Chapter 3 SHATTERED TRUST

Chapter Three

Taya's POV

My hands trembled uncontrollably, fingers twitching with nervousness as I held on to the white stick. The unexpected result stared back at me. I

I blinked quickly, my eyes dropping tears of joy, trying to understand the unbelievable sight before me. The two red lines on test strip were enough to proof that I was pregnant.

A mix of emotions swirled inside of me. For the first time in a long while, I felt like the hopelessness that was my life was beginning to translate into hope .

Rita was going to be such an amazing aunt and Jacob...well, I wasn't sure what to think about Jacob.

I push those thoughts aside and let the excitement wash over me. 'I am going to be a mother!' I screamed internally, rubbing my stomach gently. A small smile spread across my face as I thought of the little life growing inside of me.

"Hello little one," I whispered, "Dad will be so happy to hear about you."

I dialed Jacob's number, my heart thumping in excitement. This could finally help mend our strained relationship and foster closeness between us again. It would be great news for the pack. I wasn't useless after all. I clean my tears with the back of my left hand.

The call went directly to voicemail. I tried again, thinking he may be busy but the same automated voice greeted me.

It would be better if I just waited for him to come home so I could share the news. I wanted him to be the first to know about this. I wanted to share the special moment with him.

I felt my anticipation and excitement waning as the hours ticked by and I had no sight of him. He probably had gone for one of his pack meetings.

Finally, I heard the door open he stepped into the room. I turned to look at him with smile on my face. I want to open to him the news about my pregnancy; I wanted to see his reaction when he learned that he would soon be a father, but I was discourage when I saw his reaction.

Jacob looked annoyed, and his eyes burned red as a result of his intense rage; I could only wonder what was going on with him.

"Nel?... What's the matter? You look.... angry." I spoke softly and slowly, taking care not to add fire to his already burning rage.

He strode past me without even offering a word to me and went straight to the kitchen and began to rummage through the fridge for something. I was concerned and worried by his anger so I followed him into the kitchen.

"Nel.. Jacob. What's the matter? You can talk to me, I'm your wife." I pressed on to get him talking.

Jacob finally pulled out a bottle of beer from the fridge and proceeded to guggle it down angrily. Just when I thought he was going to finish the whole bottle, he stopped to take a breath.

"Jacob you can...."

"Maybe I don't want to talk about it, all right?!" Jacob snapped abruptly. His sudden burst of anger and violent outburst caught me off guard and I took a step backwards.

"I'm only worried." I countered. "You seem so.... agitated."

"Yeah, it's because I'm agitated, all right?" He sneered. "I'm furious! Am angry... and I couldn't help but believe that you've been the cause of all my latest misfortunes!"

His words, like a harsh, double-edged sword, cut through my heart, leaving a lingering pain within. Jacob had always been distant and reserved but screaming at me was a first and low even for him. I couldn't recall what I had done wrong; I couldn't remember where I'd offended him since the very first day we met, but here he was, venting and heaping all his problems upon me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked as calmly as I could. "You can talk to me about whatever is bothering you and we can solve it together." I appealed to him.

Jacob only frowned even more than before, and With a look of disgust, he scanned me from head to toe and toe to head, then he grabbed another bottle of beer from the fridge, and he made his way to his study, where he entered and slammed the door loudly behind him.

My heart was pounding quite hard in my chest, and I was overwhelmed with emotions; I felt a hot tear trail down my cheeks as I stood there wondering what crime I had committed to make the moon goddess punish me this way.

I could almost hear the Goddess laughing right now at my distress and pain. Was this how I was supposed to keep living? Was I meant to be a weakling and a pushover for others? A weakling? These questions quickly ran through my mind as I stood there sadly, unable to think clearly.

"Hey.. is everything all right?" The voice cut through my thoughts abruptly and without warning. It was Rita and she was probably making her way downstairs.

I took a deep breath, and wiping my eyes with the back of my left hand before I turned to face her with a smile on my lips that look as though I was forced. "Hey. What's the occasion?" I asked her.

Rita was standing on the stairs, and she was dressed in a beautiful blue gown that reach her ankles with a purse In her hands; I couldn't help but admire how beautiful she looked.

"I'm only heading out to grab lunch with an old friend of mine," she replied. "Hey, are you okay? I thought I heard angry voices..."

I didn't let down my smile; I didn't want to admit to Rita right there that my life at the moment was a living hell; I couldn't bring myself to tell her about the pregnancy, too, not like this.

"It's okay, I'm okay," I replied quickly.

Rita hesitated for a while with her eyes boring into mine. I knew she could see right through my facade. I knew she could tell that I wasn't okay, but for some reason, she chose to humor me and refrained from pestering me with a lot of questions. She moved closer and gave me a comforting hug. "How about I return home later in the day and we talk about everything." She whispered.

I smiled. This was typical Rita, always being there for me. The tears threatened to fall again but I fought them back as I slowly replied. "Okay.. sure."

We pulled apart and Rita walked out of the house, leaving me alone with my broken heart. Jacob was still in his study and after our little exchange, I wasn't enthusiastic to meet him again. Whatever it was that he was going through, he had openly accused me of being responsible for it; this stung badly.

Perhaps he'd be ready to talk when he's calm; maybe all I had to do was to wait for the rage to subside, and then maybe I'd be able to get a thing or two from him, or so I thought. I turned and made my way to our room, where I intended to wait until his rage subsided.

Once I reached the room, I decided to take a little rest I immediately zoomed out the moment my head touched the pillow.

I woke up when I heard sound of the door opening downstairs. I could tell that I had overslept, and when I look at the clock,It confirmed I overslept. I heard footsteps down in the living room and quickly scrambled out of my bed and made my way out of the room; it was Rita trying to reach her room.

"You're back at last," I called after her just when she was about to disappear around the corner.

She paused for a second. "Yeah, I'm just gonna go freshen up now; I'll join you later for dinner, dear." She replied quickly and then moved off before I could talk again.

My stomach cried loud, and I realized that I was hungry, so I made my way to the kitchen and started searching the cabinet until I finally found bread and jam, which I brought back to the dinner table with me.

I settled down and was prepared to take a bite when I remembered about Jacob. I stooped up and made my way to his study, hoping against hope that he should be sober enough to talk and think clearly. I stopped in front of the door and drew a deep breath before proceeding.

I tried the door, but It was locked, probably from the inside; I couldn't tell. I wrapped at the door sharply and even called his name a few times, all to no avail, so I returned to the dining table even more worried than before. What could make Jacob shut himself off completely the way he did? I wondered silently, all appetite lost at the moment.

I quickly snatched up the phone and dialed his number but was disappointed when the call went to voicemail again so I slammed the phone down on the table and sighed heavily.

I couldn't help but feel so alone and isolated from almost everyone. Sure, this had been Going on for a while, but the loneliness was not something I could just get used to.

Rita had earlier assured me that she'd be down for dinner but I didn't understand what was keeping her so in a desperate attempt to shake off this loneliness, I decided to go up to her room, seize this opportunity to talk to her about all my problems and to share the goodness of the pregnancy with her. At the thought of the pregnancy, I unconsciously brushed my stomach with my hand, and a feeling of hope washed over me; perhaps Jacob's attitude will change once he learns that he will soon be a father.

I slowly began to make my way up the stairs and towards Rita's room with the flicker of a smile on my face despite the raging storm within and around me.

I got to her door and was about to knock when I heard a sound from within. It was a suppressed moan, a moan of ecstasy, of pleasure!

I pushed the door open, and my heart froze momentarily at the sight of Rita, my twin sister, wrapped intimately in bed in the arms of the man I called husband!!