Chapter 182 Regret
Kristen's POV
After taking one last look at Aiden to ensure he's asleep in his crib, I quietly shut the door before hurrying to meet my friends in the room opposite mine. The feast ended quicker than I thought because of the tension from earlier, my guests couldn't be at ease anymore, Sapphire's sudden announcement of pregnancy to Bruce whose outburst threw everyone off guard.
Calhoun sensed the uneasiness and calmly dismissed everyone, after ordering the servants to give them gifts to help make the evening less bad for them.
My husband is such a lifesaver, if I hadn't done that I don't even know what would have become of me. My first feast would have ended up in an absolute disaster.
Sapphire's cries ring in my head when I open the door to the dimly lit room.
"Hey," I gently place a hand on her shoulder, offering comfort because she's been like this for an hour.
Maddy doesn't even show any signs of pity or make any move to come close to our friend, she's just staring at Sapphire with a disappointed frown on her
face.
"We'll figure this out, just take a deep breath," I push Sapphire's hair away from her face.
While she sniffles and wipes away her tears.
"I can't believe Bruce would humiliate me like that, did you see the way he yelled at me in front of everyone? For a moment I thought he was gonna hit me," she says amid her low hiccuping sobs.
"He was wrong," I shake my head.
"What am I going to do?"
"Sapphire, Bruce is Calhoun's Beta for fucks sake. How could you not see the trouble coming?" Maddy who is sitting across, cannot even conceal her shock.
And Sapphire stares down at her thighs, but I fail to see the guilt on her face.
"Kristen is our friend yet you go behind her back to sleep with her husband's beta? Whatever got into you? Do you think he'd settle down with you?" Maddy continues, glaring at her.
Sapphire, who I know, would have given her a cutting remark, but this one here seems completely broken like she wants to hide away from the world.
I know that feeling, I've been there countless times.
And upon knowing Maddy is set to keep lashing at her, I try to intervene.
"Maybe you shouldn't talk to her like that, she's our friend. And yelling won't help either, she's going through a lot, we need to support her right now," I calmly address Maddy.
"I just never expected this from Sapphire, how could she spread out her legs to Calhoun's Beta when she has several other sexual partners? She's supposed to respect you and Calhoun by keeping away from his Beta, or any of his men!" A frustrated Maddy throws her hands up.
And I can see some truth in her words. She's making sense, except with the wrong approach because she needs to put Sapphire's feelings into consideration.
"It was just casual sex," Sapphire looks up at Maddy, seeming a bit defensive now.
"You could have stayed away from him," And Maddy wasn't buying any of this.
"Guys, guys, we need to stay calm to sort this out together," I am trying to keep the peace.
"I hate Bruce so much, I should've never invited him for a drink. Now he doesn't believe anything I say because he thinks low of me," Sapphire's voice trembles as she vents on her frustration.
Overpowered by her emotions, she tries herself on
the floor and weeps some more.
Sighing, I join her on the floor and put my hand on her shoulder.
"I know you're hurting but you alone know the exact
way you feel. I promise we'll find a way through this, but you just need to take in deep breaths to relax." I tell her, while my eyes are already on Maddy, wordlessly urging her to be at least nice to Sapphire, even if she cannot be as sympathetic as I am.
"Although I never expected much from Bruce, but he wasn't supposed to humiliate me like that. How could he do this to me?" Sapphire expresses her regret and hurt through low hiccuping sobs.
"Sometimes people disappoint us even though we expect the least from them," Maddy grudgingly hints at this and even adds it with a quick eye roll, as she throws her arms across her chest.
Sapphire thins her lips and shakes her head.
"You're right," she agrees with Maddy.
"And it's true, Bruce is such a jerk for treating you
like that, wonder how he's Calhoun's Beta in the first place. When he's not fully a man on his own. Without Calhoun he's nothing." Maddy says with a giant scowl.
For a moment I pause, and bite down on my bottom lip to keep from laughing. This is wrong, she's not supposed to talk about Bruce like that, but I get that she's trying to make Sapphire feel better in her own way. Maddy isn't always this stubborn and mouthed, in fact, she's the sweetest in our trip group. Except tonight, she and Sapphire seem to have had a switch of personalities.
"I'll figure out the best way to help you out of this" I place a comforting hand on Sapphire and quickly restrain a sigh.
An hour after they're gone, I sit in a moment of
silence as my mind tumbles at my conflicting thoughts because I am contemplating on the possible consequences of urging Sapphire to reveal her pregnancy to Bruce during the feast.
Just because things worked out fine when Calhoun
handled my pregnancy news, didn't mean his beta would do the same with my best friend. It was stupid of me to not think about the contrary. Getting out of bed, I steal a glance at Aiden to see if
he's asleep in the right position. Thankfully he is.
And Calhoun hasn't returned in either. We have separate bedrooms but we still sleep together every night. He always comes to me, but now I don't know
if he's upset that I was trying to set things straight with his beta and my best friend. Why did I push Sapphire to tell Bruce about the
pregnancy in front of everyone? Maybe it was too much. Too soon. It could have been done in private,
between just the two of them. And now, I am just hanging on to self-blame.
My mind drifts over to the shock and anger on Bruce's face, and the collective gasps from our pack members whom I invited as guests to our feast. And how Sapphire let her guard down by showing her vulnerability for the first time.
Urge! I should have handled this differently.
A pang of guilt strikes my chest as I keep having
flashbacks of what happened a few hours earlier. Speaking of Calhoun, I don't even know if I should
confront him about this, and I wonder if it's the right move to speak with his beta about my best friend's pregnancy. Sapphire can be everything but she's never known to tell lies. She's one of the realest
people I know. And if she says the baby belongs to Bruce, then it's no one else's but his.