Chapter 54
(Santiago’s POV)
The sound of Layla’s voice has me and my wolf zoning out. It’s one thing after another. I sit in my study pinching the bridge of my nose…
“Santiago,” she says, snapping her fingers in my face. “Are you even listening to me?”
“Can you muzzle that woman or something?” my wolf says in a tone as if he is rolling his eyes.
“No,” I return.
“Didn’t you kick her out of the territory?”
“Yes, Father brought her back.”
Layla clicks her tongue, bringing my attention back to her. “Listen, Santiago, Lynsay needs you to be involved in her life.”
My brows furrow as I look at her. “You’re delusional. You cheated on me, Layla…with my father. Lynsay is not my daughter. She’s my sister! You and I are NEVER going to be reconciled. Period.”
“Karan says that you are to claim her as yours, and he is the former Alpha. You must submit to his will.”
“Layla, I’m going to speak real slow and use small words, so try to keep up. I can’t banish Karan to rogue status from the pack due to his position as former Alpha. I know this because I checked…I do not have to submit to his will as a former Alpha or my biological father. Your baby is yours and his…not mine.”
Layla walks to where I am sitting on the couch, hikes her dress over her ass, and straddles my lap. The moment I go to shove her off, my door opens.
My advanced hearing picks up the person's heartbeat…it plays loud like an amplified drum.
“Oh my moon goddess, I’m sorry. I should have knocked,” Isabella says.
Before I can react to her at all, the door slams shut. Hanging pictures next to the door rattle on their nails, threatening to fall.
“Get the fuck off me,” I tell Layla.
She smirks as if she knew Bella would walk in at that moment.
I give her a heartbeat to move on her own. When she doesn’t take that time, I push her off me and let her slide to the floor.
I run to catch up to Bella, who has stopped in her tracks at the television playing in the living room. It’s replay footage of Layla’s staged photo op.
I notice what appears to be tear streaks that trail from her eyes down her neck to her shirt collar.
“That can’t be right? Is she crying? Over me?”
“What do you think dumbass?” my wolf answers. “She just walked in on She-Wolf Slut 3000 straddling you. And now in here she’s reliving footage of what looks like you three bonding like a family.”
“Bella, I know what you saw looked bad and,” gesturing toward the television, “the media claims certainly don’t help, but I assure you that nothing is going on between Layla and me. She’s been missioned by my father to try, but I swear…we are not together and that baby is not mine.”
She turns to face me, doubt overshadows her features—slight darkening under her eyes, furrowed brows, flushed face, and red, swollen eyes. “Santiago, you don’t need to offer me any explanations at all. I need to get back to my territory. I’m holding a mandatory town hall meeting. I’ll call you later,” she says.
I restrain my instinct to reach out and touch her. Moon goddess knows I’m dying to kiss her. The tips of my fingertips ache to stroke the satin skin on her arm before she walks away.
“Our mate is starting to believe the media’s claims, and yet you consider entertaining Layla? Why? The betrayal, Santiago!!! She mated with your father. You owe neither of them anything!” my wolf states with a low growl. “You owe them nothing.”
“It’s not them I’m worried about, it’s the baby.”
“That bastard is not your baby!”
“Do not call her names. She’s innocent in all of this…and”
“And what?”
I sigh, “And, she is my sister.”
“So even though you don’t want to get involved, you feel obligated simply due to the blood tie to the little girl?”
“Afraid so.”
My wolf growls and moves to the back of my mind. “Ridiculous,” he mutters.
The news brings me out of my thoughts. A growl at the sight escapes my lips and moves my wolf back to the front of my mind—Jesse’s proposal to Isabella replays on the screen.
Bella told him no. She explained the whole thing…but still, it looks like there is something going on between them.
“They are totally getting back together, you know,” Layla says from behind my turned back.
“Really? And how would you know that?”
“By the way Isabella looks at him…and by the way he looks at her. The need between them is palpable.”
My wolf growls at Layla in my mind. I have to shut him out mentally. Barely, I manage to suppress my growl.
I turn to her. “What do you want now?”
“I thought you might like to come with Lynsay and I to the park?”
“No.”
I leave her standing there and return to my study, fully prepared to immerse myself in work.
Layla shows up not even ten minutes later with the baby. “Santiago, I hate to ask, but I need to go to the doctor for a postnatal exam. I’m…bleeding. I have no one to watch Lynsay. Can she please stay here with you?”
My eyes widen. “I know nothing about taking care of an infant, Layla.”
“She’s an easy baby…maybe your paternal instincts will kick in. Please, Santiago?”
“Fine. But she is not my baby, so stop saying things like ‘paternal instincts.’”
She kisses the baby’s cheek and leaves her in my arms.
She feels like she weighs nothing in my arms, and suddenly my heart beat speeds up as I calculate all the ways I could accidentally break her.
I text Isabella, and to my delight, she comes to our aid. My wolf reprimands me the whole time we await for Bella’s arrival.
“You seriously just texted Bella to come help you care for your ex-wife’s offspring?”
“Yes, it is not my kid, and I need help.”
Just then, the baby begins to scream. My wolf howls in my head and I can’t tell which sound is higher pitched.
I hear a light knock on the door. It’s Bella.
“Thank the moon goddess you are here. How do we make her stop?”
She crosses her arms over her chest and cocks her head, studying me. “How should I know? I am an only child and I don’t know anything about babies.”
My gaze locks on to her chocolate orbs. “Please Bella?”
She rolls her eyes. “Alright. Did Layla leave a bag?”
I nod and gesture to it.
Bella rifles through it, pulls out supplies to mix a bottle and change a diaper.
“Okay, bring her to me,” she says.
She takes the baby gently and smiles at her as she lays her down on the couch to change her diaper. Then she washes her hands and picks her back up to give her the bottle.
“You are amazing,” I tell her.
She spends some time walking and rocking her until she is fast asleep and lays her down in the bassinet.
“There, she should be good to go until her mother returns. Goodbye, Santiago,” she says as she is about to leave.
The growing distance between us leaves an ache in my chest that I can’t stand.
“Thank you for coming,” I say.
“Of course, these are the terms of our contract after all. I’ll see you later.”
“I do not like this. You need to tell her you love her and want her. We are losing our mate connection,” my wolf pleads in my mind.
“No, we are going to give her time and space. Bella is just busy managing the pack after the handover. We will get back on track soon enough,” I say to reassure him. I only wish I could convince myself of my own words.
