Chapter 3
1415 Words
POV: Dinah
Leo falls asleep almost instantly.
His breathing is shallow in his small chest like there are dry leaves inside his lungs rattling with every exhale.
Cade lays him down gently and pulls the duvet up to his chin and for a moment his hand lingers on the boy's head.
It is a tender gesture but then he pulls his hand away and the tenderness vanishes like smoke and his face turns back into a mask of stone.
"Let's go," he says. "We need to talk downstairs."
I nod and follow Cade and Mara out of the room.
Walking down the stairs feels harder than walking up them because my legs feel heavy and numb like I am walking through deep water.
Mara walks beside Cade. She glides like she belongs on his arm and I walk behind them like the stray shadow I am.
We reach the main hall on the ground floor and the atmosphere changes instantly. It gets colder.
Sitting on the velvet sofa near the fireplace is the Old Luna.
Luna Isolde. Cade's mother.
She is sitting rigid and straight. She radiates power even though her hair is silver and her face is lined with age. An Omega is standing behind her massaging her temples.
When she hears our footsteps, Luna Isolde waves the Omega away.
"Is he asleep?" she asks and her voice is sharp.
Cade nods. "Yes Mother."
He walks over and kisses her cheek, a sign of respect to the matriarch.
Luna Isolde looks past him and her eyes land on me. Her face hardens and she sniffs the air delicately and curls her lip.
"So," she says. "You are here."
"Luna Isolde," I whisper, bowing slightly.
"You have seen the pup?"
"Yes."
"Good." She leans back against the cushions.
"You didn't raise him yourself so it is natural that you don't have much attachment to him. But now that you have seen him... a mother's blood always calls to its own."
I flinch because she knows exactly where to cut to make it bleed but she doesn’t stop there.
"I trust you won't stand by and watch the future Alpha die just because you are selfish."
My hands ball into fists at my sides, my insides pulsating with anger. Selfish? She calls me selfish when they are the ones who ripped him from my arms? Who deemed unworthy and useless even to my own child.
"I want to help him," I say and force myself to keep my head down. "I will do whatever it takes."
Isolde nods like she expected nothing less. "Sit down. Don't hover there."
I sit on the edge of the armchair.
Mara sits down next to the old Luna, close and familiar. She takes the older woman's hand.
"Mother, you look tired," Mara says with a voice dripping in syrup.
"I know a very good healer from the Northern packs. Why don't I invite him to come and take a look at you tomorrow?"
Isolde pats Mara's hand. "That would be too much trouble dear."
"It's no trouble at all. If you are healthy then the Pack is healthy."
Isolde chuckles. "You are a good girl Mara. Always thinking of the family."
Then her eyes slide sideways to me again and the warmth vanishes. It is like a door slamming shut.
"I am tired," Isolde announces suddenly.
She pushes herself up from the sofa and Mara stands up to offer her arm.
"Let me help you to your chambers Luna," Mara says.
"Thank you child." Isolde turns to Cade. "You two talk. Do what needs to be done."
They disappear up the stairs and suddenly the room feels massive and empty.
It is just me and Cade.
Cade walks over to the sideboard and pours himself a drink. The amber liquid splashes into the glass and he drinks it in one swallow.
"Does the Pack know?" I ask. "About the cure?"
"The Council knows," Cade says without turning around.
"The Elders know. Everyone knows that the heir is fading."
So everyone knows that the only way to save the golden child is for the Alpha to breed with the outcast again.
"And what do they think?" I ask, watching him intently, my heart racing.
Cade turns around slowly. "They think we should do whatever is necessary to save the bloodline."
I swallow hard and look down at my red hands.
"I've thought about it," I say.
"Having another child... It's possible. Modern medicine is amazing. We don't have to be together. We can use IVF."
I look up at him hopefully. "It's clinical. It's fast. You don't have to……touch me."
The sour memory of how he pushed me away that morning saying that I irritated him all those years ago temporarily flies past my mind.
Cade scoffs, a short harsh sound. He slams the glass down on the table.
"You think this is about biology?" he asks. "You think a doctor in a lab coat can create a wolf?"
He walks toward me and stops, blocking out the light.
"The Fading isn't a virus, Dinah. It’s a spiritual defect. To make a cure... the child must be made in the old way."
His face is inches from mine and I can smell the whiskey and musk on him.
"It needs the Heat," he says and his voice drops to a growl. "It needs dominance and submission. The magic comes from the act itself."
I swallow hard as his descriptive and passionate words stir something deep in my core that makes it tighten and I press my back against the chair. "So we have to..."
"Breed," he says. "Like wolves. Not like humans in a lab."
My face burns but he says it so bluntly. Like it’s just another business transaction.
"And what about Mara?" I ask. "What does she think about—"
"Mara knows her duty.” Cade’s eyes flash gold as he cuts me off sharply. “This isn't about love or pleasure. It is a medical procedure."
To him I am just a tool. A warm body to be used to fix his mistake but the moment I laid eyes on my son, I knew I had no choice but to be Cade’s thing to use and discard again.
No matter how much it hurts and how humiliating and downgrading it is, I have to accept my fate. For Leo, he deserves to live a normal and healthy life.
"I have made up my mind," I say. "I can't let him die."
"Good." Cade crosses his arms over his chest. "I will pay you of course. Double the payment last time or whatever you want."
I blink, confused and angry at the same time. "Excuse me?" I didn’t take a dime from him when he ripped my child away from me so what payment is he talking about?
"After the child is born,” he continues, not minding my reaction, “You will have no claim to him just like with Leo. So go ahead and state your price."
"I don't want your money," I frown at him. I may not be anything to him but my dignity is still intact. What kind of a mother would I be to sell my child? If it wasn’t for his power and influence, I wouldn’t have given Leo up.
He looks at me with utter disgust, "You took it last time."
I stare at him, looking even more confused, "What did you say?”
Cade scoffs, “don’t act ignorant with me Dinah. Your family sure made a bank. Look, I’d give anything to see my son get better, anything except marriage.”
“You’re not making sense to me Cad— Alpha, I never—”
“You have twenty four hours to decide,” he cuts me off and walks to the door, holding it open, “my driver will take you home. Be ready tomorrow. We start the cycle then."
I don't answer him. I turn around and I run out of the hall and into the night.
I get into the car and curl up in the backseat and shake realising what my family had done. My own flesh and blood. They sold my kid like a piece of commodity and made it look like I was in on it.
I shake not from cold but from rage.
A pure white-hot rage that burns through my veins and wakes up my wolf.
I am going home.
- Writer
