Chapter 8 - Poppy #2
“Well, don’t mind me,” he says as he slows the car down on the dirt road. “If you’re not gonna share the joke, that’s fine. It’s just nice to hear you laughing again.”
He meets my eyes with warmth in his blue orbs, and my heart skips a beat. It’s almost as if I can read his mind now, though I hear nothing, but sense where that statement is coming from.
Back in the day, Damian never missed a chance to tell me how pleasant my laughter was, or how endearing he found it when I laughed at his silly jokes.
What happened to that man?
And why does it feel like he’s that man from the past right now?
I shrug to shake the suspicion off, clinging to the truth about how I ended up here, the cruelty, the unfairness, and my longstanding resentment for the man. It doesn’t help that we’re so close, that his body heat is everywhere I don’t want it to be.
“Stop the car,” I demand abruptly, and Damian frowns at me.
“Poppy, what—”
“I said stop the car, Damian!” I yell this time, and Damian hits the brakes.
Grabbing the handle with one hand and clicking off my seatbelt with the other, I step out and exhale the breath I’d been holding in, my chest heaving in hot pants.
“Poppy? What are you doing?” he asks, having climbed out himself.
I shake my head, refusing to look at him. It’s unbearable, being this close to him, and I need to catch my breath.
“We’re close enough,” I throw over my shoulder, already making my way toward the woods. “I’ll run the rest of the way.”
Surprisingly, Damian doesn’t chase after me. But I hear him sigh frustratedly from behind.
“I will find you at your cabin after the meeting!” he calls out, and I immediately shift into wolf form.
I need the distance. I need the fresh air. I cannot possibly consider that the Damian behind me is the same man I fell for in the past.
He’s just pretending to be something he’s not, a shadow of his former self. Or maybe he was never good to begin with.
That’s why he hesitated to claim me in the past.
Whatever vendetta he’s carrying out now by mating with me is going to come to an end when I leave Nightclaw tomorrow. With my son. And with my dignity still intact.
***
Taking a deep breath, I stand outside Ingrid and Connor’s house and knock on the door.
“Poppy…?” Ingrid appears, her face instantly paling as she steps out immediately and pulls me into her arms. “Where the hell have you been? We were worried sick!”
She draws back and stares at me with a frown, and I grimace.
“Where’s Daniel? Is he okay?” I ask, and just as Ingrid opens her mouth to say something, Daniel comes racing out onto the porch.
The tightness crushing my chest finally loosens. For the first time in nearly two days, it feels like I can finally breathe.
“Ma!” he squeals, flying into my arms with a huge grin. “I’m so glad you’re feeling better! I was worried about you!”
A wave of relief washes over me, and I chuckle nervously as I hold my son tightly, trying to read Ingrid’s grim expression before I set Daniel down.
“Oh, shoot. Cindy’s alone inside,” Daniel says quickly. “I’m gonna go back in.”
“You do that, Danny. I’m gonna have a quick chat with Aunty Ingrid, and we’ll join you inside.”
Daniel nods, his broad grin remaining, as if he’s equally relieved to see me.
Ingrid sighs and turns to me, crossing her arms. “Are you feeling better?”
“I’m fine, Ingrid, I—”
“You disappeared, Poppy,” she says quietly under her breath, glancing over her shoulder tentatively. “Connor came looking for you with Daniel yesterday morning, and you weren’t there. We were going to put out an alert for your disappearance if you didn’t show up today.”
A shiver runs through me, and I instinctively touch the scarf on my neck to make sure it’s still covering the mate mark.
“It’s…complicated. But I’m figuring it out.”
Ingrid’s brows furrow. “Are you in some kind of trouble, Poppy? You know you can tell me if you are.”
“I’m afraid I can’t exactly tell you about this, Ingrid. It changes everything.”
Ingrid purses her lips and nods reluctantly. “You know I trust you, but you also need to know that you’re not alone. You have us in your corner, and whatever you’re going through, you can tell us. You can tell me.”
I gulp hard. “I wish I could tell you. I really do.”
Ingrid steps forward and slips her arm through mine, then leads me down the porch toward the garden.
