Sixty–Seven
Isabella’s POV
I padded softly to the door, feeling very cozy in Alexander’s clothes and it was only after twisting the door handle that I began to wonder if danger awaited me outside.
My heartbeat quickened instantly as I let go of the door, taking a step back and an even further step backward when I heard shuffling noises at the other side. Why had whoever was there waited till Alexander left before they came? It meant they were dangerous right? And he didn’t tell me to expect anyone.
“Princess, it’s us.”
“Can we come in Bella, honey?”
My hands cupped my lips as tears instantly filled my eyes. “Come in.” I choked out, still frozen at the spot where I stood as my mom practically flew in and pounced on me.
Pulling my hands from my face, she wrapped her hands around me in the tightest hug my mom has ever given me since I was a kid.
Well, I didn’t think I’d been much of a hugger since my teenage days and I’d had to resist latching myself to Alexander and stopping him from leaving me. And now I was hugging my mom back even tighter than she was hugging
- me.
“Let my child breathe.” I heard my dad say and giggled in
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between a sob that escaped my lips at the sound of his voice.
My mom released me and I went to my dad, “I thought I would never see you guys again.” I sobbed while he just pulled me into,his arms.
His hug was not as bone–crushing and breath–stealing like my mom’s but it was everything I needed. He patted my back as he hugged me like you would do to a child and I imagined myself as a little girl again, pulling my daddy around the house as I made him play little girl games with me.
He hugged me in a way that told me that I was loved and there was nothing I could do about it. Except these days, I would not even imagine doing anything about it. These days, I wanted all the love I could get…I needed it.
“I was scared too. So scared.” He whispered before releasing me, his hands still gripping my arms, just above my elbows as he looked at me before finally letting me go.
My mom immediately pulled me with her, throwing me question after question while I led us all out of Alexander’s room. It just didn’t feel right, having people in someone else room like that.
Yes, even if the people were my parents. I didn’t know how he would feel about it and I wanted to respect his privacy.
I led them to the living room while taking the chance to admire Alexander’s home. There was a calm atmosphere attached to everything.
It looked expensive and simple at the same time, a combination that was most times very contrasting
considering how expensive things tended to be excessively
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flashy and pompous most of the time. Take my parents‘ house for example which was single handedly designed by no one else but my mother.
Once we entered the kitchen and my mom noticed the kitchen, she immediately went towards it, eyes gleaming while my father sighed beside me.
“Mom?” I whispered as she fished inside the cupboard and after some rummaging brought out a pan and set it on the
stovetop.
“What? You’re probably starving, plus I called Chloe and Ryder to meet us here…if that’s okay with you?” She added the last part as a guilty afterthought, her eyes reaching me.
“I would love to see Chloe and Ryder but Mom, I’ve just eaten and this is not my kitchen, you can’t just-”
“Oh please, Bella. I’m sure your mate would not mind. And I’m sure you still have space in there for more.” She said, eyeing my stomach.
I sank into the couch when my dad said he was going to talk to her but only ended up being sent on one errand or another.
“It’s only something small, Bella.” She called out, “NO! That’s not how I want it done.” She yelled at my dad and I sighed, hugging myself.
I heard a knock at the door just before it was opened by one of the guards Alexander had put around the guards because he ‘did not want anything funny to occur‘.
Chloe peeked in first, her fingers on the door as her head and eyes appeared next but nothing past the bridge of her nose. I
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grinned and on sighting me, she rushed in while I stood up only to get knocked back down by the force of her hug. She hugged me tightly and I hugged her back.
“I was so worried.” She said bursting into tears. “I thought I’d never see you again. Are you okay?” She said releasing me to look into my face only to do a double take. I saw a hand
squeeze her arm and I looked up in confusion when I saw my dad withdraw his hand.
“Welcome Chloe, Ryder.” He turned to acknowledge Ryder as well and I followed his gaze to Ryder’s worried eyes.
“Are you okay, Bella?” He asked after they both responded to my dad.
“I’m okay. I missed you guys. How has everyone been?”
“The Alpha loc-” Ryder started to say but Chloe gave him a look that had him shutting up.
What’s with all the weird stuff? I wondered to myself just as my mom beckoned to all of us as she began to dish out bowls of mac and cheese.
I told her to give me only a little since I had already eaten but somehow, my portion still turned out to be the biggest. I just sighed as I dug in.
My family and best friends were discussing all around me and at some point I had zoned out, worrying about the likelihood that we were going to piss off Alexander.
Was I happy to see them? Not just happy, overjoyed, and if this was my apartment, they could even sleep over if that was what they wanted. But it wasn’t. This was Alexander’s house
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and here we were cooking and eating his food and all in all, just doing whatever we liked in his absence.
The mac and cheese was delicious but since I had already eaten the dinner Alexander made for me, I was already full halfway into it and had to force myself to finish up the rest of
- it.
I was also trying to eat as fast as I could so I could wash my plates and try to get Alexander’s kitchen back to the pristine state it was in before my mom’s invasion. Alas, I was too late because all I had managed to get done was one plate when the door opened to reveal Alexander.
I jumped, tensing as his eyes darted around the room until they fell on me and locked on mine. His face was neutral which only worried me further as I could not tell what he was thinking.
Relax. I suddenly heard him say through the link and my eyes widened. “Everything’s alright except for what you’re doing right now.”
Gasping, I looked down at my hands where I was still gripping a lathered–up sponge in one hand and a plate in another. “Of course, I promised to not lift a finger,” I remembered after a moment of confusion, smiling sheepishly as I dropped them and rinsed my hands.
“Awww!” Chloe gushed, “How hadn’t we noticed this before? They’re totally giving each other eyes right now.”
I blushed and Ryder rolled his eyes, making me frown. Chloe linked her arm with his and leaned into him slightly, slowly putting out the fire I had just seen in his eyes, I narrowed my eyes at that.
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Alexander greeted everyone and assured me that he was
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going to get someone to tidy up while also assuring my mom that he didn’t mind that she used his kitchen. She gave me the ‘I told you so look‘ to which I just rolled my eyes.
Alexander excused himself to go to his room after telling my parents to take as much time as they wanted. I stared after him, grateful to him for being so understanding while also hoping that he wasn’t pretending to not be pissed off.
They didn’t stay long after that though. After I answered all their questions as much as I could, they eventually left after my dad commented on how my eyes were constantly drooping and that I needed to get some sleep.
I hugged them all and they promised to come and see me again while my mom told me to consider moving in with Alexander if I didn’t want to come back to live with her and dad because she was no longer comfortable with me living on
my own.
I said nothing to that as I waved them all goodbye before slipping into Alexander’s room. I wanted to talk to him a bit but my gigantic yawn betrayed me. He got up from the bed and fluffed the pillow.
“Um, I can sleep in another room while you take the bed…”
I bit my lip, “Are you mad?” I asked.
Alexander blinked, “No. Why?”
“Why can’t you just sleep beside me?”
Alexander blinked again before smiling and coming to take my hands in his, “Is that what you want?”
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I nodded and he pulled me to the bed with him, laying down after me and I wasted no time to cuddle into him. “You smell nice,” I whispered.
He chuckled, “I had a much–needed shower.”
“I feel like a balloon. It feels like I’ve eaten enough for the whole of tomorrow.”
“Hopefully not.” He said with a peck to my forehead, “Go to sleep, Isabella. You sound as sleepy as you are.”
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