CEO's Runaway Mate and Her Cubs

Lara tilted her head, confused by her cubs' silence. She was expecting them to react in any way: to jump in her direction or growl a compliment or two.

Yet, nothing.

Her doubts were confirmed when Nate walked into the living room. He was wearing a dark suit with a red tie. His hair was combed back, making him look even more overbearing than usual.

He saw Lara and stared, in silence, for a whole minute.

At each second that passed, the woman's self-confidence crumbled down bit by bit. Why wasn't anyone saying anything?

She could understand Nate would prefer staying in silence to be polite. But the cubs? They knew nothing about politeness!

Was it so bad that no one could lie and say she was pretty?

As Nate gulped, looking at her greedily, he noticed her pale face.

«Are you okay?» he inquired, stepping forward to help her - in case she needed it.

«I am,» she sighed. Her eyes leaned on the floor, and she didn't look away for a while. Her heart continued beating steady, but her insides were cold and bleak.

She couldn't see, behind her, Samantha signalling to Nate to say something. She glared at him after the man didn't understand, and she turned to the pups.

If the adult was useless and clumsy, those two could have enough confidence to tell their mommy she was gorgeous! After all the preparation, getting out of there without a single word was out of the question.

«Isn't your mommy pretty?» she asked, smiling at the twins.

«No,» they said, shaking their heads in synchrony.

«How come?» Samantha exclaimed. «She's beautiful!»

The twins ignored her, getting up and running to Nate. They looked up at him and waited for his attention in silence. He was still staring at Lara, even though less directly than before.

«We have to talk,» Jaden said, pulling his hand.

«Yes, daddy. There's something we need to tell you,» Scarlet added.

He was in a trance, blind to everything but Lara's slim figure and long legs. That hairstyle suited her face so much that he wanted to sink his fingers in her hair and mess it up for no one else to see it.

Yet, the twins had something important to tell him. If it wasn't vital, they wouldn't have come out of their way to meet him. And it most likely regarded Lara. Had they perhaps noticed the same problem he had?

«Yes?» he asked once they were alone.

«Our mommy is too pretty,» Jaden sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. He was imitating how an adult would act when someone was not how it should be. «There's a chance someone steals her.»

«There's not that chance,» Nate pointed out. «I will be there to protect her.»

How could he let anything happen to his mate?

In the end, he was right: the twins had noticed!

«But I'm still worried,» he admitted. She was too beautiful for his eyes.

«You have to protect our mommy,» Scarlet said, holding Nate's hand more out of habit than any need. «You are strong, daddy. You can keep her safe! We want her to return to us when you are done doing parties...»

«She will be here before midnight,» he chuckled, amused about the level of possessiveness of those two little wolves. He desired the right to be as jealous as they were, but he could not. Not yet.

«That's good. There are less dangerous people before midnight, right?» Scarlet inquired. She had heard somewhere that late in the night dangerous things could happen.

«I will be there, so no dangerous people will take your mother away.»

«But...» Jaden muttered, looking at Nate with a complex expression. His face was so solemn... «But not only dangerous people are there. What if our mommy likes someone and decides to leave us to you?»

«Oh, that won't definitely happen,» Nate reassured her. «Your mommy will stay with me all the time.»

«You promise?»

«I promise.»

He sighed in his heart. His heartless pups wouldn't accept sharing their mommy with him if not for her safety. Only so that no one else could take her away. Somehow, they knew Nate wasn't capable of separating them. At most, he could use some of her time, but she would always come back to her pups.

«Don't let anyone talk to her. Especially not handsome men!» Jaden continued.

«Hey, am I not handsome?» Nate pointed out.

He felt a little offended. He hadn't cared too much about his looks until he had met Lara. Then, he had realised that a handsome face could improve his life a lot.

But his own children found him... not handsome?

«You're too clumsy to take her away, daddy,» Scarlet pointed out.

«But am I handsome or not?»

«You are,» she admitted. «That's why we didn't want you to talk with mommy at first. But even if you're handsome, you have failed at taking her away. But don't let anyone else succeed! Don't get distracted, okay?»

«Wait, Scarlet... Do you think Lara would follow someone just because they're handsome? More handsome than me?»

«I don't know, daddy. You just have to be careful.»

Their candid admission made him smirk.

«If your mother marries me, she won't be able to leave with someone more handsome...»

«No,» Scarlet said. «But she doesn't want to marry you. Stop dreaming, daddy.»

«We will see if she does or does not want it.» He crossed his arms, looking at the pups from up high. «You two will witness our wedding, and we will be a happy family. Isn't that good?»

«I don't like it,» Jaden pouted.

«But you like that I can look after your mother and protect her from other men.»

«That is good,» the boy nodded. «Can you do that, da-da... dad... Nate?»

«I can try.»

«No, do not try! You have to succeed! What would happen to us if mommy left?» Jaden exclaimed, his eyes teary and his lips curled in a desperate grimace.

«What would happen? I would take care of you.»

«But we don't want you! We want our mommy!»

He crouched down, looking the pups in the eyes. Lara had done that in the past, and they would listen with more attention every time.

«Your mommy won't leave you. She hasn't till now, right? She loves you two more than anything else.. You can rest assured and sleep sweet dreams.»