Chapter 4 - Dawson #2
But I can’t claim her as my mate when I have no idea what was going on while she was in Moonshine.
Clearly, she moved on with another male, had his child—a perfect replica of her—and forgot all about the passion we once shared.
All I know is that those words left my mouth in a moment of life and death, and I had to save her when all I wanted was to kill the mob with my bare hands.
The rage was uncontrollable, and it was as if my inner wolf took over to force those deeply buried words out of my mouth.
“That’s when I brought her here, to Girdwood,” I continue. “She was badly beaten and passed out in Sunrise. Her son is in the nursery area, but no one knows who he is or that she’s an old member of our pack.”
Elias nods thoughtfully. “I think it’s best to keep that a secret for now. We all know what the Langs did, and it won’t be safe for her here.”
“She can’t go back there,” I quickly add, to which Elias looks up with a sharpness in his eyes. “It’s not safe for her out there, either.”
Elias sighs heavily, then runs a hand through his platinum-blonde hair as he contemplates what to do.
“We’ll have to keep her in the clinic until she heals completely,” he proposes, to which I nod.
“Yes, of course. I have no idea where the child’s father is. He might come back for—”
“H-he’s gone…” a squeamish murmur interjects from behind me, prompting me to turn and find Yvonne stirring awake.
Her face contorts when consciousness settles into her body, which is plagued by the brutalities she faced at the hands of the mob. She groans as she shifts uncomfortably in the bed, and I rush to her side to offer her a glass of water from the side table.
Yvonne hesitates to drink, side-eyeing me suspiciously through daggers of shimmering silver as I tip the glass to her heart-shaped lips.
She gulps nervously as she swallows one sip of water, drawing back to avert her eyes from mine, turning her attention to Elias.
“Alpha Elias,” she instantly breathes, recognizing the alpha of her old pack.
“So, it is you, Yvonne Lang,” he remarks with a skeptically raised brow. I’m not sure what he’s thinking right now, since he has me blocked from his mind link, but I can only imagine that he has a flicker of remorse for the omega she-wolf’s condition since she once was a part of our pack.
“It is I, Alpha Elias,” she concedes with a struggling nod.
“Why did you leave the pack in the first place, Miss Lang?” Elias proceeds to question her, and she’s clearly uncomfortable, shifting on the bed as her sharp eyes flicker to me for a quick, nervous glance.
“I—um—I found my mate, Alpha Elias.”
“The father of your child?”
Yvonne squirms on the bed, her throat working on a gulp. Looming dread hangs over me like a dark cloud waiting to burst into a storm of despair. I don’t know what I was expecting, but when Yvonne nods sheepishly, I feel my heart shattering into a million tiny fragments of disappointment.
“B-but he’s no more…” she whispers as she drops her gaze despondently.
Why does that single statement spark a flicker of hope inside me? Why do I not feel sympathetic for the omega she-wolf losing her mate, or a child growing up without a father?
While I’m mulling over the endless possibilities of Yvonne’s mate not being in the picture, Elias nods thoughtfully as he gathers the pieces of this puzzle. “From what Alpha Dawson has told me, Moonshine isn’t a safe place for you and your son.”
Yvonne nods to agree with Elias’s statement, and I clear my throat with a sudden surge of boldness that allows me to interrupt the main alpha of the pack.
It’s as if my impulsivity is encouraged by my inner wolf, the way it had been both times I saved Yvonne from Moonshine. But the words roll off my tongue, and I declare to the head alpha of the Snehvolk Pack, “I will take full responsibility for Miss Lang and her son.”
I hear Yvonne’s wheezing intake of breath when she gasps, but I keep my eyes pinned to Elias, who doesn’t appear surprised.
It’s almost as if he were counting on me to take responsibility for the omega. As the alpha who chose the lowest-ranking omega in the pack’s hierarchy as his mate, Elias is loyal to any member of the pack, regardless of their past.
Besides, it’s not like Elder Garret is still alive to manipulate my decisions or blackmail me into doing what he wants because he had a personal vendetta against the Langs.
I have nothing left but my duties as a responsible subordinate alpha. My role is to protect the pack, hunt the demon down until we find it, and put an end to it, and resume our lives between Girdwood and work rotations in Hope.
“I am, after all, the one who found her injured and brought her in,” I continue as I clear my throat, reminding myself that there’s no way I can have any ulterior motives when Yvonne Lang moved on so quickly from our night of passion.
This offer is solely to protect one of our own. Even if it means using every ounce of better judgment to maintain that I have no underlying motivations for wanting to protect her, I know this is something I simply must do.
“It’s only fair that I ensure her safety and that of her son’s.”
Elias nods, a smirk growing on his lips, as if he’s proud of me for my decision.
“Alright, then, Dawson,” he says as he pats me on the shoulder. “Since Miss Lang was a part of Snehvolk before, it’s only a matter of time before they begin remembering who she is. And remembering the past.”
“I’ll take care of it, Elias,” I assure him with a grin. “Yvonne will stay on my side of the village. It’s safer where I can keep an eye on her. There is a newly built cottage on my property.”
While Elias seems pleased that I’m stepping up and doing what any good alpha would, I notice Yvonne’s hesitation as she tersely turns her face away. It’s only when Elias leaves the room that the awkward silence between us is broken by her clearing her throat.
“Where is my son?” she asks warily, without looking at me.
“He’s being taken care of in the nursery. For now, all that matters is your healing, so you can leave the clinic and be there for your son.”
Yvonne nods shortly, keeping her eyes pinned to the torrent of whispering snow outside the room window. I’m left staring at her, wondering what’s going through her mind, while all I can do is recall that night we spent in the library together.
Did she make him feel the way I did that night?
How could he die and leave a phenomenal omega behind, along with his child?
Did I mean nothing to her, that she could so easily move on?