Page 10 of The Alpha's Forbidden Secret Baby

As much as she had screamed, she hadn’t expected him to listen. But he had. One minute he was there; the next, he wasn’t.

The chills settled in her spine at his exit. Xander had a trick she didn’t know about. She wondered what more he was capable of.

He was not just a werewolf. He was a powerful one. He’d have no problem ripping her child from her.

She was so lost in her thoughts that, for a few seconds, she forgot about Abel.

“I’m so scared, Mom.” His little voice dragged her out of her thoughts.

“What’s wrong with me, Mom?” Abel’s voice cracked. His breath came out heavily. The tears flowed freely down his face as he wept bitterly.

The confusion and fear on his face tugged at a different chord in Rayla’s heart. She was just as scared as he was. But she was the mom, so she lifted his face to hers.

“Abel, listen to me. Nothing is wrong with you,” she calmly assured him. She wiped his face with her hand.

But he wasn’t buying into that. He shook his head in response and stopped sobbing. He looked her dead in the eyes. His dark eyes pierced her light brown eyes.

“Mom, something is wrong with me,” he declared.

Rayla knew she had to tell him the truth. They had moved past the stage of secrecy.

It was getting cold outside. She sighed. “Let’s go inside, Baby. I’ll make you a cup of hot chocolate, then we’ll talk.”

Abel was too weak to walk but Rayla couldn’t carry him. She did the next best thing and draped his hand around her neck. With most of his weight on her, they slowly trudged into the house.

By the time they got inside. Abel had stopped shivering. His breath returned to normal. Yet, he was still shaking.

Rayla sat Abel down on their single sofa. She dashed upstairs to get towels to clean him up and grabbed one of his pajama bottoms.

She ran back down to make the cup of hot chocolate she’d promised. All of this had only taken her a few minutes, but sadly, it was enough time for Abel to get hysterical again.

He called out to her frantically. She ran to meet him. For a long time, he stayed wrapped up in her arms. Slowly, she cleaned him up with the towel. Then, made him wear his pajamas.

She watched as he drank from the cup she’d brought with her. When she was sure he had calmed down again, she sat on the table in front of him.

“Like I said earlier, nothing is wrong with you, Sweetie.” She lightly ruffled his hair. “However, there is something you need to know.”

Abel looked up at this. But remained quiet as he sipped his chocolate.

“Before I tell you this. I need you to tell me what happened.”

Abel nodded in response. He spoke immediately after. “I couldn’t sleep. I felt like my whole body was on fire. Like I needed to get out of my skin.” His voice broke with each word.

He took a sip from his chocolate. He tried to place the cup back on the table, but a shudder went through him. He spilled some chocolate on his lap and squealed.

Rayla jumped in response. Instantaneously, she collected the cup and placed it on the table.

“Wait there, let me get a towel to clean that up.” Rayla stood up to go.

“No, Mom, don't leave me,” he whined. Abel was terrified he would disappear again if he was left alone.

He might have calmed down, but he wasn't over what happened to him.

Rayla held his hands in her left palm while caressing them with her right hand. She hoped it translated as support to him.

“Well, let's just wipe that off with my sweater.” She smiled sadly at him.

She dropped his hands to pull off her sweater. Quickly, he placed his hands on her knee. Rayla noticed this as she cleaned his legs.

---