The car was silent after her announcement. What could he say? Carter had to be someone’s child, it obviously wasn’t his. Add that upon the fact that Carter displayed alpha tendencies and he should have put it together sooner. He honestly didn’t care. Well…he cared but not enough to shun her as his fated. He was silent, caught in his own thoughts, not realizing that with every second that passed she became more uncomfortable.
“Huh, I guess I don’t have to worry about whether you still have a relationship with the father. He’s dead. What’s the problem?”
She sputtered and he caught the distinct smell of irritation coming off of her. “What do you mean, what’s the problem? You know he was a bastard and evil. Not to mention, that he ruined so many lives trying to create his empire.”
“Okay, but he’s dead now.”
“Yes, he’s dead, but I have his child. I was stupid enough to think he was an honest man and he convinced me we were mates. I lived as his stupid ‘mate’ for a year before I realized who and what he was.”
“I don’t want you to think that I’m a jerk or anything, but he’s dead. He fooled a great many people before he betrayed this pack and took over as alpha. You’re right about him being pure evil; however, he can’t hurt anyone ever again. I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but did I point out he’s dead. As in, never coming back, buried in a hole so deep no one will ever be able to find him-dead. Not to mention he didn’t mark you. You were never true mates.”
He watched as her jaw dropped and she stared at him. “You don’t hate me?”
Reaching over to stroke a finger down her cheek he responded, hoping she could scent his honesty, “I’ll never hate you. Like I said, people make mistakes. He’s the one to blame for being dishonest and fooling you. I admire you for toughening up and taking care of your son. It couldn’t have been easy, knowing you carried his child as he destroyed a pack. A pack you belonged to and would raise your child in.”
“But I sent him away. I never told Tidus about him. I’m a horrible person.”
Smiling gently at her, he stated, “I think I just fell a little more in love with you. You knew Tidus wasn’t great father material and you protected your child. I admire you. Normally, I think a man has a right to know he has a child, but I don’t think Tidus should have known because he would have tortured you and Carter for the rest of your lives. He was just that kind of sick.”
Dee hadn’t heard anything he’d said after he told her he was falling in love with her. With her? No, that wasn’t possible. She was a stupid naive twit who allowed someone like Tidus to manipulate her. She’d had very limited contact with him after she found out she was with child.
It had been the same day she’d found out who he really was. She had hidden out in his office to surprise him, the office he never allowed anyone in. She found out why. Hiding in the closet, she heard him talk about his forced takeover of this pack and how he’d killed the previous alpha outside of a fair challenge. He spoke about mating a female of every shifter species so he’d have an army of shifter children to mentor.
As she listened, her blood ran cold. Even as he spoke about her and his fake courting of her and how easy she’d been duped, Dee hadn’t moved. She’d been frozen in place by shock and quite a bit of loathing; add in a healthy dose of shame for believing someone so insane and unstable. Instead of popping out of his closet to share in the joy of what they created, she waited. When he finally left that night she went to her flower shop immediately and masked her scent. She never went anywhere without her trusty overbearing perfume.
For months she wore that perfume, keeping her secret from Tidus. He hated the scent and couldn’t bring himself to touch her while she wore it. That benefit almost made up for the beatings he gave her for her refusal to stop wearing it.
Every day she grew a little stronger and far more bitter at her stupidity. One morning, Tidus came to her door before she put on her perfume and kicked it down in anger. Her scent permeated the house, but she hoped it was covered up enough by the lingering perfume so that he wouldn’t notice her underlying pregnancy. Tired of dealing with him, she attempted to take his life and was only successful at angering him more. She smiled, thinking of how she stabbed him in the shoulder with a kitchen knife: she had been aiming for his neck. After that, he tended to keep clear of her. He liked a woman to fight but knew enough to stay away from alpha bitches.
She delivered her son alone and immediately sent him to live with her parents. It was the only thing she could think of. If she’d fled with him, Tidus would have sent someone after her. Her parents were none too happy about raising an alpha wolf, especially since they were both lynx. They belonged to a small pack of cats and poor Carter was banned from shifting because he’d been so much stronger than the cats and they feared him. Carter would have been at risk wherever he was, if he was associated with her, so she had to keep her distance. She went to visit him only once during those years and it turned out to be a disaster.