Page 10 of The Wolf's Bullied Mate
“It’s our child,” I said then in a breaking voice. “How can you say such words about our child?”
Jeffrey shook his head. “I’m not interested in mating with you or having a family together.”
“Why?” I squeaked out. The world I thought I knew shattered in front of me. “I thought we loved each other.”
A cruel chuckle escaped Jeffrey’s lips. “I don’t love you. I never did.”
I blinked once, then twice. Tears welled up in my eyes. My heart broke into a thousand pieces.
I truly and genuinely loved Jeffrey, regardless of his faults and how unkindly he could act with others. I believed one day, we would become mates. We weren’t fated mates—I hadn’t recognized him as my soulmate when I had eyes on him after turning twenty-two—but that fact didn’t mean we couldn’t decide to mate anyway.
I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this man, have a small home and a happy family together.
Jeffrey’s eyebrows shot up. He chuckled again, this time sounding unsure. “You really thought I loved you? You did, didn’t you?”
I couldn’t stop myself from nodding.
He continued with his cruel words. “You’re a weak wolf, Pauline. Someone like you doesn’t belong with someone like me.”
It was like he had stabbed me straight through my heart. Tears overflowed from my eyes and streamed down my cheeks. My body shook. I sobbed.
Jeffrey seemed put off by my crying. “So are you going to get rid of it?”
It. That was all our child meant to him. I, however, already loved the kid we would have with all my heart. Our child wasn’t born yet, but I could already envision him so clearly. I couldn’t have my pregnancy ended.
I shook my head. “No, I’m going to give birth to our child.”
“Your child, then,” Jeffrey shrugged. “Good luck raising a kid on your own.”
He turned around then and left me in the clearing on my own.
Over the next few days, I kept hoping that we would return to me and reconsider and decide to mate with me. My life wasn’t a fairytale, though—it never had been. Jeffrey never came back so we could be together again and start our family.
I decided to give birth to Ray regardless of what everyone around me told me to do when they learned of my situation. To this day, I've never regretted my decision. Ray was the sunshine of my life. I loved my son.
I just wished I didn’t have to keep suffering through so much abuse.
My parents had never been very warm and caring, but when they learned I had decided to become a single mother, they turned completely cold towards me. They hadn’t thrown me out of the house, but they had told me I had to contribute to the family fund as soon as I gave birth to Ray. Being a single mother, an unwanted woman in our pack, was a blight on the family name. My parents had told me on numerous occasions how grateful I should be that they hadn’t turned their backs on me.
However, at times like these, I had trouble feeling anything positive towards Jeffrey or my parents. I squeezed my legs and hid my face in my knees. I cried, letting go of all the fear, disgust, and hate I felt towards everyone who abused me. I could allow myself this one single moment of weakness, could I not?
Just for half an hour, I could be weak and broken. With nobody who needed to see a strong front from me, I could be just myself for a bit, the sad and overwhelmed person I was deep down inside.
My phone rang and buzzed in my pocket. I burrowed my face more deeply against my knees, trying to ignore the sound. Still, what if it was my boss? What if he needed me to fill in for someone else’s shift? I couldn’t afford to displease him.
I should at least check who was calling.
I fished the phone out of my pocket and looked at the name displayed on the screen.
‘Cherry <3’ the caller ID said.
My one and only true friend. Cherry was the same age as me and worked as a tattoo artist. With a cheerful personality and a lot of backbone, she had stood up for me on numerous occasions. We had met when I had first moved to this pack and had been close all these years. She had seen right through Jeffrey’s act long before I had.
I couldn’t ignore a call from my best friend. I picked up the phone and put it to my ear.
“How bad did the dinner go?” I heard her serious tone.
I had told her Jeffrey would be coming by for dinner tonight as soon as I had learned that information from my parents—yesterday evening. Cherry and I had speculated about how terrible the event would turn out to be.
