Way of the Wolf: Redemption

Chapter 35 ~ Promises Kept

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Chapter 35: Promises Kept
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"Is that my son?"

I sucked in a sharp breath, every fibre of my being rocking with those words. I wanted to believe that Valdis could maybe smell that the pup I held was his, but there was a smugness in his expression; a glint that told me something horrible.

"You knew. You knew I was pregnant with your pup," I accused, my tone husky. Whether that was from my wolf pushing forth or fear, I didn't want to take the time to figure out. 

"Of course I knew," he scoffed. "You didn't bleed after your heat, and your skin held only my scent."

I hadn't bled?

That should have been something I'd noticed. But I could barely remember my last heat at all. I had no doubt that, like usual, as soon my scent had stopped filling the air with hormones, I'd found a place to curl up and sleep. Recover.

Yet his admission was so much worse than anything I could have thought of him. It made clear a sterling reality.

"You knew I was carrying your pup and you still left me for dead." My words were choked with disbelief and I stared at him wide eyed, and hurt. Logically I knew it was silly to feel so betrayed, he'd never shown any ounce of true compassion, not unless he got something out of it.

Still, that he could abandon his own blood, an innocent, so easily. . .that twisted deep in my gut until I feared I'd throw up. But I couldn't show weakness in front of him now. I wasn't the simpering and submissive female he'd made me anymore.

"Why are you here?" I snapped before he could form another clever reply, stepping past Sol as fury burned through my veins.

He gave me a smile. The smile that had drawn me to him at first, before I'd known he was a monster. I didn't fall for it now. The ease in his expression only put me on edge as he trailed around us. A hunter taking stock of his prey.

Sol moved with him, twisting his body so that his back was never towards the wolves that crowded us. He was nervous, I could tell that, and I was shaking with fear. Part of me debated crying out for help but I couldn't risk Valdis making a move. Keeping him talking until help arrived felt like the safest thing to do for now and from the looks of it, Sol agreed.

Either way, Valdis didn't seem to care that he was so close to the village and the pack. Everything about him was so calm and collected that we could have been discussing the weather, and not the low regard he held the lives of others.

"I didn't think you and the pup would survive, especially after you injured your leg," he admitted casually. "But when that pack took you in, I decided to see what they'd do with you. I don't know why they decided keep you and feed you up, perhaps they took pity on the pup. . ."

I shivered, doing my best to push away the doubt that he seeded. Valdis was a master of mind games. He knew what to say to make me falter.

Sol touched my arm, offering me a little comfort. I should have been trying to think of a way to run from them, to call for help as I was sure Sol was, but for some reason I was hypnotised by the male that circled us.

"You didn't care when you pressed a knife into my hand to take my own life with. Am I to believe you're here for the pup, to lay claim to him because you want him?" I snarled.