by Viola Rivard
Caim, who had been listening patiently, frowned. “Did something happen to her?”
With a sad smile, she said, “She moved to Vermont—it’s a place, pretty far from here—and she got married. I was on my way to see her for the first time in a very long time, when I met your father.”
“That is not a very good secret,” Caim decided, though she could see that his posture had relaxed, and he finally looked at ease in her presence.
Sarah snickered. “That’s not the secret,” she told him. “When she left that day, I watched her leave. I didn’t tell anyone, I never have, but I knew that she wasn’t coming back.”
He cocked his head. “She told you she was leaving?”
“She didn’t have to. I just knew.”
“How?”
“She had been sad for a long time, and there was nothing I could do to make her happy.”
It was easy to talk to Caim, and she hoped that in his father’s absence they would be able to bond. It would give her something to focus on, besides how much she missed Cain. Powered with new determination, she reached out and ran her fingers through his hair. He allowed the gesture.
While there was no stigma about nudity among the pack, Sarah’s sense of propriety made her keep the furs bunched around her as she searched for her clothing. She grabbed her gown and wiggled into it, careful not to expose herself in the process.
As she stood, Caim said, “You make my father happier than I do.”
Determined to squelch that line of thinking before it went any further, she said, “Trust me, my friend, if it came down between you and me—”
Sarah doubled over, forgetting the point she was trying to make as an intense nausea gripped her gut. Her eyes darted around the room, but with nothing at hand to throw up in, she lost the contents of her stomach on the floor.
Caim was by her side instantly, alarm etched on his young face. Gripping her stomach with one hand, she raised the other to pat his shoulder.
“I’m okay, don’t worry.”
Stubbornly, he replied, “I am not worried,” though she could see his small chest rising and falling with his quickened breathing.
Just as she was regaining her sense of equilibrium, she heard the loud slap of bare feet from the passage. She didn’t have to look up to know that it was Lotus, who always seemed to be in a big hurry.
Lotus called out Sarah’s name in a long whine before saying, “Clover is being very rude and she is not obeying your orders at all.”
Sarah looked up at Lotus entered the room, just in time to see the girl wrinkle her nose. “Are you sick?” Lotus asked with a frown.
Nodding, Sarah asked, “Do you think you can get me something to clean this up with?”
“I will go,” Caim announced, marching purposely from the room.
Sarah crawled back over to the pallet, groaning as she collapsed onto the furs. She should have just thrown up on them, she thought regrettably. It would have made for easier cleanup. Now she would have to scrub the floor, and the room would probably smell gross for days.
Never one for boundaries, Lotus came to lie next to Sarah, their faces just inches apart. Sarah held her hand in front of her mouth, not wanting to subject Lotus to her terrible breath.
“What’s up, buttercup?”
Lotus snorted. “That is not my name.”
Sarah smiled behind her hand. “My mistake, cupcake.”
“What is a cupcake?”
Sarah wasn’t sure she would ever get used to having to explain things like that to the children. She opened her mouth to elaborate, but Lotus abruptly asked, “Are you having Cain’s pup?”
Sarah blinked at her, convinced she hadn’t heard the girl right. “What?”
“Your scent is different,” Lotus said, her face scrunching thoughtfully. “You smell like Dawn did, when she had Snow in her belly.”
Bound: Part Three
Sarah may love kids, but she’s not ready to be a mother—especially when she’s sure Cain got her pregnant intentionally. While the mystery surrounding Snow’s parentage provides a welcome distraction, it’s only a matter of time before Cain returns, and Sarah is geared up for a confrontation.
But Cain’s dishonesty isn’t the biggest threat to their future, and Sarah will have to gather all of her strength and courage to face what happens next.
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