All Chapters of The Alpha's Regret Came Too Late: Chapter 41 - Chapter 50

Chapter 42ANNABELLAThe almost-laugh moved through my chest and then caught on my ribs, stilling me as a sharp pain racked through my body  and he noticed — I could see him notice, — and he set the plate aside and said, "Enough for now. You need to rest."I did not argue because he was right and I did needed to rest more.---The room went quiet.He had moved back to the chair, which was close enough that I was aware of him in the particular way you are aware of warmth sources in a cold room — not looking directly, but knowing. My wolf was aware of him with less subtlety than I wished, tracking his presence with an attention that was entirely new to me or maybe old but I had forgotten which made me feel like it was too much.I lay in the cot and looked at the ceiling and let the gaps sit at the edges of my mind without chasing them, because the healer had said rest and rest meant not chasing — and thought about what I

Chapter 44ANNABELLA"Sit forward," she said.I sat forward. She checked my eyes with a small light, both of them, watching the response with the focused attention of someone reading something in a language only she spoke. Then she pressed carefully along the sides of my head, my temples, the base of my skull, watching my face for the specific reactions she was looking for."Better," she said, which from Mara I was beginning to understand was a significant statement. "The concussion is stabilizing. You'll have the headache for several more days, possibly a week. Don't try to force anything you can't remember — it'll come back on its own timeline or it won't, and pushing makes the headache worse and helps nothing.""I know," I said, and then wondered how I knew, and then let the wondering go because letting it go was easier on my head.She checked my ribs next, and I breathed when she told me to breathe and held it when she told me to hold it and b

Chapter 46Annabelle POV“We need to leave soon.” His eyes had a certain worry to it, I saw him cross his arms and watch his face as he rummaged through his brain, probably looking for an answer for my question. I could see the slight flicker of his eyebrow as he looked away. He finally responded “because I said so”. Living with him these past few weeks, I had learnt that he was a man of few words who hated explaining himself. I noticed how his lips half smiled when he was amused, the arm crossing when he was pissed, how he always cleaned his weapons even though they were in pristine condition, the staring into the space when he was worried, the chopping of timber when he was restless.I nodded and said “okay.”I went into the house and continued the doing the dishes. Halfway through, I stopped as my eyes widened with realization. He just said that and I accepted without so much as asking him why.What was I thinking? I wasn’t even thinking! I chided myself as I rested my hands on th

Chapter 48Annabelle POV.I stole a glance at him from the corner of my eyes. He wasn’t a man or many words; color me surprised when he started waxing lyrical about Sleepy Hollow. I realized for the first time, he had let down his guard, so I just enjoyed the rare occurrence. Damon said nothing else as we rolled into the town. There was a different air to him now as we rolled into town. His grip on the steering wheel had loosened, he stole less glances at the side mirror and rearview mirror. The biggest giveaway was his half smile when I had asked if the town had good people in it.We got into the town proper and my eyes widened. I was surprised but didn’t understand why I was. I had no expectations but some how the place clearly exceeded my expectations. Damon’s uneasiness and the whole of business of needing to leave urgently gave me an unconscious expectation of a town that probably had little houses and sparse population, something like a frontier town in Westerns. Sleepy Holl

Chapter 50Damon POVI stayed back a little distance as Cal led our little procession with Annabelle besides him. Annabelle listened every Cal said like it was life sustaining. There was a certain glow on Annabelle’s face as we went around town. I was conscious of the small distance between her and I. I always made sure that it wasn’t reduced or widened.I had learned that she hated when someone hovered around her. I noticed the way her nose flared up in disgust one evening when I came too close to her. The way her shoulders tightened when I stood over her, supervising how she was bandaging herself up. I remembered shifting away and seeing the way she exhaled heavily with relief. It was the reason I was never in the same room with her for too long. I stayed long enough to avoid her realizing she was the reason I left the room but not long enough to bother her. besides, there was always wood to chop, lawns to tend to, weeds to clear and some recon to do; I had a pretty good excuse