CEO's Runaway Mate and Her Cubs

Lara returned to the company from Doctor Mason's studio and found three wolves silently waiting for her.

For some reason, Nate had withdrawn the kids from the kindergarten. The three were eating snacks and chatting, jumping in place when she walked into the room.

«Mommy!» the twins shouted while running to her. «You're finally back! We missed you! Don't leave us for so long again!»

«You wouldn't have noticed I was away if Nate left you at school,» she pointed out. «What's the point of all this excitement?»

«Dad didn't want to wait alone,» Jaden said. «That's why he fetched us from school. We talked about... Ehm, safety with him.»

«Safety?»

«Yes.»

«Cool.»

Jaden didn't explain what kind of safety it was, nor whose for that matter. Lara just smiled while patting her cubs' heads, happy to have returned to them.

After talking with the doctor, she didn't feel better, not even a bit. If anything, she felt worse. Her fears were still roaring in her heart, and her body was nervous because of all that uncomfortable talk. She wanted to rest in bed for a while, without not even a single noise by her side.

Yet, she couldn't just turn herself off with the twins to take care of. She needed to function for them.

«You were missing mommy,» she said, moving her eyes on Nate. «I wonder who made you think about me so much.»

Nate was startled, still sitting on the couch. He bowed his head, hiding his guilty expression. It was true: after making sure his team was going to handle the attacks on Mayford, he had felt alone and in need of comfort. His primal instinct had been to call Lara, but he had managed to resist and just went looking for the pups instead.

«So, you two skip school just because,» she chuckled, pretending to be angry.

«No, mommy. It's Nate's fault,» said Jaden.

«Now, he's Nate? When he does something you like, though, you call him dad. That's unfair, Jaden.»

«But he's at fault if mommy is angry,» the little boy said, his eyes filling with tears. «I wanted to stay at school, but he came to pick us up!»

«Yeah, sure, sure...» She chuckled, planting a kiss on the boy's head. «Mommy isn't angry.»

«Me too,» Scarlet murmured, pushing Jaden aside and hugging her mommy. «I also want a kiss.»

«Here it comes.»

As they cuddled as if they'd been apart for months, Nate sat at his place, alone and forgotten. He was waiting for his turn, but something deep inside his mind recalled that he wouldn't get anything unless he somehow asked for it.

«How was your outing?»

«Nice,» Lara said.

Her tone was not just that was uncertain, but her body also reacted in an odd way for it to be nice. She started sweating, and her heartbeat accelerated. She avoided Nate's eyes, focusing on the kids and trying to forget; but it wasn't enough to elude his refined senses.

«I'm glad you enjoyed your time alone. We've had some fun together here, even if the twins won't ever admit it to you. It wasn't as boring as Scarlet will say in a few minutes.»

«I see... Is that true, Scarlet?»

«I wasn't going to say boring,» she murmured, pouting. «But it's better with my mommy, always.»

«You see? I was expecting it,» Nate said. «I'm not as interesting as her mommy.»

«But you already know that, daddy!»

«Yes, I know.»

«And you agree!»

«Mhm... Maybe.»

«Don't you like my mommy?» Scarlet asked, strolling back to Nate.

Jaden took the chance and hugged Lara, not letting her go even as she straightened up. She didn't have any choice but to pick him up, like that.

«I do,» Nate said, helping Scarlet to climb on the sofa.

«Then why don't you admit she's better than you?»

«I do admit it, though. And you kids like her more than you like me. It's fine: we can have our preferences, after all. Love is not a matter of ranking. You can have both a mother and a father and love them differently and in unique ways.»

«Ah... So, you love us differently? Me and Jaden?»

«I do.»

«And who do you love more?»

«No one. It's different, but not more and not less. Just like you like Jaden and your mommy in different ways... Don't you? You can't decide who you love more, can you?»

Scarlet tilted her head, thinking hard. Yet, no matter how long she thought, she couldn't decide. Even if she didn't love Jaden in the same way as her mommy, it was so hard to say who was more important.

She didn't want to live without either of the two and, as much as her mommy was the most important person in her life, Jaden felt like a part of her: a hand or a lock of her precious hair!

«I don't know, daddy. I'm confused...»

«You don't need to choose. That's what love means.»

«It's so hard...»

The two stared at each other, suddenly silent. They exchanged a long, meaningful look, and then they sighed.

Meanwhile, Jaden made full use of the opportunity he was given. He hugged his mommy tightly and inhaled her scent, feeling that of another woman but without inquiring about it. He was just so happy that she was back.

Lara rubbed his back and pecked him a couple of times while walking to the sofa. Without making anyone notice, she was gaining energy from all those cuddles.

After talking with the doctor, one thing was sure: her kids were her world. It didn't matter much what happened to her as long as they were happy, possibly close enough for her to look over them.

«Mommy is happy to be back,» she murmured, absent-mindedly playing with Jaden's furry ears.

He had released the tail that was happily wagging, but his breathing was calm not to alert the other two wolves. As long as they were busy conversing, staring, or sighing together, his mommy was his exclusively.

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