Cynthia was unsettled.
She had stayed away from Calvin in the few weeks that had passed since that moment in the woods.
She couldn’t understand why it hurt her so much to see him with Rhea. Didn’t know why it hurt when he wouldn’t look at her whenever they were in general company.
Maybe he didn’t look at her because she was getting bigger every second it seemed. She was neGabbyng the end of her seventh month. She still felt spry and her mind was generally clear but her body weakened so easily. She was more than ready for this child to be born already.
At the same time, she was anything but ready for the child. She had never really thought of what sort of life it would have.
Getting pregnant for Dorian had felt like an achievement in the moment and at the same time insurance. He had become calmer, more gentle, caring, and thoughtful as though the unborn child could tell whether or not he was yelling at their mother.
But of course, even that could have been deceiving because it wasn’t long after they found out that he asked – no demanded – she return to her former pack.
She knew that Calvin would never do that to her.
Send her and their unborn child away in a harebrained scheme that could have been handled by a lackey.
Calvin.
She didn’t like him. He was just a tool.
She recalled what he had said on one of the picnic dates they had gone on that had stuck with her. He had just stared at her as though she had done something miraculous by just breathing.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I…you are it for me.”
“What?” It was so random that she had laughed, and his cheeks had coloured slightly.
Unbidden, she thought he looked cute. So cute that for a second she imagined kissing the blush from his cheeks before she realized what she was thinking about.
Without thinking too much about it, she set out for the pack training centre. He was always there training the warriors as the Gamma of the pack.
She didn’t know what she would do once she saw him. Didn’t know what she would say after close to a month of radio silence. She just had to see him.
When she got there he was in the middle of a training exercise so she went up to the gallery where she could watch him from a distance.
Usually, only Adrian, Ava, Calvin and Alex had access to the gallery to watch training exercises but the warrior had taken one look at her and let her through. Maybe because everyone had known how close she and Calvin had been before he found Rhea.
Besides with Ava gone, Adrian at the pack house and Alex with his mate, this was the best place to see Calvin.
She stood there for a moment watching him, watching his body move so powerfully. He didn’t seem like the Calvin who had blushed hard, who complimented and kissed her like she was a goddess.
As he concluded his fight, he looked up at her as though he could feel the weight of her gaze on him. Their gazes locked and she managed a small wave at him, turning her lips up in a smile.
He started to smile back but stopped suddenly as though remembering his mate. She left the edges of the gallery to find a seat. In seconds, Calvin was up to see her.
“Cynthia.”
“Calvin.”
He looked tired but Cynthia drank up the sight of him as a thirsty person would water.
He settled into the chair opposite her even though there was enough space for him to sit next to her.
“It’s been a while, how have you been?” He asked courteously.
“Great if you ignore the fact that I closely resemble an overfed panda.”
He smiled like she had wanted him to, his hazel eyes warm and beautiful.
“That’s not true. You look stunning.”
Her heart involuntarily skipped a beat at the expression on his face.
Then as though realizing they had begun to lean forward as though to bridge the distance between them, Calvin’s features straightened out, his smile disappearing.
“Cynthia, what are you doing here?”
“I don’t know.” The truth slipped from her lips and she couldn’t seem to stop or control herself.
“I thought that I wanted you to be happy with your mate but I…I no longer know.”
A tear dropped from her eyes wetting her cheek. She thought of Dylan, of Dorian.
“Somehow I always end up reaching out for people for whom I am not even a choice. I thought I was over that when I met you but now you have a mate and I’m still holding on to you. Surely I must be pathetic to always do something so low.”
“Don’t say that.” Calvin was suddenly next to her, his hand buried in her hair as he pulled her close to himself. “You are beautiful, brave and one of the best people I know.”
Cynthia looked at him.
“I think you make me out to be a better person than I really am… you make me want to be a better person.”
Then without much thought to the fact that they were in a gallery at the very public training centre and that anyone would wander in at any moment, she kissed him. He responded to her as though his mate didn’t exist.
