Rebirth of the Alpha's Slave Mate (Samantha and Kade) novel Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Elena’s POV

The documents proved to be so much more enlightening than I ever could have hoped. They confirmed everything that I had prayed for, everything that I wanted.

My heart pounded as I pored over them, curled up beneath my blankets. Everything was there-my labor, my death, my baby.

My baby was alive.

She had survived the birth after all; delivered shortly after my death. She was premature and sickly but alive, Fucking alive!

But the documents also claimed that Kade refused to name the child his heir. They said that, in his indecision, he had moved Ivy to a secluded building in the pack with a healer and several guards on duty. He was keeping Ivy alive, but for how long? When would he decide what to do with her?

And most of all, what would he decide?

The information was clear: Ivy was the unwanted child of a slave. She likely couldn’t become the heir of Crescent Hollow, especially not now that Kade was going to marry Serena. He and Serena would have real heirs, and Ivy would just be an inconvenience.

I knew, of course, what could happen to unwanted orphans. If no one took them in, then they could wind up being left in the wilds. If the elements didn’t kill them first, then rogues might. Being taken in and raised by starving rogues was unlikely. It was far more likely for the children to become their next meal.

Was that to be Ivy’s fate? Food for a hungry rogue? A frozen popsicle in the cold air?

!

I hated to consider any of those options, but I needed to be logical about this. They were very possible outcomes, whether I wanted that to be the case or not. Which meant that I needed to hurry and get Ivy out of here before that happened.

I was still poring over the documents, my mind and heart racing in tandem, when I heard keys jangle outside my door. I quickly shoved the documents between my mattress and bedframe, ensuring they were concealed, and pretended to be asleep.

1

The door opened so quietly it was almost silent. I expected it to be my guard checking on me, but then I heard the floorboards creak softly as someone padded into my room. Whoever it was was being incredibly stealthy.

My heart leapt into my throat. I had nothing to protect myself. My dagger had been confiscated.

But then a familiar scent washed over me, and my terror was replaced with confusion.

Kade was here.

I cracked my eyes open just enough to make out his dark form through my lashes. He was tiptoeing across the room-directly toward me. Something was in his hand, but I couldn’t make it out.

Still feigning sleep, I shut my eyes again and waited. Maybe he was just coming to talk about dinner, and would wake me, I thought. I felt him stop beside my bed, could feel his shadow looming over me even with my eyes shut.

For a long moment, as his scent washed over me like a blanket, I felt my pulse spike. He was close, so close I could

touch him if I wanted to.

1/3

Chapter 83

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The mate bond pulse faintly with our proximity, drawing me nearer. Ava was asleep, and in her vulnerable state, I was a victim to the sensations of pleasure that the bond brought.

Then, I felt the mattress dip. My heart stopped as I felt his hand carefully move aside my blanket, exposing my shoulder. A single finger hooked around the strap of my nightgown, carefully pulling it aside-

Instinct and training kicked in.

“What are you doing?!”

In one swift movement, I had grabbed Kade and thrown him to the bed, flipping us so I was straddling him. I pinned his wrists to the mattress, holding him there in case he tried anything else.

Kade didn’t answer at first. He just stared at me in shock, gray eyes meeting mine in the dim light. For one breathless moment, I could feel the heat of surprise rippling off his body. But there was another heat there, too. One that came from both of us.

The bond continued to hum with energy, only stronger now than before, in time with our matching heartbeats. My hair cascaded around our faces like a silver curtain-close enough for our lips to meet.

And for a moment, I almost let it happen.

The last time I had felt his lips on mine had been days ago, and yet they still burned on my tongue like a constant ember. They singed my teeth, my gums, and yet, at the same time, they seemed like the only antidote to that pain.

I wanted him. Wanted this.

Without conscious thought, I sat my hips down a little harder on him. Our groins met like two puzzle pieces slotting perfectly into place. Kade’s throat bobbed, jaw clenching. My wolf stirred at the sensation of his member twitching through his pants, and before I could stop myself, I was leaning closer to taste him again.

But then I saw what was clutched in his hand.

A bundle of mistletoe.

Cold reality struck me like an icy wind. I sat up abruptly, still pinning his wrists to the bed, now digging his nails

into his skin.

“Unless you’re planning to kiss me under that,” I said, echoing his words from the night I’d first arrived, “then I’d hazard a guess that you’re trying to test my parentage.”

Kade didn’t answer right away, which was all the answer I needed. I ripped the mistletoe from his hand and sat up, holding it out of his reach. He was trying to test my family totem-trying to see if I was who he thought I was all this time.

I was surprised that it took him this long to consider this method of testing, but it didn’t matter. I wouldn’t let him.

Finally, Kade sighed and said, “Fine. That’s exactly what I was planning to do. I still think you’re Samantha, although I can’t explain how you could possibly still be alive. But I intend to figure it out-”

Kade reached for the mistletoe again, but I leapt off of him, jumping off the bed. He lunged after me, but before he could grab me, I ran to the window and threw the mistletoe outside.

Kade gasped as the bundle of leaves fell into the bushes below. “Why did you do that?”

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