Centuries Of Sin: Book II (Mature)

3

Selene hadn’t said a word since getting into the car with Francesca, though Francesca had tried to talk to her a number of times. She just sat with her head leaning against the window, staring out at the road ahead of them.

Sawyer may have insisted he didn’t need to eat, but Francesca wasn’t willing to let Selene do the same. She couldn’t force her to eat but she tried to encourage it, without success.

She couldn’t bring herself to berate Selene, and she was trying to be understanding, but it frustrated her that the younger woman seemed to have completely given up on taking care of herself.

It took three days to get to where they were going, and Selene didn’t speak at all for the entire journey. She refused to leave the truck at all for any reason other than using the bathroom, and Francesca had to argue or refuse to continue driving to get her to even drink water. Most of the time even that made her throw up, but Francesca wasn’t experienced enough to know whether that was down to her pregnancy or being stuck in the truck with the body of the man she loved.

They were only a couple of hours away when Selene finally spoke, unprompted.

“I can’t do this.”

“We don’t really have any other choice, Selene. I can’t exactly turn the truck around and take the body back, can I?” She regretted being so terse almost immediately, but it was just how she was, and she wasn’t at all practiced in expressing sympathy even though she felt it.

“Not that. This,” she gestured vaguely at her stomach. “It was a stupid enough decision anyway but now… I can’t do this without him. I can’t do this on my own.”

“You aren’t alone. We are still a pack, and my brother will make sure you have all the support you need. You aren’t the first woman to go through this and you certainly won’t be the last.”

“I wouldn’t be the first woman to decide that continuing a pregnancy at a time like this was not a viable option, either.”

“No. You wouldn’t. But as much as I can concede Robin did care for you, we both know it wasn’t you he died for. Which is why you’re not going to say anything like that again, and you are going to make sure you take better care of yourself than you have been the past few days. This isn’t about you anymore. And on a personal level, I don’t think you should allow my father to end his family line for good. He killed Robin and his father, don’t let him take three generations.”

“Francesca, we both know he’s father to at least one of the children in our old pack.”

“Perhaps. But he was oblivious to that, or unwilling to acknowledge it. It’s you he chose to have a child with and as far as he was aware or willing to admit this child was his firstborn. So stop being so ridiculous about this and accept that you’re going to be a mother a few months from now, and you’re going to get to raise a child he desperately wanted,  and you’re going to love that child more than you could possibly imagine,  and more than anything you are going to be grateful every time you look into his eyes and see his father that you didn’t do anything stupid in a moment of irrational grief, even if it’s hard to think about that now.”

“Why did you say ‘his’ like that?”

“Because I have a feeling about it. And I think it will help you to think of that child as Robin’s son, not a burden or a stupid mistake.”

Selene didn’t respond, but Francesca was satisfied that she had done her best to comfort her for now.

“What should I say to them? They cast him out, what if they won’t let us bury him with his father?”

“They won’t do that. Not with me there. My family name still means something.”

They finally arrived, but Selene was withdrawn again, and she struggled to explain why they were there. Her old pack still saw her as the Omega who had left them even though she was so much more than that. They had a new Alpha now, and the woman he had taken as his mate had never liked Selene.

She wrinkled her nose when she entered the room Francesca and Selene had been led to and asked to wait in to speak to someone.

“He must be really desperate if he thinks you’re worth his time. I suppose you’re here to beg us to take you both back so you don’t have to whelp that child on your own. Could he not come and face us himself like a man?”

Francesca stood up – Harriet, the arrogant young woman who was insulting Selene and Robin, had been unpleasant to her when she lived with the pack, and she wasn’t willing to stand for this. At six foot tall she towered over Harriet, and she had just been rudely reminded that she was in an enclosed space with a Sawyer who she had actively upset in the past.

“Robin is dead. That’s why we’re here. She has a pack, she doesn’t need any help from you.”

Harriet snorted laughter.

“Dead? Already? I expected him to last less than a year, but this… this is just pathetic. Did you come here to tell us for a reason? Do you expect our condolences?”

“She just wants to bury her mate. She wants him to be buried next to his father, and I don’t think that is too much to ask.”

She looked up at Francesca who still hadn’t sat back down, and tried to sound as if the decision was her own and not one made through intimidation.

“I suppose that’s not unacceptable. How did it happen, anyway?”

“He was defending her from my father.”

“Your father? The i***t actually tried to take on Tobias after what happened to his dad?”

“He wasn’t an i***t. He was brave, and his actions kept Selene safe.”

“Sacrificing himself for an Omega... it definitely sounds like he died over something stupid to me. But I won’t keep you any longer; do what you have to, and then leave.”

They had the permission they needed, and so Francesca ushered Selene out of the room and back to the truck. She had no idea how to handle this, but she knew Selene would try and dig the grave with her own hands rather than leave Robin in the car any longer if she didn’t take control of the situation herself quickly enough.

“Wait here with him,” she managed to make it sound like she had a plan, “I’ll fetch you when I’m ready.”