The kiss was hungry, impassioned and soul binding. Yet it felt like a goodbye. Like this would be the last time he would let her come this close to him again. So it was only rational that she didn’t want this to end, that she pulled him close and let her tears fall as her heart betrayed her and fell apart.
When they ended the kiss, their forehead remained pressed together and Cynthia stifled the urge to bawl.
“This is goodbye, isn’t it?” Her voice cracked a little.
Calvin didn’t respond, which was a response on its own.
“Calvin?”
Rhea said and they sprang apart. Cynthia wiped her tears quickly as Calvin’s mate approached them with a bag.
She looked between them as though trying to understand why Cynthia was crying and it had fallen to her mate to comfort her.
“I brought you lunch.” She sounded uncertain.
“I told you that you don’t have to do that. I can get something here.”
“I know. But I just thought that since I was going to help with the pack meal tomorrow, I would ask you to help me try out some recipes first.” Her eyes went to Cynthia again and she seemed like she felt out of place. “But if you are busy, I can just take it back.”
“No. It’s… thank you, Rhea. I’d love to try out your lunch.”
Calvin said obviously trying to placate his mate but Cynthia couldn’t help feeling so jealous. Great, so not only was the girl pretty but she also made him meals.
“Really? Thank you… I mean you are welcome.”
She was cute and a good match for Calvin, better than Cynthia with her dirty history and secrets.
“Calvin, they need you downstairs.” The warrior who had let her through called out. It would seem the break was already over.
“Coming!”
Calvin looked between the both of them.
Cynthia shook her head.
“You can go, Calvin. I’ll see myself out.”
After checking that neither of them needed him to escort them out, he left. Cynthia started to leave herself. She had no business sitting with his mate, she’d just not wanted him to escort her out right in front of Rhea.
“Whatever you are doing Cynthia ends here.” Rhea’s voice had morphed from that of a soft easy going she-wolf to a deadly panther.
“Pardon? What are you talking about?”
Rhea stood so they were of a height.
“Leave Calvin alone. I see the way you look at him, touch him. I need him and if you try to come between that, I will end both you and your unborn child.” Rhea smiled. “Pregnant women are so clumsy after all.”
Cynthia’s anger flared.
“Are you threatening me?”
“No, I’m merely informing you.”
“You are not who you seem to be, right?”
Rhea smirked. “That’s for me to know and you to mind your business.”
Cynthia suddenly had a bad feeling that she had underestimated Rheal because of her carriage. She needed to find out exactly who she was dealing with.
When Ava arrived at the Silverwolf pack she was overcome by an impending sense of doom.
Maybe it was because the pack didn’t seem as divided as Felicity had made it sound. Yes, there were some minor altercations and skirmishes within the pack but it seemed relatively normal for a wolf pack.
Forget about five days, she could be back home in two days at most.
“Sorry for making you come all the way out here. I… I was just an adviser before you gave me this position. I didn’t know what to do when my pack members acted like my giving them orders was the end of the world.”
“It’s alright, Felicity. I understand. Power and authority can be difficult to wield at first.” Ava remembered how hard it had been for her to fill Gabby’s shoes. “But it will get better, I promise.”
Felicity seemed at a loss for words at her response.
“You are nicer than I thought you would be.”
Ava would have appreciated the compliment but the way she said it was off. Ava’s thoughts went to her mate. She missed him and suddenly wished she had acceded to Adrian’s demands that Calvin or Alex handle this issue. But then again it wasn’t too late for that.
Once she returned home she would discuss with Alex and Zinora if they would mind coming over here to stay and rule in their stead. She had an intuition that Felicity wasn’t being completely honest with her. She would feel more at peace if someone she trusted were here to keep an eye on things.
She smiled firmly at Felicity.
“I’d like to see the records of the pack expenditure, treasury, and the reports of the warrior’s stakeouts over the past month.”