Sydney's POV
"Nicklaus, Asher, would you like to go on a picnic?" I asked my adorable boys."Yes, Mommy!" they chanted as I scooped them up.It had been so long since I spent some real time with my boys. Whatever that told Jeffrey that I needed a break should keep doing that. Maybe it was Alexander? No, not after the way I've been treated. A tiny hand wipes a stray tear off my face. "Why are you crying, Mommy?" my boys asked in unison."It's nothing loves." We got into Aunt Rosa's pickup truck which she let me use whenever she wasn't going anywhere."Where's the picnic at, Mommy?" Nicklaus kept asking but I didn't reply.Klaus was the bubbly of the two. And as much as he brightened my day, sometimes, I just couldn't deal with all that energy at once. Asher was the gloomy one. He and I related on so many levels.We arrived at the park and laid out the scantiest basket anyone there could have seen. But the moment those two saw apples, the whole world was complete for them.I watched them play and my heart tugged when they mixed with other kids. But I wanted them to be more social so I let it be.I dashed to one and of the park to get ice cream for the three of us. The air felt very nice on me and I love it.When I got back, I couldn't see them. The already slippery cups fell to the ground. My heart sped. Where could they have been?"This can't be happening," I kept muttering as I ran from one end of the park to another. Then I did a double-decker back to the entrance and saw them. A man or woman with a crop of orange hair was holding their hands and sprinting out of the park."Hey, you!" I screamed and tackled her but she ran, Asher still attached to her.A scream escaped my lips. I almost rolled off my bed but there were spikes on my hand. Spikes?I opened my eyes and beheld myself in a loose white gown with blue spots. My vision was clearer soon and then I saw that the spikes were just needles. My gown was drenched in sweat but that wasn't nearly as disturbing as my twitching leg."You've been doing that since you arrived. That was our only way of knowing you were alive even," a nurse sitting beside me explained. I barely grasped it. All I could think of was that nightmare. No, I couldn't let anyone take Nicklaus or Asher from me. I'd just die."So thankfully-""Can I just go yet?" I cut her short."Yes, you can," she replied coldly, disconnecting the needles from me."Your aunt is waiting at the reception," she told me as she gave me back my clothes."Thanks. I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier. It wasn't intentional." The awkward smile she threw at me left me wondering if she was still pissed or just a really good actress.Two little figures ran to me when I stepped into the reception. "My loves." I hugged them.Aunt Rosa stood. "I'm hoping you fainted from exhaustion but it doesn't explain why you were braindead for three days," she snorted as we got to the car.I was quiet throughout the ride back home, momentarily panicking every ten minutes and looking behind at the boys' seat."What happened, Sydney?" If I didn't know this woman better, I'd have thought she was worried about me."Can we talk at home? Alone?" I requested.She had them in the house before coming back to the car as soon as we pulled up. "You of rejected, didn't you?""You-""It's not a question, Sydney. I know it."Rolling my eyes, I said, "Yes."Pity flashed in her eyes and she gave me a side hug that was neither comforting nor wanted. Still, she managed to do both, then we got out of the car silently."By the way, who took me to the hospital?" I asked."Your boss. I'm surprised he had it in him," she yelled as she entered the room shared with Lucas.~~~"Hi Jeffrey," I said to the manager.He jumped. "You scared me!" Sometimes I thought Jeffrey deserved to be an actor. "You're back already?"Surprised, since this was the closest this man had been to caring, I replied with a shrug, "Yeah. I got discharged yesterday. I just wanted to thank you for taking me to the hospital." I spun on my feet, ready to work."You should thank Mr. Grayson. He's the one who alerted me." I'd rather lick floors than do that.As I went to clean my first room for the day since Cheryl took over my waitressing duties, I passed room 206. Did he leave immediately after? Or was he still here? Against my better judgment, I leaned against the door frame to see if I'd hear his voice.Moaning. Very loud moaning was all I heard. Maybe it was someone else with their partner. But it was easier to think it was him.'How men move on,' I thought bitterly as I rearranged the pillows in the now-empty room 100. Maybe Alexander wasn't the one for me. Because why would the Moon goddess break my heart twice?'He is the one for us,' Reika said.'So you speak. It's been rather long since I heard your angelic voice." I was pissed.'Alexander is ours and we may never get another.''Then let's not get another. I just want to raise my sons and be done with it.''You need a mate. So do I. Mates are more than just romance,' she argued.'I don't care. If you're so eager to fuck, why don't you do that on one of these full moons? You must be starved,' I hissed. I waited, expecting an answer but she was quiet. Petty as always.As I dropped off the mops, Jeffrey popped up in my face. "I thought I'd scare you as you