“What now?”I ask Kyle and he shrugs. I glare at him and shove his shoulder.
“Okay okay, when we go back we have to bring her with us. What’s your name?”He asks the short blonde.
She sighs with annoyance.”I’m Layla. You know Mark and Tiffany’s daughter.”
“Mark and Tiffany? Is your sister Daisy?”I ask her. She nods, confused.”I want to see her. She was my best friend. How come I never saw you?”
“I’m not actually their real daughter, more like their niece. They took me in after my parents died.”She tells sadly and her focus was now on her shoes. I nod and look at Kyle.
“I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need to be sorry. It not like it was your fault.”She smiles but I could tell that it was forced.
“Anyway how old are y-“I was cut off by Sofia tugging on my leg. I leaned down and picked her up, placing her on my right hip.”Yes, sweetie?”
“I’m hungry and I want to see Brant.”She frowns. Brant is practically like their second dad and I know the kids love him. I glance at Layla is smiling at Sofia.
“How about we call him now?”My lips curve up into a small smile. She nods, excitedly and yells Edwin’s name. I see him running towards us and grabs my hand.”Let’s sit down somewhere, okay?”
Kyle looks a bit angry and let go of Edwin’s hand for a second to rub his shoulder, comfortingly. He relaxes and kisses my cheek before walking in the opposite direction. Probably to his office. I take a seat on a near by bench and put the twins on either side of me. I gesture to Layla to come sit next to us and she does.
“Do you want to hear his voice?”I ask and she nods, excitedly. I pull out my phone and call Brant. I smile at my contact picture of him. After a few rings he answers.
“Hello?”He sounds like he was just asleep.”Madeline?”
“Yeah. The kids want to talk to you. They really miss you.”I say, biting my lip.
“Okay, let me talk to them.”I could hear to the happiness in his voice. I know he is happy that the kids still want to talk to him. I put it on speaker and Edwin begins talking.
“We miss you. I want you here with us now.”He lips go into a slight pout. Sofia says yeah in agreement.
“I miss you guys too. I can’t come there right now but I can’t wait to see you guys. How is it there? Are you having fun?”Brant’s voice is cheerful. I look at Layla who is staring at the phone with a smile and tinted cheeks. I wonder what is she thinking about. She looks up at me and I nod, winking at her. Her head immediately goes down and she plays with the rings on her fingers.
After what seems forever the kids stop talking and say their goodbyes to Brant. I take the phone off of speaker and put it next to my ear.”I miss you.”He whispers, softly. I feel a pang in my chest and tears well up in my eyes. I look at Layla who looks hurt and angry. She gets up and continues walking to the path with a frown.
“I-I miss you too.”I stutter.He sighs at the other end of the phone and I do the same.
“I want you here with me. I don’t trust him.”
“There’s nothing to worry about, Brant.”A tear slips from my eye. Maybe I should just stay with Brant but I don’t deserve him.
“I know. I know, baby but I have a bad feeling. Like something’s gonna happen.”He tells. I nod and forgets he can’t see me.
“Brant, am I your mate?”I can’t help but ask. He chuckles.
“Of course you are.”
“No, really. Your first mate died and when she died you should have too. I heard something about a second chance mate. Am I your second chance mate?”I ask. There is silence on the other end of the line.”Am I?”
“Look, it’s really late here and I have a meeting in the morning. We should talk about this later.”He says. He’s ignoring my question.”I love you. Come home soon.”
“Sure. I l-love you too.”I hung up the phone and think about it. Do I really love Kyle? Do I love Brant? I don’t know. All of this has me confused. Should I stay with Brant or go back to Kyle?
I shake my head and go find my kids who are playing in the backyard with Kyle. He’s on all fours, chasing the kids. I close my eyes and hear the sound of the laughter. The breeze blows gently, calming me.
I lied to Layla. I do love Brant and not in a friendly way. Part of me wants him because I truly love him and he is always there for me. The other part wants to be with Kyle and be a family like we were suppose to. I look up at the clouds and frown. Why me, moon goddess?
—
I ran a hand through my hair, feeling frustrated. I love Kyle but I also love Brant. What the hell is wrong with me? My life wasn’t suppose to go this way. Pregnant at 15 and having to chose between two Alphas. I think right now I should just do what is best for my kids.
Maybe I shouldn’t be with anyone at this time. Maybe I should just move somewhere else with my kids, drama free. I want to start over but I know I can’t do that.
I walked out of the bedroom with my things packed in my hand and into the den. Kyle looked up from playing with the kids and eyed my bag.”Where are you going?”
“I think we should go back home now.”I said, running my tongue over my dry lips. He frowned and stood up, towering over me.
“I thought you were staying here with me.”His voice filled with hurt and confusion. My first instinct was to comfort him and make him feel better but I decided against it.
“Kyle, I’m just really confused and we need to go home. Can you please just drive us back home and from there I would decide?”
“You’re leaving me again, aren’t you? What you said before was a lie.”His jaw clenched. I shook my head and ran my hand over his shoulder.
“No, I want you but I also want Brant. I just can’t chose.”
“But you’re meant to be with me.”He frowns, hurt clearly in his eyes.
“I’m sorry, Kyle.”
—
We were back in Florida, minutes away from home. Kyle hadn’t talk to me the whole ride and the twins were sleeping, so the car was quiet. He parked up in our driveway and I saw the front door open, revealing a smiling Brant. I grinned and hopped out of the car, running to him. He pulled me into a hug and clinged onto me as if I would disappear.
“I missed you.”He whispered into my neck.”You reek of him.”
“I missed you too and be nice.”I told and walked back to the car. I opened the back door of the car and buckled the kids.
“Mommy?”Edwin mumbled in his sleep and wrapped his arms around me tightly. I grabbed Sofia and placed her in the other side of my waist. I handed Brant Sofia, seeing that if I pull Edwin off of me he would wake up.
“I’m sorry Kyle.”I said, looking at him in the driver seat. He nodded, I couldn’t see his eyes through the sunglasses.
“I’m sorry too, Madeline. I wish things went differently.”He says, starting the car and driving away. I sighed and kisses Edwin’s forehead, smiling down at him.
I walked back to Brant who looked confused.”What was that about?”He asked raising an eyebrow.
“Can we talk about this later? I have to put the twins in bed.”I avoided his eyes and walked upstairs to their bedroom. I heard his footsteps coming up the stairs. I laid Edwin on his bed which was hard. Brant did the same with ease and turned to me. His eyes studied mine.
“Talk to me.”He begged and followed me into our bedroom. I ran my hand through my hair and took a loud sigh.
“I found your mate.”
His face dropped and it was replaced with shock.”What do you mean?”