Three Alphas, Three Mates

Chapter 52 - Shen

"Don't make me lie to you. Please." He narrows his eyes.

I narrow mine too. "Don't kick them out."

"Mia."

"Listen." I hold on to his arm. "Just wait outside with her."

He tries to move away.

I don't let go. "I'll be right out, and then—"

"I'm bringing them to the border," he says.

"—we'll come up with a better plan."

"No," he says. The girl's eyes shift to him.

"Yes." Her eyes shift to me.

"No." To him.

"Yes." To me.

"No." He uses a tone of finality. "The betas are coming. Aiden and Carson aren't here right now, but they'll ask questions—"

"Hide her then," I say. "Tell them to go away so they don't know."

"Isn't that lying?" he asks. "Isn't that exactly what you said we weren't going to do anymore?"

I sigh, forcefully.

He sighs too.

"Can we just get the baby some medicine?" I ask. "Get this girl some food?"

He doesn't say anything.

I keep trying. "We'll make sure they're both stable enough to, you know, not die. No one has to know. Not even Aiden," I emphasize. "Or the betas or Carson."

He furrows his brow.

Before he can say anything, I tell him, "And then you can decide what to do with them after. It's your call."

"They'll be leaving," he says.

This stubborn mule. I nod as if I'm not affected. "Okay. Once they have a fighting chance, you can kick them out."

"This'll cause more problems with the other packs. It's not gonna work," he says.

"They're already here," I say. "We can just tell people we didn't know... And they're packless. So it's fine."

"We don't know if she's telling the truth," he says forcefully. But he doesn't say it in an end-of-discussion way. He looks into my eyes. "We'll move them somewhere else for now. But we haven't decided anything until we discuss it with Aiden and Carson."

I look horrified.

He nods, giving me a smug look. "Welcome to the other side, Mia. Being tempted to lie."

"Yeah, yeah," I turn to leave.

He faces the girl and the baby.

I falter. As I'm walking away to go find Mom, Axel guides the girl away. Or at least, he tries to until he notices she's limping. I should be gone by now, but I linger in the aisle. For all his complaining. For all his resistance, he's who he always was—a gentleman. He offers to carry her without any hesitation.

I furrow my brow.

She looks a little apprehensive, but the second he drops that scowl and shows his true colors. The second he crouches down a little and shows her that gentle smile, she allows it. "Reluctantly." I eye her suspiciously. What's all of this? I'm peek around the corner by now, because I really should be gone. But what's all of this?

He sweeps her up into his arms effortlessly, in one fluid motion. She holds onto him and the baby. But I was under the impression that she could make it out of here the same way she snuck in—on her own two feet.