did me in the morning," he said, dejected. Since when did he start playing like this? "Anyway, you're free to go for the day.""My shift hasn't ended," I replied with raised brows."Yes. But you're still recovering, so take the rest of the day off.""Thanks." I disposed of my uniform quickly before he came back to his senses and decided to change his mind. An angry Cheryl raised her middle finger as I ran out of the building but who cares?I stopped at a candy shop on my way. There were too many chocolates with romantic themes. What was this, valentine's day? I paid for the candy I wanted and ran out before I could see one more chocolate bar talking about love."Mommy!" They tackled me once I came in. Or at least they tried to."You missed me?""They've been crying for you all day. That's why I had to play with them," Lucas said. I nodded in appreciation. One would think six years of living in the same house as him would have changed my opinion about the man. But I just couldn't shake off this irritation I felt around him.Asher had already taken his sweets. He was the one who could never passion presents even if they hadn't been handed to him yet. No wonder he was the younger one."We're eating out tonight," I announced. Halfway through his chocolate, Asher folded big neatly, no doubt to make space for the extra food, while Nick jumped like crazy."Tell my aunt I'm with her car," I told Lucas as I ushered the twins out.As I watched Asher and Nick ear like they were competing, I kept wondering what I'd do without them in my life. My best moments were with these two.Alexander was badly wounded as he fought off what could have been like three packs at the same time. They were all in wolf form but he was in his human form. Weird."I won't let you touch them," he gritted.Looking at him now, I didn't have it in me to be angry anymore. Instead, I wanted to help."Ma'am," someone kept calling me.I peeled my eyes open. "Yes?""You've been sleeping for about fifteen minutes now and you're not eating. Would you like me to pack the food for you?" the waitress asked.Sleeping? For fifteen minutes? "Uh, sure. I guess."My eyes darted to the seat opposite mine. It was empty. Swallowing, I asked the waitress, "Hey. Please where are the kids in this chair?"She frowned. "I didn't see any kids. Are you sure you brought them?"She watched me sleep for fifteen minutes but didn't see any kids?!"Maybe they went to the kids' fountain over there," she said, pointing at a chocolate fountain. "Would you like a paper bag with this?"'Bitch, eat your paper bags.'I ran to the fountain hoping they were there. But my heart sank all over again.Sydney's POVWhere could they have gone? I had searched the whole restaurant. The other customers were obviously pissed but fuck them."Excuse me, ma'am," someone said from behind me as I grabbed the keys to find my boys."Yes?" I answered, irritated."You haven't paid for your food," the waitress from earlier said as she pointed to the table we sat at. I grudgingly brought out some money, annoyed that she was wasting my time. I low-key blamed her for this. What kind of creepy stares at people so much but misses important details about them. Like children!I dashed out of the place and powered up the engine. They couldn't have gotten far, so I circled that neighborhood. My mind kept referring back to that first dream or was it a vision?'You should relax a little,' Reika suddenly said.'You choose the oddest times to try to be of help,' I snorted.'Just set your pride aside for once and look for them carefully.''You think I don't know what two short kids look like?' I barked.'That d
Alexander's POVMy hands gripped her rounded hips as she towered over me on my bed. But I couldn't see her face. Her hands crept up my chest. Her lips almost touched mine when I finally saw her face.My scream was stuck in my throat as my body sat up from my bed. Some rays of sunlight were already making their way into my room. Still unable to speak, my eyes darted from my immaculate white walls to the tiled floor. My head ached and I was low-key annoyed.This had been happening since I left her in that room. I felt guilty sometimes. The mark I gave her would prevent her from having another mate.'That's because she shouldn't have another mate,' Lyall growled.Rolling my eyes, I got out of bed and took a minute to look at my tired frame in the mirror opposite my bed. I must have slept off in my work clothes. Just as I turned to head to the bathroom, I saw those hazel eyes again.Since I rejected Sydney, I was restless. There was no reason to since I barely even knew her. But everywher
Sydney's POVI put my foot where the tires should drive on and just as I thought, I saw it and didn't want to run my foot over."I have places to be," he snapped. As if I didn't have places to be as well."Why did you give me a lift?" I needed to know.He frowned. "You could have said you didn't want it before getting in my car then."That bastard! As if he and his annoyingly handsome driver didn't try to run me down.'So his driver is handsome?' Reika growled."Thank you," I said reluctantly. At least he saved me the many breaths I would have lost if I kept walking. Removing my foot, I watched them leave, partly annoyed that he didn't acknowledge my thanks and that I saw his driver as handsome.'I thought you were shunning men,' my bitchy wolf said. I wasn't even sure if she was teasing or just being her bitchy self.Jeffrey was waiting in the reception the moment I stepped in. His face was burning red. Oh no."Where have you been?" he fired at me once I was close enough. To be honest
