Chapter 2 – A Silent Decision
The drive back to the pack house felt longer than usual, every second stretching thin like a frayed thread ready to snap. My hands rested over my swollen belly as I sat in the passenger seat, feeling the gentle nudges and rolls of the pup inside me—a fragile reminder that not everything in my life was falling apart.
But the man driving beside me…
the man who should have been my anchor…
didn’t look at me.
Not once.
Carson kept his eyes on the road, his jaw tight, his scent cold and distant. He smelled nothing like a mate returning from a hospital with his pregnant wife. Instead, he smelled like a man hiding something… or protecting someone else.
Alice.
Her name sat bitter on my tongue like poison.
I turned my head toward the window, watching the scenery blur by—the towering pines, the rocky trail, the familiar path leading to a home that no longer felt like mine. My fingers dug into the fabric of my maternity dress to stop them from trembling.
When we finally reached Stormclaw Pack’s main house, Carson stopped the car but didn’t move to open my door. He didn’t offer an arm to help me down the steps, didn’t even glance at the belly carrying his heir.
He simply walked ahead.
I followed slowly, each step a reminder of the weight I was carrying—physically and emotionally.
Inside the house, the staff greeted us politely, but their eyes flickered with confusion. They had noticed it too—the growing distance, the cracks in our bond, the absence of warmth.
Carson shrugged off his jacket and tossed it onto the couch.
No hello.
No concern.
No “How are you feeling?” after a medical check-up.
He went straight to the refrigerator, grabbed a cold bottle of water, twisted it open, and drank deeply—like he had come back from a long, exhausting day.
I had been the one in the hospital.
I had been the one lying on the exam bed.