The Alpha's Hot Chase After Divorce

Elena POV

“You can't do this! I am your mate! Your Luna!” I screamed at Rex, the only man I have ever loved. “In which world do you think that what you are doing makes any sense?!”

“In my world!” He thundered. “I can do what I want, when I want, however I want. And right now, I want you gone from my pack.”

“The pack will never accept this-” I shouted at him in pain, hurt and anger.

“I am their Alpha! They will accept what I want them to or they will leave.” He growled at me.

“Why are you doing this, Rex? What possible reason could you have for doing this?” I cried as I collapsed to my feet.

“These are my reasons. And I don't have to explain them to you. Just make sure that you are out of this pack before sunrise.”

“It is because of her, isn't it?” I ask brokenly. “Maya. You told me that there was nothing going on between you two. That it was all in the past, you told me not to worry. You liar!” I screamed at Maya for betraying me with her deceptive lies.

“There is no point screaming about this. If you had done your duty, all of this wouldn't be happening,” He said dismissively as he turned away from me.

“My duty,” I whispered to myself. “You say that like I am the one who can control having a child.”

“Well, it is certainly not my fault. Maya has proved that.”

“What… no. You wouldn't. Rex!” I cried out, my heart was totally shattered.

“It is true..” He said quietly. “She is carrying my child and I know that there is no way I can allow her carry my child out of wedlock. So you have to go. Peacefully. If you love this pack as much as you say you do, you will leave here right now without any noise”.

I watched through a curtain of tears as he walked out of my room, my world vanishing with him.

A part of me kept saying that it is a lie, that it was some sick game.

But it was definitely not.

The man I have loved since I was sixteen, the man I have loved for eight years, my own mate has casted me aside for his teenage fling.

As I remain sprawled on the floor, the words of my friend, Lisa, ran through my mind.

“... I am not saying you should reject him, Elena. All I am saying is for you to take some time to know him. There are a lot of factors involved in this. First of all, he is from another pack, one of the most powerful packs in fact. If anything happens, do you think our Alpha would speak up for you? No. He is a coward, he won't. Second, Rex is older than you. Like ten years older, he already has a fiance! Do you think she would be happy with you? You have to think if you are willing to put up with that shadow all your life!”

My goodness, she was right all along.

I was so convinced about the mate bond, the illusion that mates were bound together forever, that he would never hurt me.

He was… still is the most handsome I have ever known. Strong, well built, wavy blonde hair, startling green eyes, ivory skin.

Heavy muscles and lean, and when he pulled me into his arms, I always felt so safe.

How wrong could I have been?

I should have insisted on him not meeting Maya.

I was naive.

Childish.

And now I am paying for it.

“Where can I go now?” I whimpered to myself before I broke down in tears again.

“Elena dear, where is Elena?”

I look up to see Alice, Rex’s mother standing by the door, staring at me in shock.

“Elena!” she said in a panic tone as she rushed to me. “What is wrong? What happened? Where is Rex? I will go find him now”. She said as she got to her feet.

“No!” I gasped out as I held a grip of her hand. “I don't… I… he…”

“Elena,” she said quietly as she got down to her knees. “What happened?”

“He…,” I sniffed in the catarrh dripping from my nose, while my eyes was still flooded with tears to continue. “Him and Maya… she…”

“No. No, he wouldn't”. She said in horror.

“He did! He said so himself. And now she is having his child and he wants me out of the pack by tomorrow!”

“What?!”

“He said… that if I loved the… pack as I claimed to… I should leave quietly. He said it so calmly! Like I was nothing to him! Like the past years we spent together was nothing!”

“That! Is not happening. Not on my watch!” She snapped as she got up to her feet -again- and walked to the door, only to stop at my words

“There is no point. I am leaving,” I said quietly.

“Elena!” She whirled around to face me. “No! You can't. You are the Luna of the Crystal pack! You can't leave. I will talk to him, we will sort this out. I-”

“There is no point,” I repeated. “It doesn't matter if he decides to let me stay. What is done is done. He betrayed me. Told me to leave my home. There is no way I can ever look at him the same way again. I will leave”. I said as I slowly got to my feet. “Not because I failed, but because he did. He had single handedly destroyed our love and the trust between us. Staying here… will just be mere torture. For me and everyone who holds us dear.”

“But… but what about the pack?!”

“It is his pack, let him figure out what to tell them, I don't care right now.”

