Page 11 of His Temporary Alpha Mate
“That it?” he probed. His eyes held mine. No judgment in those amber orbs. Kade had such pretty eyes. Felix had inherited them from him.
Here it comes,I said to my raccoon. He made his laughing noise in return. My alter didn’t like to speak much, just words here and there, yet had absolutely no issues with communicating with me.
“Yeah, what else would there be?” I feigned innocence.
Kade frowned, appearing to have a mental conversation with himself, his mate, or maybe his wolf alter, before finally giving in. “Are you doing okay with Axel dating Teárlach?”
Well, there it was. The hundred dollar question.
“Not going to lie to you,”just myself, I added in my head, “it’s difficult. My crush was just a crush, though. Nothing big.” Lie, big lie, but whatever. “Axel deserves to be happy.”
“Do you think it’ll be with Teárlach?”
“Don’t you? You’ve seen them together, right? All over each other, practically speaking without words.” I tried to keep my voice even, to not let my feelings show. My hurt over Axel could turn toxic if I let it. There was no way I’d go there. I had to get to a place where I could genuinely be happy for my friend.
“I’m not sure,” Kade said honestly, letting his worry for his brother-in-law out.
“Why not?”
Again, Kade thought about what he wanted to say. Really weighed out the words. “There’s something offthere. The elf isn’t telling us something. Plus, we don’t know how long he’ll stick around. What if he breaks Axel’s heart?”
“Then Axel will be broken hearted for a while. Eventually he’ll get over it or learn to deal. A little heartbreak isn’t the worst thing in the world.”
As much as it hurt me to think of Axel in pain, I couldn’t control his feelings anymore than his family could. Whatever happened to him and the elf would happen. I wasn’t going to interfere.
“But—“
“Nope. We don’t get to decide anything for him. You can try speaking to him. Pointless, though. Axel will do whatever he feels like.”
I looked down at the now sleeping baby in my arms. “Gimme Elliotte now, please.”
“Dalton…”
“Seriously, Kade. Your concern for me, for Axel, for everyone, is awesome. You are a fantastic Alpha Mate and I know your instincts are going wild right now.”
“Okay, so what?”
“So it’s up to us how we live our lives. Our mistakes are ours to make. I’ll get over my crush and Axel will either live happily ever after, or he won’t. Nothing you do will change things. Might make Axel pissed at you though.”
Kade mulled it over as he took Felix from me and returned him to the stroller, replacing the little baby with his slightly bigger sister. I looked into her sweet face and smiled. Maybe I’d never have this for myself, but I would always be a part of their lives. I’d hoped I’d be closer, being Axel’s chosen mate rather than the elf. In truth, I’d likely never been thought of like that by him.
Being this close would have to do.
Greyson, the last triplet, began to whine. Kade looked around him, cradling the baby as he looked for somewhere to sit aside from the floor.
“I’m going to ask Blake to get you some more help,” he said as moved some files off a chair and onto the floor. “Sorry. He won’t settle unless I feed him.”
“Can I?”
“Would you?” he asked in relief.
We swapped places, me sitting in the newly cleared chair and Kade taking my place on the floor next to the mat he laid out for Elliotte to lay on.
The bottle was still warm, tucked into a handy pouch to hold the heat. Greyson rooted his head around for the nipple before latching and sucking hungrily. “You are so precious,” I whispered to him.
Inside I felt my heart break just a bit more.
Broken Heart
