Chapter 84: Questions.
Lurgard.
I did not bother to ask Theresa who that madwoman was, because I feared it would only agitate her further and push her already unstable emotions into something worse.
The doctor had already attended to her properly. She had been given medication and injections, and we were told to let her rest. According to him, the swelling would gradually reduce with time, as long as she avoided unnecessary stress and movement.
That alone was enough for me to hold back my questions.
Lawrence seemed to understand the situation in the same way I did. He did not press further either, which told me he was also choosing his battles carefully instead of worsening things for her.
My attention shifted back to Theresa almost immediately.
I could tell she was thinking about something—something heavy. It was not just an ordinary distraction. Her expression carried that distant look again, the kind that made it feel like she was physically present but mentally somewhere far away.
And it bothered her.
That much was obvious.
Without thinking too much about it, I reached for her hand and held it gently, rubbing slow circles over her skin in an attempt to calm her down, to ease whatever tension was building inside her. I just wanted her to breathe, to settle, to stop carrying whatever weight was pressing down on her shoulders.
But the moment Lawrence stepped closer to her and reached out, gently brushing a loose strand of Theresa’s hair backward so it would not fall across her face, something inside me snapped instantly—so fast and so violently it almost caught me off guard.
I nearly lost control right there.
The urge to react was immediate, raw, and uncontrollable, and it took every ounce of restraint I had not to move on instinct and punch him square in the face for daring to lay his hands on her. On my mate...my woman.
My jaw tightened so hard it ached, the muscles locking as I clenched my teeth, while my fists curled instinctively at my sides. I forced myself to remain still, even though everything in me was screaming to act, to interfere, to pull him away from her space.
I had to breathe through it. I had to hold it down.
Leonard had already mind-linked us earlier about what he had seen. We all knew the situation. The information had been passed, received, and acknowledged without hesitation. There was no confusion about that part.
We had already agreed—silently, without even needing to say it—that whatever he discovered would be handled properly, at the right time, in the right way.
Because now was not the right time.
Not while Theresa was still in this state.
Right now, Theresa came first. That was the only thing that mattered in this moment, above everything else.
Everything else could wait.
Even anger.
Even confrontation.
Even the questions burning at the edge of my mind, demanding answers I was not yet ready to pursue.
And yet...after everything Lawrence had just said to her, after all the concern and urgency he had shown, Theresa’s response had been nothing more than a simple "okay."
Just that one word—flat, controlled and almost indifferent.
At this point, I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
Something was definitely bothering her.
Could it have been that madwoman just now?
The thought struck me almost immediately, sharp and unwelcome, lingering in my mind as I watched Theresa’s expression carefully. I could not help but wonder if the sudden encounter had stirred something unpleasant within her—something buried, something she had long tried to forget.
Did that woman bring back ugly memories for her?
The possibility alone made my mood darken further.
People from the Bloodfang Pack truly had a way of poisoning the atmosphere without even trying. Just one presence, one moment, and everything around them could shift into something heavy and uncomfortable.
But beyond that irritation, something deeper began to press against my thoughts.
I needed to understand what had actually happened to Theresa back in the Bloodfang Pack.
Not just the surface details but everything.
My brothers and I had been too focused on her current condition, too focused on the fact that she was here now, safe in our reach, that we had completely neglected the question of how she had survived all those years before us.
What her life had truly been like.
The thought unsettled me.
We had been so consumed with hatred for the child growing inside Theresa’s womb that we had overlooked the most important truth—Theresa herself.
We forgot that she was not just someone who appeared in our lives by chance.
We forgot that we had found her once before, abandoned and weakened, collapsing on the roadside before we took her in and saved her from falling completely apart.
My fists tightened slightly.
Did they hurt her?
What exactly did she go through in their hands?
And most importantly...why had she ended up in the Bloodfang Pack six years ago in the first place?
Those bastards were not just any pack. They were our sworn enemies, bound by history and conflict. So who would have had the influence—or the intent—to place her there deliberately?
The more I thought about it, the more my blood began to boil.
Everything felt wrong, incomplete and intentional.
"Theresa is our mate. We need to get to the root of all of this," Lu’s voice echoed firmly inside my head, cutting through my spiraling thoughts with clarity.
For a moment, I went still.
Because he was right.
And I hated that I hadn’t thought of it sooner.
It was no wonder Theresa kept her distance.
No wonder there were gaps in her emotions that none of us could fully reach.
I exhaled sharply, pushing myself up from the bed as resolve hardened inside me.
"I will be back," I said firmly, more to myself than anyone else, before turning toward the door and walking out without another word.
As I needed to figure out what exactly had happened!