“Oh, Elena. My sweet, sweet child,” she said as she walked towards me and took my face. “Where would you go?”

“The world is vast and I don't believe there is no place for me. I will find it another dwelling place”.

“At least let me help you. I can find you a good apartment to stay in-”

“No, Alice,” I said to her gently as I extracted myself from her. “It is not that I don't appreciate it, but I can't risk Rex finding out where I am. He wants me out of his life, well now so do I. And that means everything. You have been a wonderful mother to me and I am truly sorry… I just…”

“I understand you, my child, I do. And I am sorry. So sorry that this has happened to you. I am sorry.”

“It is okay. It is not your fault,” I told her.

“Can I at least help you pack?”

“I would appreciate that.”

We both fell silent after that, as I moved to pull down a suitcase. Alice insisted that I take everything, all the clothes and jewels and money, everything that would help me start a new life.

I know he gave me till tomorrow but you can't bear staying here for one more night and so before I know it, we were both outside of the pack after taking a route at the backyard to avoid unwanted eyes, waiting for an Uber.

“Would you at least call me?” She asks. “Just to let me know you are alright.”

“I will send an email,” I told her as soon as I got into the cab.

She placed a peck on my cheek before closing the door and soon the car pulled away.

As I watched the pack vanish behind me, I placed my right hand on my tummy.

How could I have stayed?

It was not possible.

How could I have stayed and let my child be raised by a man willing to cast me aside, because his ex girlfriend was pregnant for him?

Rex POV

Five Years Later……..

“You are late.”

Those were the first words that I heard at the moment I walked into the mansion.

Tilting my head to look into the living room, I saw my mother sitting in the dark, waiting for me.

Like a creep.

“It is also two o'clock in the midnight, and you are just getting in”. She said with a scowl.

The same scowl that is always present on her face whenever she was talking to me.

Ever since Elena left.

No, ever since I told her to leave.

“I told you, I have things to do,” I said as I turned to leave.

“Did you find her?” She demanded, with her voice cold.

I can't help but wince at it.

I get it.

I messed up.

And I am trying to make up for it by searching for her.

I have been chasing her down every year, whispers, suspicions, or sightings of her but it has all come to nothing.

Just like tonight and every other night.

“No, mother. I didn't. It was a false lead, I didn't find any clue to her whereabouts”. I answered.

She sniffed with disdain as she got up to her feet.

“Five years. She has been away from home for five years and you still haven't found her. Maybe it is true after all”. She said with spite as she walked towards me. “Maybe you should stop looking for her. You don't deserve her after all. If you did… if you truly wanted her back you would have found her by now.”

“Mother!”

“Don’t mother me! I warned you, didn't I?! I told you to go after her. That you would regret it. I said put a tail on her at least, but no, you are the Alpha. You know best. You and that disease of a thing that you called Maya. Do you have any idea how many lives you have ruined? All because of that witch?!”

“I know Mother! I know! I messed up. And I am trying to get her back-”

Another scoff from her cut me off.

“Get her back? You would be lucky if she even wants to see you or even forgive you. Get her back, my foot! Don't get your hopes up. You had a good woman, a treasure, an ordained mate and you scorned her for trash. Where is she now? Your previous Maya?” She scoffed at me before she left the room.

Maya is dead.

I killed her with my own hands.

It was the best thing to do after her betrayal- no. It was never a betrayal, it was a scheme. She had come back into my life for just revenge.

Revenge for choosing my mate over her.

So, she had planned to infiltrate my pack, while selling information to one of my enemies.

Now if only I could find out who it is exactly she was talking to, then it would have solved a lot of problems.

But I can't.

Because I killed her.

And oh, yeah.

The pregnancy… that was a lie.

Something that she had created an illusion for with the help of a witch.

“Damn! My goodness! I have been such a fool!”

With tired steps, I walked up to my room.

I would have gone to Elena’s but Maya had made sure to have every inch of her whereabouts scrubbed out.

Not even a trace of her scent remained.

Is this how my life is going to be?

Living it without my mate?

Do I even deserve a second chance?

Wouldn't it just be best for me to just let her go?

I can't lie there on my bed, with all of these thoughts going round and round in my head, till my mind wanders back to the day I had met her.

****FLASHBACK****

It was a normal day really.

I had gone to her pack for a business meeting with her Alpha, without Maya.

It was common knowledge then that Maya was my fiance and the woman I was set to marry since I couldn't find my mate.

