Tangled Hearts - The Alpha's Baby Mama-Chapter 21: You’re not our father!

Selene POV

My palm was sweaty and my legs felt like rubber as I hurried towards the door, wearing a wide smile. The last thing I wanted was for Noah to find out.

But why was I worried about him finding out? It’s not as if I was engaged to him or we were dating. Maybe it was because I felt indebted to him after all he was my saviour, but was it enough grounds for me to feel afraid?

"Hi," my smile deepened as I threw open the door.

Noah was standing in his usual quiet manner with both hands tucked behind his back. Behind him were his Beta Reid and his Gamma Steve. Their presence felt intimidating since they were all Lycans. They were at least four inches taller than the average alpha.

"Hey," Noah said quietly, as his gaze settled on my face. It was difficult to read his expression. "Pack up, we’re going back to Moon Whisper," he announced and then turned on his heels and left.

That was strange.

Aside from his morose expression, he didn’t even smile at me nor wonder about the girls. Everything confused me. Did he know that I was with Xavier?

Without thinking, I chased after his scent, catching him in front of the pack house talking with Xavier, Lucius, and Gamma Theo.

"I can’t believe you’d put them in danger knowing that she’s with children,".

"We did offer Miss Olivia a chance to stay in the pack house, but she declined," Gamma Theo said "We didn’t think...".

"You didn’t think?" Noah growled with rage "She’s from me, so what were you expecting? Is this how you do your job? And you, Xavier... I am super disappointed in you. You all are so lucky that nothing happened to her. I swear to the moon, if there had been so much as a scratch, you would have paid for it,".

"We apologize, Your Majesty," Lucius bowed his head in remorse "But as you know, Miss Olivia is quite an independent woman and we thought her security detail would have been enough,".

"Enough!" Noah glared at him. "Are you trying to put this on me?"

"Just like you, we hadn’t been anticipating the attack," Xavier spoke for the first time, matching Noah’s calmness.

"Don’t worry," Noah scoffed. "I see I was foolish in asking her to come and the only reason is because we’re related. I don’t do this often. In any case, she’ll no longer continue staying here. She’s leaving with me,".

Xavier’s brows went a notch higher. "What do you mean?"

"That we’re going back to Moon Whisper ASAP. However, I brought someone else to continue from where she stopped,".

"She hasn’t done anything yet, Noah," Xavier stepped forward. "This isn’t what we paid money for. We specifically requested for her,".

Noah turned to his Beta, stretching out his hand. Reid passed the suitcase he was holding to him. He opened it, revealing wads of mint dollars stacked in the briefcase.

"That’s double the amount you paid and you don’t need to pay for the new resource person we would be leaving behind. Consider this as family helping each other out. Nothing more,".

"It is Olivia that we want and need, Noah," Xavier said coldly.

"And I refuse," Noah said firmly. "You do not have the resources nor ability to protect her, Xavier. I know you need her, but I’m going to refuse. The other option is for me to stay with her here, but I have a pack to run and tons of businesses that need my attention. So, I’m sorry, I’m withdrawing her from you,".

"We’re still investigating the reason for the attack," Gamma Theo stepped forward immediately, trying to diffuse the tension that hung in the air between both relatives.

Until today, I didn’t know Noah was related to Xavier. Making a mental note to find out more about that, I decided to go meet the men when Gamma Theo’s voice came on again.

"They said something about revealing something important to you, Alpha Xavier and that they would only tell you if you should go to them,".

A chill ran up my spine at Theo’s words. My eyes trailed to where Lucius was and I could see he had frozen too. I knew that the only thing those foxes wanted to tell Xavier was the truth about my identity and nothing more.

But why were they so eager to reveal who I was to Xavier? It’s not like I am a threat to them or anything. I didn’t see what the whole fuss was only about, but I didn’t want Xavier to know about me. If he knew, then he would have every right to claim the children which are rightly his.

Our laws were like strait-jacket and the man is allowed to do anything he wants to do. Another thing was, he didn’t reject me. Our wolf bond was still very much alive, and that was the only explanation for the continuous pain I felt on his mark on my neck.

So, by our laws, he could claim the children and that was what scared me more than anything. I was worried about having to hand my children over to be sired by him and what was more disturbing was he could finally reject me after that and get married to someone else.

Lucius drew closer to Xavier and whispered in his ears.

"I will check out what the foxes have to say later. But for now, I think you should agree with his majesty. We don’t have too much of a choice here,".

