If Alaric had already decided to toss us aside, then I would beat him to it. I would leave him and raise this pup on my own.
I let out a bitter smile as my heart finally gave up. I pulled out my communicator and called my father in Valmoria.
"Dad, I've made up my mind. I'm rejecting the bond. I'll bring the pup and come live with you."
"I'm glad you finally came to your senses," came his voice through the line. "The Blackthorns might come from an elite bloodline, but ours isn't lacking either. If staying there only brings you pain, then yes, leave him and raise the pup on your own."
"You're right, Dad."
After hanging up, I immediately booked the next flight out.
I thought back to this morning, when I asked Alaric to come to my healer's appointment with me. He said he had pack business. Turns out he was just accompanying Ravenna to hers.
Nine months of carrying his pup and not once had Alaric ever come with me to the Moon-Healers' Hall.
Ravenna had her declared courtship called off three moon cycles ago and ever since she came back to our territory, Alaric had been meeting her over and over again. From the moment she returned, Alaric and I had barely shared any time alone.
Whenever Ravenna called, even if it was just a message through the communicator, Alaric would drop everything and rush to her.
He even held her affectionately right in front of me. His scent, cedar and cold iron and storm ozone, would come home carrying traces of her night jasmine, and my wolf would flinch every time.
It wasn't like I hadn't confronted him about it. But every time I did, he brushed me off with the same excuse, that Ravenna was going through a hard time and needed support.
According to him, everything he did was to help Ravenna back on her feet. She was carrying, he said, and he had a moral obligation to be there for her.
But Alaric seemed to forget one crucial fact: Ravenna wasn't the only pregnant she-wolf in his life. I was, too. And I was even further along than she was. If anything, I was the one who needed care the most.
For the longest time, I thought the pup Ravenna was carrying was Alaric's.
I tried to ask indirectly. I even told him that if he no longer wanted me as his mate, he needed to tell me outright.
But every single time, he'd shut me down, impatient, dismissive, evasive. And the one time I dared question whose pup Ravenna was really carrying, he got furious.