Imagine my surprise when my wolf started going crazy, and restless. Two words that he was never described as.

I had taken a break from the meeting to go for a run so as to calm him when the most delectable smell filtered through my nose.

I looked to my side and there she was, Elena, staring at me in gobsmacked shock.

It also took me a few seconds to realize that she had run away upon sighting me.

Searching for her throughout that day proved futile and I was this close to demanding the Alpha of her pack to call out every member of the pack for me when a knock sounded on my door.

It was her.

She looked so beautiful and brave staring me in the eyes as she asked, “Are you going to reject me?”

“What?” I demanded, confused.

“Everyone knows you have a fiance, Maya”. She had explained. “The two of you have been together for years. So, if you are going to reject me, I would rather have it here in private. Now.”

So brave.

So fearless.

The true makings of a Luna.

And I will be honest, ever since I had laid my eyes on her, Maya did not even cross my mind.

And the fact that she had brought it up and was willing to go through the rejection showed how honorable she was.

Even if it did piss me off a little.

“Aren't you going to fight for me?” I asked.

“Should I? Would I succeed? Do I even have a chance?”

“Of course you do! You are my mate!”

“And she is your fiance! The way I see it, only one woman comes out on top and I don't like to beg. So who would it be?”

She flustered me.

Challenged me.

In that short exchange, she had managed to get under my skin and ruffled my feathers.

How could I reject her?

****PRESENT DAY***

And yet. That was exactly what I did.

Not only did I reject her and chose the same woman over her but I made her beg.

Images of that night flashback through my mind.

Images of her on her knees, tears pouring down her face as she held onto my leg, crawling on the floor.

Begging me.

No pride, no shame, just her naked love for me.

And I spat on it.

My mother was right.

I don't deserve her.

Not after what I had done.

With a resigned sigh, I got up to my feet and walked towards the intercom, to buzz my secretary.

It was time to put an end to this search.

But just before my finger could tap it, it rang out.

“Now what?” I mustered before pressing a button.

“Mr. King”. My secretary’s voice rang out. “Sorry to disturb you at this hour-”

“Get to the point, Tobey.”

“We found her. We found your Lady Elena.”

“What?!” I asked as adrenaline zapped through me, clearing all depressive clouds from my head. “Where?”

“New Kingston.”

“Have an helicopter ready before the hour is up,” I said, as I moved to end the call.

“Sir! One more thing.”

“What is it?!” I demand. “I have no time to waste.”

“Well… there… we discovered…”

“Spit it out, Tobey!”

“She has children with her”. She rushed out. “Twins. And from their looks, those kids belongs to her”.

The words are like clanging cymbals in my head.

They make no sense.

“Elena… has children… did she remarry?”

“I doubt if that is possible as your divorce proceedings were never finalized.”

That is correct.

But still… Elena, with children

The very reason I had kicked her out was because of the lack of children…

And now….

“Find out everything. And I mean every damn details about her and the kids.”

Rex POV

“What is this I hear about you finding Elena?” My mum asked as she barged into my office.

“Mum, you know that you could have at least knocked?” I asked by way of response.

“Don't play with me, boy? Where is she?”

Boy.

Like, what the hell! As if I am still some eight year old kid that broke his vase, oh well.

“New Kingston”. I answered as I signed a document, handed it to my Secretary, and then looked up at her.

At her fifty five years old, my mother is still a beauty.

There were no gray strands of her in her mane of full Auburn hair, beautifully styled and cuffed by the nape of her neck, she had the same color as my eyes but with a tanner skin and no signs of aging.

I suppose that was thanks to our wolf genes.

“If she is all the way over there, why are you still here and not on a plane?”

“Because.”

“Because what?”

“Because… there are some… things to be cleared on my desk before I go see her”. I answered.

“Some… some things to take care of? Rex! Are you listening to yourself? There are some things to take care of?! You have been searching for her for years! And now that you have found her, you are telling me that you have things to take care of?! When did you become such a coward?!”

“I am not a coward!” I snarled at her as I rose to my feet.

“Then stop behaving like one!” She roared back at me. “Why? What are you hesitating now?”

“Because…”

“Boy! Don't think just give unlikely excuses because you are taller than me. I can't still whoop your butt. I will do it and it will hurt.”

Well, that is an unpleasant image.

An image I shook out of my head before taking an envelope to hand over to her and then I started walking towards the window.

“Those were delivered to me this morning”. I told her as I stared absentmindedly out of the fifty foot story building, with my eyes vague and seeing nothing.

