Chapter 228: Chapter 228
[SAMANTHA’s Point of View]
“What is this?”
I froze when I entered the room and saw my husband packing things. “What is it for? Are you and Liam going somewhere? Is there any problem inside the pack territory? Do you really have to spend the night somewhere?”
Confused about what was happening, I approached my husband and looked at the clothes he was packing. Those weren’t the regular clothes he chose whenever he had to patrol around the boundaries of the pack. Instead, they were thick jackets and pants that he could use in areas that were extremely cold.
Like the Black Forest.
My eyes widened in disbelief at what I realized, and then I stepped between my husband and his wardrobe. I got more disappointed when he refused to look at me straight in the eyes and chose to step away, and sighed in exasperation as if I was the one who was making things hard and complicated for whatever was going on in his head.
“What is this, Dominic!? Do you care to explain this to me?! Are you heading to Black Forest without taking me with you?”
“I need to go alone, Samantha. You have to stay here with the kids.”
Rage immediately boiled in me as I stopped him from putting clothes in his bed and threw it on the other side of the bed, not caring if he would get mad at what I did. I was more mad! What did he think he was doing!? Leaving alone to go to Black Forest when he knew he wasn’t strong enough to face all of it!?
No! I wouldn’t allow it! I wouldn’t let him do this!
“Samantha—”
“Don’t you dare get out of the door and leave this Pack house alone, Dominic!” I glared at him, baring my razor-sharp teeth. I would fight him if I had to! “You are not going there alone! Not in your condition!”
“I am not dragging you to go into another dangerous place again, Samantha. You and the kids will stay here. You can’t go with me.” His face was grim as he towered over me, glaring back at me through his nose as if he could intimidate me with that dark expression on his face. “I will face this alone.”
“No! You are not strong enough to face these—”
“Enough, Samantha. I am not going to argue with you about this! This is already planned, and I have backups who can go with me and help me get into the Wolf Tomb. I will find the source alone and won’t risk you or the twins’ lives again. You understand!?”
“I will never understand what you say and do, Dominic. I leaned closer to him, still baring my teeth as I glared, wanting him to know that I was never scared of his tall, muscled body. He couldn’t intimidate me. “We agreed that we will both go back there after we get out of the Moon Wolf Spring! You told me we will go there to destroy the source together!”
“Not anymore,” He scowled as he sighed deeply, his eyes looking tired and exhausted already, and I had a feeling he didn’t sleep a wink last night. I felt that fear and dilemma that Dominic was suffering, and it was obvious that he was just trying to look as if he could still hold himself together despite the effect of the curse on his body.
“You are not going with me, Samantha. You have to stay and make sure the twins and the pack are safe while I go to the Wolf Tomb and face this problem alone. You know that the last time we went there, we all almost died! We barely escaped! And I am not going to take that risk again. No. Not anymore.”
“But Olivia is dead!” I said with a desperate tone as tears started to glitter in my eyes. “The shadow werewolves should be gone together with her! Besides, we both know that they couldn’t
get inside the Wolf Tomb because Lord Markis is still guarding it!”
“We don’t know that, Samantha.” Dominic’s voice suddenly turned soft and full of doubt and worry, which brought pain in my heart. He was scared. Not just for the safety of the pack or me and the kids. He was scared because I could feel that he wanted to live more for me and the kids, and the fact that he was dying made him desperate. Make all of us desperate.
“Dominic, please...” I was tired of being angry, and I knew that anger would only lead to more misunderstanding, and I never wanted that to happen. Dominic was already feeling awful about the situation, and I never wanted to add to the disappointment he was feeling.
I wanted to be his strength. I wanted to be the person whom he could trust with all his heart. But how? How can I fulfill that role if he couldn’t trust me enough to be with him and help him solve this problem?
Solve this together?
“What is wrong, Dominic?” I said, trying to be softer and understanding, and I saw that hurt flash in his eyes as I closed the gap between us and held his hand and squeezed it. “You know you can’t go there without me, right? You need me there.”
“I already made a decision, Samantha.”
