Rebirth of the Alpha's Slave Mate (Samantha and Kade) novel Chapter 205

+25 Bonus

Chapter 205

Elena’s POV

“I believe that belongs to my daughter.”

Before I could react, a hand had reached over my shoulder and snatched the mitten away. I looked up to see none other than Kade standing behind me. He slipped the mitten into his pocket without another word.

For the second time that day, it seemed that Kade had somehow snuck up on me when I least expected it.

And for the second time that day, I was about to say something that I would likely regret.

“Oh, I was wondering about that. I thought it was a rag, so I planned to throw it out.”

I blurted out the words without thinking. Again. And immediately cringed at the vindictiveness in my tone.

Was this who I was becoming, now? A bitter woman who threatened to throw out a little girl’s gloves over grudges that said little girl had nothing to do with?

Kade stared at me, brows arched in surprise. I braced myself for a line of vitriol that I probably deserved. But, similarly to Serena, he shocked me by not commenting on it. He simply nodded coolly to me, then to Tyler, the perfect picture of polite distance.

“Alpha Tyler. It’s a pleasure to see you.”

“Is it?” Tyler asked, fingers tightening around his cup. Unlike Kade, he made no effort to hide his disdain.

“Watch it,” I muttered through our mindlink. “One of us needs to be careful with what we say.”

“Oh, sorry. I thought we were just here to help Debbie, not to make friends.”

I rolled my eyes and looked over at Kade. For a moment, I thought I saw his nostrils flare-perhaps scenting the mindlink. And for a moment, I could have sworn I saw that same look of jealousy that I’d seen before. But it was gone too quickly to really put my finger on it.

Kade excused himself after that. I was equally as surprised that he didn’t rise to Tyler’s bait as I had been that he didn’t comment on my own words.

Tyler and I watched Kade, both shocked to see him walk over to the quiet bar and take a seat. He conversed quietly with the innkeeper, who poured him a glass of liquor. Kade took it and sipped it on his own while the innkeeper went back to his work. No one joined him; even his Beta wasn’t around.

“Huh,” Tyler mused as I took my seat across from him. “Wasn’t expecting Kade to hang out in a tavern by himself. Especially not with a family waiting for him at home.”

Tyler was right; it was dinnertime on a Saturday, hardly the typical hour for a so-called “family man” like Kade to be out. But Serena and Ivy weren’t around tonight, which I relayed to Tyler.

My brother snorted quietly when I told him that they were gone. “That’s even more interesting. I wonder why they went away.”

“Probably to get away from me,” I mused as I took a sip of my hot cider.

1/2

+25 Bonus

“Or to get away from each other.” Tyler wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Trouble in paradise, perhaps?”

The vindictive, bitter part of me, the same part that had called Ivy’s mitten a rag, wanted to agree with Tyler. I wanted to create an image in my mind of an unhappy couple who fought and bickered and didn’t share a bed because they were secretly so miserable together.

But the image just wouldn’t come. I kept thinking back to the picture I’d formulated earlier-the image of a happy family. A family that replaced the one we could have had. A family dancing on the grave of a dead infant.

As if on cue, the waitress brought our food. I dug into my meal, happy to not have to talk about it-or think about it-for a moment longer.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify