A Cold Wind Blows (Forgotten series, #3)

Chapter 2

"This is Pauline's Point!" Carla's voice was excited as she urged me towards the cliff, her breath was coming out in little clouds. I didn't care what she was saying or going on about. It was all blending together. "She jumped off of it after her husband's death. She wanted to join him in the afterlife. So romantic." Because suicide was so romantic. I stared at her, trying to hide my irritation. Carla didn't seem to care as she looked down at the pamphlet she had found at the last point of interest she had run to.

"Its said she loved him so much she couldn't bear the thought of being without him." She gave a wistful sigh and I stared at the cliff, resisting the urge to throw her off it. Bruce wouldn't appreciate it and I wouldn't harm an innocent, no matter how much she irritated me.

"What about her family?" Pauline had thrown herself off the cliff for her dead 'love' without thinking of the rest of the people she would leave behind. I wanted to sneer at the pure selfishness that her actions spoke of.

"What?" Carla looked up from the pamphlet and I looked out over the cliff. Despite how south the manor resort that the Gathering was at, it still snowed in a showing of winter. However it had warmed up slightly the past few days so a good portion of the snow had melted.

"She threw herself off a cliff but she left her family behind. How much did they miss her? How much did they blame her for being selfish." I glanced at her and she looked aghast at my observation.

"Selfish? It's not selfish!" Her eyes narrowed and she frowned at me darkly. I didn't care what she thought of my observations or the truth. It was irrelevant.

"Selfish is giving the pain you feel to someone else so you don't have to deal with it." I blinked at her as I crossed my arms over my chest, the wounds on my arm twinged and sent sharp pain through my nerves. I embraced it as it came, the focus it brought was something

"I would-"

"You would leave behind your family? Leave behind your friends and those you love because of one single man?" I knew she would. She wouldn't be able to handle the pain of Bruce's death. It was pathetic. Death was inevitable and one should be strong enough to withstand the bond's dying breaths.

"You don't understan-"

"I understand perfectly, Alpha Female. One man alone should not be enough to make you give up. It makes you seem weak." It was an undeniable fact. One man, one person, should not be enough to make anyone give up. I had suffered numerous people. I had suffered Damascus and then the Sol Warriors. The fact I knew she wouldn't be able to suffer even one was pathetic in my eyes.

"I'm not weak!" She sputtered slightly and I turned around to stare at her. My gaze slid to her belly.

"Then when will you tell him?" I had known for a while and I had kept my mouth shut. I didn't care about their mating issues, I didn't care about her withholding secrets. I simply didn't care but I was curious and I wanted to watch her try and deny it.

"What?" Her frown fell to confusion and I tilted my head slightly. My wolf was enjoying the interaction. We liked making other people uncomfortable.

"When will you tell Alpha about the future you are carrying in your belly?" I said it slowly and clearly and the colour drained from her face. She knew she was caught. I was fairly certain she had known for at least two months and for some reason she was keeping it a secret.

"I'm not-"

"You cannot deny it for much longer. You are already getting bigger." I gestured lazily to the small bump that was protruding from below her belly button. It wasn't big but I had been watching her since I had noticed the signs.