I decided not to go up to the men again. Quietly, I turned back and returned to the room. When I entered, the girls were trying to do each other’s hair. They looked up as soon as they saw me and frowned.

"Why is Noah angry?" Vina questioned immediately. "He came to this room and ignored us completely. Is there something we did to offend him, Mom?"

"No dear," I went closer to the girls, hugging them. "Noah just had a lot going through his mind,".

"He’s just angry with Dad," Maeve said with a sigh, "And now he wants us to leave without properly bonding with him,".

The comb I had collected from the girls clattered to the floor as I stared at them. The atmosphere grew thick with tension as they exchanged knowing glances with each other. Maeve’s expression was blank while Vina had a frown on her brows. I feel a knot tighten in my stomach.

"Why didn’t you tell us about him?" Maeve spoke up. Her voice was steady but tinged with a hint of accusation.

My heart skipped a beat as I fumbled for words. Never in my life did I anticipate this moment. I had thought that the moment of revelation would happen when the girls were a bit older. They were both watching me, a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.

"What do you mean, dear?" I tried to play innocent. This could also be a trap.

Maeve sighed, sharing a meaningful look with her sister before turning her attention back to me.

"Dad’s wolf’s name is called Colton. He came to us last night while you were asleep with Dad in your former room. He told us a lot of things, Mommy. Why didn’t you let us know?

My mind raced, desperately wishing I knew exactly what Colton had said and did not say. I also wanted to shield them from the truth. I didn’t want them to know anything about me and Xavier’s ill-fated fate.

"Listen, girls," I sighed. "Your father and I have a complicated history," I began cautiously, choosing my words carefully, "And I wouldn’t want you to meddle in it now,".

"What will you do when Dad finds out about us? How long are you planning to keep it away from him?" Maeve asked, her lips pressed in disdain.

"It’s complicated, Maeve," I sighed. My worst fears were turning into reality. I’ve always known it’ll be Maeve who would trouble me.

"You’ve always been like this, Mom," Maeve said quietly, "Selfish and not letting us in. You always hide things away from us, not caring if it’ll matter to us or not,".

"Maeve," Vina shouted, staring at her sister, "You can’t say that to mom,".

"I can," Maeve said stubbornly. "Is it because you asked me not to tell her about the bullying in school? How we were called bastards repeatedly and people would say that mummy warms Alpha Noah’s bed and any man whom she thinks she can make money from,".

Tears gathered in my eyes as I stared at my children. "I... I’m sorry, I didn’t know about the bullying,".

"It’s fine, Mom," Vina placed a hand on my arm. "It’s nothing serious and it’ll fade away soon,".

"We’ve been called bastards for more than a year," Maeve said bitterly. "It’s never going to fade away. Why can’t you allow us to be a happy family? All these years, you knew where Dad was and you couldn’t bring him back to us? Why? Is Alpha Noah so important to you that you rejected your fated mate?"

"H-How did you know about that?" My eyes widened with surprise.

"Colton told us," Vina sighed. "He said you rejected Dad and ran away from the pack,".

My shoulder slumped as I took a deep breath, trying to still the emotions raging inside of me.

"Colton didn’t tell the entire truth," I said quietly, looking at Maeve, whose eyes had gone cold.

"Did you do it or not? She asked, meeting my gaze.

"Yes," I sighed, "But it was for a reason and I can’t go ahead badmouthing your father in front of you girls,".

"Oh, now you want to blame Dad?" Maeve interrupted me.

"Would you believe Colton over your mother?"

"Yes," Maeve said without a moment’s hesitation, "And that’s because you’ve never been truthful to us. You lie about everything, mom. Your name isn’t Olivia to start with. What other lies have you told us, Mom? What is even true?"

"Maeve, stop this," Vina tried to clasp her hand around her sister’s mouth. "You’re hurting her,".

Maeve wiggled out of her hold and came down from the bed, "Stop acting like you’re not hurt by everything,".

"I am," Vina responded, "But I can’t judge from one side. Mummy deserves the right to tell her story. I’ve told you several times that adults always make mistakes and when they try to protect themselves, they tend to distort the truth".

"We are her children," Maeve continued stubbornly. "If there’s anyone she can lie to, it shouldn’t be us,".

The room fell into a heavy silence as I stared helplessly at the girls, confused as to what to say. The door suddenly opened and Noah came in. He paused as his eyes scanned our faces before finally resting on mine.

He must have noticed the tears on my cheeks because, in the next second, he rushed to me

"Are you alright?"

"Stay away from her," Maeve yelled and stood in between me and Noah. "You’re not our father,".