~Celine~
Opening my eyes, I found myself tightly cuddled in Ethan’s arms. I heaved a sigh and stared into space for a few minutes, remembering what had happened the previous night.
From the intense kiss I shared with Ethan, down to the flowers that a secret admirer left at the doorstep.
A part of me keeps telling me it was from Kilhan, but then, there are so many unanswered questions.
‘How did he find out about where I am? How long has he known? Why didn’t he ever show up until now?’
Whatever was meant to happen between Ethan and me couldn’t happen because after getting that flower, we were both thrown into deep thought.
Slowly moving his arms away from my body, I crept out of the bed so I wouldn’t wake him up. Next to our bed was my baby’s cradle.
I tiptoed to his cradle and looked at his cute, sleeping face. I grinned widely as I caressed his cheeks with my thumb.
“When am I going to come up with a name for you?” I muttered, heaving another deep sigh.
“You’d have to come up with a name sooner or later.” I heard Ethan respond, causing me to raise my head. I let out a faint smile as our eyes met.
“Good morning. I didn’t mean to wake you up.” I uttered, and he shook his head.
“You didn’t wake me up. Good morning.” He opened his arms, smiling widely. I walked back to the bed to embrace him.
“Did you sleep well?” He inquired and I disengaged from the hug.
“Honestly, I couldn’t sleep well.”
“The flowers, yeah?” He asked, and I bobbed.
“Same here. Could hardly sleep because I kept wondering who sent them.” He answered.
“What are we going to do about it?” I asked.
“I’ve thought about it well, and I think the best thing to do is leave.”
“Leave? Why?”
“I don’t know, Celine, but this could be a threat to us. Someone we don’t know knows our whereabouts and is even aware that you just gave birth. He has too much information and this isn’t a good sign.” He explained, and I nodded slowly in agreement.
He was right and everything he said made absolute sense, but being on a run with my newborn? That didn’t sit well with me. Isn’t it high time we faced whatever enemy we have?
Just then, there was a knock on the door, and we both looked in its direction.
“Maybe Gary and Martina finally decided to come home. I’ll go get the door.” Ethan uttered, yanking off the duvet from his body. I stared at him speechlessly, until he got out of the room.
“If you don’t want to run, you should tell him that,” Kiara uttered.
“I will. I’m done running.” I answered firmly. While I thought about it, I heard my name from outside the room walls.
“Celine Gomez!”
Hearing this voice caused my heart to stop beating for a moment. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped to the ground in uttermost shock.
The fear that immediately sprang up in me was one I hadn’t experienced in months. Only one voice could do that. The voice of my father, Alpha Darius Gomez.
“What the hell is he doing here?!” Kiara yelled in my head, and suddenly, my body began to tremble in terror. I was stuck to the bed where I sat, and I waited to hear Ethan’s voice.
I didn’t want to imagine what could have happened to him after coming in contact with my father.
‘Why can’t I hear his voice? Did he kill him?” I felt sweat oozing out of my pores as these terrifying questions filled my head.
“Celine, sweetheart. You don’t want to keep daddy waiting, do you?” His voice hit my ears again, and this time, I jolted.
Quietly, I ran to my baby’s cradle and picked him up. I held him to my chest firmly and rested my back on the wall, staring fearfully at the room door.
“You wouldn’t want your boyfriend to suffer for it, would you?” He asked again, and this time, I heard Ethan’s voice.
“Celine.” He called. It sounded like he was panting.
“Don’t hurt him!” I yelled in tears, and immediately, my son woke up and started crying.
“Oh my… can you just come out already? Why are you making my grandson cry?”
“He’s crying because of you!” I yelled with my back still glued to the wall.
“C’mon Celine. Sometimes I wonder if you got your stubbornness from me because I’m not this stubborn.” I heard footsteps approach the door and before I knew it, he flung the door wide open.
With panic in my eyes, I looked at the face of my father, and to my greatest surprise, he had a huge smile on, and in his hands was the same type of flower that was left at the doorstep last night.
“You haven’t changed a bit, Celine.” He uttered happily, moving closer to me and embracing me. I furrowed my brows and looked outside the door to see Ethan staring at us. He looked perfectly fine.
‘Am I missing something? Why is he so nice?’ I wondered as he disengaged from the hug and looked at my son’s face.
