her story now, not yours.”
That’s enough for me. I nod, feeling the truth of it settle deep inside me. The past isn’t gone, but it’s finally behind me.
He presses a kiss to my temple. “Come on, little goddess. You’ve got better things to do today than relive old wounds.”
I smile, turning in his arms to face him fully. “Like what?”
His grin tilts, playful. “Like seeing Ma and Pa.”
I blink. “Now?”
“Of course. They’ve been asking about you for weeks.”
My heart warms instantly. “Then what are we waiting for?”
He squeezes my hand, eyes bright. “Nothing at all.”
Together, we head toward the orphanage, hand in hand, with nothing but the future in front of us, and whatever is behind us, well, I’m
not looking back.