Chapter 86: Chapter 86
Kyra’s POV
I watched my baby girl as I fed her. Her tiny hands were curled up, so soft. She looked just like I did in my baby pictures. The more I looked at her, the more relieved I felt that she had my face. What scared me most was that she might look too much like Nathan or smell like him. Any Alpha wolf would know right away if a pup was theirs by the scent.
I’d been careful. The old pack healer had given me herbs before the baby was born that would hide the baby’s real scent for a while. It wouldn’t work forever, but it gave me some time. She-wolves had used these herbs for ages to keep their pups safe from rogues, hiding who the father was when they had to survive. I felt bad using it to lie, but I didn’t have any other choice.
Sylvia purred happily, proud like any mother would be. Sylvia had been waiting for this moment since we first felt our pup growing. Now that the baby was here, we could both relax.
Nathan sat next to me on the hospital bed, watching us so intently it made me nervous. When I looked at him, he was just staring at the baby’s face with the gentlest look I’d ever seen on him.
The nurse came in with a clipboard, breaking the quiet moment.
"Good morning, ma’am, sir," she said brightly. "I need the baby’s name for the birth certificate. You can write it here."
Nathan took the form and pen, then looked at me. "What do you want to name her?"
I looked out the window, smiling when I saw white flakes falling outside. The snow was beautiful and peaceful, just like how I felt holding my daughter.
"Snow..." I said softly, looking back at my baby. "She’s white like snow, soft like snow, and pretty like the winter sky."
Nathan smiled a little as he wrote the name down and gave it back to the nurse. Just as she was leaving, my baby started crying.
"What’s wrong, baby?" I asked softly, trying to hold her better.
The nurse came over to check. "You might not be making enough milk yet, ma’am. That happens a lot with new moms."
I looked at her, worried, my heart hurting as my baby cried. "Do we need a pump, or is there something else we can do?"
The nurse smiled and glanced at Nathan. "Mr. Anderson can help, ma’am. He just needs to suck gently first to get the milk flowing."
The room got quiet after she left. My face felt hot, and Sylvia was laughing inside me. I didn’t know what to do. Having Nathan’s mouth on me would be so strange, but our baby was crying harder.
Nathan cleared his throat. His neck and ears were red, and his minty smell got stronger because he was nervous. "I’ll go buy a pump."
"Could you just..." I stopped talking when I met his eyes. My heart was beating so fast.
He looked at my chest, then back at my face, swallowing hard. "Can’t I just... squeeze..."
I took a deep breath and looked away. That would be just as awkward, and probably wouldn’t work.
Nathan moved closer as I laid Snow on the bed. When I looked at him, he stared right back. I slowly pulled up my hospital gown. He waited, but when Snow cried louder, he leaned down to my chest.
I bit my lip as his mouth touched me. I jumped a little, my heart racing. My wolf loved it, happy to feel our mate’s touch even though we were trying to keep things normal. Why did this feel so different? We used to be together. We’d done way more than this before, but now it felt so intense. It wasn’t even sex, he was just helping feed our baby.
"The other side too," I said softly after he finished the left one.
He did the right side quickly, and when he moved back, I checked to see the milk coming out well.
I picked Snow up, and Nathan wiped me dry before I started feeding her again. When I looked up, he was wiping his mouth, looking embarrassed.
"I kind of tasted the milk," he said quickly, his ears going red.
Even with my flushed face and racing heart, I had to laugh. He laughed too, shaking his head with that smile that always got to me.
"Didn’t know having a baby would be this hard," he said, still grinning.
I bit my lip to hide my smile as I looked at my beautiful baby. She was eating quietly now. I couldn’t help staring at her cute face. She had her father’s long eyelashes, looking so perfect on her little round head. My heart hurt thinking about it, knowing those were Nathan’s eyelashes. One secret I had to keep.
While we watched Snow eat, Nathan’s phone buzzed. I saw Sophia’s name before Nathan grabbed it. Instead of leaving to answer, he just turned his phone off and sat back down, watching Snow.
"Why didn’t you answer her?" I asked, too curious not to.
I knew my place. He was with someone else, his fated mate too, and I shouldn’t take up all his time. If I were Sophia, I’d be scared and angry that he was ignoring me for his ex-mate.
He shook his head, smiling sadly. "We’d just fight again."
"Because you’re ignoring her. When’s the last time you saw her?" I pressed. "Nathan, you have someone waiting for you. You can’t stay here like this."
He looked away, and I could see he felt bad.
"I don’t want to leave you alone," he said quietly.
But that wasn’t good enough. If he was here just for me, it was wrong. He belonged to someone else, his true mate chosen by the Moon Goddess herself. Even though we weren’t together anymore, I wouldn’t help him cheat.
I grabbed his hand to make him look at me.
"She’s your fated mate, Nathan," I said firmly but gently. "Don’t hurt her like you hurt me."
He stared at me, his mouth open. I knew it was harsh, but he needed to hear it. He was making the same mistake again, and even though I hated Sophia, I couldn’t let another woman feel what I felt.
Nathan needed to let me go for good. Sure, part of me wanted him to stay. I used to dream about this, having him here to see our baby born, helping me take care of her. But that would be selfish now. Yes, hiding that Nathan was Snow’s real dad was selfish too, and telling Nathan would start a mess I couldn’t handle. But what if I told him the real father of my baby? What would happen? Everything would be chaos again. Besides, I don’t want to involve him in my problems with Kieran. I will deal with this myself and fix my life without involving Nathan’s family.
