Caras pov
She blinked, startled by the question. “Cara, what…”
“I’m confused,” I interrupted, my voice rising with frustration. “I’m so confused, and I don’t need you to add to it. I need the truth, Debby. I need to know who you are, what you know about me. I can’t…” My voice broke again, the tears returning. “I can’t handle the lies anymore.”
Debby’s face softened, and she reached out, trying to pull me back into her arms, but I pulled away. I needed answers, not comfort.
“Please, Debby,” I whispered, my voice desperate. “Don’t make this harder than it already is. Show me that I can trust you.”
For a moment, she didn’t speak, her gaze dropping to the floor as if she was battling with herself. She sighed deeply. “I’m sorry if I’ve made you think I was being dishonest. I never wanted to deceive you.”
Her words made my heart race.
“My story wasn’t entirely true,” she said, and my pulse quickened.
She continued slowly, “Not that it was false, but there are things I didn’t tell you. I was found by Master on a cold night.”
” It had been four years since my pack was attacked. Those of us who survived wandered into the Great Woods, lost and terrified, and there we were preyed upon one by one. Finally We created a small settlement there to survive.”
“We stayed there for seven years,” she went on. “For the first five, we tried to find a way out, but the Great Woods is vast. We always got tired or lost. So, we accepted our fate and made the woods our home, but it wasn’t peaceful. One day, we were attacked by men in black cloaks, the same men that attacked our settlement, they did found us. We didn’t stand a chance. No one survived except me. I was fatally wounded, but in managed to escape, barely hanging on to life.”
Debby paused, her eyes shining with a strange mixture of gratitude and pain as she spoke. “Master, that is, Brian, found me in the woods, wounded and dying. I still remember the sorrow and pain in his eyes when he saw me. It was greater than what I have ever seen, and the worst is that it’s was being beared by a young boy. It still haunts me, even till today. But despite his own burdens, he saved me. He treated my wounds. Back then, he was still a young alpha, roaming the Great Woods.”
“He took me to his camp, where Garreth was with him…”
I gasped at the mention of Garreth. Brian and Garreth’s relationship must go way back.
“Yes,” Debby continued, “the camp was built by two young boys, Brian and Garreth, and together they created the Mafian wolf pack.”
For a moment, there was silence between us. My mind whirled, trying to piece together everything I’d just heard, while Debby sat quietly, lost in thought.
“But why were they in the Great Woods?” I asked, confusion building. “Didn’t they have a pack, and how were they able to survive?”
“That, I don’t know, Cara,” Debby admitted. “Even now, I don’t know. I was just grateful to be alive and to have a place to call home. I took care of them as they grew, and they turned the Mafian wolf pack into a refuge for the forsaken.”
I was speechless. Brian, the ruthless, cold alpha, had this other side to him? He’d created a safe haven for rogues, even though he carried so much pain. Unconsciously my hard feelings and hate I had for him began to loosen a little.
Debby seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, and I couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. She’d been with Brian for so long. Their bond, the trust they shared, it was something I’d always wanted but never had. All my life, I’d been alone, surrounded by people who mocked and insulted me for being different.
Jealousy flared in my chest. Debby had Brian’s loyalty and trust. I had the mate bond with him, something deeper, but still… they had a history.
I quickly shook my head of such embarrassing feelings, ‘what was I thinking?’ it was only by circumstances that they were brought together, and I should pity Debby for what she’d gone through, not feel jealous.
“I know you have a lot of questions,” Debby said suddenly, catching me off guard.
“Y… yes,” I stammered. “Why were you attacked in the Great Woods? Who were those men in black cloaks? And how did you and your people survive seven years in the great woods
She smiled softly, I thought she might not say or do anything, but there was something unreadable in her expression. The air in the cabin shifted, a soft wind blowing through, and the temperature dropped. It wasn’t obvious, but with my heightened senses, I could feel it.
“Debby, what is going on…”
The words stuck in my throat as I looked at her. Her eyes glowed faintly, and a soft light radiated from her hands.
“You see why I won’t hurt you, or why you have to trust me over anyone else.” she asked with a serious face.
I stared, frozen in shock. Debby was causing the wind and the sudden drop in temperature. My mind raced, struggling to understand what I was seeing. Before I could fully process it, footsteps echoed outside the cabin, followed by a knock at the door.
“We’ll talk later, Cara,” Debby said quietly. “Garreth is here.”
My heart sank as the door opened and Garreth stepped inside. Debby gave him a small nod before she slipped out, leaving us alone.
“Get ready for training,” Garreth said, his voice cold and commanding.
Training?
After everything he put me through, he had the right to still command me like a puppy?.
I felt a surge of anger rise within me. I hated Garreth. Ever since he cut off Alexander’s hand, and even wanted to kill the two sisters, he’d become the symbol of all my lost happiness. Every time I saw him, I was reminded of the pain he’d caused me.
“Why do you even care?” I snapped. “All you’ve ever done is follow orders like a mindless puppet, hurting people without a second thought.”
Garreth’s face remained expressionless. “It was Master’s order.”
“That’s always your excuse, isn’t it? ‘Master’s orders.’ You never think for yourself!”
He stood there, unshaken by my outburst. “You don’t have a choice, Cara. Neither of us do. You will obey.”
I clenched my fists, my body trembling with anger. The frustration, the confusion, everything that had been building inside me was ready to explode.
But Garreth simply turned and walked away, leaving me standing there, raging but eith no where to focused it on. He didn’t care. None of them did. For brian i was a tool for him to use and throw away.
I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself. I needed to stay focused. There was too much going on, too many secrets, and I couldn’t afford to let my emotions take over. Not now. i needed to get to the bottom of everything.
And with everything about being wanted for my blood ‘getting stronger might actually not be a bad thing…’