Page 69 of The Alpha's Forbidden Secret Baby

His hands moved at the pace of a sloth as he gave Abel the chance to tell him what he wanted to hear.

Abel’s wide eyes turned to Rayla, taking on a pleading note. “Mom, please help me!” he shouted through his laughter.

Rayla laughed and raised her abandoned mug to take a sip of her coffee. She grimaced as the cold coffee that had sat forgotten touched her tongue and forced herself to swallow it before pushing it away from her.

She raised her hand and grinned at Abel. “I think I’m going to have to stay out of this one,” she said. “Besides, I don’t get to touch your hair either.”

Abel’s mouth opened and he stared at her comically. “Traitor!” he screamed once again

“Well, Abel. You only have seconds before my hands are on your precious hair. What’s it gonna be?” Xander asked him once again.

“Fine. You’re cool too,” he admitted as his lips quivered from the effort it took him to not laugh.

Xander set him down and frowned as he looked at his palm.

“Hmm… Now that my hands have no hair to ruffle, I suddenly feel quite weird. What do you think I should do about that, Abel?”

Abel stared at him for a moment, genuinely confused and then his eyes lit up as his confusion gave way to understanding.

He turned to Rayla and grinned before lifting his hands to point in her direction.

“Do Mom’s,” he screamed gleefully.

Rayla’s eyes bulged. “What? What did I do?”

“I don’t know, Babe. You failed to come to the boy’s defense when he called for your help.”

The two of them advanced toward her. For a moment, all Rayla could think was that they looked like predators stalking prey. They were so much like their wolves in that instant that she marveled at them.

“Guys… you don’t want to do this,” she said as she slowly slid off the chair.

“Why not, Babe?” Xander asked, still approaching her slowly.

“Yeah, Mom. Why not?” Abel repeated after his father.

She turned around to run but only took two steps before her legs were off the ground and she was wrapped in Xander’s arms much like her son had been only moments ago.

“No!” she screamed through her laughter as they tickled her and ruffled her hair.

“How does it feel now, Mom?” Abel giggled as he continued his attacks while Xander held her to himself with one hand and tickled her with the other.

She laughed so hard that her ribs began to hurt and she could not take it anymore.

“O-okay guys, I think i-it’s time t-to s-stop,” she said, completely winded from her laughter.

Xander’s hand stopped moving and he hugged her tight, signaling Abel to stop. He turned her to face him and pushed back her orange hair that had snapped from its band and spilled everywhere, covering her face.

His smile knocked out what breath she had left in her lungs and he leaned in to kiss her gently on the lips, pushing the nail into the coffin and forever dooming her to breathlessness.

He pressed another peck to her lips and gently set her on the floor, holding her until she was steady and her legs had begun to work again before letting go of her.

“Are you sure you don’t want to join us?” Xander asked, his brows furrowing in a way that made him more handsome.

She sighed, utterly in love with this beautiful man in front of her.

“Yes, I’m sure. I want you guys to have fun and not have to worry about me when you’re there.” She reached up to push back strands of black hair that had slipped down his face but thought better of it when she saw just how good he looked like that.

Lord, I’m a mess.

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