Alpha’s Rue: His Shunned Luna (Athena Enchanted) novel Chapter 542

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Chapter 542

“No.” I shake my head, clutching Alanna closer to my chest even as she screams against my shoulder. “I can do it,” I swallow. “I can make her quiet. I just need a minute.” I sniff, “She’ll stop crying. She has to. I’m her mother. She knows she’s safe with me, so why is she crying?” I choke out. “I changed her, I tried to feed her, but she doesn’t want to eat.”

“Babies cry for no reason,” he tells me. “It has nothing to do with you, it’s just her, she’s trying to be a little tyrant.” He jests, reaching for the baby again. “Come on, give her to me, let me try and quiet her.”

“I’ve got her.”

Kingston sighs. “Siren, you’re both frustrated, that’s why she’s still crying. Give her to me and let me try, hmm? You’re tired.”

I want to refuse again. There is a stubborn, aching part of me that wants to keep trying until I get it right, until Alanna settles for me the way she settles for him, until the voice in my head that says I am already bad at this shuts up. But Alanna’s cries are shifting into a breathless, hiccuping pattern that scares the shit out of me.

I hand her over, watching how he tries to soothe her. “You’re tired too, you always wake up with her. Even when I come in here, you come along too.”

“Because we are a team,” he tells me, rocking Alanna the very same way that I had done.” Daddy’s got you, princess. Stop crying, you’re safe. Hush now, my love.” He coos, still rocking her. He does nothing different from what I had been trying, but surprisingly, she stops crying for him. Her cries grow softer, and softer until there is nothing left.

The silence after she stops crying is louder than the screaming was. Kingston keeps swaying her a little longer, lightly patting her back while he watches me and I watch him. “All good?” He whispers.

I move to check on her and she is sleeping now, tears still streaked on her little face. Kingston nods towards the door, and I nod. I give him a cloth to wipe her tears and walk myself back to

our room.

I don’t get it. What is it about me that unsettled her? She was fine with her dad, but she cried rivers with me. I sit at the edge of the bed, waiting for him to return, I can hear him on the baby monitor. “Can you go a little easy on your mommy next time?” He tells her. “You’re making her feel bad about herself, princess. Your mommy is a good mom.”

No. I’m not, and he is probably saying it because I can hear him. He has been ready for her since he found out she existed, but even now, I still don’t know if I’m ready yet. I want to be ready. I want to take care of my daughter, and I want to soothe her. I want him to be able to