Pregnant and Rejected by My Alpha Mate novel Chapter 189

Chapter 189 – Fast Forward

Sophie

“Should we tell her?” | ask Drake, unsure whether telling Lila that her parents will be gone even longer than we feared can do any good. We certainly can’t tell her that they’ve been captured: that Bastien is Blaise’s prisoner, Selene his slave and her younger sibling bound for death.

“We have to tell her something.” Drake sighs, “she’s ex pecting them to come for her any day.”

“She’s three and a half.” I remind him, “she doesn’t know what day it is or how long they’ve been gone.”

“Maybe not, but she asks for them every day.” Drake counters, “I don’t want to lie to her – not completely anyway.”

“I know.” | agree, “but where do we draw the line? If we tell her they’re going to be gone longer she’ll want to know how much longer – we can’t very well tell her they might not come back at all. She’s already having nightmares.”

“I just want to prepare her.” Drake scrubs a hand over his rugged features, “setting expectations is important and if we don’t she’s going to get her hopes up more and more… it’ll make it that much harder if things don’t turn out the way she wants.”

“She’s too young.” | insist. “Her hopes are going to be up no matter what.”

“Sophie, if the worst happens…” Drake begins, sounding as though he doesn’t want to finish his thought but knows he

doesn’t have a choice, “she’ll be ours. I promised Bastien and Selene both.” He grimaces, “I can’t bear the thought of losing them, or Lila growing up without them – but if she does we’ll be her parents. She has to trust us, we can’t start out that re lationship on a lie.”

“You sound like you think their fate is already decided.” | murmur, wrapping my arms around myself protectively.

“Blaise is the most powerful Alpha the continent has ever known.” He states simply. “It might be one thing if Bastien was free or Selene was able to use her powers, but as long as Blaise can leverage them against each other… the chances of them escaping him are beyond low, Sophie.” Drake admits, “they’re practically nonexistent.”

“Okay.” I answer shakily, the pressures of potential parent hood suddenly landing on my shoulders with crushing weight. “We’ll tell her some of what’s happening, but I draw the line at telling her they might not come back.”

“Agreed.” Drake confirms, squeezing my hand and leading me back out into the kitchen.

Lila is still seated at the table, scarfing down a waffle with her chubby little fingers. She looks up happily when we enter, grinning widely. “Can I has another waffles?” She requests, even though there’s still half of one on her plate.

“If you finish that one, first.” I confirm.

“Yum,” she says simply, chomping into the confection. She chews thoughtfully and studies our tense expressions. I can see the question on her tongue before she asks it – it’s the same question she asks every morning. “Are Mommy ‘n’ Daddy coming home t’day?”

“No little one.” Drake answers gently, the same way he has every day for the last two weeks. “Not today.”

“When?” Lila presses, pausing her breakfast so she can hear this important information.

“Lila, you remember how we‘ve been saying they might come home any day now?” I ask, suddenly regretting our prior optimism.

“Uh-huh.” Lila replies simply, cocking her head to the side.

“Well, something’s happened, and they’re going to be gone longer than we expected.” Drake explains.

“Wha’ happened?” Lila inquires curiously, setting down her waffle.

“They‘ve gotten a little lost.” I answer, deciding this is bet ter than telling her they’re a madman’s prisoner. “So they won’ t be home today, or tomorrow, or even the next day.”

“The truth, sweetheart, is that they probably won’t be home for a few weeks at least.” Drake adds reluctantly.

“Weeks?” Lila repeats, horrified. “But that’s for ever!”

Lila’s plump lower lip begins to tremble, her eyes going so wide I suspect they would be watering even if her emotions weren’t beginning to spill over, “they not coming back, are dey?”