Chapter 7

Ardal

I know it was too good to be true that I could convince Kadeem of Susan’s lies. As I said, he’s still completely lovesick, and he only proved my point as he effortlessly picks her up.

“I’m taking her to the hospital,” Kadeem announces harshly as he carries her away. All I can do is shake my head as I watch him go.

Pathetic.

“Sorry about Kadeem,” a voice says from my side, causing me to turn. I only want to sigh as I see it’s Mateo - I’d nearly forgotten that he was here.

“I know his behavior was ungentlemanly. But I promise - he’s a very nice boss,” Mateo tells me.

I doubt that, I think.

“So you’re Chelsea Quinn,” Mateo continues, flashing a smile. “No wonder you didn’t want to tell me your name before. Probably didn’t want to attract attention.”

“Sure,” I tell him flatly. That’s definitely not the reason, but I’ll let him believe whatever he wants.

“Your work is very impressive,” he replies. “Would you mind if we swap business cards? Just in case I need some training?”

As much as I want to roll my eyes at his request, I still decide to humor him. Maybe it will make him go away officially if I just hand over my card. So I get it out, swapping mine for his.

His card is very simple, neatly listing his name and contact. But what mainly catches my attention is his profession typed near the top.

“You’re a hypnotist?” I ask, raising a brow.

“Sure am,” he says with an exaggerated nod.

I continue to stare at him, my gaze wandering over his face to try and figure him out. From what I can tell, Kadeem and Mateo seem to be close and I can’t help but wonder why Kadeem would befriend a hypnotist.

“That’s interesting…” I slide out. “Do you have many clients?”

“I do!” Mateo tells me happily.

“Including the Alpha?” I ask, letting my curiosities get the best of me. For some reason, I want to know if he offers his services to Kadeem. Though, I’m not sure why the Alpha would need them.

“Now well…” Mateo brushes me off with a laugh. “I don’t disclose any information about my work. Goes against policy.”

I’m surprised. I’d taken Mateo for quite the playboy and expected he would easily cough out details - brag about his work. However, he seems to be more professional than I thought.

“But Kadeem is a good friend,” Mateo announces then, giving me another grin. Apparently, he thinks this information is very impressive. “Probably even a best friend.”

Once more, Mateo’s news causes me to retreat into my thoughts. I’m confused, wondering once more why Kadeem would grow close to someone in Mateo’s profession. However, maybe I’m reading too much into everything and they’re not even correlated.

I decide not to press Mateo on the matter, figuring he wouldn’t cave even if I tried. Besides, even if Mateo is helping Kadeem…it’s none of my business. I know in my heart I don’t have anything to do with the Alpha anymore, so it’s not my place to ask.

Kadeem is not my problem - not anymore.

~

Kadeem

Kadeem stood at Susan’s bedside, fretting over her and making sure she was comfortable. He was still worried about her and the baby, even if Susan no longer seemed to be in pain.

The doctor was at her other side, doing a thorough examination just as Kadeem had asked. The Alpha couldn’t stand the thought of losing his first born just because his girlfriend took a fall - so they needed to be careful.

“Don’t you need to do an ultrasound?” Kadeem asked then, watching as the doctor still poked Susan’s stomach. “That way we can see the baby?”

For a moment, both Susan and the doctor seemed to freeze, hesitating as they shared a look. Finally, the doctor gave her a strange nod before turning toward Kadeem.

“There’s no need for an ultrasound,” the doctor stated. “We wouldn’t be able to see anything anyway. But I can feel that the baby is okay.”

“Can you show me?” Kadeem asked. He wanted to see for himself that the baby was healthy, feel what the doctor was talking about.

But once again, Susan and the doctor shared a swift look.

“You probably wouldn’t be able to tell,” the man insisted quickly. “Only an experienced doctor can notice the difference.”

That did nothing to settle Kadeem’s nerves. He needed something - some sort of proof that the baby was okay that went beyond words. He felt his annoyance growing, ready to scold the man.

