Chapter 38

Eamon’s POV

I answer the phone as soon as I see Cara’s assitant's name on the screen.

“King… You need to come… quickly. We’re close to the border, in DarkWood…” Her signal seems really bad. The voice keeps breaking up.

“We’re on our way.” I ask her as I rush down the hall towards the garage. All the brothers who could go are there, tense.“What happened?”

“Cara's date… he… attacked her, tried to… rape her… the kids…they’re…”

“We're on the way right now!” I say into the phone.

But there’s no reply.

Colin and I are in one car, heading to Cara. Aidan and Ryan insisted that they wanted to take another car, so they could search for Cara’s date… her attacker.

I almost don’t want to know what they’re planning to do to him once they find him. They’d do anything for Cara. Any of us brothers would.

When Colin and I arrive at the cafe parking lot, we immediately spot Cara’s bright red dress and bright red hair.

“Cara!” Colin yells as he runs towards her.

“Mama’s sleeping,” a little voice says.

It’s Ethan.

“What are you doing here?! It’s the middle of the night! How did you get here?” I fire the questions at the little boy in quick succession.

Ethan has a very guilty look on his face.

“Mama called us, and Mia said she needed help. We found the note with the address, and I figured out how to get a taxi.” The boy’s voice shakes when he sees my look of disapproval.

“While I was paying for the taxi, Mia went in first... I just got here too, and I saw a big guy saving Mom.”

As we are talking, another car screeches to a halt right next to us. Ruby jumps out of the car nervously.

"Mia! Ethan! How could you sneak out of the house like that?!"

I kneel down next to Ethan and rub a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. “You could’ve been hurt, Ethan. That was much too risky. You should’ve called me.”

Ethan has always been the smartest one of the twins.

"Your uncle is right!" Ruby looks very angry.

Ethan shrugs, “Mia said we could do it ourselves. But we didn’t do it ourselves! The big man saved her!”

“Big man?” I ask, suddenly very curious.

“Yeah, he got that bad man away from Mama. But then the big man and Mama were arguing. Then he left.” Ethan explains.

...Big man? Arguing with Cara?

Who could it be?

Surely not Alaric…Or. Or was it?

Ruby suddenly lets out a cry, "Wait... Where's Mia?!"

I suddenly alarmed that I haven’t seen anything of the little girl.

Colin walks out of the café, his face not looking too good: "Aidan and Ryan said they're going to deal with that jerk personally. The assistant and Cara are already in the car...Mia isn't here, I haven't found her."

“Let Aidan and Ryan remember to take Ethan home… and also…Where’s Mia?!” I ask the boy.

“I don’t know… I haven’t seen her since the big man left. I’ve been staying with Mama, to protect her.” Ethan’s big green show a bit of fear.

“Good job, Ethan,” I say to him with a pat on his head. “You’ve taken care of your mother very well. Now let me take over.”

“Is Mama going to be okay? Is Mia going to be okay?” Ethan asks worriedly.

“Don’t worry,” I tell him reassuringly. “I’ll handle everything.”

...We need to find Mia.

“BEEP-BEEP!”

Suddenly my phone rings.

I look down at the screen and suck in a breath when I see the name.

It’s Alaric.

Alaric’s POV

That was not how I expected my first meeting with Cara in six years to go.

Even though I was forbidden from seeing her again, I had spent a fair bit of time imagining how our first meeting would go, if it ever were to happen.

“Just leave, Alaric. Just go,”

Cara replies softly. Her voice is filled with sorrow.

Her words keep popping up in my mind.

I'm lost in my thoughts, driving to my Alpha villa. Six years ago, I was more used to having a driver take me places...but after spending time with Cara, I grew to prefer driving myself.

As I step out of my car, I think I hear something behind me.

I turn to look over my shoulder, scanning the area carefully, I see a flash of red in my backseat.

It can’t be…

I open the door to the backseat swiftly and lay my eyes on Cara’s red-headed daughter.

She carefully gives me a smile: "...Hi, Big uncle?"

I know her...!

It's Cara's daughter!

“How did you get here?” I ask the little girl.

She doesn’t speak. She simply stares at me with giant bright blue eyes, not moving a muscle.

“C’mon inside. I’ll call your family.” I tell her, extending my hand towards the little girl.

She pauses for a moment, then gives an even brighter smile than before, gets out of the car, and runs toward me.

“Thank you, uncle!” The little pup says.

I hear the door of the car slam and I hold the door to the house open behind me so the little girl can walk inside. She looks around with mystified blue eyes, in awe of the newness of the DarkWood Alpha villa.

This kid has probably never been outside of BloodyMoon before, I realize.

She runs her fingers over a carved wolf statue and looks at me with a big toothy smile, her face mesmerized. She touches everything her fingers can reach.

Curious little thing, she is.

I’ve never been that good with kids, but something about this little one is actually… cute.

But I need to get her back to where she belongs. I can only imagine how upset Cara will be to not only learn that her daughter is missing, but that she’s with ME.

This isn’t going to end well.

This little girl and Cara belong to a happy family of three.

I hand the little girl over to the maid, who is preparing dinner, and instruct, "Take good care of her. Her family will come to pick her up later."

"What's your name, little one?" I ask.

"Mia," She’s still focused on observing her surroundings.

Then she notices the serving cart beside the maid—or more precisely, the ice cream on the cart. It's the dessert for dinner.

Mia visibly brightens with excitement. She carefully tugs at my sleeve and asks, "Can I have some ice cream, Uncle?"

Who could possibly say no to such an adorable little pup?

I sigh, "Just a little bit. Your mom should be here to pick you up soon."

"Yay!!" Mia cheers, dashing toward the cart.

I pull out my phone and dial Eamon. “It’s Alaric. I have Mia here with me. She snuck into my car,” I say the words quickly, knowing Eamon is not going to be happy to hear this news.

“We’re headed to you now.” Eamon says quickly too before hanging up.

I put my phone back in my pocket and turn to the little girl, Mia. The maid is tending to her as she happily enjoys a small bowl of milk ice cream, her face lighting up with joy.

...She looks so much like Cara.

I don’t have much experience taking care of children, but I notice her cheeks are a little flushed... Maybe it’s just because she’s so excited?

I turn to head back to my study to continue working, but Mia calls out to me.

"Uncle," she says, "did you and my mommy know each other back in the day...?"