Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Reuben

I found her, curled up in a corner of the hallway, eyes closed looking completely innocent and lonely. My hand slowly slid across the warm soft skin of her cheek as I rubbed my thumb under the corner of her eye where a tear was stuck. Earlier she had been fine when suddenly I had felt her emotions fluctuating through our mate bond. I knew she was crying, but I did not know why. I felt her pain and knew she was fighting with it alone.

Scooping her up into my arms, I headed upstairs, only to place her sleeping figure down on my bed as I settled beside her under the covers. Our bodies were in contact along the entire length of our bodies as I wrapped my arm around her and k*ssed her forehead.

“Willow, why were you crying? Am I the reason for your tears again?” I murmured, closing my eyes and leaning my forehead against hers. “I am sorry,” I whispered, wanting to steal away all of her pain and suffering. I did not know how long I watched her before I fell asleep listening to the steady rhythm of her breathing and heartbeat.

Unbeknownst to me, Willow opened her eyes as soon as my breathing steadied into the rhythm of sleep. She had only had her eyes closed the entire time.

The next morning my internal alarm clock woke me up at five, but I found myself alone in bed. Willow was gone though her scent lingered on the blanket as if she had. been there only moments ago. How had I not woken up when she left? At this point, I realized that whenever I slept with Willow I would sleep peacefully. Getting out of the packhouse, I checked on her through her window to find her working on her design, which the dummy was wearing.

She was exceptionally beautiful when she was engrossed in her work. Without disturbing her, I went for my morning run, attended the pack’s morning meeting, and went through a couple of files that required my signature. Upon my return hours later, I found Lori playing in the front yard with her toys.

“Daddy, daddy!!” Lori raced happily toward me, as if she hadn’t seen me in months. I immediately pulled my little girl into my arms, relishing the attention from my child.

“You didn’t go to kindergarten today?” I questioned, wiping the smudge of dirt from her little cheek.

She shook her head in response while Wyatt’s voice came from behind us, “Mommy said today was our welcome party, so we got to skip kindergarten today.”

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Chapter 44

I nodded, glancing up at the window to Willow’s room. The lights were off and I couldn’t catch a hint of her scent. “Where is mommy?” I asked.

“Mommy went to work with Uncle Walter,” Lori replied in a childish voice.

Had she gone with the hunter? I looked for her car but it was absent from the parking lot.

Without her, my heart felt empty.

Welcome party*

As the evening unfolded, the clearing radiated a newfound splendor, bedecked like an exceptionally beautiful bride. Excitement, merriment, and the rhythm of music enveloped the pack, drawing in its well–dressed members who had gathered to revel in the party.

Seated at the bar in elegant black attire, I ran my finger over the small, round, white object before me then slid it toward Oran’s wine glass. He silently picked it up then closely examined it as he inquired, “So, this is the pill Willow had. You want to know exactly what its purpose is?”

I nodded in response, raising a wine glass to my l*ps while keeping a watchful eye on the pill. If my little mate believed that she had deftly swiped the pill box from my pocket unnoticed, she was unbelievably naive. Anticipating her move, I had already secured a pill from that pill box. What intrigued me was the necessity for her to travel. to a neighboring city to obtain this specific medication. She seemed perfectly healthy in my eyes, prompting questions about the purpose behind her taking these pills.

Moreover, her peculiar reaction upon my discovery of these pills added another layer to the mystery.

I couldn’t ignore the unusual flush in Willow’s cheeks most of the time. Was she unwell? The mere notion of Willow being sick tightened my muscles. Werewolves weren’t

prone to easily falling ill. If they did it often signaled a serious ailment. Dex grew alert in my head and I could not stay calm. Tilting my head, I said to Oran, “Find out what this pill is as soon as possible.”

“You got it,” he affirmed, securely stowing the pill away in his pocket.

“Why are you two sitting here?” Bix finally made an appearance at the party, sporting a bad–boy look that seemed to have taken more time than any woman’s attire. “Not. diving into the fun with the rest? You’re already acting like old men,” he teased, slinging an arm around Oran’s shoulders.

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Unfazed, Oran paid little attention to Bix, while I managed a light smile, albeit not a genuine one. “How about you join the fun, young man?” I gestured towards the side where she–wolves, who were the actual organizer of this welcome party, forced the men to dance together to romantic songs as a punishment for losing the games they had been playing. Laughter echoed through the party as the men engaged in a comically awkward zombie–like dance yet a bitter frown settled on Bix’s face..

“Women are truly peculiar creatures. They derive pleasure from the oddest things,” Bix remarked.

I shook my head with a chuckle while keeping an eye on Wyatt and Lori in the buffet area of the party cating cupcakes with other children. They were sure enjoying themselves.

Oran and Bix followed my line of sight as Oran questioned, “I have not seen Willow since this morning.” My expressions changed right away which he failed to notice, “This welcome party is for her. Where is she?” he asked, taking a sip of his wine.

