Page 140 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

Rebecca winced and stepped back from Brit as if she’d heard her. It was one thing to appear out of the blue to traumatise her but to approach Brit? That was a different story. Rebecca had said she was watching Brit the last time they had spoken, but she didn’t think the woman would dare to make contact.

Fury raged through her veins, so much that she had to force her emotions down so Brit wouldn’t see them.

“Are you going to make this decision for me, too?” Brit snapped.

She looked from her mother to the moody teenager with a frown. Where was all of this coming from? She had never imposed anything on Brit in her life.

“She’s dangerous, Brit. You can’t—”

“She’s our mother!”

Since having Hope, she understood how Rebecca would have had to abandon them to save their lives. But forgiveness was a process she wasn’t quite ready to start yet, and she wasn’t prepared to risk Britney’s heart if things went wrong again.

“Can we talk about this later? Please go inside, Brit.”

“See what I mean?” Britney said, turning to Rebecca again. “She’s not the same. I can’t be here any longer; just take me away like you promised.”

Her eyes blazed when she met Rebecca’s gaze over Britney’s head.

Like she promised?

Rebecca thought she could take Brit away from her?

“It was just in case,” Rebecca said quickly. “You know things got a little hectic. I was going to keep her safe.”

“You’ve been speaking to Layla?” Brit asked, stepping back from her mother. “Am I the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on?”

Britney’s anger returned as she turned around and glowered at her before she marched back into the house.

“She’s been getting erratic mood swings. Insomnia. She’s taken up running in the middle of the night,” Rebecca said.

She faced her mother again and tried to reign her emotions in. Hope had started to fret again; she was convinced the baby knew when she was angry.

“I think you have to start preparing for your sister to join you,” Rebecca concluded.

“Don’t make plans for us,” she growled. “Don’t promise Brit things you can’t give her. You broke her heart enough when you abandoned her the first time.”

“And I know I broke yours. I’m sorry, Layla. I will never stop apologising for hurting you like that.”

She looked away from Rebecca to the little girl in her arms. Would these be the conversations she would have with Hope years down the line? Her anger disappeared, and she was left deflated.

“She’s very beautiful,” Rebecca whispered. “I hope you get to watch your babies grow, Layla. I hope you fight harder for them than I did for you.”

But how could she do that?

“They saw me, Rebecca. The Hunters saw me.”

Her mother stepped back, and her fear almost knocked her back.

“What did you do?” Rebecca whispered.

“I had to lead them away from Hope. I had to save my baby.”

And that was the same excuse her mother had given for never coming back home.

She felt like crap. Her shoulders slumped, and Hope started to fret again.

“We’ll figure it out. I told you I’d watch over you,” Rebecca said, stepping forward again. “I won’t leave you girls alone again.”

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