Stepped Up [COMPLETE]

17

Over the next few days, Rick and I successfully sidestepped each other's paths. Whenever our eyes met, he shot daggers at me, and I couldn't help but respond with a self-satisfied smirk. I had cast a spell to ensure he dreamed of Trisha and me, embracing the pettiness and vindictiveness that welled within me. Witnessing him tired, grumpy, and consumed by jealousy was a guilty pleasure I relished.

While I managed to avoid Rick and circumvent meetings, dinners, and training sessions with him, Jack wasn't as fortunate. He had to spend considerable time with Rick, discussing pack affairs, and operational logistics, and overseeing training sessions with the enforcers. Jack's return home was often marked by a palpable tension, and I found myself needing to employ various means to soothe him after each encounter with the man from our past.

Jack's POV:

My teeth ground together once again as Rick persistently mentioned Hope's name. His intention was clear—to provoke my anger and jealousy toward Hope's past marriage to Trisha. Yet, I had already discussed this with Hope, and she had candidly explained the nature of her marriage. While it was disconcerting to learn about Hope's prior marriage and her love for Trisha, the reassurance that it was a marriage of convenience and that Hope hadn't been romantically involved calmed my tumultuous emotions.

"How can you be okay with your mate grieving the loss of her wife?" Rick complained to me. I knew he was doing this so that I would get angry and take it out on Hope. I took a deep breath and calmed myself, thinking I could soon return home to my mate. I also purred contentedly with the thought that whilst I had a true mate that I could return to, Rick did not, and he had no one to blame but himself. I also contented myself with the knowledge that my daughter was the next true Head Alpha with the strength to run the office. 

"Because she has every right to grieve her loss. Hope loved Trisha in her way; she lost her, she deserves to grieve that loss. Trisha and Hope were also best friends for years before they married." Rick growled in annoyance at my answer, clearly not getting the rise out of me that he wanted. 

"And you're okay with the knowledge that they slept together?" Rick asked, disgust and anger laced in his words. 

"I'm no angel either. I wasn't exactly celibate either before Hope." I shrugged, and that was true. I hadn't lived a life of celibacy before meeting Hope. "Why does it bother you so much? From what Hope tells me, you rejected Trisha. Why is someone else loving her annoying you so much? You didn't want her." Rick stared at me, glaring, while his brain started to work on his answer. 

Before he could answer me, Rick's phone started to ring and vibrate in his pocket; fishing out his phone, he stared at the screen and then a rye grin spread across his face. He excused himself before walking away to take his call, ensuring he was out of earshot. 

Rick's POV:

"What did you find?" I asked my beta as I answered the call. 

"Hello to you too,"

"Don't start with that smart-ass shit; what did you find?" I repeated. 

"Trisha and Hope married in Vermont a few months after they left the pack, and that's where Trisha died."

"Did you find out how she died?"

"Haemorrhage due to childbirth."

"Childbirth?!"

"Yeah, she gave birth to Elena Trisha Mayson on January 1st 2023, but passed away due to complications from preeclampsia." Hope had told me that her daughter was called Elena, and she was four, not almost 6.