Page 20 of Reclaiming His Lost Mate
Kyle sat first, legs spread for his petite and heavily pregnant mate to settle in between, balancing herself on his lap with her arms leisurely wrapped around his neck as she faced the crates before us. It was such a simple romantic moment between them that seemed so normal, but it didn’t stop that pain in my heart. Not from bitterness toward them but being wistful because of the way Kyle looked at and treated his mate, Leah, like she was the key to his heart’s very function. It was something I only ever experienced once.
On the night with Alexis.
But that ship had long sailed, so I cleared my throat and mind off thoughts of him, and I spoke.
“You said there were thirteen newborn pups. These two crates should be enough for all the moms for another month or so. They can’t waste it because this is the most we can harvest for now, but they will have to take their doses regularly. I’d suggest keeping it with the pack’s healer while they come in for the doses every day,” I explained.
The Epazote herbs were infused with properties that were going to flush out the most stubborn toxins from a mother’s body, helping them feed their babies with the healthiest milk for them to grow into the strongest pups, but it was only by Lyvia’s witchcraft that the roots grew bigger than a thumb, hence why they were so scarce and couldn’t be found elsewhere.
Leah nodded.
“Then, this is yours,” I continued, stretching backward to retrieve the bottle I made especially for Leah’s pregnancy from the wooden counter behind me. “Warming roots. As usual, take it before bed. I don’t have to explain the wonders it does,” I finished with a smile, handing Leah hers, which Kyle took off her hands for her.
“We’ll see to it that Maria handles the Epazote herbs. Thank you so much for these, Selina, and for the Warming roots. I don’t know why you won’t let us pay you more than what we do,” Leah said, her blue eyes sparkling.
I only laughed. “That’s because Lyvia, who is responsible for all the business I have and more than half of the herbs I’m able to grow, won’t accept any payments from me.”
Anytime I spoke about it, the witch’s words were always. 'I have all the payment I need.'
Turning to the couple, I spoke. "Well, this, and good rest, of course, should get you through any symptoms from carrying our little pup."
Kyle spoke up now, beating his mate to it. "About that. Would you please tell Leah that rest doesn’t include paroling the borders with pack warriors? She hasn't listened to me the twenty times I've said it, so maybe she’ll listen to you?" Soft lines of worry etched over the Alpha's face, and I found it hard to picture the man who spearheaded the hardest takeover in Alaska for as far back as a decade now.
I could very well picture a pregnant Leah playing pack warrior, so my medical feathers rose faster than I could imagine.
"Leah, no. You shouldn't be doing any of that. At all."
Leah shrugged. "We need all the extra hands we can get to make sure that Blood Moon and Moonlight are safe. It's only a matter of time before Torin hears that Nightwing Pack has lost its protection from Alexis. When they come crawling, we have to make sure that they don't breathe near us."
Not even the mention of my home pack or the Alpha of the diabolical Black Moons sent as much shockwave through me as hearing his name did.
Alexis.
It was like an explosive detonated right beside me as every other sound blended into sharp, repetitive echoes, wildly ringing in my ears. The rest of Leah’s words fell away as soon as she mentioned Alexis, my breath scrambling out of my lungs in a woosh. My elastic heart, the one I built a wall of concrete around, tripped over itself, missing beats, but at least a quarter of my brain still functioned since I thought to school my features.
“Nightwing Pack built a strong alliance with the Shadow Moons,” I put in, confused, now thinking of what Leah just said. “Why would they lose Alexis’s protection when he married into the pack?”
I hoped that Leah didn’t decipher the wavering behind my voice, as well as every other subtle cue. If she did, she said nothing of it, only responding to my question with tense features.
“They had a serious fallout. Alexis and Marissa are not married.”
Many hours after Leah and Kyle returned to their pack, down to when I fell asleep that night, Leah’s last words were the only thing I could think of. A hundred questions took shape in my head, all revolving around Alexis, and there wasn’t one that I could find a suitable answer to.
My determination to not subject both myself and my daughter to my hardship-filled past life was what helped me see past the news of Alexis and focus on my life with Mia.
It wasn’t easy, but each day was less tasking than the last, and today, three weeks later, I was in turmoil for a whole different reason.
Mia wasn’t home.
Matsuna was a small town designed with log cabins surrounded by scattered protective trees and shrubs and with only a handful of locals who knew each other like family. It wasn’t difficult for me to let Mia go play with the other kids, with the promise to be home in time for dinner.
It was past time, and I had yet to see a sign of Mia anywhere. The recollection of the savage Black Moons seeking residents out for anything tangible to claim was enough to make my blood freeze over. Abandoning the meal, I said a silent prayer to Igaluk, asking her to keep my child safe as I prepared to search for her, hurriedly throwing on a jumper and tying my hair together.
I let the door close behind me, my heart now going in crazy circles with panic, but as soon as I turned, my heart stopped beating altogether.
Mia was skittering toward our log cabin, unharmed and happy, but it wasn’t the sight of her that froze me in place. No. It was that of the man who was walking beside her, whose trunk-sized hand was interlocked with Mia’s tiny one as she blabbered unimportant details of her life to him while he studied her with drawn eyes.
It was her father.
