Chapter 27 Shell Of A Woman
\[Raelyn’s POV\]
For as long as I can remember, it has always been just my mother and me. She was my rock, my guide, and my best friend. She was the only constant in my life and the only person who loved me unconditionally. At least, she was until something broke her when I was in my freshman year of high school.
It was a normal day where I woke up to breakfast on the table waiting for me and her smiling face. We talked about anything and everything while I ate, and then when I finished, she ushered me off to school.
As far as I knew, everything was fine, and when I returned that afternoon, all would be well. However, it wasn’t like that.
When I came home, I was greeted by a house that looked like it had been ransacked, and when I rushed up the stairs to see if my mother was okay, I found her huddled on the floor mewling like an animal that had been severely beaten. At first, I tried to get her to talk to me, to tell me what happened, but when she started seizing, I called an ambulance.
The wait for that ambulance was like torture. It was like time wasn’t even moving, and when it became too much, I considered carrying her to the hospital myself, but then it showed, and the paramedics rushed in.
After that, I was left to simply watch as they worked to get her stable, but when they couldn’t, they loaded her onto a stretcher and whisked her off to the hospital while I came along.
The time in which they worked on her there was long and torturous, and when they told me that they couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her, I was certain that they didn’t know what the hell they were doing.
How could there be nothing wrong with her when she was like that? Clearly there was something serious going on, and they needed to do something to fix it.
I remember begging and pleading with the doctors, but in the end they told me that only time would tell.
I don’t know how many days passed after that while I sat and watched my mother’s condition deteriorate until she was nothing more than a shell of the woman she once was. Each time I visited her, she seemed to disappear more and more until finally she was gone and I was left alone.
It was only after her passing when they were doing an autopsy that they found a place on her body that she scratched up, and that was when I knew what happened.
It was no secret that when wolves marked each other, they came together mind, body, and soul. And with those small little marks, your worlds become combined to the point you are never truly alone. Because of that, they can feel everything the other party did, including marking another.
I was certain that was what happened given how she became so broken. It was the only plausible explanation. My father fell in love with another and marked her, causing my mother unbearable pain that broke her beyond repair.
It was after that that I swore off love and promised myself that I would never let a man reduce me to what my mother was reduced to, but in the end I didn’t even stick to that promise.
“And look where it got you.” I huff, turning over and fixing my gaze on my barred windows. “You’re being held hostage by a psycho whose pup you’re carrying.”
\[Osiris’ POV\]
I stand in front of my prey’s door, listening as she grumbles to herself. From here I can’t hear what she is saying, but I’m certain that she is cursing me for what I was doing. Hell, I didn’t blame her. I was going to the extreme in holding her here like this, but I didn’t have any options since my own men couldn’t keep a good watch on her; because of that, I needed to keep her beside me until I could figure out what to do. I could only hope that when time passed she would be a bit understanding.
‘Yeah, right.’ Sterling huffs. ‘She’s going to hate us forever.’
‘At least she will be around to hate us.’ I point out, turning and heading toward my office. ‘If I were to let her roam freely and someone discovered that she’s pregnant with our pup, they would certainly do what they could to get rid of the pup.’
‘Then we need to protect her.’ Sterling growls. ‘We can’t let anything happen to our heir.’
‘No shit.’
Sighing, I head into my office and then collapse at my desk, where my prey’s file remains open. I slowly let my eyes trail over all the information that is there, but there’s something missing, something very important.
Who was her father?
Since I was now involved in her life because of a fuck-up, I wanted to know everything that I could about her, but no amount of digging would yield results in regard to who her father was or what pack he hailed from. I didn’t know if he was just an omega or of rank, but from the aura I could occasionally feel radiating from my prey, I had a feeling that he wasn’t some random wolf. Instead, I was certain that he was one with power, and if I was correct, then there was a chance that in the future I would have to deal with him.
“Dammit,” I growl, shoving the file away. “Why do I even give a shit about any of this?”
I shouldn’t care. None of this should even be bothering me since my plan was to simply keep her beside me until she had my heir, and then I would send her away, but even now I find myself hesitating on doing such a thing. Just the thought of her disappearing from my sight pissed me off and made me want to keep her locked in a cage forever.
“Do you see?” I murmur, my disgust growing. “This is what you’ve reduced me to, and you dare to try to get away? You can only leave when I’ve decided that I’m done with you, and until then, you’re going to take responsibility.”
But first, I needed her to stop hating me.
‘Reg,’ I call, wondering what exactly I should do to make her warm up to me. ‘Come to my office immediately.’
‘Yes, alpha,’ he responds. ‘I’ll be there momentarily.’