I heard as she flipped it open and pulled out its contents. In the envelope there was a series of pictures showing Elena in different places with two kids by her side.

Both of them look like her.

No man by her side.

“Oh my goddess”. She whispered. “She has children. Who is the father?”

“As far as the information received as of recently, there is no man in her life. I am still waiting for the report on these past few years.”

“What about the kids? How old are they?”

“Unknown for now.”

“Is it… is it possible that they… are yours?”

“If that is true, why wouldn't she tell me?”

“Oh, would that be before or after you so callously instructed her to leave your home?” My mother reminded in a questionable manner.

And the sarcasm is back.

“Either way, I am still waiting for more feedback”. I told her, igniting her sarcastic comment.

“I have to ask though”. She said as she walked up to me, the pictures still in her hand. “If they turned out to be someone else’s children, what would you do?”

“I… I don't know”. I answered at a loss for once.

That is the question that has been playing ping pong in my head since I learned about the kids.

Can I do it?

Can I raise another man’s children as my own?

Would she even let me?

“I suggest you think it through, very well”. My mother said to me as she walked away. “If you can't, then you should forget what you saw, forget that you found her and then go find another woman to marry. With how much I know of Elena, she is not going to abandon her kids for a man who abandoned her first.”

No. She would not.

Oh, this is a mess.

Turning around, I headed back to my seat, finally alone, and noticed the pictures placed on the desk, the top one depicting Elena, smiling with her whole face - eyes sparkling with mirth, teeth showing wide, skin glowing - as she laughed at something one of the children said.

Oh, I really messed up.

If I had been more diligent, more aware, and more… careful, I would have discovered the poison Maya had been using on Elena.

The same poison stopping her from conceiving.

That is why I am not sure the children are mine.

According to Maya, she had used one of my own wolves, - one who had been sympathetic to her right and still wanted her as Luna - to poison Elena, as a way to prevent her from getting pregnant.

So, it is highly unlikely that the children are mine.

Right?

“Alpha?” I heard a voice from the door and I looked up to see Clark, my Beta walking in.

“Clark, any update?”

“On the Luna? No. But we found the witch Maya was working with. We have her in custody in the pack prison.”

“Good,” I said as I got up to my feet and walked to the door.

There are things that need to be clarified.

I watched as the woman, the witch is brought to me, scratched and had dried blood all over her.

At my raised eyebrow, Clark supplied the answer to my silent question.

“She struggled”. He said. “Apparently, she believed we were going to kill her for her part in helping Maya.”

“I had no choice!” The woman screamed. “She had my daughter in her hands. She and her stupid Alpha!”

“Alpha? Who?” I demand.

“I don't know him. All I know is that he hates you as much as she did and was willing - is willing to do anything to ruin you.”

“You were the one that helped Maya with the illusion of her being pregnant, right?”

“Yes.”

“And the poison she used on Elena?”

“I supplied it too. You have to understand, I had no choice! I-”

She stopped at my raised hands.

Turning to the rest of the wolves in the room, I said. “You all should leave? I want to question her privately. You too, Clark”. I finished at his hesitation.

Soon, the only occupants in the room were just me and her.

“Tell me how the poison worked.”

“What?” She asked in confusion.

“The poison. Was it proof-proof?”

“I don't understand your question. I… wait… I…” She stuttered as I rose up to my feet, with boiling rage filling my eyes. “She wanted a poison to stop Elena from getting pregnant. But Elena-”

“Luna! She is Luna to you!” I growled at her.

“Right! Luna is a strong wolf so I gave her the instruction that the potion must be taken after… intercourse. Immediately after. Not a day after, not a few hours after. I suppose that is where the spy she used came in.”

The spy that Maya instructed to put it, was no other than Elena’s assistant, a daughter of my mother’s friend. We thought that since she was closer to the family she would be more loyal to us.

We were wrong.

“So, let us assume that we had sex and she conceived, what would happen if, after another time, she took the potion?”

“Nothing. Nothing would happen. The potion wouldn't work that way. The baby will remain.”

“I see thank you for your time,” I said as I walked away.

“What about me? What is going to happen to me?!” She screamed but I just ignored her.

I have more important things on my mind.

“Alpha?” Clark called as I walked out of the cell.

“Have the plane ready”. I said to him. “I am going to New Kingston.”

I am going to get my family.

