Her Chosen Mate

Chapter Three

Eva and Finley hide the baby for two years from everyone in the pack, they only knew they gave birth to a child but no one has seen the kid, and Zoe, too has kept her part of the agreement and the true identity of the child was not made known to anyone and as luck would have it, no one announces in the pack that a baby was missing, so it made the adoption of the child hidden.

When the baby started to grow some things were observed by her adoptive parents, Hazel was different from them, and everybody in the pack. Her hair colour was silver and her eyes were golden. This made them realize that she was not from their pack. They always wondered where and who her parents were, but they did not allow this to trouble them because of the joy of having a kid they could call theirs.

As time went by, they decided it was time to give Hazel the chance to mix with her peers which, was difficult at first because everyone was curious about her eye and hair type but later accepted it and thought that, it was because she belonged to the lineage of warriors and that she probably reincarnated from the ancestors of the warriors so no one questioned the difference in her.

After three years of the adoption of Hazel, the moon goddess decided to give them a gift that made them happy. They initially were surprised because they had lost hope of ever receiving such as from her and they never gave it a second thought since they already had one she gifted them three years ago.

After the death of our child, several attempts were made to make babies with my mate and me, we tried herbs and modern medicines but nothing seemed to work for both of us. All hope was lost and we had no choice but to shower all our love on Hazel who we believed was a gift from the moon goddess.

The fact that she looked different didn't bother us, she had become the centre of our lives and when someone tried to imply that she looked different, my mate was all ready to defend her and he had done a good job of giving Hazel the protection she needed.

Hazel was a child we cherish because she was the only one in their family who helped to hide their childlessness.

Three years later I miraculously discovered that I was pregnant and didn't give it much care because I had experienced stillbirth three times and I had always carried the children I lost for the full months of pregnancy and in the end, those children didn't survive for me to carry them or even show them love, so I refuse to put my hope of carrying the child in my womb in my hands since it will end up died and instead gave her attention to Hazel whom I have with me presently. Finley on his part prays that the child in my womb survives so he can get an offspring of his own though he loves Hazel, he still has hope that the Moon goddess will give him a child. But I did not share the same belief with him.

When the delivery day came I gave birth to the child in my womb and to my surprise I gave birth to twins and they both survived. I look at my children with tears of Joy flowing from my eyes. I turned to my mate, " Fin, they survived, we now have two kids we can call ours," I said with tears of joy flowing down my eyes. I had completely given up on the idea that I was going to have a child but the Moon goddess gave. me two kids. I am so happy.

" You are right, we are now parents, moon goddess saw our show of love to Hazel and decided to gift us with these pretty babies," Finley said and gave me a light kiss on her lips, I could feel and see the joy of being a father in him.

Finley stood beside me looking at the babies with a smile of pride on his face, his joy knew no bounds. I can see the pride of being a father in him. I know he would now be able to raise his head that he is a capable man and those who mocked him that he mated with the wrong woman had been proven wrong and his supposed curse has been lifted from his life. He would be happy that his bloodline did not come to an end in his time and that he would also be able to raise warriors for his bloodline. Two male babies have been gifted to us and I know he was going to teach and pass on his family lineage to them. He was going to make them get the respect given to his ancestors.

" Eva, thank you for giving me these two male warriors that are going to carry on my family name," I heard Finley say to me and hugged me, showing his appreciation.

" I need to thank you too for being so patient with me and don't think I don't know how your friends used to mock and ridicule you because I didn't give you a child," I express my gratitude to him because I knew all he has been through because of the death of those children they lost and my shame is over as I am now in the leagues of mothers.

He looked up and said" Moon goddess you have made me a proud man today and I will always have faith in you, you gave me two males, and I am grateful to you" I heard him say looking up as if he was looking at the moon goddess.

I continue to look at the babies in amazement, to imagine that what I had given up on, has been given to her in two folds. To think that the moon goddess had gifted me with these two male babies was beyond what I ever expected, and as such, I promised that I would never allow anything to come, between me and the moon goddess as I vowed to serve her. I can now proudly say I have finally become a woman and a mother.

Zoe was the one who took the delivery of the two babies and she has gone to the clinics to attend to another wolf who was in labour. When she came back to see how the babies and I were doing, was happy that both I and the babies were in good health. She was happy that her brother and I now have two wonderful babies to call their own.

Zoe

I know it was too early to bring up the issue of Hazel, but I could not help it, and has to be discussed, and know if Hazel was going to remain in their custody because they have a handful, and it will not be easy to raise the two babies and Hazel who also needs more attention too because she was still an infant too. " Finley, what happened to Hazel, how do you intend to cope with the two kids and Hazel," I asked him

He did not understand why O brought up Hazel now, I could see he was not happy with the topic I raised.

