133 iv. Christmas Eve

“Have you told my son yet? And yes, I am pertaining to the fact that you are his father’s mistress,” Cinderella raised an eyebrow.

Mary was cooking dinner when she was approached by Cinderella. The latter seems to enjoy every minute of staying by her side.

It was torture to listen to her musings and threat-ridden words. Mary couldn’t help but feel like she wanted to hit this woman with the pan. Though that of course will amount to undue violence so she tried to take it off her mind.

She placed the pasta sauce in a bowl and handed it to Cindy. “Put it on the table now, please.”

Cinderella raised an eyebrow and did not move, “Tell me, do you think of me as a servant? A personal maid perhaps to do your bidding? Have you no clue to whom you are talking to? I am your luna. I have authority over you.”

She sighed and took the bowl to put it on the dining table. As she was walking, Cinderella followed her towards the dining.

Cinderella was obviously not done with her yet, though she wondered what else the luna can think of to say to her. She has been suffering her insults for a little over an hour now.

“Tell me who do you think you are compared to me? What gave you the right to ignore me?! Does sleeping with my husband gave you an authority to humiliate me?!” Cinderella’s angry voice was taunting her but she kept silent.

She placed the bowl on the table and went back to the kitchen, still with Cinderella tailing her. Aside from trying to ignore her constant nagging she didn’t know what else to do.

.....

It was Christmas eve and as a family, no matter how weird they are as a whole, she wanted to keep the peace. More importantly for Jiro, she knew this will be the first Christmas that he would be spending with his father.

Dominus has always been with her during special occasions like Christmas. This is the first time he will have an opportunity to bond with his child.

This is the reason why she has kept silent despite the numerous times Cinderella has berated her. What is her heartache compared to his joy?

She deserved this anyway, for choosing to stay by his side despite the fact that he has a legitimate family now, she has deprived the little boy of a father and a loving and stable family.

She continued to put some soup in a bowl, ignoring Cinderella’s words as she tried to stop herself from speaking to defend herself. She walked back to the dining area, followed by Cinderella and her relentless tirades.

“Is it not enough that you rail my husband? Being fucked by someone’s husband must be so nice, right? You have seduced my husband so shamelessly and broken our family! And yet you still try to take my child away from me. You have to tell her the truth, you wretched whore,” her cruel words have become too much.

“Yes, it is enough to be fucked by Dom every single night. But no, I did not even have to resort to seducing him. As a matter of fact, he willingly follows me around from the very start. Are you claiming you did not know of my relations to your husband before you married him? Weren’t you the one who agreed to a marriage without love all in exchange of money and power? Isn’t being the luna your sole motivation in agreeing to this marriage? There is no family I have broken because there was no love between the two of you in the first place,” she said, stopping to reply.

“Whether I know it or not is not the question, you stupid whore. Were you not taught not to rail your younger brother and fuck up his family? Shouldn’t you have stopped, seeing he is already married,” Cinderella’s voice was high-pitched, she alarmingly clenched her fists on her side.

“I have tried to stop several times luna. The truth is, in all those times he begged me not to leave. He told me how he couldn’t possibly live without me by his side. He chased me and chained me to him because he crave me, need me, love me. That is his devotion towards me. Ask him yourself if you have any doubts, he will confirm my every word,” she said calmly.

“You lie, you fucking worthless whore! You think the alpha will chase a woman who dares to run away! He couldn’t even look in his wife’s direction. He is with you because you performed better in bed, that is all,” Cinderella’s voice was filled with jealousy and hurt, Mary knew she should stop answering her this instant.

She walked hurriedly, wishing to reach the dining area in the hopes of finding Dominus and the others already seated for the Christmas eve dinner. She felt her hair being pulled, and in an instant, by a forceful push she was shoved into the floor.

She was about to get up when she felt something warm trickle down her legs, her hands reached to her dress and felt a wet and damp sensation as she nervously looked down.

She felt all her blood drain away as she looked at the palm of her hands, bloodied. She screamed and cried at the same time sending the maids on their way to hurry.

A forceful bang on the door and a growl from him and she knew, Dominus has already arrived. His murderous glare focused on Cinderella.

There is nothing in this world that would have stopped him from killing the woman he wedded not so long ago if not for the worry and pain that propelled him into action at seeing his beloved bleeding on the floor.

The pack’s doctor was hurriedly ushered as he checked on Mary, all the while Dominus was holding her hand, kissing the back of it as he tried to assure her that everything will be fine.

It all happened so very fast as Mary was carried into the clinic which was annexed to the cabin. Dominus remained, his tensed muscles trembled as he looked at his wife now cowering in fear.

He walked towards her and held her by the neck, with no intention to spare her as his hand squeezed tightly. Before he can do as he would have wanted he heard a still small voice.

“Papa, please don’t kill my mother. I know. I know it all. I forgive you, papa, please forgive my mom as well,” Jiro begged as he held into Dominus’s leg in his attempt to stop his father from murdering his biological mother.

Dominus stopped, as if cold water has been poured over him. He looked at the woman who was almost blue from the deprivation of air into her lungs and the little boy who pleaded for her release.

He let go of the woman who stumbled back and crawled until her back was against the wall. He hurriedly followed the doctor and his assistants to the clinic.

“You knew all along?” though Cinderella castigated her son, her voice lacked any strength.

Jiro hugged her but he was shoved away, “How dare you betray me? You are all I have and even you have conspired against me?”

The little boy cried, not knowing how to defend himself from his mother’s cruel words. How can he explain his reasoning to her mother who has already considered the woman dear to him as her mortal enemy?

“Choose between that woman and me, Jiro!” Cinderella shook the child by his shoulders.

Jiro kept silent. He didn’t want to choose. Why should he be forced to take sides between the woman who has shown him love and care and his mother who has not even held him tenderly ever since he can remember?

“I don’t want to choose, mama,” he insisted as the woman slapped him across his cheek.

“You are a terrible insolent child! Do you think that woman loves and cares for you? No, you will be replaced by her if she ever gets to be pregnant with her own child. You are a product between your mom and your father’s wolf form, an abomination, a creature made without love because that woman stole your father’s love all for herself. What do you not understand by that? You have nothing, you are nothing if not for me. I am the only one you got,” Cinderella was hysterical as she kept shaking the child by his shoulders.

“No, that is not true at all. Mary loves me. She cares for me like a mother would care for a child. But you never loved me mama, you never really cared,” he was crying, his small limbs trying to pry themselves away from his mother’s hold.

“You miserable fool. You should not have been born in this world. I thought you will pave the way to winning your father’s affections. But you have disappointed me with your stupidity. You are as shameless and as worthless as that cunt,” Cinderella slapped the child again, at this juncture the child pushed her and ran away.

He traversed the way towards the clinic, stopping by the doorway as he looked at Mary lying on the bed with a dextrose attached to her and the doctors looking after her.

He went inside and walked towards Mary who was clearly unconscious. His father was holding her hand with a look of madness in his eyes and a hard expression on his face.

“What are you doing here? Get away from my sight. Look at what you have done! Get out before I lose my temper,” his father’s words take hold of his heart, making the poor boy run away.