Chapter 75 Truth About Natalie
Calhoun's POV
"You seem to be lacking understanding here, do you think Kristen will just forget about her mother to be with you?" Bruce pants and puffs as he stares at me with displeasure.
"I don't even know," I rasp out.
"You're not getting the point and you cannot understand Kristen because you aren't in her shoes," my beta holds my gaze with that frown still on his face.
"So you think blame-shifting me for her mother's condition is the right thing to do?" I uplift a brow at him.
We're at the construction site where two pack houses are getting built.
"Trust me, some girls would have done worse. Kristen is just a good person, she cares deeply about her mom despite how this woman has been cruel to her."
"What do you mean?" I look at Bruce, wondering if he's just bluffing.
"Ah, she told me never to tell anyone," Bruce in turn avoids my gaze.
"Speak!" I command.
"Okay, okay," he holds his hands up in defense, "I came to figure something wasn't right on the evening of our pack run. Both mother and daughter were together and when I made my presence known, I could see the fear in Kristen's eyes. She was wordlessly pleading with me to stay."
"Why?" I frown in confusion.
"Because Natalie was trying to hurt her over something," Bruce reluctantly makes this known to me.
"What?" I can feel my eyes huge in their sockets.
"It's true, Calhoun. There was broken glass on the floor and Natalie was bleeding from her hand. When I asked what stroke the occurrence, Natalie lied that it was Kristen who got mad over something and started smashing things up." Bruce pauses to shake his head before continuing, "And you know Kristen isn't a violent person."
"Why didn't you fucking tell me?" I ask Bruce through gritted teeth, already hating him for keeping this away from me.
"Kristen begged me, I could tell she didn't want you to see Natalie under a different light." It seems like he's forcing himself to make this known to me.
"To hell with that, I am your Alpha. You're supposed to not hide anything from me."
"Okay, chill. You don't want to wake the sleeping wolf now," Bruce tries to calm me down by being comical.
But it just pisses me off even more.
"Shut up and keep talking, because it looks like you still have more to say," I growl.
"Should I shut up and speak? How is that even possible?" Bruce bubbles with laughter, and I am tempted to wipe everything away from his face, with a headbutt.
"You're right though, what I just told you is the tip of the iceberg," his face forms in all seriousness.
And this just makes me completely unsettled. A part of me is prepared to hear more but the other part isn't because I don't want to even picture what Kristen has suffered without my knowledge.
"It happened at the yacht party, right before Layla's death," Bruce says.
"Seriously?" My eyes are welled up in their sockets.
"Yes. In the female's restroom. I don't even know what took me there but I felt my legs carrying me to that exact place."
"Just go straight to the point and don't utilize my time by beating around the bush," I growl.
"I heard screams and then it seemed like two females were fighting inside." He says.
"Fuck," I curse lowly.
"I kept knocking but they wouldn't answer to me until I broke the door and found the whole place disarrayed. Blood and water on the floor. Natalie and Kristen were panting heavily, and while Natalie still had her clothes in order, Kristen didn't. Her hair was wet and her face was still dripping with water, as if someone had been submerging her head into a toilet bowl or a sink filled with water."
"Shit, shit, shit."
"That wasn't all. She was bleeding from her nostrils and she had a big bruise on her forehead. And on her body, she had whip marks. Even her clothing was a bit torn."
"So you mean to tell me Natalie did this to her own daughter?" I can barely believe what I just heard. To think this has been happening right under my nose and no one cared to tell me.
"When I asked what happened Natalie lied and I think she tried to blame Kristen. I took Kristen out and helped tend to her bruises." Bruce concludes.
My hands find his collars and the construction workers are stunned to see me doing this to my beta.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I roar in his face.
"Because she wanted me to keep it away from you," Bruce chokes out.
And upon sensing I am causing him discomfort, I let him go. My emotions just got the best of me.
"Maybe you should start putting your temper in check, Alpha Calhoun." Bruce coughs as he puts his hands on his throat.
"I should consider stripping you of your position for keeping away something like this from me. How could you not tell me Natalie was hurting my mate? You're my beta for fucks sake! Mindlinking to let me know would've been easier."
"My apologies, Alpha Calhoun," Bruce apologies.
And I just heave deeply and look away from him.
To think Kristen has been going through torture from Natalie and she could keep it away from me. Trying to protect her mother because she didn't want me to see her in a different light.
Why would she still care for a woman like that? She swallowed all of the harm dished out to her by her own mother.
I grind my teeth until my jaw begins to hurt. Wanting to avert my anger to something but there's nothing here except Bruce, and I don't want to hurt him because I am not a bipolar person, even though my anger gets the best of me most times.
"So you are truly divorcing Natalie?" Bruce brings this up.
"Yes." I flippantly reply.
"And Kristen is already mad at you."
"She's pregnant."
"What?"
"Kristen is carrying my child."
Bruce's jaw drops to the floor and I can tell he wasn't even expecting to hear such from me.
"You impregnated Kristen so you can kick Natalie out?" He inquires after getting a grip on himself. "No, it just happened," I state.
"So you've been fucking Kristen for some time now," Bruce has this stupid smirk on his face.
"Shut up." How dare he sake fuck, as if Kristen is some prostitute whom I picked along the road?
"When did you even find out?" Bruce shoots me a questioning look.
"Yesterday, when Kristen barged into the conference hall," I reply.
"Oh," Bruce blinks twice and then breaks into a smile, "Nana Joyce will get euphoric, she's always wanted a great-grandchild." "Except she won't speak to me since I faked my death," a sigh erupts from me because Nana Joyce has been avoiding me.
"It was an awful thing to do but I'm sure she'll understand, mostly with this child on the way."
Thinking about this has me grinning like a fool until the occurrence of last night flashes through my head.
"Kristen hates me now, she wants me away from her," I sigh in distress upon recalling how she was with me that night. It's still eating me up.
"Maybe you should give her some space?" Bruce raises a shoulder up.
"What do you mean?" I am already starting to lose my temper once more.
"It might be she's gotten enough of you and needs a break so she can miss you again," He points out.
"No, it's because of her mother. She told me before our argument even started," I breathe out, jamming my fingers through my hair.
"Your life is already complicated with both mother and daughter, maybe if you had picked another girl to have an affair with, things wouldn't have escalated to this level," Bruce shakes his head at me as he puts his hand on his chin.
"She was my mate," I grit out.
"You rejected her before and then you marked her to be yours again," Bruce corrects me.
"I love her," I confess. I haven't told anyone this except Kristen.
Bruce shuts his mouth and observes me for a few seconds.
"Yeah, I know you do," he replies afterward.