“They will be coming over tomorrow morning to meet you. I want you on your best behaviour.”
“Of course, Dad.”
Her father had become even more overbearing with each day that passed without him having a rein on anything but her.
He had found a prospective groom for her rather quickly and she didn’t know what to say, only what to do. She would not get married.
The loss of her child had really messed with her and there was just one way she could get herself back. She wished her father the best of luck in his endeavours but she wouldn’t be a bargaining chip for him.
She left that night.
*******
They were supposed to be at a council meeting to discuss the new development. A monarchy for werewolves? Unfathomable but the Werewolf Council had already spoken. What else could they do but follow and hope for the best?
Adrian was taking too long in the bedroom. She had stepped out so he could change without her jumping him. That had been a mistake. Obviously.
She opened the door.
“We need to get going, we are already late…”
Ava trailed off halfway through her berating as she noticed Adrian standing still completely dressed with her pregnancy supplement pills in his hands.
Her heart was suddenly racing and her hand moved subconsciously to her belly.
Adrian looked from the pills to her.
“Ava, you are pregnant?”
Ava looked at Adrian suddenly unable to speak as he walked towards her with the bottle hanging limply from his hand.
He reached her.
She didn’t know what to expect. No, that was wrong. She did know what to expect. It was Adrian after all. He would yell at her and question her about why she hid it from him and then he’d–
Adrian fell on his knees and pressed his ear against her belly, his arms encircling her waist delicately.
Ava froze as he listened for the heartbeat of their child and he reacted in the most peculiar way that she could never have anticipated.
He began to cry.
Not loudly but softly. Ava was confused but tried to comfort him in her own way by cradling his head against her belly.
And for some minutes they stayed that way. They just stood and it was okay. Strange but okay.
“I’m sorry, Ava. Sorry that I made you feel the need to hide this from me.”
Oh, Adrian. How could he be so uptight and downright annoying sometimes only to soften up and be nice later? She felt her defensiveness and anger fizzle to nothing and finally let herself admit the truth.
“No, I’m the one who should apologise. I hid this from you because of my fear that if you called me back I would run coming. And I would forever wonder if you did it for me or for our child.”
Ava’s voice cracked and she went on her knees to join Adrian.
“I’m sorry.” She whispered to him.
“Not more than I am. I’m so fucking sorry, Ava. So fucking sorry.”
*******
It was barely a day later and he was already back in Cynthia’s cell. There were two reasons for this. The first was that he had asked to be assigned in place of Cynthia’s warden. He had managed to convince Adrian over the phone that it was something within his capacity to do due to his close relationship with her.
Adrian had seemed a little distracted but the most important part was that he agreed and gave him the free reign he needed.
The second reason was that he realized something as he petted Cole who seemed to become antsier the longer his mother spent away from him.
“I have decided to give you another chance.”
Cynthia sat in a corner of her cell not even deigning to look up. It seemed like she hadn’t been tortured since he left her as she remained unstrapped.
“I don’t know why you bothered coming back. Nothing has or will change.” Her voice was dry and devoid of any emotion.
Calvin didn’t let that disturb him. He knew her like the back of his hand. Even when she was being mean, especially then, he knew what she really meant.
“I realised something as I stayed away from you. You are hiding your intentions from me because you feel it will be easier that way. For me to hate you for no justifiable reason.”
Cynthia kept avoiding his gaze confirming his suspicions.
He attempted to draw her into the conversation again.
“I don’t know why you are doing that. If I’m not a strong enough reason for you to change your mind, I want to remind you that by refusing to say anything you are taking away any chance of Cole knowing his mother. He misses you, you know? You are not only taking that away from him but you are also going to give him the legacy of being the child of a traitor. Is that burden something you really want to pass on to him?”
Cynthia shifted as though the thought of what he said had gotten to her but she still didn’t say anything. Perhaps he had miscalculated. He turned to leave when he heard her voice call out to him.
“Wait!”
He paused.
“I’ll tell you but you can’t tell anyone.”
“Of course.”
But they both knew that was a shallow promise that he would be unable to keep. He would do anything to save her life and she knew it too.
And so Cynthia prayed she wasn’t making a mistake as she started to tell him. Perhaps it would even make him hate her if he heard all the terrible things she had done. That would be good. At least he would be wary of her. That would serve him well.
Which was why her first words puzzled her.
“The first thing you should know is that I never meant to fall in love with you. It was unexpected and beautiful. It was also a lie at the very beginning.”
She narrated her true story after she left the pack of the strict cold pack she had been placed in that never let her forget the magnitude of the offence that brought her there. How she had grown to hate Ava and Adrian every day she spent there for conspiring to send her there all to prevent their secret from coming out.
She told him of how she finally escaped one day and found herself penniless and alone in a human world. How she began to work tables until an unexpected opportunity had risen for her to work at an expensive dining that she met Dorian at.
She told him about their meeting, and how she lost her job. How she moved in with him and how she returned to the pack. She didn’t tell him Dorian’s true identity though as Constantine member of the Werewolf Council.
The rest flowed out easier as she told him everything she had done in the pack.
When she was done, he was silent.
“You hate me now don’t you?” Cynthia said quietly.
“Cynthia.”
“I know I’m not a good person, Calvin. You don’t have to lie to me.” Cynthia sniffed and blinked back tears that seemed to have no end. When had she turned into such a wuss?
“I would never lie to you, Cynthia. It’s just that you hurt so many people, hell even you tried to kill us on our way to the council meeting. I don’t know how to come to terms with that.”
“You shouldn’t have to. You don’t have to. I’ve told you what you need to know. You can go on and live your life. Pretend you never knew me. That would be better. I just ask that you keep Cole. He… he deserves better than what I or Dorian could have given him.”
And it was true too. If she had to leave her son in anyone’s care. It would be him.
“Do you still love him?” Calvin asked out of the blue and Cynthia’s brow wrinkled as she tried to understand what he was saying.
“Love who?”
Calvin seemed to become more agitated, pacing.
“Dorian. You were supposed to go back to him, right? Our relationship was a sham to you because he was in your heart. Is that still the case?”
Was… was Calvin really jealous right now? Did that mean he still liked her or was that just wishful thinking?
“Why do you want to know?” She stood straight not feeling ashamed of her torn and dirty clothes that probably reeked of blood, days old sweat and whatnot. She had to know if it was possible that he still felt something for her.
“Because I care about you.”
Her heart stopped.
“And I don’t particularly care what the answer is. I can’t let you stay here. You deserve a second chance at least for Cole.”
“Calvin.”
How could she care about Dorian when he was all she could think about?
He must have seen something else in her expression, her voice because he shuttered up and moved away from her before she could speak.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Cynthia.”