Page 17 of The Alpha's Forbidden Secret Baby

“I can't believe you hid this from me, Rayla,” he said, almost snapping at her.

“You're one to talk,” she replied arrogantly.

“Do you have any idea what you did?” Now, he snapped.

“Yes!” she snapped right back. “I know exactly what I did, Xander. I made the decision to raise my son on my own since I was rejected by the one who I thought was in love with me—the one who ended things with me without even at least fighting for what we stood for!” Her words flew out of her mouth frustratedly.

“So, that's what you came over to tell me that day?” His brows rose as he realized it now.

“How could I tell you after you broke my heart without any shred of remorse?” Her lips trembled as all those past hurt came rushing back.

“That was selfish, Rayla!”

“Selfish?” She stepped forward with a frown. “How dare you talk about selfishness with me, Xander?” She halted before him, glaring at him, her eyes red with anger. “You chose what was best for you, and I did the same, but I'm the one who's selfish?”

“You could have told me, Rayla!” he raised his voice, that rage clouding his mind as the argument was taking a different turn.

“You're damn right, I could have—but I didn't!” she declared, leaning closer to look him in the eyes. “I didn't because there was no need to tell you anything.”

She was angry, and she wanted him to feel hurt—that was the reason for her attitude.

“This isn't about me, Rayla,” he said to her, his voice a bit lower. “It's dangerous, raising a shifter in a human town—do you have any idea what would happen if he lost control—he could hurt someone… or worse.”

She was quiet for a while.

“I didn't know that he was…” she lowered her voice. “I didn't know that he was like you.” Rayla sighed. “Besides, you made it crystal clear that a human couldn't give you a worthy heir—that I wouldn't give you a child with your traits and your genes. So, how was I supposed to have known that you were wrong?” She almost broke down but didn't.

He let out a gentle sigh.

“Abel's first shift could have led him to anyone. Can you imagine how disastrous that would have been if it wasn't my room that he had appeared in? What if he was thinking about someone else, a crush perhaps, and ended up in her room?”

“Like I said, I didn't know. He only started manifesting three years ago…”

“Three years ago?” His eyes widened in disbelief as this further buttressed his point about the danger the kid and everyone around him was in. “Jesus, Rayla!”

“What was I supposed to do?” She spread out her arms dramatically.

“Reach out to me—that's what you were supposed to do!” he blurted out.

“Wow! That's rich coming from the guy who said that he couldn't be with me anymore. Or have you forgotten so fast that you were the one who broke up with me?”

“Oh, so you chose your pride over our son's safety!”

“Don't do that, Xander, because you have no idea what your rejection put me through,” she warned him sternly.

“You think this was easy for me, Rayla?” He cast a disbelieving look at her. “You have no idea what I went through as well.”

“Yeah, right,” she said sarcastically.

Xander let out a sigh, trying to control his anger.

“You kept my son away from me… but somehow, his longing for a father led him straight to me and, I am not leaving here without him.”

“Excuse me?” She reflexively pulled back her head to observe him with a defensive gaze as the natural instinct in her was clearly activated. “What's that supposed to mean?”

He was about to reply when Abel came down the stairs in a pair of pajamas.

“Mom?” he called out with a soft voice.

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