“I didn’t want Daniel to hear this. But you went missing, and so did Dorian’s brother.”
I let out an unsteady breath. “Ingrid, it’s not—”
“I’m not an idiot, Poppy. I wasn’t born yesterday, and my husband is this pack’s second-in-charge. It’s his job to notice things, and naturally, I notice them, too, because he talks to me.” Her eyes flit to the yellow scarf around my neck. “You’ve been touching that scarf since you got here.”
I stiffen immediately, my eyes widening in horror.
“Poppy…what’s under it?” Ingrid asks with an arched brow, but I shake my head fervently.
“It’s not—you don’t understand.”
“I think I know what’s going on, and I’m only assuming things for now. But I’ve noticed how you act every time he’s around. You go missing for a day, and you come at the same time he does for the meeting.”
“Ingrid…”
But Ingrid takes my hand and gives it a gentle but firm squeeze. “You don’t need to spell it out for me, Poppy. I may only have known you for a year, but I know you well enough. You can talk to me.”
I shake my head slowly. “I can’t say anything,” I sigh. “Not without Daniel getting hurt in the process.”
“Why…?” Ingrid asks, then her eyes widen with horror. “Wait…you were a Valley Walker wolf before, weren’t you? Daniel is….”
“Shh,” I plead with her. “Please, don’t say a word about this to anyone. He took me against my will, and forced me into a mate bond. He doesn’t know about Daniel, and I’d like to keep it that way. And if I can help it…he never will.”
There’s a moment of heavy silence that stretches between us as Ingrid stares at me, horrified and perplexed. She’s putting all the pieces of this puzzle together, and suddenly, it’s making sense.
“That’s why you’ve been a lone wolf all this time…” she breathes, and I nod reluctantly.
“I wasn’t counting on him and his brother making amends for their past differences when we came here looking for refuge,” I sigh. “But I had to protect my son. I had to stay.” That’s when I proceed to tell Ingrid the truth, knowing I have nothing to lose now.
Ingrid is deep in thought as she turns her gaze to the ground, mulling over the new revelations and pursing her lips. She finally looks up and asks, “So, what are you gonna do when he wants to return to Cedar Valley? You can’t leave Daniel here.”
“No. And I’m not planning on going back with him.”
“No.” Ingrid shakes her head slowly, searching my face. “You can’t do that. It’s dangerous out there, Poppy. Haven’t you heard? Something is lurking on the north borders, and it doesn’t look good. We’ve been under lockdown, and Dorian put a stop to us leaving town.”
I shake my head. “I can’t go back with him, Ingrid. I’m not leaving my son, and I am not telling Damian about him. He’s gone insane, and he’s dangerous. Maybe even more dangerous than what lies out there.”
“If he claims you’re his fated mate, he can protect you.”
I blow a breath through puckered lips and roll my eyes. “I don’t trust him anymore.”
Ingrid takes a deep breath. “So, what is the plan?”
“He wants to stay the night, which means I have to leave with Daniel first thing tomorrow morning. I could leave now, but there are too many eyes on us.”
“Yeah, the borders are being protected by too many wolves right now, with all the alphas here. I don’t know if it’ll be safe tomorrow, but I can hear what’s going on from Connor when he returns from today’s meeting. Sus the situation, and devise a plan.”
“You’re helping me?” I frown, and Ingrid scoffs.
“Of course, I am helping you, Poppy. You’re my friend. And even though I don’t like this, and I’d prefer it if you told him the truth, I trust that you’re making the right choice for you and Daniel.”
“I can’t trust the man who kidnapped me and forced me into a mate bond.” I swallow hard. “He’s not the same man I knew back then, and I can’t trust him not to break my heart again, or break Daniel’s.”
Ingrid nods thoughtfully. “I understand. Go to your cabin for now, and pray that things will be better tomorrow. You can leave Daniel with us for another night. It will be safer that way. You can pick him up from school, and I’ll have found you a way out by then.”
“Thank you, Ingrid,” I say as a lump forms in my throat, but she shakes her head and folds me into a reassuring embrace.
“Don’t thank me, Poppy. You’re a good mother, and you deserve to be happy. You both do. And I know you are doing everything for your best interests. Make it count.”