5

Vallant stood watching as Victoria fled the room. Fear, she had been terrified of him and he didn't know why. The fear in her eyes had hurt more than the blow to the face. He had barely felt her hand collide with his cheek. But in the stunned silence that followed he heard the door click shut and it was like a knife to his heart.

"You fucking idiot!" Adrian half shouted. "You can't do that to her!"

"Vicky was assaulted." Derik explained calmly. "You can't force her to stay next to you when she is trying to get away. The trust isn't there." Vallant's rage spiked at the words from the beta and the remaining lights over head shattered, showering them all in broken glass. Vallant didn't care as he shifted and bolted through the door that his father only just managed to open before it was splintered into millions of tiny pieces. The door to the outside did not fare as well. The glass shattered with a sickening screech of twisting metal.

Just outside the door he caught the scent of his Victoria and rushed to be with her. He dropped his head and whined pitifully when he reached her. She was sitting down in the snow with Ven standing nearby. She was curled into a ball as she held her head and rocked back and forth in a panic. Her pathetic whimpers were the only sound. He desperately wanted to make all her fear go away. But you can't fight what is not tangible. He lowered till he was practically laying on the icy sidewalk and inched towards her, a part of him hoping he could provide her some level of comfort.

To his surprise she stopped her rocking and threw her slim arms around his neck to sob into his thick black fur. They stayed like that for a while before she finally stopped crying. By then she was shivering in the cold north wind. Vallant stood and stretched with a large yawn to show it was past time for them to go inside. Victoria followed, somewhat quiet and obedient. She followed him to the locker room where she sat while he shifted and dressed in his spare clothes. The silence was suffocating to Vallant. Finally, unable to bear the weight of it any longer, he spoke.

"Who was it?" His calm voice belied the turbulent rage that festered inside and ate at him like so many parasites.

"Who told you?" Victoria asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Does it matter?"

"I guess it doesn't." With that she stood and left, leaving him alone with his thoughts and rage. After a short time seething in silence he heard the door open once again and saw Adrian leading the warriors in training into the locker room. Victoria was with them and it seemed she was determined to maintain her silence. The bell rang signaling the end of all extra curricular activities. And soon his friends filed out while he waited for Adrian with Victoria.

Once again it was Vallant that broke the silence that hung between them like a thick poisonous curtain. "Vicky, I'm sorry."

"For what?" She asked as Adrian stepped from the showers and approached them.

"I don't know. Opening my fucking mouth and swallowing my leg, I guess." He shrugged dejectedly. "I guess I never really thought how my words would affect you, and I should have."

"I shouldn't be so sensitive and I don't know why it upset me so much. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hit you."

"That was also my fault, Vicky. I should have let you go."

"I shouldn't've panicked." She sighed. "I should know that you would never hurt me. After all, you're not him."

"Derik told me that you were assaulted." He half growled. "Who did it?"

"Someone I should have been able to trust." Her lip trembled and the tears she had been fighting started to fall. "Why would he do that to me?" She whimpered. He pulled her into his lap and held her while she cried. After a while the sobs once again subsided.

"Let's go." He said as he stood her on her feet. He grabbed his backpack and led her to his truck. They rode in silence until they got to the pack estate. Victoria went to leave the truck after mumbling a short thank you for the ride. Vallant reached out and took her hand to stop her.

"Vicky?" He tried to think of away to ask her about the mate bound but couldn't. So he leaned in and kissed her cheek gently. "See you tomorrow." He mumbled before letting her go and watching as she walked inside.

"Dude, that was painful to watch. You are so whipped." Adrian smirked as he climbed into Victoria's vacated seat.

"Shut up." Vallant growled as he put his truck into gear and started for the pack house.