“Why not ask me?” Bix stated, snatching the wine from Oran. “I saw her leaving the pack this morning with the hunter. It seems she forgot about her own party or maybe the hunter is more fun for her,” Bix remarked.

The last sentence made me frown. Bix shrugged his shoulders innocently in response, walking away.

“That’s mine,” Oran growled at Bix for stealing his wine and followed him away.

I sat there listening to Dex’s growling in my mind. He could not bear that our mate had been away from us for so long.

Especially when she had left with that hunter. I could smell that his intentions towards Willow were not pure. His eyes when they fix on Willow were not as a friend. His words. did not match his expressions. And his smile…it had countless hidden intentions, one of them was probably directed to Willow. I could feel it! I could not bear him around Willow for even a second let alone letting him stay in my pack. He should have been. dead the second that he stepped foot onto my land yet my hands were tied due to the promise I made to Willow. If I broke it then she was going to hate me.

I guzzled down the wine in one go out of the frustration that was growing with every passing second due to Willow’s absence until my nose picked up her scent.

People’s chattering died down and everyone started calling her name, “It’s Willow!”

“Willow is here!”

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Still holding my wine glass, I glanced to the side to find Willow entering the party. My hand holding the glass paused abruptly at the sight of her dressed in a S*xy sleeveless dark blue gown. Her sleeveless dress revealed her smooth skin yet it was the deep n*eckline and her curves that held my undivided attention.

The women surrounded her like ants swarming a cupcake, congratulating and complimenting her. As she turned around and bent down slightly to hug Mia’s 5‘ frame, my eyes slid down to her long flowing hair that brushed her hips, causing my b*dy to react with her unintentionally seduction. It felt intense as I saw her smiling and giggling with her group of friends until her eyes met mine.

The smile on her face slowly melted away as we stared into each other’s eyes in silence while she also eyed me up and down just like I had done to her.

Just as I decided to get up and walk over to Willow, Walter appeared at her side. I froze. in my seat. His presence immediately distracted her attention from me.

“They seem to have come together,” Ella commented, pouring herself a glass of wine.

I did not bother to spare her a glance as I kept staring at Willow whose eyes kept moving back to me when she accepted a congratulatory wine from Walter.

“Mommy, you are back,” Wyatt and Lori chirped.

“Yes,” she smiled and k*ssed both of their cheeks.

“You two are looking so cute,” Walter bent down to rub both of their heads, “Who dressed you two up?”

“Daddy took us shopping this afternoon. He dressed us up,” Lori revealed excitedly.

Willow immediately raised her eyes to look at me in surprise. Following her line of sight Walter also noticed me at the bar counter, a sudden smile appearing on his l*ps. “Mommy and I have bought you two a lot of surprises. I will show you if you two give. me k*sses,” he pulled both of them up into his arms.

Wyatt and Lori immediately covered Walter with k*sses. The sight of that playing out right in front of me caused a tornado of emotion in my brain. The feeling of something being stolen from me stabbed my mind as everyone surrounded them.

“They look like a family,” Ella commented, this time I could not ignore her.

“Try to say that again and see if you will be able to step foot in my territory for the following second,” I growled lowly, glaring into her eyes with my wolf’s.

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“Reu… Reuben,“sShe was completely taken aback by my reaction and felt embarrassed when a passer by heard me and gave Ella a second. “People are watching,” she stammered.

“So what? Don’t expect respect from me after what you did a few days ago!” I made a disgusted expression, refusing to even name what she had done as a k*ss or confession. “After what you did, I don’t see you as my friend. The only reason I am allowing you stay in my pack is because of those fucked up marriage papers of yours. That’s it. Don’t misunderstand the situation, I have not forgotten your actions just because I have not said anything. I have not forgotten a single thing and never will. I have marked that incident down as your first and last mistake that you will ever make in my pack. The next time, you do something that fucks with my relationship with Willow trust me you will not like the side of me that you will unleash,” I warned, getting up from my seat to leave.

“How can you say such cruel things to me?” she mumbled, crushing the glass in her hand. I glanced at her, finding tears rolling down her check. “I… I have waited six years for you, Reuben!” she raised her voice, her eyes teary and red.

“I have waited for Willow every day of my existence,” I countered sternly.

“But has she waited for you?” Ella suddenly chuckled.

“What do you mean?” I frowned at her expression then she sent a message to my phone.

“Willow has moved on with her life, Reuben,” she stated.

I slowly shifted my gaze to the screen of my phone tapping on the article about Walter that had popped up. He was seen exiting a hotel late at night with a woman that was rumored to be his secret girlfriend. My eyes got stuck on the woman’s back. She was wearing a beautiful backless dress. Walter was hiding her face with his coat as they headed to his car.

My hand shook when I realized Walter’s girlfriend was…Willow.

That’s when Ella sent me a private photo of Walter and Willow having a candle light. dinner as she added, “She has abandoned you, she is never coming back to you….”

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