Page 17 of Betrayed Kidnapped Mate

“Because it’s—I don’t like to talk about it. I’m only telling you because I’m trying to get you to understand how it felt. For Bigby to leave.”

“Okay. That makes sense. But I—”

“Mommy?”

I turn around to see Kaila and Araya standing a few feet away from us in the sand, having run to catch up with us. I scan Kaila’s face—how much of this conversation did she hear?

“Biggie said to come eat,” Araya says sweetly, giggling and turning around, skipping back the way she came.

“Hey, honey,” I say, tucking Kaila under my arm as we walk toward the rest of them. Up by Linnea, Bigby is manning a beach grill, sliding servings onto plates. I watch him and the way his muscles flex as he moves. The ease he has around these people. They are his family.

“Mommy, are we living here now?” Kaila asks, drawing my attention away from the scene further up the beach.

“No, honey,” I say, kissing her on the head. “Just think of it like a vacation.”

“We’ve never had a vacation before.”

“No,” I say, my heart twisting, “we haven’t. So let’s try to enjoy it.”

Chapter 9 - Bigby

Shortly after everyone gets their food, I see storm clouds rolling in on the horizon. I dump the charcoal far away from little feet and start packing everything into the back of my Jeep.

I’ll need help putting everything away in the garage, but when I look to Aris, he’s got both little girls in his arms. They’re fast asleep, having conked out the moment their heads hit the towels on the sand. Water play and good food will do that.

“Hey, Linnea,” I say, glancing at her. “You gonna come help me put this stuff away?”

She glances between me and Rosa, then bends over slightly, puffing out her face.

“What are you—” I start, but she cuts me off.

“I’m not feeling so good,” Linnea moans.

“Probably Bigby’s cooking,” Aris jokes quietly while trying to set Araya in the car without waking Kaila.

I shoot him a glare.

“What do you mean, you felt fine a second—”

“Rosa can go with you,” Linnea offers. “I can take Araya and Kaila back to the compound.”

“No,” Rosa says, shaking her head and moving closer to her daughter. “I’ll stay with Kaila.”

“Rosa,” Linnea says, taking Rosa’s hands and lowering her face. “Trust me.”

A long moment passes between the two women, but eventually, Rosa’s face softens.

“She is my life,” she whispers to Linnea, who puts her hand over her heart.

“I know, love,” Linnea says, and just like that, Rosa is climbing into my Jeep with me. I stare as Aris, Linnea, and the two girls take off in front of us.

“Where’s Olivia?” I ask, glancing over at Rosa, who has lost the soft look she had for Linnea and is sitting in the seat, arms crossed.

“Probably off with your boy,” Rosa mutters, reaching up to grab the seatbelt right when I gesture for her to put it on. “Yeah, yeah,” she says, and I grin.

It’s a call back to when we dated. For some reason, Rosa’s parents never had her wear a seatbelt growing up. Some bullshit about shifters surviving any car crash—I know firsthand that it’s not true. Linnea’s parents both died in a car crash, and they were healthy, active shifters.

We fought about it constantly when we first started dating. I wouldn’t move the car until she buckled in. It got to the point where, occasionally, I’d reach over her to put her seatbelt on. She’d reach up, catching me in a kiss, and then before I knew what I was doing, I’d have my hands on her hips and her ass in my lap.

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