Chapter 140: What have you done
[ The Old World : Skarthheim Pack territories ]
Autumn sat all alone at the edge of a narrow stream.
Her toes dipped into the cold water, creating tiny ripples that shimmered red beneath the red moon. The crimson loomed high above the forest canopy, casting everything in a surreal hue...trees bled maroon, rocks gleamed like molten wine, and the stream sparkled like a vein of ruby winding through the rusty land.
She sat with her knees drawn up, robe wrapped loosely around her. A soft silence settled over the glade, broken only by the lazy gurgle of the water and the occasional rustle of the trees.
Her hand drifted over the small swell of her belly. The bump was still subtle but a little bulging by now. Two tiny lives growing inside her. Their heartbeat pulsed gently beneath her palm, anchoring her to something beyond the chaos she had fled.
She whispered to them softly, like telling bedtime tales."You see that tree over there?" she murmured, brushing her thumb along her lower abdomen. "That’s a weeping birch. It leans like it’s tired, doesn’t it? But it’s always the one that gets kissed by the wind first."
Her voice dropped to a hush. "Kind of like your father... Always carrying everything on his shoulders.For him his pack always comes first."
Her throat tightened. But she smiled through it, her eyes shining."That bastard!" Then after a pause she added. " But I hope you both inherit his strength.He is strong...much stronger than me.Ah!!!" She heaved a heavy sigh. " I fear what you will look like. Honestly, I don’t know how I will bear it if you end up looking like him.You know what... it’s true... I miss him. I miss that fucking bastard even after everything he has done... damn.. "
She scoffed quietly, brushing a fallen leaf from her lap. And then... she felt a presence.
A shift in the air.
A hand, warm and steady, settled on her shoulder.