EPISODE 19
For weeks, I lived alone, and for the first time in my life, I was truly free.
No pack rules to follow, no whispered judgments, no fear of an attack in the middle of the night. I had learned to be vigilant, but so far, everything had been peaceful. Here, at the farthest edge of the territory, no one dared to bother me.
Except for those few who still cared.
I kept track of the days. The moment I counted back and realized how close I was to giving birth, a wave of anxiety settled over me. It wouldn’t be long now. The baby moved inside me, strong and healthy, a reminder that I was not entirely alone.
Despite my exile, my brothers had not abandoned me completely. Every few days, one of them would come under the cover of night, bringing food and supplies. They never stayed long, but I knew their visits came from love, not obligation. I could not hunt for myself, and they made sure
I did not starve.
More frequent than them was the old healer. She had been the only one in the pack who did not look at me with scorn, the only one who still called me by name. Each time she came, she checked on my condition with gentle hands and soft murmurs.
“The pup is strong,” she told me, her aged eyes filled with something like pride. “And if the Goddess wills it, your labor will be easy.”
I only nodded, unwilling to place my faith in a Goddess who had abandoned me long ago.
She sighed, shaking her head. “Holding on to anger will only weigh you down, child. The past is done. The future is where you must look.”
“The future is uncertain,” I replied, placing a hand on my belly. “But this child is mine. And I will not let anyone take that from me.”
She gave me a knowing look, then continued her examination. “You are strong, Maurice. You will
survive this.”
But the healer was not my only visitor.
Daniel came every single day.
He never knocked, never entered. He simply knelt outside my door, his head bowed, his voice thick with regret.
“Maurice,” he would whisper, his voice raw. “I was a fool. I was blind. I know nothing I say will undo what I have done, but please… Please, let me make amends.”
I never answered. I never even acknowledged his presence.
Each day, he confessed his sins. He spoke of his regrets, his sorrow, his pain. He begged for a second chance, pleaded for a single word, a single glance. But I had given him my love once, and he had shattered it without hesitation. What good were his words now?
One evening, he came with a bundle in his arms. “I brought you fresh blankets,” he said softly. “And food. You need to keep your strength up.”
I said nothing.
The next day, he returned with herbs. “The healer said these will help with your labor. I don’t want
to muffor”
EPISODE 19
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8:46 pm DDDD you to suffer.”
Still, I did not respond.
Then came the gifts, things I once loved. A carved wooden pendant, a book of old pack legends, even a cloak lined with fur. One by one, he left them outside my door, hoping I would take them.
I never did.
Days passed, and slowly, his pleas changed. He no longer asked for my love, only for my forgiveness.
“I know
you don’t love me anymore,” he murmured one evening, his voice barely above a breath. “And I know I deserve that. But if you ever wish to leave this place, if you want to return to the rogue lands, I will help you. I will make sure you are safe.”
It was an offer of kindness, of compensation for everything he had done. Perhaps this was his way of trying to rewrite the past, to be remembered as something other than the man who had destroyed me.
But I did not want his kindness.
“I don’t need your help,” I finally said, my voice colder than I expected. “You made your choice Daniel. Now live with it.”
His breath hitched. For the first time in weeks, silence stretched between us. Then, in a voice barely above a whisper, he said, “I never stopped loving you.”
I closed my eyes, swallowing the ache that tried to rise within me. “Then that is your burden to carry, not mine.”
Daniel left that day with a broken heart. I felt his presence lingered for a moment, as if he was waiting, hoping I would call him back. When I did not, he walked away.
That night, the first pains of labor struck me.
It started as a dull ache, nothing more than a small discomfort. But as the hours passed, the pain sharpened, growing into something unbearable. I clutched the edge of the small cot, my breaths coming in ragged gasps.
Alone, I prepared to bring my child into the world.
A child who would never know the weight of betrayal. A child who would never suffer as I had.
A child who would be free.
The Moon Goddess had forsaken me once before, but this time, I would not let her decide my fate. I would bring this life into the world with my own strength, and no one, not Daniel, not my father, not the pack, would take that from me.
As another contraction tore through me, I gritted my teeth and held on.
The night was long, but dawn was coming.
EPISODE 10
