Number 18

It had been a week since the incident happened and Lei had slowly forgotten about it.
"Papa bear," Lorelei poked at Xander's nose, letting a smile grace her cherry-red lips. "It's time for bed..."
Xander rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand. "But-"
"But nothing, baby. Sleeping early is good for the brain." She cooed, heaving him onto her thighs. "And I want you to be a smartie!"
"Mommy..." He whined with wobbly lips.
"Big boys don't cry," she said, rubbing her hand on his back.
"Yes, that means I get to watch the television as much as I want because big boys stay up late," Xander explained to her amusement and she giggled, rising with Xander and sitting him on her hip.
"Xander, don't be naughty." She laughed, short of words as she trailed her way into the bathroom and pulled off his clothes.
Xander never ceased to amaze her with his questions and responses that sometimes made her think he was no child.
She filled the bathtub with warm water and sat him in it.
"Mama," Xander said, looking up at her with those bold and beautiful eyes that reminded her of herself.
"Yes, papa bear." She applied some shampoo to his hair and he joined her in kneading his scalp.
"Do you like the nice man that lives with us?"
The words rolled out of his little mouth and she stopped scratching his scalp for a minute.
"We-well," She started with a stutter then rinsed the soap out of his hair. "Of course, if I didn't... I wouldn't let him stay here with us."
"Okay, I have another question but that'll be for later." He grinned, swiftly squeezing his rubber ducky.
She was done bathing herself Xander. She was dressed in a silk nightgown, while Xander wore Mickey mouse pajamas.
"Mom, I don't want to sleep!" He kicked off the blanket and sat up with glossy eyes.
"Papa bear, why?" Lei sat beside him, cupping his little face.
His glossy eyes melted her heart and a warm smile spread across her face. She couldn't believe she almost terminated this bundle of joy.
"How about I read you a bedtime story?" She asked and he nodded enthusiastically.
Lorelei willed her legs to pick a bedtime story from the mini bookshelf that sat on the other side of the room and returned to the bed.
Xander got under the blanket and propped his head with a pillow, anticipating the bedtime story.
"Guess how much I love you, Xander?" Lorelei placed a hand on his forehead and caressed his skin with her thumb.
"Uhm..." He stuck his index finger into his mouth and looked at the ceiling before darting his eyes back to her face. "More than I love ice cream?"
She chuckled, taking his hand to her lips and plastering a light kiss on it. "More than the stars in the sky, baby, and more than you love ice cream."
Lorelei began to read from a book titled, guess how much I love you. A story about a hare and his son.
Roman heard the sugary voice of Lorelei reading a bedtime story to Xander when he walked past the room from the bathroom. He paused and then took three steps back, watching her from the half-open door.
Her lush black hair flowed down her back like the ink of a writer's pen as she sat upright, reading and occasionally adjusting on her seat.
He smiled to himself, remembering how he used to love bedtime stories as a kid. He let himself into the room and sat beside Lorelei. She paused for a second, sparing him a minute glance before resuming her reading.
Xander's eyes began to flutter shut, causing her to slow down, drawing each word as she closed the book and gave him a light kiss on his head. "I love you, baby."
Roman stared at the space in front of him and blinked slowly as he got flashes of a nanny reading him bedtime stories as a kid. He pinched the bridge of his nose as the image of the nanny appeared hazy.
Roman felt all the air leave his lungs when the picture became clear.
'Oh, no,' dreaded his wolf as Roman connected the dots.
His lips unconsciously parted. The nanny that took care of him when he was a kid also happened to be Xander's nanny.
His heart skipped a beat as the walls of his chest closed upon his heart.
'How is this possible?' Roman shook his head, swallowing a ball of saliva and feeling it burn the walls of his parched throat.
'Does this mean the nanny is the spy?' Xander asked his wolf.
'I'm not sure but I think she is. If not.' His wolf answered.
Roman splayed his fingers over his chest to calm his racing heart. The nanny had been monitoring them all this time. He ran his fingers through his hair. This was bad.
"Hey?" Lei placed a calming hand on his shoulder and he looked up at her standing beside him. "Is everything okay?"
Roman nodded, feeling his stomach clench as dread twisted it.
He raised his hands to communicate in sign language with her. "I'm fine, I just want a glass of water."
"Okay. I can get that." She gestured, making it for the door.
Roman rushed to grab her arm and she looked down at his fingers that curled softly around her arm.
Her heart fluttered and sent tingles down her entire arm.
He released her arm and turned crimson while rubbing the back of his neck.
"I..." He demonstrated, biting his tongue so as not to speak and blow his cover. "...will get it myself."
"Sure?" She inquired and pushed up her eyebrows.
