CHAPTER 283

CHAPTER 283
Chapter 283

"Axel! Axel!! What is wrong with him?" Raphael yelled the moment Avena rushed in.
"What happened?!" She hurried over to meet them
"I don't know," Raphael replied amidst the child's loud cries and made space for Avena to sit on the bed while she checked his temperature.
"Oh no," she gasped, "He has a fever."
Raphael's brows scrunched. "What now?"
"Shhh, it's okay, my darling," Avena tried to calm him down. This wasn't the first time Axel had fallen sick; she knew exactly what to do.
She was a healer after all. She turned to see Raph fidgeting in worry. "Don't worry, he'll be fine," she assured, and Minutes later, the baby was sound asleep. Both sighed in relief.
"There, he'll be all fine when he wakes up." Avena smiled and caressed the baby's forehead, careful not to wake him up
Thank you," Raphael muttered. This was the first time he had experienced something like this. He's never been left alone with his son for this long, since his mate's death.
Alena has entrusted their child to Haven, and she was doing a good job so far. One would even think she was Axel's biological mother.
At first, Raphael avoided seeing his son, primarily out of guilt and because the baby reminded him so much of his late mate. The baby, who was now two, had grown so well. He had her dark eyes and curly brown hair. Looking at his son brought a lot of painful memories Raph wanted to forget, but Haven would have none of it.
She kept pushing him to spend time with Axel once in a while, and Raphael grew to love it. He'd drop by every day to check up on him before work and when he was done.
Now that Haven and the Alpha were gone, the former left him to care for his son, and he was probably doing a terrible job.
Axel woke up in the middle of the night crying, and Raphael had a hard time trying to figure out what was wrong. He ended up calling Avena, who rushed over almost immediately.
"It's alright." Avena gave him a small smile, and he looked away. His action pricked her heart, but she smiled anyway and made to stand up when she realized Axel still held onto her hand. Her attempt to free herself was futile as the child refused to let go. Raphael frowned when he noticed.
Avena chuckled nervously and tried to pull her hand away once more. "I'll just—""stay"
"Sorry?"
"I mean, He'll wake up if you insist on freeing yourself," Raphael pointed out and rubbed his temple. "You can.. You can stay over for the night, that's if it won't be a problem?" Their eyes met.
Avena's heart fluttered. "Uhm, it won't. I'll stay," She felt awkward as she laid down beside Axel, who snuggled closer to her.
Raphael cleared his throat and made to leave. "I'll see you in the morning then."
"Don't go," Avena said almost immediately, and he turned.
"I–I mean, you can't go... well, Axel might– might wake up, and when he does– he might ask of you. He needs you," She stuttered, feeling stupid almost immediately.
It was she who needed him. She needed her mate, but he avoided her like the plague. Avena's heart ached as she saw Raph treating her like some sort of disease. But she couldn't blame him; she was just a second-chance mate after all.
Raphael thought Avena was right. Axel might ask him later on, so he joined them in bed.
Avena on one side, Raph on the other, and Axel in the middle.
'It was nice, Avena thought before she fell asleep, just like a family'
When Raphael woke up the next morning, Avena was gone from the bed. He checked on Axel, who was still asleep, before showering and getting ready for work. A lot was to be done before the Alpha's return.
Speaking of the Alpha, Raphael wondered how things were going over there, especially after the news he had given the Alpha. The fact that Haven was the only daughter of the former Alpha of Silvermoon pack, whose family and pack were a victim of a terrible rogue attack, came as a shock. That only meant that Haven herself was an Alpha. A female Alpha.
A delicious aroma brought Raphael out from his trail of thoughts. Soft clanking and shuffling led him to the kitchen, and the sight of a woman came into his view.
The morning sun lit her beautiful skin as she moved back and forth between the counter and the table. Her blue wavy hair was pulled back in a rough ponytail; she wore an apron and a small smudge of what looked like chocolate on her cheeks, which she didn't seem to notice.
Raphael stood lost, looking at her. The image of another woman standing there in the kitchen, hair in a rough ponytail and clad in the same apron she wore while making breakfast, flashes across his mind, and his fists clenched.
He hated the fact that this woman reminded him so much of his late mate. She talked like her, acted like her, and rekindled many memories he hated to recall. Heck, even their names were similar.
Alena and Avena.
He simply hated how she kept messing with his head.
"You're up already ?" Her voice sang melodiously. Raph almost slapped himself for thinking that.
"Why are you still here?" Raphael was back to his cold self.
"Well, Good morning to you too, Beta," Avena greeted, eyes fixed on the table she was setting. "I woke up a bit early, so I made breakfast." Then she looked at him with a bright smile, which made Raphael's heart skip a beat. He muttered a curse under his breath.
"You didn't have to," He sounded a bit rude, but Avena simply ignored. She was used to this cold attitude by now.
"It's alright, I figured you and Axel might be hungry. Is he up?" She changed the topic
"Oh yeah, uhm, no. He's still asleep," Raphael frowned at the pancakes on the table.
Pancakes were Alena's favorite. Why did this woman make them?
Annoyed as he was, his stomach grumbled at the sight of the yummy breakfast. Avena pretended not to hear and excused herself to go check on Axel. She took off the apron and, as she adjusted her hair, Raphael's eyes zoomed in on the stained cheeks.
"There's something—"He blurted before he could stop himself.
"What?"
Raphael gestured to her cheeks, "Your cheeks... there's a stain."
"Stain?"
"No.. not there.. a little to the left," He pointed out when she wiped the wrong spot.
"Where? Here?" She asked, approaching him, but she still didn't get it right.
Raphael sighed. Without thinking, he stretched out to wipe it away. His action sent an electrifying feeling rippling through, a feeling he had missed for a very long time.
Everything seemed to come to a stop as they stood in the doorway, so close, staring into each other's eyes. Raph found himself getting dragged into her beautiful blue orbs. His eyes moved from her eyes to her small nose, which sat pretty on her face, and down to her succulent-looking lips.
He wondered how it would feel to….
The distance between them grew smaller and smaller until Raph could feel her hot breath on his face.
Avena's heart almost exploded at the close proximity between her mate and her. Their lips were nearly touching; the excitement made her skin tingle.
'This was it, this was it.' She practically screamed inside as her eyes closed and then
"No!" She heard him yell, and a second later, she felt herself being shoved. A look of hurt flashed across her face as she stumbled, her whole face turned red with embarrassment.
"I—"
"Get out!"
"But—"
"I SAID GET OUT!!" He growled, and she made to leave but stopped. Tears stung her eyes as she looked back at him.
"It's not my fault, you know. I never wished to be a second chance mate," She said and left, leaving an angry and confused Raphael behind