Reclaimed By My Alpha (Natalia and Andrei) novel Chapter 219

Chapter 219

Natalia

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Max looked so much better as he blew out his six candles. The sight of him grinning as everyone sang happy birthday made everything feel alright. Whatever Andrei had done upstairs, it had clearly worked.

“Did you make a wish?” Jane asked, bouncing beside her brother for the cake.

as already watering in anticipation

“Yep!” Max beamed, still held tightly in Andrei’s arms. “But I can’t tell you or it won’t come true.”

“That’s not fair,” Jane pouted. I couldn’t help but laugh. And it was real, genuine, and completely carefree.

Everything seemed to have worked out in the end.

The party continued for another hour, children running around with frosting–covered faces while the adults chatted over coffee. Max stayed close to Andrei the entire time, and while he was clearly still tired and feeling a little under the weather, he seemed happy to be a part of his own birthday celebration.

When the last guest finally left, I found myself alone in the kitchen with Andrei, loading plates into the dishwasher. The twins were in the living room with Damon, sorting through their mountain of presents.

Although judging from the roaring sounds and screaming I was hearing, I had a sneaking suspicion that it had devolved into Damon chasing Jane around the room while Max laughed.

“Thank you,” I said quietly, nudging Andrei with my shoulder. “For everything.”

Andrei set down the stack of plates he’d been holding and turned to face me. “You don’t need to thank me for taking care of my son.”

The simple way he said it made my heart burst. Without thinking, I closed the distance between us and kissed him. It wasn’t passionate or desperate like our kisses had been lately–just grateful and soft and full of everything I couldn’t seem to properly put into words.

the

He responded immediately, his hands coming up to frame my face as he kissed me back. For a moment, kitchen faded away, and there was nothing but the warmth of his mouth and the feeling of his tongue sliding against mine.

For once, it felt like I could kiss him without restrictions. With nothing holding me back–not even my own heart.

It felt…

“Ewww!”

We broke apart to find Max and Jane standing in the doorway. Max was pointing at his open mouth and making a gagging sound, and Jane was holding her face and gasping.

“Mommy’s kissing Daddy!” Jane announced, pointing as Damon rounded the corner.

Damon smirked. “Yucky.”

My face burned with embarrassment, but Andrei just chuckled. “You better get used to it.”

“Do we have to?” Max wrinkled his nose.

“Definitely,” Andrei said solemnly. “It’s part of being a family.”

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Chapter 219

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The twins exchanged a look, then shrugged as if they’d decided this was acceptable behavior for adults, even if they didn’t understand it.

A little while later, Grace examined Max in the infirmary to see how his symptoms were faring. I watched anxiously as she ran various tests; his temperature was normal, but she spent longer than usual listening to his chest.

“Well?” I asked when she finally set down her stethoscope.

“Much better,” Grace said, but something in her expression made me wring my hands nervously. “His fever’s completely gone, and his energy is back. But…”

“But?”

Grace glanced at Max, who was too busy playing with one of his new toys to listen to what the adults were saying. But she lowered her voice anyway and said, “I think what we’re dealing with is lingering pneumonia.”

Andrei stiffened beside me. “Pneumonia?”

“I suspect it could be from the lake,” Grace explained “When Lilith pushed them in, Max may have aspirated some water.”

I glanced at Andrei. “But that was so long ago.‘

Grace shrugged. “Sometimes these things don’t show symptoms for weeks afterwards.”

Rage flickered through me at the mention of the entire incident. She was locked up in Moonshadow, and yet she was still hurting my children.

“Is he going to be okay?” Andrei asked.

“I believe so. It’s mild, and his wolf is helping him fight it off. But…” Grace looked between us. “Since Max’s wolf emerged early, having his biological father close by will help with the healing process. Pack bonds are important for young wolves, especially when they’re recovering from illness.”

Andrei immediately turned to face me. “Then I’ll stay. If you don’t mind, that is.”

Of course I didn’t mind. But I couldn’t help but think of Moonshadow, to all the Alpha duties Andrei would be neglecting if he stayed in Ashmoor indefinitely. “But your pack-“‘

“It can manage without me for a while,” Andrei said with a wave of my hand. “Max is more important.”

“You can’t just abandon your Alpha duties. Your pack needs you.”

He shrugged. “My son needs me more.”

I bit my lower lip, thinking. There was another option, one that made my stomach flip with nerves and something that might have been excitement. And perhaps something else that I couldn’t quite put a finger on.

“What if we came to you?” I asked. “Temporarily, of course. Just until Max is better.”

Andrei went very still. “You mean you want to move back to Moonshadow?”

“Just for a few weeks,” I said quickly. “So Max can be close to you, but you can still handle your Alpha responsibilities.”

“Are you sure? You’ve built a life here with Damon. I don’t want to disrupt-

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Chapter 219

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