The Mark of Betrayal (Samara and Roman) novel Chapter 82

Roman

Hearing Alpha William say that Sloane has shown improvement while she’s been away and seeing it in person is very different. He’s right. The sadness that was like a dark cloud hanging over her isn’t gone, but it’s shifted from the all-consuming grief that she was suffering when she left, to something that looks more manageable.

She smiles when she sees us pull up, which makes me happy. I wasn’t sure she would have missed us.

When we get out of the car, she rushes up to me, leaping into my arms. I can instantly feel the difference in her. Her young body is changing, becoming more muscular already. The intense running is stripping away any residual baby fat and the sparring with Will has obviously developed some of her muscles.

“Whoa! Since when did you become a warrior?” I ask her.

Her eyes go wide, and her mouth opens and closes.

“Don’t worry, I already knew,” I say quietly.

“How?” she asks, glancing at Alpha Will.

“Alpha William,” I say.

“You told your father?” she asks Will, the hurt of betrayal obvious in her tone.

“Told him what? What are you talking about?” Will asks, frowning at her.

“You promised you wouldn’t tell,” she says, her voice wavering as she battles her emotions.

“Sloane ...” I begin.

“My son told me nothing, Sloane. What kind of an Alpha would I be if I didn’t know that a little slip of a girl was sparring with my son and running for miles off my pack lands every day,” Alpha William says in that calm, fatherly way that he has.

“You know about that?” she asks shocked.

“You’re not the first young wolf who thought she was sneaking off my pack lands undetected,” he says, giving Samara a look.

Sloane immediately turns back to me. “It’s not Will’s fault. I asked him to do it. Don’t get mad at him,” she says, in rapid fire staccato, switching quickly from hurt to protective.

“Sloane, calm down. No one’s in trouble. I talked to Alpha William and I’m going to start training you when you get home.”

“You are?” she asks, looking hopeful. I realize I’ve overlooked how important it is for her to get her white wolf. I may not believe that her efforts will work one way or the other, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t support her in every way possible.

“Yes. When we get home, we’ll set up a schedule for the two of us to spar.”

“Really?” she asks.

“Yes. This is obviously very important to you and that makes it important to me. Now you should apologize to Will for assuming he betrayed your trust and then go say hello to your Aunt Samara.”

“I’m sorry, Will,” she says.

“It’s okay. I would have assumed the same thing. But next time, just remember that when I give my word as an Alpha, I mean it,” he says.

She nods and turns to Samara.

“Do I finally get my hug?” Samara asks, opening her arms.

As soon as Sloane presses against her in the hug, she gasps and steps back. “Theodore has gotten so big already!”

“I know. I’m hoping we’ll start feeling him kick in the next week or so,” Samara says excitedly. She’s told me that she thinks she can feel him moving around inside her, like little butterfly wings or little flutters in her stomach. It’s making me more excited to be able to feel my son moving around. I can’t wait!

We spend the night with Alpha William and his family. It’s so good to see Sloane interacting easily with them. Will treats her like a younger sister, teasing her and tugging on her hair. It reminds me a lot of Theo and Samara when we were growing up. There is obviously a bond between the two of them and it seems that Will has had just as much of an impact on Sloane as Alpha William.

“She’s doing so well, I almost feel like it’s a bad idea to take her away from here,” Samara says that night.

I wrap my arms around her, running my hands over her back. “I don’t want someone else raising her for us. Let’s see how she does when she gets home. If she reverts back to how she was, we’ll talk to Alpha William about something more long-term here. But if we can give her a family and a happy life, I’d prefer that she lives with us and visits here, not the other way around. Hopefully, now that I’m going to be teaching her how to spar, she’ll find some solace in our pack.”

“What about the running? It’s too much, Roman. She’s so young. It’s bordering on obsessive.”

“I agree. I was thinking about that, and I think I’m going to put her on a training schedule. I’m going to keep it regimented so she doesn’t think I’m limiting her. But I intend to wear her out in sparring so she doesn’t have the energy to run as much or as far as she is now. She’s a bit too young for strength training, but she’s already gaining some muscle. There are things I can do to make her muscles sore enough that running such long distances will be too much for her.”

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