" What do you mean by that, Hazel is my daughter and she will continue to be my daughter," He snarled at me and I could see that he did not like what I was saying

" Don't you think it is wise to connect her to her family, her family would be out there looking for her, and I do think it is unfair to her," I explain to him hoping he would reason with me

" And what if her parents were killed?" I heard his retorts.

But Eva's next words stunned Finley, "She is not our daughter, and like Zoe says we will have to send her back to her parents," I can say I was surprised that Eva said this, I had expected she would be the one to oppose me but she agreed

"Eva, do you even listen to yourself? A child that has helped you overcome your trauma of not having a child and suddenly you see her as not being yours? I am surprised to hear you speak this way," Finley angrily said to her.

" How could you even have that kind of thought in your heart about a child that has helped you when you were sad and stressed out when you were having issues with your childlessness and suddenly the babies are here and she is not worth it again," Finley continued

" Fin, that is not what we are saying here, of course, I do love her but she needs to go to her parents, they might still be looking, for her" She explains her reasons, I guess the feeling of being a mother is taking its effect on her already.

" Are you kidding me? Eva, I can not believe you are saying this," I can see that Finley was disappointed to hear his mate say such a thing, Hazel has comforted Eva when she was in a sad mood, he angrily stood to his feet and carried Hazel out, leaving Eva and me in the room.

" Finley, I am.....," Eva tried to call him back and apologize but Finley was angry and did not want to be in the same room with her so he left the room, Eva suddenly rejected Hazel whom they had always showered love on and treated like theirs did not go well with him

I tried to explain to Eva that she needed to be patient and talk it out patiently with Finley.

" Eva, you should know that Hazel has been with you for a long time now, and my brother is someone you know is loyal and won't want to part with Hazel, who he has created a bond with. " I said to comfort Eva because it will be difficult for her to change Finley's heart into looking for Hazel's biological parents. I knew the possibility of her parents being dead could not be ruled out but I felt she deserved to know her parents that was why I brought up the issue now though it might not be the right time it was important.

Finley

Finley took Hazel with him to an ice cream store and decided to buy her ice cream, " Do you want Ice Cream," Finley asked Hazel who was already jumping excitedly seeing that her daddy had taken her to a store selling different flavours of Ice cream

" Yes, Hazel wants ice cream Daddy," She responded while waiting for Finley to get her one.

Finley knew Hazel heard what they discussed and needed to reassure her that she was still loved.

" What flavour do you want," Finley asks because she was always the one who chose the flavour of her choice, they brought her up to be self-independent and not impose on her.

" Hazel wants a banana flavour," She said excitedly.

Finley gave money to the storekeeper to sell a banana flavour ice cream to her, the store after ten minutes brought out the banana flavour ice cream and gave it to Finley, who collected it from the storekeeper and went to a quiet place where he could sit while Hazel consumes the ice cream.

While she was busy, taking the ice cream, Finley decided to speak with her, " Hazel, you know mummy loves you, don't you?"

" Hazel loves mummy too but mummy wants Hazel to leave," She said with tears in her eyes.

" No, mummy does not want you to leave, she is merely stressed out and doesn't know how to handle it but I want you to know that you will not leave us because I will not allow it," Says Finley to her while patting her on the head.

" Daddy, Hazel loves you, and Hazel doesn't want to leave," Hazel said while looking at Finley to reassure her.

Finley was sad when he heard her question, he was not happy that his mate was rejecting Hazel because she now had her babies. He knew how she showed her love for Hazel when she didn't have any child of her own and now she was turning her against Hazel.

" You will always be daddy" 's princess and you will not leave the house because you are my daughter," He says giving her a peck on her forehead.

The twins were named Authur and Leo, and as they grew up, Eva continued to insist that Hazel should be returned to her Parents. But to her surprise, Finley stood his ground and refused to look for Hazel's parents and continued to treat her as his daughter, while Eva was not happy that he insisted on keeping Hazel as his daughter.

This continues to make her argue with Finley every time because Finley refuses to listen to her.

Eva started maltreatment Hazel, she would not give food to her or allow her to play with her children, Eva would constantly beat her when Finley was not at home and would refuse to bother herself about Hazel's health. Even when Hazel cried that she was hungry, Eva would refuse to give her.

She did not hide her bad treatment from Finley and was not bothered that it always caused them to have arguments all the time. The house became a battleground for them.

