Doctor Abbott
Page 34
She turned back to see him in full tears as he broke into a heartbreaking cry. She dashed across the room and he climbed into her arms sobbing uncontrollably, “Mother! Mother!” he said it repeatedly as the vision of his real mother being killed on the beach played repeatedly in his head. He clung to Olivia as if she could somehow save him from this nightmare.
Come morning she awoke in the bed with Garrett still clinging to her. Now she was sitting against the headboard while he lay on her lap after a long tortuous night of consoling. He was still asleep as she scooted out from under him and crept out of the room. She finally made it to her own chambers and started washing up as her husband climbed out of bed. “I was worried he would never let you go.” He said to her as she let her hair down to brush it.
“He is in pain, and scared. He has been through so much in such a short time. It is a pity you could not save his real mother. I just feel so bad for him.” Olivia brushed through her mane of hair, as William got dressed.
He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her as he looked at the two of them in the looking glass. She was so beautiful and so precious to him. They had tried so hard to have cubs of their own but both times she got pregnant the cubs died before birth and the second time nearly killed her. If it weren’t for the doctor, she would have died. He was through trying for more, as much as she wanted a cub the thought of losing her was too much for him the bear.
When his guards found the boy on the beach, the only thought in his mind was that this was the answer to his problem. She could raise the boy as her own the same way his ally and friend King Mâvis was doing with his human daughter.
He ordered the guards to kill her even though he had spent his whole life protecting and sheltering Joutone women from unwanted marriages and abusive husbands. This one time he just had to do it. He had to kill that woman, he told himself that she wouldn’t have made it anyway. However, the truth was he didn’t even know. All he knew was that he had a human cub, and for all intents and purposes, the cub was alive and healthy. But the boy had witnessed his mother’s execution despite the order to shield him from view.
William disciplined the warrior that had allowed the boy to see but it wasn’t enough. Now the cub was crying day and night, the guilt weighed on him, even more so after last night as he wailed on and on. William’s thoughts came back to his wife as she twirled her hair back into a bun and pinned it in place, “Do you think we should consider sending him to be with her in spirit?”
Olivia froze on his words and spun around to look him in the eye, “You will swear to me right now that you will do no such thing.”
He was taken by complete shock at her reaction, “I am sorry Liv, it is just that he is so damaged I am worried he will never know peace.”
“No Bill, you are worried that it is you who will never know peace. I do not care if he cries too much I will defend him with my life if I must, but you will leave my cub alone!” It rolled off her tongue so easily she hadn’t even noticed it. However, he did.
“Your cub?” He stood looking into her eyes trying hard to fight his smile, “You called him your cub.”
She paused for a moment trying to run through what she had just said in her head, she realized she had said it. Olivia looked up at him in shear awe of the situation, “I have a cub. He is mine, he sought me out for protection. He stayed by my side all day yesterday. He wouldn’t let me leave last night because he needed me.” She wrapped her arms around William and pulled herself into his tight embrace as she cried. “He is mine Bill, he is mine.” William pulled her tight and swore in silence he would do whatever it took to win the boy’s love.
Coming soon!
Acknowledgements
I would like to dedicate this book to my family, who has put up with countless hours of me trying to get that last few lines in.
Also to Young Seo who is the only real character in the book. You’re an awesome friend and someday you will have your fishing shack on the lake (maybe with a wood stove and wolves to keep you company)
My Editors:
Janine Williams,
Sheri Williams,
Caroline Morse
My Illustrator:
Licarto Seven
Book Formatting done by:
Rachel Medhurst
For more information check out:
www.joutone.com
Copyright
Copyright © 2015 by Michelle Laverdure
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Published in 2015