DON'T REJECT ME, ALPHA!

CHAPTER 13: FINDING DADDY

Maya’s POV

I was a doctor, but I was still in awe at how fast the pups grew in just a week! In human years, their brains had already developed to that of 2-year olds, but they were yet to shift from their feral cub forms to human ones. I watched them crawl around my office and sighed. They were far smarter and more understanding than anyone else I had met, but they were equally naughty too!

I bent down to collect their toys and put them in the baby bag. Imagine my horror when I spun around and not a cub was in sight!

My stethoscope lay around the handle while the door was far from ajar. I could already imagine two pups pulling and hanging at each end of the stethoscope while the third opening the door and crawling out to baby freedom. I was so close to getting three heart attacks and grey hair already. Just a week in, and I was already failing at this hide and seek game.

I flew towards the open door, my heart thumping thunderously as my mind worked overtime, conjuring up images of my pups in distress in millions of places, especially the staircase near my room. The last thing on my mind was the danger of a human finding out about the wolf cubs. Their safety was my priority!

I hurried out of the room, but smacked straight into someone else round the corner. Ah! My nose.

“Missing something? Or rather the three musketeers?”

I breathed in a sigh of relief when I saw them, my legs and heart pumping the brakes instantly. The deceleration of my legs and heart calmed me down enough so that I could give a small, sheepish smile to my guardian. Two seconds without supervision and I had already failed as a mother. I nodded my thanks and took the naughty tornadoes from Zayn.

“Muh-muh,” the little nuggets laughed in my arms as if they were proud of their escapades and hugged my neck with their little paws.

“I can already see Titan’s influence on them,” Zayn murmured under his breath. “As if one trouble machine was not enough … Son of a- ouch!”

Zayn wrung his bitten finger vigorously. The cubs looked at us with innocent, wet eyes as if the bite mark on Zayn’s finger had appeared mysteriously.

I wanted to laugh, but I did not want to be the front runner for the Worst Parent Award. I was already winning the Baby Disappearing Award and Baby Biting Award.

I silently apologized to Zayn and grabbed him inside the office by his hurt finger. Zayn took a seat on the patient’s chair while I took a cotton wad and an anti-septic medicine. However, first I made sure that the cubs were safely tucked in their cribs. I was not in the mood to chase after the white whirlwinds again. Once a day was more than enough.

The three cubs spread out under the blankets and passed out instantly. Guess their short adventures had worn them off.

I focused on Zayn’s hand and gently cleaned the wound. Taking out a syringe, I drew the transparent medical liquid from its vile and settled back in my chair to treat the bite wound on Zayn’s finger. A strand of hair let loose and fell across my eye. Being my protective guardian that he was, Zayn reached out to tuck the strand behind my ear while my office door flew open at the same time.

“So this is how it is now, isn’t it, Dr Veneto,” Carl sneered, catching us at the wrong moment.

Zayn simply got up and slammed the door on Carl’s face before locking it up for good. Oh, dear! Carl was going to assume the worst of us now.

Zayn came back and silently sat back in his place, simply pushing back his finger under the needle and over my hand, as if nothing had interrupted us seconds ago.

I looked at him and searched for any kind of emotion on his face.

“What?” Zayn asked.

When I didn’t say anything and just looked on, he sighed and exasperately said, “He doesn’t deserve to know any of your business. He should act like a decent colleague, and not like an overbearing, jealous rascal. He already has that pyscho nurse as his mate. She will be released once she recovers. You, on the other hand, already have three pups to look after and another huge ass pup waiting at the palace, waiting to be claimed.”

‘Pretty sure that huge ass pup in the palace is your boss,’ I said through our link with a chuckle.

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Zayn made a face, making me laugh. However, only a dying seal’s voice came out and I immediately stopped, embarrassed by the sound.

Instead, I focussed on my doctor duties and gave a swift and painless injection to the victim’s finger. He was a lycan, a beta nonetheless, but he needed the meds since my pups were unvaccinated. I did not want a mere infection cause the beta lycan any serious bodily damage.

When my eyes met back with Zayn’s, concern clearly shone through them and a frown set between his brows.

“Why did you stop laughing?”

I didn’t pay attention to the demanding question and instead tore a band-aid to wrap it firmly around his finger.

Zayn grabbed my wrist and softly said, “You don’t need to be embarrassed. You look beautiful when you laugh.”

“Of course, she does,” Carl replied at the door again, spare keys of my office in his hand.

‘I am going to kick him out, and I better not see you treating his dumb ass,’ Zayn said through the mindlink.

I glared at him and pushed him back in his seat. I strode towards the door and snatched my keys back from Carl. However, the entire key set on his ring came with me, before I slammed the office door. Again. On his face!