“Wait…” He furrowed his brows and turned to look at Ethan. “Why doesn’t he look like you? Are you not the father?” He asked and turned to look at me again.
“Dad, what are you doing here? When will you leave me alone? I just don’t keep meddling with my life?” I asked angrily, heading out of the room.
“I can’t leave you alone because you are my only daughter, okay? And I love you and my grandson so very much.” He answered, following behind me.
“You love me? What are you even saying?” I asked in disbelief, patting my son so that he would stop crying.
“Have you fed him today? You should feed him. What is his name?” He asked, staring at him.
I gulped and shrugged. “I haven’t given him a name,” I answered, sitting on the couch.
“Really? I knew this would come in handy.” He answered, reaching inside his breast pocket and pulling out a neatly folded paper.
“What is that?” I asked as he stretched it to me.
“It’s the names I have written down for my grandson. Hey, Ethan, come and read it while she feeds her baby.” He answered, stretching the paper to Ethan, who immediately collected it.
I looked at my father again, still very surprised. “Why are you pretending to be nice to me? Do you want something? Are you here to hand me over to Alpha Marcus?” I asked as I began to breastfeed my son.
“Marcus? Hell no. He’s off your back now. He won’t trouble you ever again, and I’m glad he wouldn’t.” He answered, sitting on the couch opposite mine.
“You’re glad? You two were in it together!”
“Yes, at the beginning, and that was because I was in a tight corner with him. I never actually wanted the two of you together, but I had to do what he wanted.” He explained.
“And when have you ever had to do something you didn’t want to, hun? Do you think you can fool me? Tell me what you want, okay? I’m not moved by all these.”
“You should be moved, Celine. I told Alpha Joven to make sure Marcus never tries to get you ever again.”
“You know Alpha Joven?!” Ethan and I chorused in shock, and he nodded.
“He helped me get rid of him finally. I just want you back home, Celine. Enough of you going up and down.” He added, and I scoffed.
“You want me to return to a home that I ran away from?”
“You ran because of Marcus, right? He’s gone now. You can come back.”
“It wasn’t only because of Marcus. I wanted to get away from you too! You control everything going on in my life, and this is another proof.” I uttered in frustration.
“Not everything. I didn’t control you giving birth, did I?” He asked with a chuckle.
“Father, this isn’t funny!” I smacked, and he immediately stopped.
“I’m sorry, okay? I just felt the atmosphere was too tense. Wanted to lighten up the mood.”
“I am not going home with you. Ethan and I are good here.” I answered.
“C’mon, baby. You know my house is the best place for you and your baby. You’ll get whatever you want. You’ll be protected and loved.”
“Just like my mother was protected and loved?”
He sighed and shook his head. “We can’t talk about this again. She pissed me off, okay?”
“And what if I piss you off? Or my son pisses you off? Is that how you’d just end our lives?”
“Of course, not! I caught your mother in bed with another man. You won’t do the same, okay? That is a different case entirely.”
“But she doesn’t want to go back,” Ethan uttered, and I saw my father turn his head to look at him in surprise.
“Did you just interrupt? I knew I shouldn’t have pulled out your stupid heart from your chest the moment I opened the door.”
“Dad!” I called to caution him, taking a glance at my son.
“Sorry.” He uttered and looked at Ethan. “Call the damn names, will you?”
“He doesn’t have to, Dad. I’ll check it as soon as I’m done.” I assured him, and he let out a smile and nodded.
“Please come home with me, Celine. I promise to be a good father to you and my grandson. And I’ll do anything you want. I promise.” He uttered.
“You’ll do whatever I want?” I asked, and he nodded eagerly.
“You know I don’t break my promise. I will.”
“The first thing is if I’m going to follow you home, you can’t kill anyone in that house. Ever.”
“Deal. I’ll prepare a space at the back of the house.”
“Father!”
“It was a joke! I got it. What else?”
“You have no say in my life. I do whatever I want, the way I want it.”
“Anything else?” He asked, and I looked at Ethan.
“Ethan comes with us.”
“Hell no!”
“Then I’ll just stay here.” I shrugged, looking away.
“Fine!” He answered, looking at Ethan with a stern look.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Kiara asked.
‘Honestly. I don’t know.’