He nodded, wishing he could tell her his true identity. A part of him felt bad for keeping this a secret from her especially now that they were close.
"You're so sweet, unlike those bossy mean Alphas." She muttered. "I'll be in the bathroom."
Roman flashed a foxy smile at her and her cheeks were tomato-kissed.
"Stop, I'm not going for the other thing." She tittered.
Roman shrugged and wiggled his eyebrows before stepping out of the room. His lips fell into a flat line as he waltz into the kitchen and grabbed a glass cup. His mind traveled far and the wrinkles on his forehead hinted at his worries.
He sighed, holding his cup under the tap and filling it with water. He pushed his head back and gulped down the entire contents of the cup.
He was scared that Lorelei and Xander were now in danger because of him. He sat the cup on the kitchen island and took in a shaky breath.
'The danger is so close to you and Lorelei,' His wolf started. 'And we can't let anything happen to our mate.'
'I will never forgive myself if any harm them.' He replied his mate, balling his palms into fists and dropping them on the island.
"Hey..." A soft voice called out from behind, snapping him out of his self-induced trance. "You have been acting strangely for a while now," she appeared beside him, resting her elbows on the island as she added, "Is everything okay?"
He threw a glance at her, finding her bubblegum scent soothing.
He gesticulated with his hands, "I am fine. I am just thinking about a few things that aren't important."
"Oh," She helped herself to a glass of water and returned both their cups to the cupboard. "I would like to know what those things are."
"They aren't anything." He lied, feeling a lump in his throat as guilt washed over him.
She gripped his hand and then held his chin, tilting it so he could look into her eyes. "Everything will be fine."
He managed a small smile at her, lightly squeezing her hand.
****
The moment Lei left for work, he waited for an hour then got dressed, he had a mission in mind.
He closed the windows, doing a quick check around the house to make sure all the appliances were off.
He wore a face cap and then picked Xander up, making it out of the house. They got into a taxi and he held Xander close to him.
He scanned the area, trying to make sure they weren't being followed.
The taxi halted at their destination and he got down with Xander wrapped around his finger like a bandage.
Two guards were standing on each side of the white gate and once they saw it was Roman, they let him into the Royal palace.
He got into the grand living room and sat with Xander on his legs.
"Xander!" The melodious voice of their Luna filled the place and Xander jumped down from Roman's legs, dashing toward the queen.
Xander jumped on her and she staggered back, picking him from the floor and rubbing her nose against his.
"How are you?" She asked, grinning from ear to ear.
"I'm good!" Xander gleamed and she placed him down.
Roman rose, offering a curt bow as a smile graced his lips.
"Hi, Roman. What do I owe this?" She sat on a chair and gestured for him to have his seat.
Xander sat with her, clinging onto her like a cat.
Roman raised his hands and shrugged, baring his pearly whites.
After the pleasantries, he shook his hand in the air as if writing on an invisible paper.
"You need a pen and paper?" The queen cocked up her brows.
Roman affirmed with a nod and she sent one of the palace helps to get what he had requested alongside some refreshments.
Xander helped himself to a juice box, chewing a cookie noisily and covering her couch in granules of vanilla cookies.
Roman wrote on the book and handed it to her.
"I would love to get the info of the nanny that took care of Xander before we all moved here, we need her to babysit Xander." The Luna read it out loud.
She wrote the address on the book and handed it back to Roman. His eyes skimmed through the address and he plastered his palms together in a bid to say thank you.
"Is Xander a handful?" She asked, tickling Xander and earning a hearty giggle.
Roman wrote on the paper, letting her know that Xander was an angel but he needed to take care of some things.
"Oh," she said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
Roman scribbled a thank you on the book before going over to take Xander's hand in his. When he sighted the mess Xander had made, he opened his mouth with cow eyes. The seat was covered in half-broken cookies.
Roman opened his mouth to speak but refrained from doing so. He waved an apologetic hand at Luna and she giggled, dismissing him with a small wave of her hand.
"They would clean it up, just let it be," She said with a smile that never faltered.
Roman thanked her.
Just as he was about to leave, she called him back. "Uhm, hey... There is some training for male wolves."
She stood to her feet and clasped her fingers behind her, she could sense the werewolf blood in him and it reached as far as her senses could reach.
Roman gazed at her, creasing his brows into a frown, paying full attention to what she had to say.
"Yeah, I think it would help because you have Alpha blood running in your veins." She explained, letting him know she had detected it from the first day she met him.
Roman's stomach felt sick, he feared she had figured out who he truly was.
"I'm guessing you don't realize your potential but it means you're a powerful wolf," She continued with a glint of encouragement in her eyes and then added, "I would urge you to go for the training."
Roman acted surprised, nodding his head and accepting her offer. At least, the training would help him search for more useful information.