The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate (Jason and Laila) by Caroline Above Story novel Chapter 275

Jason’s POV

Laila’s words – her threat stayed with me even long after she swiveled on her heel, returned to her car, and drove away.

I understood her anger. I felt it too. Mom had acted uncharacteristically impulsive and selfish. She must have known how worried Laila would have been. It wasn’t like her to not care. She’d always been in Laila’s corner, now she was acting like Laila didn’t matter? Like she wouldn’t have been harmed by the sudden inexplicable disappearance of her only daughter?

Something was definitely up with my Mom. I’d noticed it when she had been so standoffish when I had tried to talk to her, but now I had definitive proof.

I just needed answers.

With a deep breath, I got back in my car. I drove around for a while to calm down, not wanting to speak to my mother without a cool head. My anger was seething inside of me, and threatened to make me explode. I needed two full hours of winding country roads and fresh air before I trusted myself to be calm during this conversation.

When I returned to the pack house, my mom was waiting for me in one of the sitting rooms. The room was otherwise still and silent. Mom was looking out the window, her hands gently folded in her lap.

Neither of us said a word as Iened the room and sat down beside her. I tried to see what she was looking at outside the

window, but there didn’t seem to be anything of note. Maybe in her mind, she was seeing something from the past.

This conversation couldn’t be avoided forever. The sooner we had it, the sooner it would be done. So I took a breath, and said, Why did you do this? You had to know this was going to make everything worse.”

She closed her eyes. “I just wanted to help.”

“Help? Mom, Ava’s been kidnapped before. How did you think this was going to make Laila feel?”

Mom frowned a little.

“Did you think about Laila’s feelings at all?” I asked.

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“Ava was my primary concern,” Mom replied. “She needs to be protected. It’s important for her to be pack.”

“By

“I’ve been trying to convince Laila, but it’s a slow process of rebuilding trust,” I said, frustration seeping into my voice.” doing this, you’ve made everything twenty times more difficult. How can she ever trust us when you went behind her back like

this?”

“She should understand.”

“Mom, you kidnapped her daughter. You are lucky she isn’t pressing charged.”

Mom blinked a few times, frowning deeper. Then she looked at me, and in her eyes I watched as her focus shifted from wherever she had been, back to this present moment here with me. I felt more confident now, that she was hearing me. “What is going on with you?” I asked. “You like Laila. Why would you worry and hurt her by taking her daughter away?” “At the time, it seemed like a good idea,” she said, her face falling. “I didn’t realize… I just wanted to do right by Ava, and the pack is so much better for her.”

I thought that too, but, “If you are going to act like this, I’m not sure I can agree with that anymore. This wasn’t just hurtful to Laila, it was reckless for Ava. She just got out of the hospital, Mom, and you took her to a park for her to run around?”

“Kids need physical activity.”

“Not when they are in her state,” I said. “You endangered her. You risked never seeing her again. You hurt Laila. I don’t understand how you can think any of this is okay?”

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Just like that, the defenses Mom had put up shielding herself came crumbling down. She lowered her face to her hands, shoulders shaking as the fears flowed freely. I wanted to reach out for her, to comfort her, but she was so far in the wrong on this that I kept myself still.

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Chapter 276