Chapter 36 #2
“I was in her dream,” I explain. “We were trapped together, and Lucas slapped me to wake me up. I don’t really want to hit Isolde to pull her out of this. Wake up, Little Nightmare, and see that you’re safe.”
A whimper comes from the bassinet and Isolde moans underneath me. My hand rubs over her chest to attempt to use sensory input to get her mind to focus on me, but she just can’t seem to wake up.
“Fuck,” Alesso mutters, getting up to pick up Leila. “Come on, bambina. Let’s help your mommy, okay?”
“What are you thinking?” I ask, watching as he cradles Leila in his arms.
“I’m thinking that she reacted to her crying,” he says. “No, I’m not going to force Leila to cry to wake her up.”
I’m skeptical, but I have to admit that he may be right. Shifting my body, I place my hands under her armpits and pull her up on the bed to sit up. Lucas grabs pillows to help prop her up, and we watch Alesso as he walks on his knees, shuffling to sit beside Isolde.
“Topolina,” he hisses, watching as her body twitches. “Leila needs you.”
Isolde’s hands clench the blankets as she whines, her head shaking back and forth.
“No…Protect her,” she whispers.
“She’s safe, wake up and hold her,” Alesso growls. “I don’t want to alpha bark her out of this, guys.”
“Try laying Leila on her chest,” Lucas says worriedly. “They say not to wake someone up from a night terror, but—”
“These are memories,” I interrupt. “The things Ophelia did to our girl makes me want to go find where she’s being held and rip her apart with my bare hands. Don’t look at me like that, Oli. The bitch is scrawny. I could do it.”
“That’s not why I’m looking at you,” he mutters.
“It’s not our place to kill her. We didn’t live through what Isolde or any of her victims did.
Reliving her memories isn’t going to help Isolde process.
It just digs in the dagger that she is alone in her dreams, just like she was then.
Alesso, snuggle against her with Leila.”
I watch as Alesso places the baby on Isolde’s chest, ready to move if it startles her. Leila grumbles in her sleep, wiggling as her hands hold onto Isolde’s sweatshirt. Isolde takes a huge breath, and I rub her legs gently as I watch her fight her way out of the nightmare.
Lucas places his hand on her head as he smooths back her hair, and Alesso holds Leila gently in place. I guess Isolde’s heart is racing and the baby can hear it, because Leila wakes up with a start and bursts into tears.
Isolde gasps as she wakes up, her arms wrapping Leila.
“I’m sorry, I’m here,” she rasps, breathing hard. “I was lost and couldn’t wake up. I kept hearing Grant’s voice.”
“I was in your dream,” I confess. “I tried to wake us both up, but instead I pulled us through your memories. I’m sorry, I just made it worse.”
“I felt you,” she says, tears rolling down her cheeks. Gasping in a breath, she shakes her head. “I hate that you saw any of what happened. It’s all so fucked. Shh. I’m here, Leila. You’re good.”
“I think she’s very sensitive to your emotions and presence,” Alesso says. “She missed you so much.”
“You really think she could tell I was gone?” Isolde asks doubtfully. “Leila is still so little. I read somewhere that their object permanence is still developing.”
“While that’s true, she knows when you’re upset,” Oliver says, pushing me aside to lay on her stomach. Fucker.
“That day at the office,” I remember. “Lucas and I could feel that something was wrong. Leila began screaming when you were taken. She was so inconsolable, she fell asleep crying.”
“No. I’m so sorry, Leila,” she says, her fingers playing with the baby’s curls. “I love her so much. I don’t know what we’re going to do if her mother ever shows up.”
Exchanging glances with the guys, I swallow thickly as Alesso glares at me.
We have to tell her, I hiss at Lucas.
Lucas sighs as he sits next to her on the bed and inclines his head at me.
“You’re being very sketchy,” Isolde mutters. “It’s weird that you can mind meld or whatever.”
“Mmhmm. Well, we’re going to all have to make sure that we fix what Ophelia broke, won’t we?” I ask her, finding a spot now that Oli edged me out.
To be fair, I did sleep with her in my arms tonight. I have moments where I don’t like to share.
“You’re still not telling me something,” she complains, her hand moving over Leila’s back to help her settle. “It’s still dark, baby girl. I’m not going anywhere. Please go back to sleep.”
“We had a visitor while you were gone,” I say slowly, watching the way she continues to talk softly to Leila.
“Who?” she asks.
“Leila’s biological mother,” Alesso says sourly. “She hired someone to help track us down.”
“Oh. Well, what did you say to get her to go away?” Isolde asks. “Did she want money?”
“She didn’t want Leila because she cared about her,” Alesso says. “She wanted her as currency to fund her drug addiction.”
