Regret

Knox didn't sleep that night. He sat alone in his study, staring at the closed door. Ross's words kept repeating in his mind: You don't belong here anymore.

He leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. Then he flashed back to Ross standing at the royal dinner with wine dripping from her dress. The humiliation on her face yet, he did nothing. He remembered the warriors pushing her against the wall. He remembered walking past. Most painfully, he remembered every time she had looked at him. She had never begged. Never demanded affection. Never asked him to love her. She had simply endured. And he had mistaken her silence for weakness.

Knox clenched his fists. “I was a fool.” The words felt foreign coming from him.

—--

The next morning, Knox found Ross in the garden. She was sitting beneath an old tree, reading. He stopped several feet away.

“Ross.”

She didn't look up. “What do you want?”

“I want to apologize.”

That made her close the book. She looked at him calmly. “Go ahead.”

Knox took a breath. “I treated you terribly.”

Ross said nothing. “I humiliated you. I ignored you. I allowed people to disrespect you because I believed you were weak.”

Her expression remained unreadable. “I was wrong.”

“You were.”

Knox swallowed. “I should have protected you.”

Ross's eyes hardened. “No.”

Knox frowned. “No?”

“You shouldn't have had to protect me.”

She stood. “You should have treated me like your wife.”

The words struck harder than any weapon. Knox lowered his eyes. “You're right.” Ross walked past him. He turned. “Ross, please.”

She stopped. “Please what?”

“Give me a chance to make things right.”

She slowly turned around. “Why?”

“Because I regret what I did.”

Ross stared at him. “Regret is easy when the person you mistreated suddenly becomes more powerful than you.”

Knox's jaw tightened. “That isn't why I'm apologizing.”

“Maybe not.”

She stepped closer. “But how am I supposed to know that?” Knox had no answer. Ross looked at him for several seconds. “You didn't care when I was powerless.” She turned away. “Why should I believe you care now?”

Knox watched her walk away and for the first time, the Alpha King had no command that could solve his problem.

---

By afternoon, Ross was in the royal library.

Beta Nash sat across from her with a mountain of documents. He picked up another parchment and sighed dramatically. “Do you know what being Beta means?”

Ross looked at him. “Being second in command?”

“No.” He held up the parchment. “It means reading things nobody else wants to read.”

Ross laughed.

Nash smiled. “I knew I'd make you laugh eventually.”

“You're ridiculous.”

“Thank you. I've worked very hard on it.”

Ross returned to her documents.

Nash became serious. “Are you all right?”

Ross paused. “Yes.”

“You're lying.”

She looked at him. “You're surprisingly observant.”

“I have to be. Knox is emotionally constipated, so someone in this palace needs to notice feelings.”

Ross burst out laughing.

Nash grinned. “There. Much better.” He leaned back. “You don't have to pretend with me.”

Ross's smile faded slightly. “I spent two years pretending.”

“Then you can stop.”

She looked down at the document. “Thank you.”

Nash waved his hand. “Don't thank me. I'm doing this because you're the only person in this palace who laughs at my jokes.”

“I don't laugh at all of them.”

“Exactly. That's why our friendship is special.”

Ross shook her head.

As usual, Knox was standing outside the library. He had come to speak with her again. Instead, he saw Nash leaning across the table, making Ross smile. The same unpleasant feeling twisted inside him. He continued to stare not until Nash noticed him.

He immediately sat straighter. “Oh.”

Ross turned as Knox walked into the room. “What are you doing?”

Nash glanced at the documents. “Reading.”

Knox's eyes narrowed. “With my wife?”

Nash blinked. “She is also the Queen.”

Knox said nothing. Nash looked at Ross. “Should I leave?”

Ross shrugged. “It's your choice.”

Nash smiled. “Excellent. I'm staying.”

Knox's expression darkened and seeing this, Nash casually returned to the documents. Ross almost smiled.

Knox stared at them both. He didn't like this. He didn't like the way Nash could make her laugh. He didn't like how comfortable she was around him. Most of all, he didn't like the realization that he had created the distance between himself and Ross.

He had pushed her away. Now someone else was standing where he should have been. Knox turned to leave.

Ross called after him. “Knox.” He stopped. She looked at him. “You asked what you could do.”

He turned fully toward her. “Yes.”

“Nothing.”

His expression changed. “Nothing?”

“Nothing you can do will change what happened.” She returned to her documents. “If you truly regret it, then live with it.”

Knox stared at her. For the first time in his life, the most feared Alpha in the kingdom had absolutely no idea what to do. Then, he walked away silently.

Behind him, Nash leaned toward Ross. “Was that too harsh?”

Ross looked at him. “No.”

Nash nodded thoughtfully. “Good. Because I was about to say something much worse.”

Ross laughed.

Down the corridor, Knox heard it. He stopped. That laughter used to belong in his palace. But he had never been the reason for it. Now he desperately wanted to be. Desperately.