Chapter154 The child is Patrick’s
Aliya POV
There was anger clearly audible in Nikolai's voice as he demanded, "What the hell is this supposed to mean? You and Patrick?"
I looked at him with what I hoped was an innocent expression. "I came to bring my boyfriend lunch. Isn't that obvious?"
The entire conference room fell into dead silence. You could have heard a pin drop. Everyone was staring at us with wide eyes, and I could practically feel the tension crackling in the air.
Nikolai's mood was visibly darkening by the second. His jaw was clenched tight, and his blue eyes had gone cold as ice. "Everyone out," he snapped at the other Alphas. "We need to continue this meeting."
One of the older Alphas looked confused. "But we just finished the meeting five minutes ago."
"Then we'll have another meeting," Nikolai said sharply, his voice brooking no argument.
I couldn't resist needling him a little. "But it's lunchtime. Shouldn't people be taking a break to eat?"
Nikolai completely ignored my question and gestured curtly for everyone to follow him to another conference room. The other Alphas exchanged nervous glances but quickly filed out, clearly not wanting to be anywhere near Nikolai when he was in this kind of mood.
I waited in the now-empty conference room for Patrick to come back out. It didn't take long before the meeting ended again and the Alphas started trickling out. Patrick was one of the last to emerge, and he immediately came over to me with a concerned expression.
"Are you okay?" he asked quietly, pulling me into what looked like a protective embrace. "You look a little pale."
"I'm fine," I assured him, handing over the lunch basket. "Here's your food. I made all your favorites."
Patrick accepted the basket with a warm smile, but I could see Nikolai watching us from across the hallway. He was making no effort to hide his displeasure, and when our eyes met, he let out a derisive snort.
The remaining Alphas seemed to sense the tension in the air and quickly made their excuses to leave. Within minutes, it was just the three of us in the hallway.
Nikolai's eyes were narrowed as he looked back and forth between Patrick and me. "What exactly is this supposed to be?" he asked, his voice dangerously quiet. "When did you two suddenly become a couple?"
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Do I need to report my personal relationships to the Alpha King now? Is that some kind of new requirement?"
Patrick stepped in before the situation could escalate further. "We only got together after Aliya came back," he said diplomatically. "It's still pretty new."
"Of course," I said, nodding in agreement. "Although when you think about it, since we already have a child together, you could say we've been together for about three years now."
That comment hit Nikolai like a physical blow. His face went completely white, then flushed red with anger. "Perfect," he snarled, the word dripping with venom. "Just perfect, Aliya."
He turned on his heel and stormed away, his footsteps echoing angrily down the marble hallway.
I watched him go with a mixture of satisfaction and something that felt uncomfortably like guilt. "Well, that seemed to convince him," I said to Patrick once Nikolai was out of earshot.
Patrick nodded, though he still looked worried. "He definitely believes it now. But Aliya, are you sure this is the right way to handle things? He looked really upset."
"That's the point," I said, trying to sound more confident than I felt. "If he thinks Nova is your daughter, he'll stop asking questions about her."
"I hope you know what you're doing."
"So do I," I murmured under my breath.
Over the next few weeks, Patrick and I threw ourselves into our fake relationship with complete dedication. We made sure to be seen together constantly, always acting like a loving couple whenever there might be witnesses around.
We went to restaurants together, attended pack events as each other's plus-ones, and even took Nova to the park several times so people would see us acting like a happy family. Patrick was surprisingly good at the whole charade, always remembering to hold my hand or put his arm around me at the right moments.
The hardest part was dealing with Nova's confusion about why "Uncle Patrick" was suddenly acting like her daddy. I had to have several complicated conversations with her about how sometimes grown-ups pretend things for important reasons, and that she should just go along with it for now.
"But why do we have to pretend?" she asked one evening after Patrick had left from another "family dinner" at our house.
"Because sometimes it keeps people safe," I explained, trying to find words a three-year-old could understand. "And right now, it's keeping you safe."
"Safe from what?"
"From people who might want to take you away from Mommy."
Nova's eyes went wide with fear. "Someone wants to take me away?"
"No, sweetheart," I said quickly, pulling her into a hug. "That's not going to happen. Mommy is just being extra careful, okay?"
She nodded against my shoulder, but I could tell she was still worried. The whole situation was affecting her, and I hated that I was putting her through this stress. But what choice did I have?
Every day that passed without Nikolai demanding a DNA test felt like a small victory. The plan seemed to be working. People were definitely buying into the idea that Patrick and I were together, and that Nova was his daughter. I overheard several pack members gossiping about our "relationship" and how sweet it was that Patrick had "stepped up" to help raise Nova.
But maintaining the facade was exhausting. Patrick was being wonderful about the whole thing, never complaining about the time and energy it required. But I could see the strain on his face sometimes, especially when we had to act particularly affectionate in public.
I was starting to feel guilty about dragging him into this mess, but he always insisted he was happy to help whenever I brought it up.
"You saved my pack and my position as Alpha," he reminded me. "This is nothing compared to what you did for me."
Still, I knew it wasn't easy for him. Especially since he'd mentioned having feelings for someone else, someone who didn't return his affections. Here he was, pretending to be in love with me while his heart belonged to someone he couldn't have.
Everything was going smoothly until one night when my phone rang at almost midnight. I was already in bed, just about to fall asleep, when the sound startled me awake.
It was a mind link from Patrick, and something in his mental voice immediately put me on alert.
"Aliya," he said, and I could tell right away that something was wrong. "I need you to come pick me up. I'm at Club Midnight downtown, and I've had way too much to drink."