Page 11 of Sinful Mates

Mia’s smile turned sad again at something Slade said.

“What’s wrong, honey?” I smoothed sweaty hair from her forehead.

“Why didn’t Mom and Dad take me with them? Have I been bad?” She eyed us all one at a time for confirmation. “Was it ‘cause I didn’t eat my vegetables?”

Dammit. “No, you haven’t been bad at all. You’re so, so good.”

Slade tickled Mia to distract her. “Don’t worry. We’ll have way more fun. I’ll take you for a ride on my bike.” My devilish mate would corrupt her as he had me.

I slanted him a disapproving look. Mia was not getting on the back of a motorcycle until she was eighteen. Scratch that. Fifty. Sixty. Hell, never.

“We’ll go swimming.” Slade kept going.

“It’s too cold,” I protested.

“It’s spring and warming up,” he countered. “Bushwalking, camping—”

Mia clapped her hands. “Yes!”

I cut him a glare and he shrugged.

Fun daddy had arrived, living up to his promise, and something told me I was in for a world of trouble with these two.

CHAPTER5

Alaric

My little birds,peaceful and asleep in their nest. Wrapped up together, Aaliyah’s wing over her daughter’s, darkness caressing them. My daughter too now, I guessed. I felt numb to that idea, shock of Aaliyah’s latest secret smothering it.

Aaliyah sighed in her sleep and stretched, her beautiful, lithe, graceful form shifting under the covers.My mate. Mine.

I moved to her side, crouching beside the bed, reaching for her. The radios on my belt rattled from the motion. Treacherous waves slammed into my bond, and I backed off. For letting her down, I didn’t deserve to touch her, let alone call her mate after I broke her heart. She had to know why.

My mind cast back to those moments I arrived at Slade’s, minutes before dinner was delivered. We barely exchanged three words and my heart stilled at the pain I caused her. Not entirely a selfish choice like she assumed.

Mia bounced with energy, taking on Slade and Zethan in Nintendo Wii games. The kid had lots of energy. A bit like me, only mine the nervous type that needed burning off.

Aaliyah slouched on the sofa looking exhausted, her bond twisting like mine. Blood stained her shirt beneath her leather jacket, the smell stinging my nose, surprising me that she didn’t change her clothes or bathe. Hauling herself to action, she collected the plates littered with pizza crust, napkins, and half-eaten garlic bread and shoveled them into the dishwasher. Motherhood demanded all her time, and she hadn’t taken one minute to look after herself. Something I would remedy shortly.

From what Castor informed me, she killed her brother after he shot Mia’s parents, and brought her daughter with her, refusing to hand her over to the authorities. The same choice I would have made. Except having Mia with us was a constant reminder of my failure as a mate, and my bond recoiled in shame.

I followed Aaliyah into the kitchen, waiting behind her, not daring to touch her, letting her decide what she deemed me worthy of. My bond writhed with the need to bring her the same comfort she gave to me in my darkest times, when stress brought out my demons. I sensed the darkness rising in Aaliyah. Demons howling to mine in recognition. The distant groan surfacing from the depths within me, where my demons retreated. Trauma scarred her and she needed me more than ever if she wanted to win this battle.

“Come on, angel. Let me take care of you.” I lowered my voice to a whisper. “You’ve got blood on your shirt, you’re tired, and need a shower.”

Caring for her was the least I could do when I owed her everything. Mia was her priority now, but I wanted to show Aaliyah she was my priority even if my earlier actions said otherwise.

She glanced at Mia in the lounge room, swooping and ducking as she playedSonic All Stars Racing. “I can’t.” Meaning her daughter’s needs came before her own. “This is a strange, new environment with people she doesn’t know. I should stay for her and reassure her.”

I laughed at the way Mia bossed Slade and Zethan around, and they happily complied, my president’s bond rumbling with contentment. He nudged Mia, teasing and joking with her as if she were family.

I leaned on the marble kitchen island. Aaliyah kept her distance in person and on the bond. Nothing I didn’t deserve. “She can handle her own. If anything goes wrong, you’ll sense it on the bond.”

An unsure smile pulled at Aaliyah’s lips. Amusement threaded through the knots in my bond, threatening to loosen them. “She’s pretty bossy, isn’t she?” Not the answer I wanted but the one I deserved.

“She has them wrapped around her finger.” I clasped my radios for grounding when I felt her slip away from me.

Slade wanted to be a father more than anything, his eyes lighting with that dream whenever he spent time with his niece and nephew, or if one of the Jackals brought their kids for a visit to the club.

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