Chapter 74
Faith’s Pov
The air in the room felt thick, heavy with unspoken words and the ghosts of a past I desperately wished I could outrun. Astor stood before me, his gaze as sharp as ever, boring into me as if he could see straight through the carefully constructed wall I’d built around my
heart.
“I want you gone, Faith,” he said, his voice low and rough, like gravel. “More than anything, I want you out of
my life.”
The words landed like icy daggers, each one slicing deeper than the last. My breath hitched, a silent gasp caught in my throat. Gone. He wanted me gone.
But then came the cruelest twist of fate.
“That isn’t going to happen,” he continued, his eyes, those dark, familiar pools, flickered with something I couldn’t quite decipher. “Because… you’re the mother of my child.”
He paused, a beat of agonizing silence stretched between us. “And I marked you,” he added, the confession a stark, undeniable truth that bound us together in a way I loathed and if I were truly honest, secretly yearned for. “But that doesn’t mean we’ll ever be anything again.
Not ever.”
I think he has quite the nerve because he is the one who bound us together I didn’t ask for it but of course that is one of the things that he will blame me for because everything that goes wrong in his life is my fault.
My heart is used to this but it doesn’t stop every time. It splintered into a million tiny pieces, a mosaic of pain that threatened to consume me. The raw agony was almost unbearable, a physical ache that spread through my chest. Tears, hot and stinging, pricked at my eyes, but I blinked them back fiercely. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me break.
My wolf was feeling his rejection so the pain that I was feeling was ten times as much and it was unbearable.
I forced a smile, a brittle, painted–on thing that felt as hollow as I was. “That’s exactly why I stayed away all these years, Astor,” I said, my voice surprisingly steady, though it trembled on the inside. “To give you the peace you deserved. The peace you clearly still crave.”
He scoffed, a bitter sound that mirrored the turmoil in my own soul but I still went on. “And you think you can still stand there and ask why I did what I did?” I said but he challenged, his tone hardening. “Stop acting like you’re the victim, Faith.”
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< Chapter 74
+25 Points
The accusation stung, but it also ignited a fire within me. “If I wanted to be the victim, Astor,” I shot back, my voice rising with a newfound strength, “I wouldn’t have looked you in the eye and told you I don’t have excuses. I know what I did was wrong. But I had reasons. And deep down, I know you know that. You know I made the right decision.”
I think it’s pointless for us to continuously play this game of blaming me because he is equally to blame for me leaving here. he doesn’t get to stand there and pretend like he wasn’t the driving Force for the decision that I took.
I took a shaky breath, trying to regain some semblance of control. “But all that is done,” I stated, my gaze unwavering. “What are you intending to do now?” I think in all of this we’re just not getting anywhere so I need to know what he intends to do.
He didn’t hesitate. “I’m going to stay with my son, obviously.”
A small, almost imperceptible flicker of hope ignited within me, quickly extinguished by the next words that tumbled out. “It’s not going to be that easy, Astor,” I warned, my voice firming. “I’m not going to confuse our son. Some days he wants one thing, some days he wants another. Until you make up your mind, until you decide what you really want, you need to stay away from him.” I really didn’t mean to be rude or mean but this is not about keeping his son away from him but this is about him being able to keep his commitment towards his son.
He bristled, his jaw tightening. “He’s our son, Faith.”
“And he’s mine,” I agreed, but my tone was unyielding. “And when it comes to him, I don’t negotiate and I don’t accept nonsense.”
He looked at me with a flicker of his old arrogance returning. “So, what do you want me to do? Just leave my daughter?”
The mention of his daughter, the innocent child caught in this mess, sent a pang of guilt through me. A part of me, the old me, the one who desperately wanted to be loved and accepted, felt a genuine sorrow for that little girl. But that part of me was buried deep, suffocated by years of hurt.
“A part of me feels sorry for her,” I admitted, my voice softer now, laced with a weary resignation. “But I’m not going to place myself in a position where I’m a pawn in your game. I’m not going to stand by while you break my son’s heart the way you broke mine. The constant back and forth, the uncertainty… he doesn’t deserve that.”
I don’t want my son to leave the way I did in those three years while I was here and I know that he deserves better because he has the mother like me who will make sure that he does.
I took a deep breath, the words feeling heavy on my tongue. “If you choose your family with Alice, Astor, then that’s exactly what you have to do. And I will reject you. Even though
2/3
< Chapter 74
+25 Points
rejecting someone when you’re marked… it hurts. It’s dangerous. The chances of survival are slim.” I closed my eyes for a brief moment, the familiar ache resurfacing, but I pushed it down.
“I will fight with every born in my body to make sure that I survive for my little boy so you’re going to have to take a decision.
I’m not saying that it will be an easy decision and I’m not even saying that you should leave your daughter but I want to know what your priorities.
I want to know if you’ll show up for my son the way you show up for your daughter. so please make that decision because if you don’t then I will make that decision for you.”
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#vote#
