Berta’s POV
As I walked out of the pack house, I could hear Glen and Sky’s voices clearly. I stopped walking to listen to their conversation.
“You can honestly tell me, brother; you don’t have to hide anything from me. I will protect you no matter what,” Sky said.
“I am telling you the truth, Sky. He did nothing wrong. He actually said the words I wanted to hear,” he answered as I sighed in relief and approached them.
“Hey, you two,” I said playfully.
They both turned and looked at me with angry expressions on their faces.
“Mother, were you crying?” Glen asked seriously.
“No,” I quickly denied.
“You were crying; that’s an obvious thing,” Sky growled.
“Honestly, no, I wasn’t,” I said loudly.
He looked at Glen, then back at me.
“You both are terrible at lying,” he whispered, then walked past me.
“Son, he didn’t do anything bad!” I exclaimed loudly, then turned and faced Glen.
“Stop him; your father did nothing wrong. He just said the words I would have liked to hear back then before I left the pack,” I said seriously.
“I understand, Mother,” he whispered, then quickly went after him.
I moved my hand to my head with a low sigh, then quickly dropped it when I picked up a familiar scent I knew all too well.
I slowly turned to look at Marshall as he approached me with a shocked expression on his face.
“Berta,” he whispered as I quickly rushed into his embrace with tears filling my eyes.
He hugged me tightly, resting his head against mine.
“Marshall,” I whispered back, with tears running down my cheeks.
Marshall was the only one who was on my side when the whole pack felt like they were turning against me.
He used his position as the Beta of the pack to make sure no one dared to look down on me or act in a disrespectful way.
My leaving the pack must have been a shock for him.
“Let me look at you,” he whispered softly as I shook my head.
“No, I have grown old,” I answered in a low, playful tone.
“You still look beautiful, Berta; the one who has grown old is me,” he said huskily.
I shifted and looked at him sadly. He quickly wiped a tear from his cheek and smiled, moving his hand to my cheeks and wiping away my tears.
When we heard a loud, threatening growl, he quickly pushed me back, standing in front of me in a protective stance.
“Clyde,” he called in a form of warning.
“I knew it! I felt it even back then, but I told myself I was overthinking it all,” Clyde said, his voice cold and dominant.
“I don’t know what you are talking about, Alpha,” Marshall answered, then took a sharp breath.
I quickly moved to his side and looked at Clyde, who was grabbing Marshall by his collar.
“You, my very own Beta, I can’t believe this,” he said as I frowned.
He was obviously misunderstanding everything.
“Clyde, stop this,” I whispered softly.
He glanced at me coldly, then chuckled as his grip tightened.
That’s the Clyde I knew all too well. He rarely listened when he was angry.
“I said let him go!” I yelled angrily, then held my breath.
Whenever I yelled at him, he usually exerted his fury by growling back at me or hurting the person who was the cause of his anger.
I breathed out in disbelief when he dropped his hand and took a step back.
“I see; you must have felt the same way for him,” he whispered with a pained expression on his face.
What exactly was he even talking about?
“I’m sorry to have interrupted your reunion,” he said, then turned and began to walk away.
I was about to follow him and tell him that whatever he was thinking about was wrong when Marshall grabbed my wrist.
“Let him go,” he whispered.
For some reason, I felt very guilty. I looked at Clyde walk into the pack house sadly before turning to face Marshall.
“He looks angry and hurt,” I said softly.
“Angry, yes; hurt, no. Berta, I am so sorry if this comes off as disrespectful, but Clyde has never loved you,” he said as I furiously frowned.
“Just think about it. If someone truly loves you, they accept you and everything that’s a part of you. If he really did love and cherish you, he would have accepted Glen the very day he was born,” he said as I lowered my gaze to the ground.
Clyde respected and treated me like a queen back then when I wasn’t a mother. Things only changed after the birth of our pups.
But there was never a day he raised his hand against me or called me disrespectful names to hurt me.
He would growl in warning and, at times, take out his anger on someone, but never on me.
If that wasn’t love, then what was?
He cared for me whenever I was sick; he even canceled his work and meetings for me.
Whenever I was sad, he pulled me onto his lap, whispering how I still had him by my side.
He gave me the best things I could daydream of and made sure everyone showed me the exact respect they showed him.
“Berta, you know I am right,” he whispered as he moved his hand to my cheek, caressing it gently.
I grabbed his hand from my face and gave it a squeeze.
“Marshall, I know you have always loved me like a little sister, but there are times I feel like you say things to upset me,” I said as a hurtful expression touched his face.
“I know you want the best for me and that you have always looked out for me. But things are now different, and I have two pups who can never let anyone bully or look down on me,” I said seriously.
“Berta, I have never looked at or thought of you as ….”
“Marshall, I’ll be okay, I promise,” I said, cutting him off.
He shifted his gaze to the side and then looked at me with a forced smile on his face.
“Okay, but if you ever need anything, come find me,” he said as I smiled.
“Are you still living in that cottage that is close to the pack house?” I asked as he shook his head.
“I had to move out after you left, but now I think I can finally return,” he answered as I chuckled.
“Did you do that to spite Clyde for what he did to me?” I asked playfully with a smile.
“Yes,” he answered seriously as my smile faded.
He really did love me like a sibling.
“Thank you so much,” I whispered, then let go of his hand.
“I’ll have to go back and greet my son’s mate,” I said, then turned and walked back to the pack house.