But when he was about to turn around, I saw Devon’s toys in my husband’s bag, and I suddenly panicked, grabbing it and showing it to his face with a hysterical gaze.
“What’s this!?”
He turned around, and his eyes widened, confused to see the thing I was holding. His brows deepened into a frown as he figured out what I meant, until his eyes widened a bit, reaching for the toy, but I snatched it away from him.
“It’s not what you think it is—”
“Are you planning to take Devon and Diana with you?!” I snarled at him as anger started to explode in my chest again, as I felt betrayed and paranoid about what I saw. “Are you trying to bring them with you to the Wolf Tomb, Dominic!?”
“No! Samantha, listen to me first—”
That rage made me throw the toy at Dominic, and his eyes widened in disbelief at what I did. “You told me you are concerned about me and the twins’ safety! You told me you are willing to do anything for them! And now you are going to bring them as a sacrifice for the Wolf Tomb!? What the f*ck are you thinking, Dominic?! What the f*ck are you thinking!?”
“Listen!” He tried to reach for me to try to calm me down, but I refused to calm down. There was no way I could calm down!
But Dominic was strong, and he easily grabbed me by my shoulders, begging me to look him in the eye as he tried to explain. “Believe me, for the Moon Goddess’ sake, Samantha! I have no idea how those toys got into my bag! And I never planned to bring Devon and Diana with me! There’s no way I could do that!”
“Then how did this get in your bag then?!” I snarled at him. My paranoia overcame me, leaving me too dizzy and angry to think about anything else. “How did this get into your bag, Dominic!? Are you going to sacrifice the kids to the Wolf Tomb to get rid of the curse?! Are you that crazy and desperate?!”
“What—”
“I know!” I yelled at him; my face was pale as tears started to roll down my face. What the f*ck was wrong with me?! What caused me to become so emotional all of a sudden? It felt irrational and childish, but maybe I was only looking for a reason to get mad at him? Because he wouldn’t let me go with him to the Wolf Tomb?
I thought I was crazy. No. I shouldn’t be feeling like this, but I couldn’t help it.
I wanted to feel mad at him.
“YOU ARE NOT LISTENING TO ME, SAMANTHA!” His voice boomed inside our room, almost making me jump in fright, and my eyes widened because it was the very first time he had ever yelled at me like that. “I told you I don’t know how that got into my bag! I have no intention of sacrificing the kids to the Wolf Tomb!” he looked and sounded hurt as he stared into my eyes as if he couldn’t believe the accusation he heard from me. “I can’t believe you think I can do such a horrible thing to our own children!”
It was as if I had woken up from the terrible paranoia that played in my head and Dominic stared at me as if he understood why I suddenly burst into that kind of awful emotion. He held me in his arms as he kissed the top of my head, trying to calm me down.
“I will never do that to Devon and Diana,” he whispered to me as he pushed me gently away from him to look at the pain that was etched on my face. “I am here to protect all of you. Not hurt you. Okay?”
“I know that the sacrifices required are the children, Dominic.” Tears rolled down my face, and he dried them with his thumb as he traced them along my cheek. He stopped when he heard me say it and stared me in the eyes as I continued with pain and fear in my voice. “I know that their wolf spirits and their powers will be sacrificed in exchange for the curse to be destroyed.”
“You read Mom’s diary?” His eyes widened as he heard me say the words with trembling lips.
“Yes. I read everything. Even the one that Devon and Diana found in the attic. I know, Dominic. You can’t hide anything from me,” I hissed at him as I wiped my tears with the back of my hand. I stepped away, glaring as I bared my teeth. I knew he said that he would never harm the kids. But I was their mother. And no matter what, I could only trust my instinct.
He gave me that cold look in the eyes as he stared at me and I hissed, “I wouldn’t let you take away their future and their powers, Dominic. I know this is about life or death. But forgive me...” I swallowed hard as pain flashed in my eyes when our gaze locked on each other. “It’s either we both work to figure this out and find another way? Or you have to fight me first before you can sacrifice our children’s power to end this f*cking curse.”