Page 14 of Caged Between the Beta & Alpha
A Walk in the Dark
Raven
Staying in was suffocating, so I did what I did best: I jumped out of the window and left. I was enjoying the fresh air; it was slightly chilly, but nothing that would affect us werewolves. I wrapped my arms around myself while walking along, glad I wore my suede thigh-high boots. I was just walking around the edge of the trees when I heard someone crying hysterically. A child at that.
Concerned, I followed the sound only to find Liam wrestling a very upset Azura. Her face was a dark pink and she looked distraught.
“Need help?” I asked without thinking.
He stiffened before turning to me sharply. Goddess, he was so annoyingly handsome… even while wrestling an angry, red-faced, cute little chibi. My stomach fluttered nervously, feeling undressed under his intense, sharp gaze that still threw me off. It was like he was a stranger I didn’t recognise. His eyes were burning into me. I saw them darken when they fell on my bare thighs. This stupid oversize top was ridiculously short, but I wasn’t expecting to run into him... I resisted the urge to tug it down and instead remained smooth.
“Eyes up here, Westwood,” I remarked.
I walked over. Reaching up, I took Azura from his arms. I hated this... the way my heart pounded when he was near. Oh, how I wished I could turn back time to when I had him as a friend without this bond. My heart clenched painfully, and I instead focused on Azura, who began to fight me, screaming.
“I want Mama!”
“Mom and Dad have gone out and won’t be back for a while,” Liam added, only making her cry louder.
“Awe, Zuzu. Look, Mama will come back soon!” I said, wrapping my arms around her tightly, only for her to scream harder. I ignored the big broody boy behind me, turning and carrying her towards the playground.
“Mama!” she screamed.
“What did you do?” I asked Liam, not even bothering to turn, knowing his eyes were fixed on me.
“Nothing. She had some fizzy drink, and then she wanted to come out, so I brought her… then she just got upset,” he said in a broody tone. “It was probably the caffeine.”
“I doubt it,” I said, sitting down on the swing. I placed her on my lap, wrapping my arms around her, her head on my shoulder as I began rocking her gently. “She was probably overtired. I’m sure it must have been her bedtime.”
“Yeah.”
The hinges of the swing next to me creaked when Liam sat down gingerly. I had never seen him sit on it before. When we were younger, he used to say he was an alpha and was too big for it. As I got older, I realised he used to just do it to let Kia and me take all the turns whilst Damon would push us… memories that pained me.
I stroked Azura’s back, rocking her gently, her crying decreasing despite the fact that she was still sniffling. The last time I had come here was that fateful night…
His beating heart, his scent, and his long legs were unmissable even when I tried to ignore him.
“Shall I take her?” he asked after a moment.
“Let her settle down,” I said, kissing the top of her head.
“She’s falling asleep,” he murmured.
I looked up at him, our eyes meeting, and that same crushing feeling tightened inside. The distant whimper of my wolf rang in my head. This bond between us… I knew I needed to end it, but rejection would hurt both parties. If we were to do it, we needed to do it discreetly and then make sure we had time to recover. There had been one promise I made to myself, that when I came home, I would reject them both, but with the scary murder and all the other stuff that had been going on, the timing just didn’t feel right.
I sighed heavily, hearing Azura’s heartbeat become steady.
“You actually got her to sleep.”
“All she needed was a little comfort,” I said, standing up and holding the child close to me.
“Guess so…” He reached over, trying to untangle her from me, when she sobbed in her sleep and tightened her hold on me.
“I’ll put her in her bed.”
He didn’t argue, I had a feeling he was glad to have her off his hands.
“With what happened last night, you shouldn’t be out alone.”