Zayn broke out laughing and clapping, while I took out my office keys from the key ring. Suddenly, Carl’s car keys fell out of the ring and hit on the floor at the same time as an idea hit me.

Looking at the car keys, my eyes must have gleamed because Zayn whisper-shouted, “Hell no!”

I smiled and mouthed back, “Hell yes!”

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Rhyghyr’s POV

A hush suddenly descended upon the throne room. Even the orthodox elderly councilman, who won’t stop preaching about the need to keep the old laws of remarriage in modern times, went quiet when three white cubs crawled round the corner and got into the busy courtroom.

“Da-da,” they unitedly giggled and sped up their crawling speed when they saw me. I chuckled at my pups and the excitement they showed on finding me. Meanwhile, everyone else stood motionless, shell shocked.

Two guards came running into the throne room to catch the giggling intruders, but I raised my hand and they stopped immediately.

“Da-da.”

“Da-da.”

“Da-da.”

The cubs incoherently tried to call out for me. It warmed my heart to see them here. I had started to worry that my mate had forgotten her promise so soon, since she was the last one to arrive for the Luna Trials. Every other participant, even from the farthest of far lands, had settled in their quarters. Every night I checked the list, but none contained the holy name, Maya Veneto. Now, my heart soared on seeing these adorable magnets of trouble.

I stepped off the throne and quickly closed the distance between the pups and me, immediately scooping them off the ground and hugging them close to me.

Titan purred in my head and itched to come out.

The onlookers did not dare to interrupt our reunion. They looked on with saucer-wide eyes.

“Are they yours?” Finally, the impudent elderly councilman dared to ask.

Shining his angry, golden eyes, Titan silenced him instantly.

Instead he shifted to his lycan form and deposited the cubs on the throne one by one. The three of them played and laughed on the red, velvety, cushioned throne before stretching their paws towards Titan, who was nuzzling them with his muzzle.

“Da-da.”

And suddenly, they shifted into their human forms at the same time as me!

A loud collective gasp broke the silence of the room. Not a soul could comprehend what was happening. But I did. Yup. They found their daddy. And shifted back to their human form on contact.

“Eh-eh,” the naked babies spit and chuckled in my arms, before one of them gave a cute baby sneeze, “Aathoo.”

“Bring me the royal heirloom cloth to wrap the pups!” I ordered.

“The holy cloth of your royal lineage?” The guards dared to question back, bewildered. “Bu-but they are not your p- … ”

“Do you want me to make a cloth out of your hide?” A thunder-like growl rumbled from my chest. My babies were cold! And these nitwits were still standing on the spot like circus monkeys. The back of the hairs of everyone present rose and the guards hurried to do my bidding.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” they bowed and ran away.

My eyes softened when I looked back at the triplets staring back at me as intensely.

“Da-da?”

I kissed their foreheads one by one, and playfully whispered, “You found daddy, didn’t you? So eager to meet me, huh? Where did you leave your mum?”

And instantly I found my answer.

“Hey, hey, hey! Where do you think are you going, Madam? You are not allowed in the throne room!”

“Madam? Madam? No! Somebody stop her!”

“Dr Veneto! Stop this nonsense. Where are we? Fancy kidnapping me and Nurse Valerie in my own car! I demand you take us back to New York. Nurse Valerie, what is Dr Veneto signing?”

“She says, shut up, Carl. They took my babies. Ask them to give me my triplets back,” Nurse Valerie answered with a sigh.

“Oh! That is not happening, Madam. No one bypassed our tight security here, leave alone three helpless kids. Now I request you to kindly turn back and … ”

“I am a participant of the Luna Trials,” Nurse Valerie cut off the royal guard.

“You?” The guard must have pointed towards Nurse Valerie because she instantly shot back, “Don’t be silly. I already have a mate. It’s her,” Nurse Valerie’s voice floated through.

“Alright. The participants’ quarters are in the opposite wing. No one is allowed here. Please drive towards th- … no! Ma’am, no!! You are not allowed in there!” The royal guard shouted. “Guards! Capture her and imprison them all!!”

Wrapping up the triplets in the family’s royal red clothes, I kissed their heads and whispered, “Go to mommy now. Daddy will come to see you soon. Ok?”

They scrunched their cute faces as if they understood that they couldn’t stay with me any longer. I couldn’t keep them with me or else everyone would know my secret!

I signalled my “sister” from my adopted family and gave the pups to her.

“Give them back to the mother and please convey the King’s deepest apologies for my guards’ behaviour. Make sure she is shown her quarters respectfully and her friends are given a place in our guest house too.”

Hannah nodded and took the pups from me. And with that, she took away a part of my heart. Those three were my life. In fact, those four were my life. Their beautiful mother was finally here to claim their daddy!!

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