Plan B

MAELIS

An unease settled deep into my spine as I stared at Caden. Something felt off about his statement, and I furrowed my brows.

Could he be referring to another man?

Or Theron. 

Determined to understand what he meant, I touched his shoulders gently, trying to coax him.

“What do you mean by you miss your father?” I asked softly, still crouched in front of him.

The little boy tilted his head, and was about to answer, when a sharp voice cut through the garden.

“Caden!”

Nerine strode toward us, her face tight with anger as she grabbed her son’s arm and pulled him behind her in one quick motion.

“What were you saying to my son?” she demanded, her voice raised in defense, but I also caught the anxiousness in it.

I rose slowly, brushing dirt off my dress. “Nothing important to get you worked up.”

My voice stayed calm on purpose because I didn’t want her to suspect a thing.

Gritting her teeth, her fingers tightened on Caden’s shoulder, and the boy winced, letting out a sudden cry.

“You’re hurting him,” I pointed out. 

Nerine snapped her head toward me, then looked down at her own hand as if only now realizing the pressure.

Instead of apologising to her son, she raised her voice. “Stop it! Leave my son alone! You’re hurting him. Please, leave him!” The cry was loud enough to draw attention, and soon footsteps approached. 

Theron appeared first, followed by two guards and a couple of maids who had been working nearby. His eyes went straight to the crying child, then to Nerine, then to me.

“What’s happening here?” He demanded, his voice cold and low.

“She was bullying him,” Nerine immediately replied, her voice shaking just enough to sound believable. “Just because I spent the night in your chambers. She took it out on our son.”

Caden wiped his face with the back of his hand and tried to speak. “Mama, she didn’t—”

“Hush.” Nerine pulled him closer and immediately turned on the tears.

Her voice broke amidst sobs as she continued. “Forgive me, Luna. I know you’re childless and haven’t been able to bear a son for the Alpha. Seeing my boy must have reminded you of that bitter truth.”

The words landed like a slap, and several of the people who had gathered shifted uncomfortably. 

She just called me childless. 

I felt the urge to touch my belly but I refrained. I turned my gaze to Theron, he was staring at me, not in pity but in anger.

He didn’t care that Nerine had called me childless. He was just angry that I had hurt his son. 

He stepped forward, closed his hand around my wrist, and pulled me away from the scene without a word. 

I did not resist, or pull my hands away, there was no point in creating a bigger scene in front of the child and his grip was too firm for me to pull free easily.

Theron did not stop until we reached the lonely path behind the rose hedges, which was out of immediate sight and hearing.

Theron growled, his gaze narrowing at me. 

“Have you lost your mind?” His voice was filled with anger. “First the rites, now this. You go after a child because you cannot accept that Nerine is back in my life?”

Pulling my wrist free, I stepped back. “I didn’t touch him.”

“Do not lie to me, Maelis.” He took a step closer. “Since the day she returned you have done nothing but cause trouble. Not only that, you have challenged me in front of the elders, embarrassed this pack, and hurt the people I care about… but right now, I have run out of patience.”

The coldness in his tone was familiar, but the intensity of his anger underneath it was new.

I met his eyes without flinching. “If you want me gone so badly,” I said. “Then cancel the remaining rites and grant the unbinding. Just let me leave, that is all I ask for.”

“Leave?” Theron growled once again, and closed the distance between us. He swept his gaze closely at my face, and the air between us shifted.

I felt my wolf stir in response to his wolf. I could feel his restlessness and uneasiness…. and strangely, warmth?

Theron seemed to notice the same pull and quickly took two steps backward, putting clear distance between us.

He cleared his throat, not sparing a glance at me. “You will stay away from Nerine,” he said. “And you will stay away from my son. If I hear you have gone near either of them again, you will regret it.”

With that, he turned and walked away without waiting for an answer.

I stood alone on the path for a long moment, listening to the sound of his retreating footsteps. My wrist still carried the faint imprint of his grip, and his threat echoed louder than anything else he had said.

I pressed a hand to my stomach, feeling the life that he wasn’t aware of, and whispered. “You have no idea what you’re pulling away from, Theron.” 

After a few seconds, I walked back toward the house and never came out for the rest of the day. 

______

 

The next three days passed in peace, I stayed mostly in my room, leaving only when it was necessary.

Hura brought my meals and the herb tea Sera had ordered frequently, and  I spent time gathering old letters, notes on every public and private neglect from the past five years as evidence. 

Also, the original contract pages I had taken from his study stayed hidden under the loose floorboard near my bed… no one could go there. 

On the afternoon of the fourth day,  I left my room to search for one last piece of evidence which was the written record of a council meeting where Theron had openly refused to mark me, four years ago. 

They were kept at the pack archives and luckily, no one goes there unless necessary. 

Just before I could turn towards the hallway leading to the archives, I began to hear low whispers which stopped me in my tracks.

They belonged to Nerine and Evelyn. 

I walked towards the direction of the voice and stopped at a distance. They were speaking in the small sitting room just ahead, and the door was left slightly open.

I pressed myself against the wall and listened.

“…She still thinks she has power,” Nerine was saying. “We need to move fast mother. I need her removed soon. I don’t want her and Theron under the same roof anymore.”

“Then we go for plan B,” Evelyn muttered.