hapter Thirty–Seven
Alpha Kadden POV
Von was gone
I’d come upstairs from a difficult day at work, fully expecting to find my enticing mare waiting for me. In the two weeks since we’d first had sex, I was never disappointed when I came to our chambers. Von would be lounging back in the bed, dressed in whatever nightly attire she’d chosen, sexy no matter what she put on Just by the sight of her, I knew what she wanted, what she expected to be the outcome of the night.
I never argued. Never denied her. Never attempted to deter her attempts. The moment the let her desires to be known I was more than happy to grant her request. I’d be a fool not to. 1 had been presented with the most tantalizing, sexual, and exotically beautiful mate I’d ever come across. One who was always eager to allow me to enjoy the splendor of her body, even when she was angry. I’d be a fool to turn her down. I most definitely wasn’t a fool. So always putting aside my own needs I’d climb into bed, strip the both of us and fuck her until the wee hours of dawn.
Not today though. Because the second I walked into our bedroom I immediately noticed two things right off the bat. Von wasn’t lying in the bed waiting for me to join her there, nor was she anywhere in the room. Irritated it was nearly midnight and the woman was nowhere to be seen, I stalked right out the door. Fully intending on tracking down where she could’ve gone off to and carrying her back if I had to. I didn’t ask much of her these days. Other than to afford me the loyalty, respect, and faithfulness I rightly deserved as her marked mate. As well as the pleasures of her body until we managed in produce the heir Simon demanded.
I didn’t have to look for long. My senses Latching onto the essence I knew belonged to her, I followed the path to her present location. Then I understood what compelled her absence when it took me towards the hidden staircase. Of course, she’d be down there. She often was these days. sneaking away during the night, when no one could question her. Sighing wearily at the reality of these repeated visits of hers, 1 jogged down the steps and opened the door.
I couldn’t deny my surprise at the scene awaiting me. The rocking chair now sitting next to the cradle, Von sat in the chair, leaning over the cradle. Her strange blue eyes roved over the child nestled in the cradle, and a finger brushed down the tiny cheek. All the while she sang a lilting tune I immediately recognized, the same one Sarah used to sing to Layla. The genile runes placed the child into a calm state she rarely experienced, the chair and cradle rocked.
It was beautifal, I thought.
“Sire?” Lisa squeaked.
to where You
“Calm down Lisa,” I instantly soothed the woman panicked by my presence, walking into the door the door closed behind me. I went to w at next to the cradle, never even glancing up though she registered my presence. “Why aren’t you in bedr
“Angel was crying,” was her response.
I rolled my eyes. “The child always cries.”
Von’s expression tightened as if offended on behalf of the baby. “She only cries because she’s miserable being stuck down in this room, Lisa her only source of companionship. She needs a family, not a nursemaid.”
“Her presence does make a difference,” the woman’s voice entered into the silence, feeling the need to come to my new
my new mate’s defense. “The child so much calmer during Van’s visits, she rarely cries when she’s down here. She seems to like that she and you visit more often these days.”
Sighing in exasperation at the convincing of these two women, as they’d been doing for weeks now. Stopping when I came next to her in the chair. E tried not to look towards the tiny frame of my daughter. “Come on Von, it’s time to say your goodnights”
Howing to defeat in the face of my demands, she rose to her feet as she bent further over the crib, “Goodnight love, sleep well.” My heart clenched as those tiny hands reached up to her, tiny fingers brushed a face in wanting. It was the most action I’d seen in the month since my daughter was bom. proof of the need of the girl. Which only seemed to intensify my pain at the life she was cursed to endure, due to a cruel twist of fate,
Guading her into the bedroom the door slammed behind our entrance, I stalked towards the cabinet. Pouring myself a drink I then stepped out onto the balcony, less than pleased at the time being. It pissed me off that yet again Von had taken refuge downstairs, bringing up matters better left undiscussed. How come she couldn’t see the truth! See how much it hurt me? Every time she forced me down there I was confronted with the linde child, a daughter I could never truly claim.
“Kadden,” the whispered.
Leaning back into the chaise lounge at hearing her soft–spoken whisper, Law her in the opened doors. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
Appearing oblivious to my disagreement Von sulked across the balcony and climbed into my lap, I didn’t fight her. Scrambling up into my lap her thighs straddled either side of me, leading into my chest. “Why won’t you accept ber! She’s your daughter, Kadden”
“I know,” Lughed wearily, though it didn’t keep my arm from wrapping around her, bringing her close. “You’re too emotional when it comes to her, you’re not thinking rationally, I’m doing what ran to protect her. This pack will tear her up, juu as they did Rayven
“You cared about her,” she guessed.
I wired at the mention of the girl, having always been a sore subject for me, for reasons I never undentond. “I did, even when I shouldn’t. She was my daughter’s best friend, like a third of my age, but I admired her strength and courage. Hluted what this pack did to her, made her feel like she was somehow less cause she was different. I was happy when Layla befended her.”
“Larken want,” she pressed.
A hated stroked down the length of her back. “No, not really: Larken was never as open and accepting as his twin was, forever connecting with thoar
Chapter Thirty Seven
be found important and strong. A weakened cub wasn’t ideal to him. I ignored the less than honorable characteristics and made him beinend the
gul. My mistake
Her face burrowed deeper into his chest then, that only served in gaining a growling moan of approval. “Don’t make the same matake Don’t hirle her away out of shume or fear. Do you honestly expect her to live the rest of her life in the room down there? Does Layla not deserve to know she has a sister?“.
“She knows” I confessed to her. “Layla was present when her mother finally went into labor, she helped her deliver the child. Outside of myself. Lisa, and now you, she’s the only one aware of her presence.
“Did she reject her?”
Finishing polishing off the alcohol, placing the glass down I wrapped my arms around her and climbed to my feet, Walking back into the bedroom Von was laid down on the bed, and Lelumbed in next to her. “No. Layla disapproved of my intentions of keeping her downstairs in the nursery, but understood my reasons”
Biting back the mean surfacing at the large hands working on the folds of her robe, shrined to remain focused on the ropic. 1 accept her and f Layla does, as long as you can too it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. She can be brought up here, only the first family comes up here Together with Lisa we can raise the child, be the family Angel deserves to have.”
Stretched out naked on the bed having taken quite a long time to enjoy her, I stared off thoughtfully. As much as I wanted to avoid this, I knew she wouldn’t back off until she’d gotten her wish. “So Angel huh?
She grinned broadly. “Ti’s short Angelica Bethany Black, I thought that Sarah would approve of the name, to know her daughter had a piece of her. Unless she’d chosen a different name
Even though Sarah had come up with a different name for the child. I didn’t dare tell her the truth. I preferred the name that Von had chosen for the baby, knowing it would be one that d do her good. No, it’s absolutely perfect”
“Please think about it.” Yon pleaded as she snuggled up at the side of me, pressing the matter further now that I was thinking about it. “I know we’re not real mates, but we don’t have to be to give her a good life. When I leave I will take Angel with me. I’ll do the same for her as Id do with our own
rub.”
“Go to sleep.” I commanded her
As I lay there with Von wrapped up in my arms. Rhavage unwilling to les her leave, my mind continued to wonder. To ponder the suggestion she’d made. Could we really be the family my little girl needed? Could simply having the love of both of her parents be the salvation the rest of the world denied hert And when Von finally left my kingdom with my cubs in tow, would I surave the pain of their loss.
Trust her, a voice spoke. She will help guide you
