Page 5 of Isla

I smiled when I heard giggles and saw Sasha, Tilly’s little girl, as she came waddling up with little baby steps, her chocolate brown curls bouncing and her arms stretched out to me as Luca followed, waiting to catch her. He gave me a quick wave and put his head down again, watching Sasha’s every step. My heart clenched, not only at Sasha but because of her gorgeous pack.

“Auntie Isla!” Aiden shouted, bounding past Sasha. He was so loud, probably louder than the three alphas in the house. He ran and reached me before Sasha, high-fiving as he liked to do. “We’ve got a new baby. Hopefully, this one will play games with me because Sasha is rubbish.”

“Sasha is still a baby too,” I said, and handed the present to Tilly, as I kneeled down to him and picked him up for a cuddle. Aiden was a typical boy and kicked his legs to go back to the floor. “Soon she’ll want to play.”

“Nope, she’s boring,” he said, running away.

I swept Sasha up in a tight hug, kissing her cheek and my heart clenched—this was what I wanted, this little girl who adored me. Now I wanted one of my own.

“It’ll be your turn soon,” Tilly said, smiling. She knew how much I was desperate for a child.

“Can I just take this one?” I asked, blowing raspberries on Sasha’s cheeks and listening to her chuckles.

“I wish I could help you out, but she’s my angel child, and she stays with me.” Tilly smiled, taking my arm as we walked down the corridor to the large family room at the back of the house. “Blair and her family are here, too.”

A sigh slipped from my mouth at seeing Blair with her pack. They were hovering around her like bees protecting their honeypot as she sat on the sofa with Tilly’s newborn in her arms.

Cruz handed me a glass of bubbly. “Are you excited about the wedding?” he asked. “Not long now.”

“Not as excited as my father is, honestly my father thinks the sun shines out of his...” I hesitated as Aiden stopped shouting and stared at me, his eyes widened, waiting to hear what I’d say. “...you know what.” I raised my eyes at him.

“Nosey,” Tilly said, and laughed.

My head turned until I was gazing again at baby Georgia in Blair’s arms. Name after her missing Aunt Georgie. Itchy, needy hands wanted to hold her. I needed to smell her and cuddle her.

“Your turn next,” Blair said, smiling. I noticed her pregnant stomach as her pack fussed around her, too. She got pregnant so quickly after having Jasper. I turned to see where he was. Nico, one of Blair’s pack, held Jasper in his arms, cooing and smiling. My heart ached—I wanted that.

For my alpha, a pack... no, I only had one alpha—did I though—the doubts surfaced. Maybe Noah would be a good father. I hoped he would adore our kids, like Blair and Tilly’s pack loved not only their omega, but all their children.

All these packs, all protecting their mates and my alpha was working, as he always did. Or was he with that man?

Would it always be like that, or would he be loving once we were married, had a child—once he claimed me?

Time would tell.

“I wanted to talk to you about something,” I whispered to Tilly. “Something about Noah, but can we speak in private?”

“Why did he ask me to marry him?” I asked Tilly as we took a seat in the sun soaked garden.

“You need to talk to him and let him explain,” she said. “You might have misconstrued the conversation.”

I shook my head and sighed. “The man with him called him babe and wanted to de-stress him. So unless the guy was a masseuse with a tendency to call everyone by cute nicknames. I think I received the information that my fiance is a lying piece of cheating scum, very fucking clearly.”

I had tried to look calm and collected around everyone, but once I was alone with Tilly, I could no longer hold in my anger. My emotions were all over the place. Yesterday I spent the day hurting, crying, mulling over the time from me going into his office to Noah and his lover leaving the coffee shop and then... wondering what they got up to when—

Don’t go there, Isla.

I never answered Noah’s calls that evening or yesterday, and I refused to speak to him when he called me at the end of my shift at work today.

And I refused to text him back.

I glanced at his text message again.

Noah: We need to discuss the wedding arrangements.

He was lying. We were getting married tomorrow, and it was too late to change anything. Noah, as usual, took me for a fool.

And I was.

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