Page 26 of The Alpha's Forbidden Secret Baby

“Okay, Baby.” She walked over to them. “Dad's place it is, then.”

Xander rose to his feet and locked eyes with her, tempted to seal the moment with a kiss as they both couldn't seem to take their eyes off each other.

“Are you two coming or what?” Abel asked as he struggled with the luggage.

Xander walked up to him.

“Here, let me help you with that.” He grabbed some of the luggage from his hands while Rayla picked up the rest and they all headed out to his car.

It was a good thing that he came with the car because he wasn't sure that a human could survive the Shadow Jump, and he wasn't willing to take that risk with Rayla.

They got into the car with Abel in the backseat, and Xander drove away with a sense of accomplishment filling his joyous heart.

Chapter 8 - Rayla

Rayla had no peace. After she saw the video the day before, she struggled to sleep. She’d tossed and turned on her bed all night long but sleep never came. Her mind had churned with questions while dread ate at her soul.

She hated to admit it but the video was real. The images in the video were clear. It couldn’t be denied. It couldn’t get leaked. The video’s existence was a harbinger of woe to the werewolves. If it leaked, not only her son would suffer for it, the whole werewolf society would.

Rayla blamed herself for this. It ailed her with guilt.

It was all her doing. If only she had taken Abel away from the human community earlier. If only she had done the right thing from the get-go. This vile person won’t have this video to use against her.

Xander.

Rayla remembered Xander’s wrath and panicked. His wrath was confidence-shattering. It could destroy a person physically and emotionally. They had bantered and argued but he was never wrathful with her.

She pictured his face if he found out about the video. His brows would be raised. His mouth would be locked in a deadly sneer. He’d blame her. He’d make her pay for it. Just like he should. She had put his people at risk. They could be hunted because of her selfish decision.

Gritty images of hunted werewolves played in her mind all night. Human cruelty ran deep for things that are different and can’t be comprehended. So, she knew what they’d do to the werewolves. They’d hunt, cage, torture, kill, and experiment on them. Shivers of fear ran down her spine at the thought of it.

Rayla knew self-torture. Yet, she repeatedly watched the video. She believed she’d find a clue if she kept at it. She was hanging by a tiny thread. Her sanity went overboard as she watched the video.

After the umpteenth time she’d watched it, she noticed something. The camera was angled to face her bedroom. At the beginning of the video, the view was focused on Rayla’s room but had a slight view of Abel’s room up on the next floor. It then moved to Abel and focused on him when he broke his window and landed on the floor the camera.

If she was right, the camera was meant for her. Not Abel.

This brought more questions to mind.

Who would want to video her room? Who was this vile person? What do they want?

It creeped her out. Someone was watching her. They might still be. They might have hidden in a strategic spot. Her stomach dropped.

The night she saw the video, she had gone around the house with a bat in her hand and shut all the windows and doors.

Her fear intensified when she remembered Abel sleeping in his room. Her mama bear instincts had kicked in. She’d gone to check on him, then made it part of her sleep-deprived night routine. All the times she went to check up on him, he had slept peacefully. His arms and legs were thrown all over his little bed. He snorted and talked in his sleep. He was a healthy teenage boy.

Abel had never fallen sick. He was strong and healthy. Rayla had always been grateful for this. Now, she had jeopardized that. She had carelessly put his well-being at risk.

With the beginning of a new day, Rayla’s terror had hit its peak. It was not safe for them to stay at the house anymore. They had to leave.

She had frantically packed bags for herself and Abel. She had no idea where they’d go to. But they were not going to spend another night in the house.

Fortunately for her, Xander had come to her aid. When he turned up at her doorstep, she sighed with relief. She had been headstrong about going to stay with Xander but the situation she was in changed things. When Abel had decided to go with Xander, she had agreed in a heartbeat.

It had shocked Xander. He couldn’t hide the look on his face. He must have expected her to fight back, but the fire in Rayla was extinguished. She would rather go with Xander than stay in that house. So she did.

On the drive to Xander’s house, she had been absorbed in her thoughts. Xander and Abel spoke, but she didn’t hear a word they said. Xander had called out to her on different occasions pointing to spots in the town as he drove. She had given monotonous replies.

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