Ch 68

Ch 68
What had happened?
 What had gone wrong? 
Ian contemplated in  the deserted corridor, as stunned and shocked as if someone had just cut open his chest and ripped out his heart. 
He'd thought he'd made Eden happy and brought her security. 
But that had only been an illusion, which had now been shattered.
 He didn't know how he was going to make things right, or even if it was possible. 
No doubt Eden was in her room. 
Toby stood at the door, whimpering miserably. Ian knocked on the door, then turned the handle. To no avail.
 The bolt was pulled. 
Swearing muffledly, he tried to open the boudoir door.
 Locked too, as was the door to the baby's room. He knocked again.
“Eden?”
Silence
Striding to his own room, Ian tried to open the connecting door. 
It too was locked. 
Exasperated, he pounded his fist on the panel.
“Eden, my angel, will you please open the door?”
Through the wood paneling, he heard the child's startled cries, which put an end to his anger almost immediately. 
Amara must be in her room, with Mary. 
He knocked again and waited. 
No answer. 
He remembered that spare sets of all the castle keys were kept in the pantry.
 It took him only a few minutes to go there and return with the right one.
“Eden," he warned, "if you don't open that door, I'll open it myself.”
He waited a few seconds, then the door swung open on its hinges. His Wife appeared before him, pale, dry-eyed.
“Keep it down," Eden whispered, "you're scaring Amara.”
“Don't lock the door, then," he replied, stepping around her to enter the room.
“I didn't want to see you and I don't know what to tell you. I…I just don't have the strength anymore, that's all.”
“Unfortunately, Eden, I am in my home, you're my woman and your baby is my daughter.” Eden gave him a sharp look. 
“Yes, my daughter, and don't try to take her away from me, she'll be the first to suffer.”
“I never…” Eden turned her eyes to the window and gazed for a moment at the icy landscape unfolding behind the glass. 
“I made vows, Ian. I'll stick to them.”
“Come on, Eden, explain yourself”
Ian took her by the arm and drew her to him. 
But, aware that his gesture was too brutal, he loosened his grip a little.
“I think very highly of you," Eden began. 
“I have  from the start. I admire you, and I know how strong and tender you are at the same time. You know very well that I was very attracted to you. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gotten into your bed so easily. But the fact remains that I should never have married you. I should have found another way. It was foolish, selfish, and now we're both suffering, not knowing how to make things right. Please, leave me alone.”
“Eden, you can't stay locked up here," he said briefly. “The servants will wonder what's the matter with you.”
“Well, you can tell them I'm in heat, or whatever it is alphas think omegas are used to”
Ian wordlessly turned on his heel. 
He'd never heard Eden speak to him in such a tone, never seen him so coldly angry, nor so closed off to discussion. 
Yet a part of him admitted that his omega had every right to express her opinion, even if it caused him pain.
 But another corner of his heart, wounded by the words he'd heard, wanted to find the gentle, tender Eden as soon as possible.

Through the window, Eden saw Ian leaving the castle on horseback, shotgun slung over his shoulder, cartridge belts crossed over his chest and the two dogs trotting around his mount. 
Despite the icy fog enveloping the woods, Ian preferred to get away from her as quickly as possible.
 Eden could not blame him. 
She felt solely at fault for what was happening to them. 
But it was as if something had suddenly clicked inside her and released forces that had been buried for years.
All those years of doing her duty and supporting her sisters. 
All those years of enduring her father's wrath without flinching. 
All those years of obedience, of austere life, of bereavement and grief.
 When Ivan had so cruelly betrayed her, Eden hadn't even had a sharp word to say against him. 
But the dormant volcano had finally erupted, releasing confusion, pain and distress.
Eden felt the urge to go and take her daughter in her arms. 
There had to be someone in the world who loved her unconditionally and whom she could love unconditionally.
 No, Amara wasn't the only one; two other people loved her: her sisters. "Where are you, Selene and Hannah?" She mumbles. 
Eden clung to the idea that they were still alive. 
A wave of pain and anger washed over her. Eden was so unaccustomed to being furious! And even less used to expressing it.
Right now, all she wanted was to get her omega out and curl up in a ball around her child, to protect her from all the aggressions in the world. 
Tomorrow.
Tomorrow Eden would go to London to fetch Selene, and she would take Amara with her. 
Then, once she’d really tried everything to find her sisters, ahe'd apologize to Ian.
 She would promise never to speak of her feelings to Ian again, and try to come to terms with her peculiar marriage. 
Just then, Amara woke up and began to whine.
\-I'm coming, sweetheart," she said. Mommy's here.