Claim of the Wolf

Chapter Eight: Unhappy Birthday

Faith blinked as she woke up, her head ached and she wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep but she knew that she couldn't; the brunette carefully pushed herself up, she winced as she pulled herself up.

Taking deep breathes, Faith knew that her body was beginning to fail her, she had a sinking feeling that it was not only the result of her bond with Iker but the fact that she hadn't had any proper care when she had given birth.

“You can do this,” Faith murmured to herself as she looked over at Oliver, he was nine weeks old and he needed her; she had stopped breast feeding due to the fact that she didn't want Oliver to catch what she had.

Climbing slowly out of her cupboard, Faith glanced at her sleeping son before she padded into the kitchen to make breakfast for her father and Devon; she worked slowly knowing that she couldn't push herself to hard otherwise she would collapse.

“Happy Birthday,” Devon whispered making Faith look at her brother, she stared at him taken back since she had forgotten that it was her birthday.

Faith didn't see the need in remembering when her birthday was because it wasn’t as if she was got to celebrate it, her father if he realised the date was going to make her life hell.

“You should have breakfast and head out before he wakes up and realises the date,” Faith said as she finished making breakfast, she tried to clear her head; she felt dizzy again and she knew that when she was beaten later that she wouldn’t recover as easily as she usually did.

Devon looked at her concerned, he knew that something wasn’t right with her and he worried that she wasn’t going to see her twenty-seventh since her health was declining.

***

“Worthless whore,” David spat as he delivered one final kick to Faith’s stomach, he glared down at her before he walked away leaving his daughter on the floor; she laid still as he slammed the door behind him as he headed out to the bar.

Faith didn't move as her body ached, she knew that when she got off the floor that she wasn’t going to be able to stand properly; she felt sick and she knew that it was only going to get worse when her father returned from the bar even drunker than he had been.

The brunette felt tears build in her blue eyes as she curled in on herself, it was days like this that she wished that she could just die.

Faith didn't want to live like this and she knew that Oliver deserved better, he didn't deserve to live with a mother that could barely support him.

Faith laid there for another few moments before she carefully started to move, she swallowed heavily as her ribs screamed in protest and there was no doubt in her mind that they were broken; she leant against the wall as she wiped the blood from her nose and swallowed back the metallic taste that filled her mouth.

Taking deep breathes, Faith carefully got to her feet using the wall as a support; she cried out softly in pain as her body screamed in protest and tears filled her eyes at the pain that she was feeling.

Faith swallowed as she heard Oliver cry, she knew that he wanted feeding and that he had been woken when her father had slammed the door when he had left.

Faith stilled as the front door opened, she hoped that it wasn’t her father coming back for round two; she didn't know if she would be able to cope if he beat her again.

Faith was relieved when she realised that it was Devon returning home from school, he stared at his older sister shocked as he saw the state that she was in; he swallowed as he realised that their father had attacked her again.

“You okay?” Devon asked her concerned as he walked towards her, he felt his heart ache as he looked over the damage that their father had caused her and it was going to take a long time for her to recover from her injuries.

“I’ve been better,” Faith said as she closed her eyes, she wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and not wake up but right now she knew that it wasn’t an option; she had responsibilities and she couldn't leave Oliver without a mother.

“Should I call someone?” Devon asked as he moved to help her, he watched concerned wondering if there was anything that he could do to help; he hated that his sister was going through this and no one cared. Faith looked at him as he helped her into the kitchen.

“Like whom? No one will come to help me Devon,” Faith said bitingly making her brother sigh as he sat her at the table and moved to get the first aid kit; he knew that she was right, no one in the clan paid her much attention unless they wanted something even those who knew Faith.

“What about Iker? He is your mate,” Devon said making the brunette look at him, she cursed Nadina for telling him what had happened at the ball even if it was so that he could keep an eye on her; they all knew that the longer that she was away from Iker, the more weaker that she would get.

“Iker isn’t my mate… he is our clan alpha, he will never be my mate,” Faith snapped making her brother stop and look at her, he could hear the bitterness in her words and he understood why she had said that.

The moment that the council learnt that she was Iker’s mate; they would dissolve the bond between them and Iker would be forced to marry someone more suitable while Faith would be kicked out of the clan leaving her vulnerable to attack and unable to protect Oliver.

“I will never be able to bond completely with him… in a couple of months he’ll forget about me and will marry Carbonero, he’ll be happy,” Faith said convinced that would happen as tears filled her eyes; she swallowed there was no way to avoid that happening.

Faith cursed God for his decision to make her suffer, she would never be married and she knew that she needed to accept that or it would be her undoing.

***

Iker looked at himself in the mirror, his hand moved down his aching ribs as he tried to calm his heartbeat; he knew that something had happened to Isabel and it worried him that someone had hurt her.

“I’ll find you Isabel,” Iker said determinedly as he moved to pull on his shirt, he had another search to conduct and he hoped that he would be able to find Isabel today especially after what had happened.

Iker buttoned his shirt as he thought about the pain that he had felt; he knew that Isabel had been attacked in some way and he had sent out a search of the local hospitals in case she turned up.

Iker ran a hand through his hair, his normally tanned skin was turning pale and he knew that he was going to be in trouble if he didn't find Isabel soon; the bond would eventually kill them if they weren’t reunited something that worried his parents and they had given him three months to find Isabel before they severed his bond with her.

Closing his tired brown eyes, Iker wondered why she had run away and if what he had felt that day had been the reason behind it; he didn't care what it took he had to find his mate soon otherwise he didn't know what he would do without her.