“Hello, my boy,” Sofia greeted, peppering the boy’s face with kisses. “Did you miss Mommy? I missed you.” She perched him on her hip and turned to Sabrina. “Sabrina, this is my son, Alessandro.”
“Hello, Alessandro,” she greeted. The boy who, curiously, had one green eye and one blue eye, stared at her for a few seconds before his face broke into a smile.
“And this,” Sofia gestured to the woman in the rocking chair, “is my sister-in-law, Isabelle.”
“How do you do?” Sabrina asked in a soft voice, not wanting to wake up the sleeping child in Isabelle’s arms.
The petite, curvy woman in the rocking chair stood up, keeping the child in her arms close as his head rested on her shoulder. “Hi, Sabrina. Are you a friend of Sofia’s?”
“Er …”
“Actually,” the Lupa began, “Sabrina is Cross Jonasson’s mate.”
“Oh, wow.” Her eyes widened, and Sabrina realized Isabelle, too, had mismatched eyes like Alessandro. Must be a family trait. “Really?”
Sofia gave her the short version of what happened, which, to Sabrina’s surprise was still surprisingly detailed despite the other woman having only heard the story once. “And so now, she’s going to stay here.”
“There’s no place safer, or so we’re told,” Isabelle said. “The Enclave is where most of our kind live, that includes all the children and elderly, so the clan ensures that it’s locked up tighter than Fort Knox.”
Sabrina frowned. “But aren’t you afraid then, they might come for me—I mean, the ring, now that I’m here? Aren’t I putting you guys and everyone in danger?”
“We have spells to keep everyone out of The Enclave, and those get updated and strengthened every now and then too,” Isabelle explained. “We recently added new allies to our cause, and they’re adding their magic to safeguard us. If Lucas and Daric said you can stay here, then they know you’re not putting anyone in danger.”
Sofia continued. “Besides, the mages want more than the ring. They’ve been trying to kidnap Lucas and Alessandro for some time now, though they haven’t succeeded. They want their blood for some ritual or something.”
“That’s horrible.”
“Yeah,” Sofia said. “I haven’t been able to take Alessandro out without an army of bodyguards. But hopefully, we can get it all resolved soon.”
“My dad, the former Alpha, fought them before and won,” Isabelle explained. “I’m sure we can do it again.” Her expression changed as the child she was holding began to wake up. “Oh, hey, Evan,” she cooed as she lifted the child and turned him around, tucking her arms under his knees. “Awake already, huh? That wasn’t a long nap.” Evan smiled as his mother ruffled his light brown hair. When he saw Sabrina, his mouth shaped into a perfect O. “Evan, did you notice someone new? That’s Sabrina. Say hi to Sabrina.”
The child giggled as he lifted a hand and opened and closed his fingers. Like his mother, he too had mismatched eyes.
“He’s beautiful,” Sabrina proclaimed. “They both are.”
“Do you know when you’re due yet?” Sofia asked.
The question caught her off-guard. “D-d-due?”
“Your baby.” When Sabrina didn’t answer, she clasped a hand to her mouth. “Oh, my God, I’m sorry! I just assumed, being True Mates and all …”
Why would she assume she was pregnant? “No … um, Cross and I haven’t … uh, we haven’t, you know …”
Both women looked at her, jaws dropped. “You haven’t?” Sofia shook her head. “I’m sorry, of course that’s none of our business. I mean, it’s been three years since you’ve seen each other, and you’ve only just regained your memory. Now that you know you’re True Mates and it’s not a surprise, you might want to wait until—” A sharp ringing sound cut her off, and she fished a phone from her pocket. “Sorry, this is important—I need to take this. Would you mind?” She handed Alessandro over.
Dumbfounded, Sabrina accepted the boy.
“Thanks!” Sofia said with a wave and then strode out of the nursery.
“Uh …” Alessandro looked at her curiously, then little by little, his tiny chin began to quiver. Before she knew it, he was all-out bawling, and tears flowed down his rosy cheeks. Panic crept into her brain, and she scrambled to think of what to do with a crying child.
“Tsk, tsk, Alessandro,” Isabelle said with a shake of her head. “Here, let’s switch.” She handed Sabrina her son as she took Alessandro. “He’s at that age where he only wants to be held by people he knows. There, there, now, Aunty Isabelle is here.” That seemed to quiet the child down as his cries slowed to hiccups.
Evan, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind being handed off to a virtual stranger. In fact, his mismatched eyes lit up with curiosity, and his little fingers reached out to grab a strand of Sabrina’s hair. As she stared at the baby’s face, she couldn’t help but think that Evan looked eerily familiar. As an artist, she tended to study people’s features closely, and there was something about his that told her she’d seen it before.
However, glancing over at Isabelle, it was obvious that except for the eyes, he had gotten none of his mother’s features. Isabelle had an exotic feminine prettiness, with her dark hair, olive skin, and slightly upturned eyes. Though Evan’s features were still developing, he would not be taking after his mother. She wondered if any of the Lycans she had met earlier was his father, but they all seemed like matched pairs, and none of the men looked remotely like Evan.
Sofia re-entered the nursery just as she was tucking her phone back into her pocket. “Sorry about that. Ugh, so it looks like I need to head into the station. A