Isolde freezes, going so still I don’t think she’s even breathing.
“Hey,” I say sharply, startling Leila without meaning to. Isolde takes a deep breath as the baby complains, shaking her head.
“God, people are so fucking evil,” she whispers. “She’s a baby.”
“I know,” Lucas says his hands fisted at his sides now. “She won’t ever be an issue again.”
“To say the least, after this, we won’t ever think about her again,” Oli says, rubbing his cheek against her.
I think they all want to scent mark her in some way, so they’re touching Isolde as much as possible.
“She’ll never be a problem,” I confirm.
Isolde meets my gaze, seeing the trust in my words. I push the image of Stefanie’s grave into my mind and she gives me the largest smile possible.
“Does anyone think that our hosts would be annoyed if we rummaged through their fridge? I’m fucking starving,” she announces.
“I don’t think they’d mind at all,” Alesso says, sitting up. “I’ll try to be quiet. I wanted to ask you if you were hungry, but your face plop into the bed told me you probably weren’t.”
“No, I was more interested in sleep,” she admits. “I don’t think I can go to bed right now though.”
Lucas gets up to root through our bags, coming back with panties and leggings for her.
“When did you have time to pack?” Isolde asks, surprised.
“Rita packed for Leila, and I put together a bag for you while I packed for myself,” Alesso says, shrugging. “I knew you couldn’t walk around naked after we found you. It just made sense.”
Oliver, Lucas, and I wince because we were preoccupied with other things, and it didn’t cross our minds.
“We’re a pack, we pick up the slack when necessary,” Alesso says unrepentantly. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Thank you for packing me clothes,” she says, her eyes misting. “Ugh, I don’t know why I’m crying. Every nice thing you all do is going to leave me feeling some kind of way for awhile.”
“I’m not afraid of a tear or two,” I reassure her, shoving Oli so he’ll get off her. He groans as he climbs off the bed, and I help Isolde up so she can step into her panties as Lucas waits for her on his knees at the edge of the bed.
Isolde smiles down at him as he helps her, since her arms are full with a sleepy Leila. Now that Isolde is calmer, the baby is ready to check back out.
Once Lucas has her leggings half way up her legs, I help her stand so he can pull them the rest of the way up.
“You guys give a really great snapshot of what life would be like if I was pregnant,” she mutters under her breath.
The four of us freeze, not knowing what to say, Lucas regains his senses first, standing to kiss her lips.
“Oh we’d be much worse, darlin’,” he croons. “We’re all obsessed with you now. As soon as you’re all healed up, I’m going to keep you stuffed full of cum at all times. What do you think about that?”
Inhaling deeply as she perfumes the air with a whimper, I grin. Goddamn, Lucas is something else.
“I think Mr. Bossy Pants CEO may be on to something,” she breathes.
Chuckling, he walks her to the door and opens it while we follow them to the kitchen. I’m not at all expecting it to be full of people.
“Couldn’t sleep?” Callum asks, making pancakes.
Glancing at the time, I see that it’s five in the morning. Fuck me.
“Shit. I’m sorry if I woke you up,” Isolde says, chagrined.
“We’re all light sleepers,” Kane says, unbothered.
They spent the night since it was so late when we got back, but Duncan mentioned that they’re going home in the next couple of days. The guys think Adira may go into labor soon and want to prepare.
They were going to go home earlier, but Adira vetoed the idea. Omegas should rule the world, and if they can’t do that, they’re the last word that matters in a pack. At least, that’s how I believe it should work.
Isolde certainly keeps us on our toes.
“No one here is a stranger to nightmares either,” Adira says gently. “They may linger.”
“Ophelia is responsible for all of my nightmares,” Isolde grumbles. “She’s like a bad jump scare. One that is finally getting put down.”
Adira glances at Quinn when she says that, and I have a feeling there may be a conversation there.
“Are you hungry?” Duncan asks, trying to dispel the awkward pause.
“Actually, I am. My stomach is very much awake and cranky,” Isolde says.
“When did you last eat?” Linus asks, easing away from Quinn’s side.
“Ah, how long have I been gone?” Isolde asks, glancing at the baby to check to see if she’s asleep yet.
I think she’s trying to hide from all the stares, because there are a lot of people in the kitchen.
“I lost track of the days, but outside of a piece of bread here and there, I haven’t had anything to eat. ”
“Then I think we should start easy,” Duncan suggests.
Linus nods and heads to the fridge to start pulling out fruits and I’m confused by what he’s doing.
“Smoothies are filling and shouldn’t make you sick,” Adira explains. “We’re a little too familiar with food aversions and easing people back in after not eating.”
“I had a rough time afterward,” Quinn mutters. “I think a small pancake might be good too, right?”