Page 36 of Impregnated By the Alpha

The landscape now sat on an easel facing the studio’s front door. Anyone who came inside would see it before they saw anything else. I was still in shock that my work was getting this much attention so quickly, but the reality of it was starting to sink in. It seemed that I might be able to make a career out of my passion after all.

Walter returned in a moment with the check and some more news.

“I just had a phone call from a buddy in Salt Lake City,” he said. “I sent him a picture of that painting you did, and he wants to talk about getting a Violet Pinedale original as well. Here’s his phone number. I said you’d give him a ring.”

“Wow. Thank you, Walter. Thank you for believing in me,” I said sincerely.

“Your talent speaks for itself,” he replied. “But if you don’t mind still working for me here, I have some store work for you to do this morning.”

I nodded my head. “I wouldn’t dream of quitting on you, Walter.”

Secretly, I was glad of the break from my sudden success as an artist. I was ready to do some monotonous shelving and cleaning for a few hours.

By the end of the day, I felt like things were going back to normal when I heard the bell ring from the front door. Walter was working the counter while I categorized backstock in the supply room, so I didn’t pay much attention to the customer until I realized it wasn’t a customer at all. Nile opened the supply room door, entered quickly, and shut the door firmly behind him.

“Nile? What are you doing here?” I asked.

“We need to talk,” he said sternly.

“Can it wait? I’m almost done here, and then I’ll be heading home,” I said.

“No. It can’t wait, Violet,” he began. “Last night was a turning point for me, and I thought it was for you as well. When you left this morning, I told myself that maybe you were justhaving a bad morning, but the longer I thought about it, the more upset I got. It’s all I’ve been able to think about today.”

“What do you have to be upset about?”

“Every time we get closer, you run away from me,” Nile said.

“Wow,” I replied sarcastically. “Deflect much?”

“Excuse me?” he said.

“You keep accusing me of being the one to put distance between us. You’re conveniently forgetting that I’m not the one who left!”

I was trying to moderate my voice, but I was tired of having this same conversation over and over again. It never went anywhere, and he never took accountability for what he had done. It was like he just expected me to ignore my feelings about the past and move on.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I didn’t want to go?” Nile said.

“If you didn’t want to leave, then tell me what happened,” I said, throwing up my hands in exasperation. “We’ve been through all this before. Until you’re ready to talk about what really happened and tell me the truth, then your assurances mean nothing.”

Nile paced back and forth in the storage room, finally coming to a halt in front of me. “Fine,” he said defeatedly. “I’ll tell you the whole story.”

“Sure you will,” I said skeptically.

“Violet, I left to save your life,” Nile said.

Chapter 18 - Nile

The rest of my explanation couldn’t take place in Walter’s studio closet. I needed to be able to speak freely, and the chance of being overheard was not one I wanted to take. Violet left work early, and I drove her out of town where we could finish our conversation alone.

We were silent for the entire drive, and I could practically hear Violet’s mind turning over the last sentence I had said to her.

As soon as we stopped the car, she unbuckled her seat belt so she could turn to face me. “Explain,” she said.

“It’s hard to know where to begin,” I began. I hesitated, not because I didn’t want to tell her the whole story, but because it was difficult to relive the past. I didn’t like to think about the life I had given up protecting her from my own circumstances.

“Why don’t you start by explaining why my life was in danger to begin with?” she suggested.

“How much do you remember about the wolves I was with when I found you in the forest?” I asked.

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