Only, Susan’s hand gently touching his arm stopped his efforts.

“It’s okay, Kadeem,” she said softly. “I feel fine now. It was just a little scare.”

Kadeem was able to release a sigh at Susan’s reassurance, noticing how quickly his anger fizzled out. He nodded to her, knowing he could trust Susan’s word above all.

“I just want to be sure,” he told her.

“I know,” she said with a gentle smile. “But we’re okay.”

“Why don’t you step out and relax for a moment?” the doctor offered then. “I just…want to have a few words with Susan.”

Kadeem found the doctor’s request a little odd, but still he nodded. After all, he probably wouldn’t understand the baby talk even if he stayed - Susan always understood the specifics.

Giving Susan a quick kiss on the forehead, Kadeem then left the room. However, when he reached the lobby, he felt a little restless as he thought over the morning’s events. He even began to fixate on one specific idea, knowing he had important matters to deal with then.

Already, he pulled out his phone, dialing his assistant until he answered.

“I need you to gather some information for me,” he stated into the phone. “Find anything you can about Chelsea Quinn and report back to me within two days.”

He then hung before the assistant could fully confirm - Kadeem knew the man would follow his orders no matter what. Kadeem then began to lightly pace within the lobby, a furrow forming over his brow as he thought about the woman.

It was so strange. When he’d seen Chelsea…it was as if he somehow knew her, but he figured that couldn’t be true. He didn’t recognize her at all - nor was her scent familiar.

But maybe that was because his memory was a little fuzzy. After all, following an accident six years ago, he couldn’t remember a lot of things right leading up to the point that. Maybe he’d met Chelsea just before the incident and now couldn’t remember.

Damn, if it hadn’t been for that fucking head injury then maybe it could gain clarity. However, it was no use trying to access anything right before the accident - he’d been robbed of every memory.

Only, his loss of memories wasn’t the only thing that had Kadeem so unsettled. Due to the accident, he’s also paid another price. Whatever had happened had caused his wolf to also fall dormant, making him incapable of waking him no matter how hard Kadeem tried.

However, when he’d seen Chelsea…he swore he felt his wolf weakly stir.

~

Erbao

Mommy had been out all day, giving Erbao and his siblings the chance to put their first plan in motion. Despite his young age, Erbao was very versed in how computers worked, allowing him to access the airport’s video feed from the other day.

His little eyes burned as he’d already looked through hundreds of photos, viciously searching for a specific face. His siblings were starting to lose hope, tugging at him as they insisted he give up. He was just about to follow their request when he found exactly what he was looking for.

“There!” he called out, pointing his finger at the screen. Quickly, his siblings gathered around him, staring at the only two photos Erbao could find. He directed their attention to the man standing in the background, allowing them to see the clear resemblance he bore to them.

“He looks just like us!” Silas said in disbelief.

“Exactly!” Erbao replied.

“He especially looks like you, Erbao,” Ezra declared, causing Erbao to nod.

“He must be our daddy!” Lottie chimed in. “There’s no way he’s not.”

“But…” Silas started, his lip trembling. “If daddy is still alive, then why did mommy tell us he went to heaven?”

“Maybe he stole something from mommy,” Milo insisted. “Like a mango! Mommy loves mangos - he probably stole one and made her angry.”

“That’s stupid, Milo,” Lottie said. “Maybe daddy ate her mango and spilled the juice everywhere - just like you do!”

Milo grew annoyed by his sister’s teasing, making him prepare to push her in order to put her in her place. However, Silas’ voice stopped him.

“Oh! Maybe daddy is playing hide-and-seek with us!” he cheered. “He’s hiding on purpose and wants us to find him!”

“Yeah, and daddy has been hiding for so long that it made mommy angry,” Ezra concluded.

“We need to find daddy,” Silas said with a nod. “Then mommy won’t be mad anymore!”

“Yes,” Erbao finally spoke, happy to see he had his siblings officially on his side.

“Let’s find daddy.”