SYDNEYMy phone's ringing alerted me about the time. It was very late. I pulled the device from my pocket and saw that it was Aunt Rosa that was calling me. I quickly wiped away my tears and cleared my throat so that my aunt would notice."Hey don't be mad at me I'll be home—" I was interrupted by a smaller voice, one that I was so damn sure that my sadist aunt would not have even if she got in an accident and had to do a surgery."I miss you a lot mom. When are you coming back?" Asher sounded as timid as usual."Oh my baby!" I had completely forgotten about them, and now I felt like a horrible mother. "I will be back home okay?" I cheered him up and I could only hear a whimper through the phone. I rose to my feet and headed in the direction of my house, but I had so many questions running through my mind.'With all these questions, will you find answers?' Reika's voice interrupted the train of thoughts.'I don't know if I will find the answers, but maybe you can help me out.' I stun
Sydney's POVOh my God.Oh my God.Oh my God!I rushed out of the car, panting. The car didn't hit the person but I couldn't see them nonetheless. What if I actually hit them? Oh, goddess Ciara.Getting to the front of the car, a woman was sitting on the road. I ran to help her up. Her purse and its contents were scattered all over the place. Helping her to her feet, I kept saying, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." She hissed as I helped her up. "Does it hurt?" I asked."Yeah. It's fine though," she said and smiled at me.Weird.I helped her into the car as my sons jumped out to gather her things for me. Thank goodness this was a lonely street so it was rarely busy. I argued that we needed to do something about her ankle but this woman refused over and over again. Instead, she agreed to follow me around so that I could watch her."Nick, Asher, it's good to see you two again," she smiled at my sons.What the…I placed her face the next second. It was the old lady from the coffee shop! "Oh m
Alexander's POV.What? I blinked rapidly to register who was in front of me, we both stared at each other breathless, trying to understand what we should do next. It was an awkward situation, but it baffled me a lot as to how she always knew where to find me."Hey I'm here bec—" she started but I didn't want to hear her complete the half ass reason,"No, you're not supposed to be here. How did you even find my address?" I closed the distance between us and felt the mate bond tug at my very soul, as much as I didn't want to get attracted it was very hard to do so."That's what I'm trying to explain, I—" "You're stalking aren't you?" I jumped to conclusions and it was irritating her. "Or you came here to steal something? I'm calling the police." I whipped my phone from my pocket hastily."Would you just—""Sydney!!" I heard mother scream and rush into her arms, engulfing her in a tight hug. My will to call the police had vanished as I saw her hold my Goddess given mate like she was a ch
Sydney's POVHow could he think of me like that? It was so uncalled for. Truth be told, he barely knew me, but thinking I wanted to hurt his mother was just extreme.'He is an alpha. What do you expect?' Reika said.'Can you be on my side for once? Just because you want him so bad doesn't give you a right to be unreasonable.''I am on your side. That's why I'm telling you all this. An alpha has numerous enemies so it's normal for him not to trust anyone,' she explained."I don't care. I just want to get home to Nick and Asher. Keep your explanations to yourself.'I knew I was being petty. But Reika had always been fond of making me look like the paranoid one, and it didn't start when we met Alexander.It was darker than usual. I closed later than I would have at the hotel. As the breeze scattered my hair, a smile etched itself into my face. Today was a nice one. And Mrs. Grayson was just a lovely person overall. I was kind of happy that I got fired. Otherwise, she wouldn't have offere
Sydney's POVMy mouth quivered in need, expecting a deep kiss. But all I got was a soft peck on my lips. I didn't even her the chance to be disappointed as his hands worked magic, slipping under my shirt unnoticed.My skin tingled as Alexander cupped my breast and my nipples hardened. His other hand traced lines to my waist then threatened to slip further down. I wanted it. But his palm never got there. He placed it behind my head and shoved me closer to him, attacking my lips with such ferocity, I almost collapsed.With every bite, suck and a battle of dominance between our tongues, I became more of a hot mess. My breaths quickened but I held onto him, not wanting the kiss to end. I gripped his loosely curled hair, almost fainting in the kiss.He tried to pull back but I kept him in place. Smirking against my lips, Alexander placed his hands on my hips and when I least expected it, he heaved me up, pressing his body closer to mine. I felt a few beads of sweat on his abs. So I wasn't