Eva was angrily flogging Hazel when Finley came home one day and met her using a wipe to flog Hazel who was just five years of age, she knew he would be shocked to see this, but she. Wanted to do all in her power to make him send Hazel to leave the house, her mate she knew would never expect to see her doing this to Hazel but she just had to make him take the child away from the house as she does not want her with them again. She saw his distaste for the fact that she could raise her hands to beat a child with a wipe. She knew they had both showered her with love when they had no child but he needed to understand that there was a reason behind her changing her mind and no longer wanting her in the house. She remembered making a promise to him that she would always love Hazel as if she were her child. She knew he would be wondering why I had turned myself into a child beater but it was never my intention, I realized keeping her would cause lots of problems for us.

Hazel crying brought Finley out of his shocked state. Eva knew Hazel would be confused that her once loving mother has bad, and doesn't love her again. Eva refuses to let her emotion gets in the way as she is adamant that Hazel has to leave the house. Eva looked at Hazel and saw that she had succeeded in putting fear in her and she could not explain to Finley when he asked her what she had done, the little child did not in any way offend me, I just don't want her in my home again because I was afraid of her and beating her was my way of taming her, and this has worked great because Hazel always looks for a way to hide away from me. Today it was Authur who came to play with her and Hazel was playing with Authur when I came and started beating her and warned her not to touch or play with my children. I do not want my children to grow up with the belief that Hazel is related to them and get attached to her. I believe I do not have to continue to care for someone else child. So I try to create a bridge between Hazel and my children.

Finley rushed inside and collected the wipe from me, I saw the look of disbelief on his face, he was shocked to see me beating Hazel and so an argument ensued between us.

" Eva, what is this you are doing?" He yelled at me.

" She is a thief and a spoilt brat, she ate the cake I kept on the table without asking for my permission to eat it," I lied to Finley in an attempt to defend my wicked action. I knew I had been caught in her wicked act and needed to look for a justified reason for this.

He could not believe I would beat Hazel because she eats cake, we have both thought Hazel never took anything without asking for permission first before doing so and she has always been an obedient child which is part of the reasons Finley and I loved her, she was always honest. " She probably was hungry and maybe you were busy with Authur and Leo, so she decided to eat some since you don't bother to give her food anymore,"

Hazel who has sat down in a corner crying tries to defend herself when she heard me accuse her of stealing, " Daddy, I didn't steal mummy's cake. There was no cake on the table,"

I was angry that Hazel dared to refute my complaint to my mate and expose my lies, so she charged forward in an attempt to hit Hazel but Finley stopped me in my tracks.

" Don't you dare hit her, when did you turn into a heartless person who maltreats a child,"

" Finley she accused me of lying and you are defending a child that is not even our child," I screamed, and Finley shook his head.

" Hazel is my child and will remain my child, don't you ever say that she is not our daughter, she is our daughter and will continue to be our daughter" He snares while pointing his fingers at me.

" This little girl has nothing to do with me and my children," I spat back at him, my eyes narrowed to a slit. " She is just a pain to this family, we don't need her anymore,"

" Don't you say another word," Finley warns me, his voice low and menacing. " Not another word, Eva. Hazel has no one, get it? She has no one, absolutely no one but you and me in this world, we are the ones she grew up to know as her parents, she was the motivation that kept you going when you were passing through the stress of the loss of your children. She gave you a reason to live every day, she was your lifeline when you lost all hope of ever having a child. I made a promise to the moon goddess that I was going to love and protect her and I am not going back on my promise, not even for you."

" You are just so blinded by your affection for her and refuse to see the reason why I am opposed to her staying with us, I hope she will not end up being your downfall," I said eerily, and Finley scoffed at me in disbelief.

" I'm done with this conversation," He sighed tiredly because he just come back from patrolling the pack to ensure it was safe. " I don't have enough energy to do this today, your kids are crying, so be a good mother and attend to them,"

"Do you see the problem here? You do not care about your children but you are willing to die because of the child that does not belong to this family," I snapped at him and went into the room to attend to my children.

I observed that Finley did not respond to me but went to get Hazel from where she was clawed up in fear as she watched us arguing because of her.

" Shhh! It is going to be fine, don't cry, daddy is here for you,"

I heard Finley say Hazel who continues to whimper while Finley gently consoles her so she can stop crying.

" I am going to make her stop what she is doing to you," I heard him say.

" Mummy hates me and does not want me to play with my brothers," Hazel said while still choking from the tears running down her eyes.

" No, she doesn't hate you, she just had a lot going on in her head and trying to get over it," He explains to her.

I know Finley would want to erase such a thought from Hazel's head. At the same time, I also knew was worried and would want to find a solution to the issue at hand, he wouldn't want the pack members to know that Hazel was not his child and I knew this might cause problems with the alpha, so the next thing he would do was to take Hazel away from the house which was my aim from the start anyway.