The Pack House

Charlie's POV Part 1

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Days inched by.

I watched Caleb desperately try to hide his expanding abdomen and dealt with his disappearance dry eyed. Caleb had been my closest companion. Somehow he had met a fate similar to my own. Raven was his hot/cold self. It became apparent that mate or not his son was his sole focus. I tried to stay emotionally neutral to the thing growing inside me but it was hard.

Whether it was the curse or the miracle of pregnancy in general, I would wake up with my arms protectively around my middle. I had nightmares of a creature with horns bursting from my midsection like those horror movies we would watch on TV. Raven would clumsily hold me when I woke up in a cold sweat, hands pressed against my middle in horror.

I didn't understand how I felt about it all. It was overwhelming to say the least. I thought about killing myself constantly. Anything to rid myself of the evil within. I felt like I was assisting in something awful by allowing the child to live. At the same time, I couldn't fathom harming my baby. While he was partially Raven's he was also partially mine. And that gave me the right to love him.

"You could get some stuff done today." Raven commented the following morning.

I had glued myself in place: on the floor by the new space heater. "Okay."

"I brought some fresh kills home last night and buried them. Dig them up and dress them."

"Okay."

"And the laundry could be done. Take it to the stream--you remember."

"Okay."

"But don't push yourself." His tone was suddenly soft. "Remember--it's not just you anymore."

"Okay."

When he finally let I did the tasks. Then I sat and kept the fire stocked while I waited for his return. He came back and bent me carefully over the arm chair as he refreshed my Mark and fucked me dry. He filled he bath and settled behind me as we washed in the warm water.

Silence, as usual, stood between us. I had nothing to say and he had nothing to offer. He dried me off and went outside to dig up on of the kills. It was a thin rabbit with hardly enough meat for a pup much less a full grown wolf Raven's size. So I watched him eat with a watering mouth. He did bother to spare me any organs with, popping them into his mouth hungrily.

"If you have an omega I'll slit his throat and make you watch." His tone was plain--like they were simple directions.

My heart picked up. Omegas naturally carried other Omegas. To have a normal wolf was exceptionally rare. Only one had been born here and it had belonged to Arrow. But he had drowned it and the father the next morning. I could understand his violence and his lack of empathy for something he created. "Please." My mouth was dry--I needed some water.

"Don't annoy me. I have no use for it. It's just another mouth to feed. Use it as motivation." Raven added with a bloody smirk.

I shook my head. "I can't control it," I whispered. "We can try again but--"

"But nothing. It's useless." He snapped. "If you want to chew on the cartilage and have he marrow shut your fucking mouth."

Tears stung my eyes but I obediently silenced myself. Starving the baby would not help it grow strong like he wanted. He passed the femur and started cracking open the other bones. I scrapped my teeth along it, hopeful for the scrapes of meat. I popped the crunchy cartilage from the ends and chewed on the marrow.

It wasn't much but it put a dent in my hunger.

We were getting ready for bed when the knock came. Raven was changing into his night clothes and gestured for me to get it. I bit back my sigh and went down the loft stairs. I pulled the door open, expecting one of the Warriors with a dead or severely injured Omega, as usual, but who I saw astounded me. "Red!"

"Jesus look at you," Red's tone was the same as the night he took me.

It was full of pity. Which was impressive for such a seemingly cold hearted man. "Charlie!"

Red's scent had carried and I could hear Raven thundering down. Red's hand bit into my shoulder and he pulled me into the snow behind him. The cold burn made my whimper but it was drown out by a roar of fury from Raven. "Give me back my mate!"

He surged down Red but Red's hands moved quickly. There was a sickening snap and Raven's body convulsed and hit the door with a sickening thud. My heart slammed in my chest as blank glassy eyes stared unseeingly up at me. His neck was cocked an unnatural angle. I felt sick.

The pain of losing my mate and the relief of my freedom all cascaded together. I felt dizzy.

Thankfully Res caught me before I hit the ground as I fainted.

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