Elena POV

“I am imagining this”. I muttered to myself. “I have to be imagining this.”

I stood with my mouth wide opened in shock as a pair of wolf cubs had made a mess of my living room.

Suffice it to say, this was not normal.

I mean, for a while now, a lot of things have not been normal in my life, not since the twins were born but this takes the cake.

Wolves, werewolves are only able to transform on their sixteenth birthday.

This is to allow them to bear the pain of transformation while also having the ability to control their urges.

So, why, pray tell, are my four - nearly five - years old children in wolf form?

There was no warning, no inkling that they were going into transformation.

I had left them asleep on the waterproof mattress and came back only to see the room flooded, glass broken, and two cubs having a tug of war with one of my silk pillows.

I got down to my knees slowly, hands outstretched as I called out to them.

“Kanu, Kiana, come to mummy now. Come now.”

At my voice, they abandoned the pillow and ran with full speed to me, colliding into me and sending me sprawling to the carpeted floor, all the while sniffing and yipping at me.

I managed to get my balance and bring them to my lap to get a good look at them.

One of them has a shiny gold coat, it practically glitters in the sun with silver eyes while the second has a striking silver coat and gold eyes.

Like I said, nothing about this is normal.

“How long has this been going on?” I asked quietly.

The only response I got was two pairs of expressive soulful eyes, staring back at me.

“Can you… can you turn back for mummy… please?”

Before I can even finish the question, they have both transformed into my two beautiful babies.

No cracking sound or snaps.

No whine of pain.

Just from one fluid movement to another.

With clothes intact.

So this was not normal.

“Do you like our wolf mummy?” Kiana’s babyish tinkering voice broke me from my thoughts.

“Yes… yes, it was… beautiful. Both of you. I'm, how long have you… since when could you…”

“Is mummy okay? Are you okay mummy?” Kanu asked with a little tilt of his head.

“Mummy is fine,” I said, assuring him. “Mummy is just confused. How long have you been able to… bring out your wolves?”

“A while”. Kiana answered as she got interested in a loose thread on my sweater.

“How long is a while?” I insist.

“Hmmm, it happened that night. The night we… you… and Aunty Marie did a sleepover together.”

Oh, my goddess.

That was months ago.

Five months to be exact.

Marie, a neighbor and one of the few friends I have made here, had helped me with babysitting that day because I had a job that would take me out of town.

Fortunately, I had managed to make it back home but it was quite late and there were reports of a violent storm coming in.

I had insisted that she spend the night here and we had slept in my room, telling the kids when they asked that we were having an adult sleepover.

I remember that night, the storm… It was violent.

Unusually so.

Green and red lightning as it flashed across the sky and the thunder shook the house.

I remember checking on the twins and being surprised at how soundly they were asleep.

I just thought they were growing up.

And now this.

Again, the nagging thought told me to contact Alice, their grandmother, to ask her about any unusual traits in their family.

There have been way too many unusual things that have happened around my children.

The way that no matter what season we are in, the flowers never stop blooming.

Or how nothing, absolutely nothing ever wears out in the house.

Of how they are always talking as if there was someone else with them.

I had chalked it all up to my overactive imagination, but this… this is one, I can't ignore.

This is not normal.

“Is it a badge mummy?” Kanu’s voice brought me out of my thoughts and I looked down to see him staring at me with that usual, so familiar, knowing eyes.

He looked so much like their father.

They both do.

They have all of his traits except for the hair.

The hair was mine.

Without my permission, my thoughts stray to Rex, wondering how he is doing and if he is happy with his new, perfect family.

Does he regret it?

Does he even think of me?

Have they all forgotten about me?

“Mummy?”

I looked down again to see that this time both of them were watching me.

“What?” I asked with a gentle smile.

“I asked if it was a bad thing,” Kanu answered. “About our wolves.”

“Of course not,” I said as I pulled them up to me. “Your wolves are beautiful and perfect just as you are beautiful and perfect,” I told them as I littered their faces with kisses.

Soon, the sounds of delighted laughter and squeals were heard in our living room and they were trying to fight their way out of my hands.

“How about we go to the park?” I asked as I set them loose. “We can play with our frisbees and see some of your friends.”

And allow the cleaning crew I am about to call to do their job in peace.

“Yay!”

“I will go get my shoes.”

I watched as they run out in excitement while I dialed the number.

Soon, a truck is pulling up and I am handing the keys to the house to one of them.

“Leave it in the potted plant when you are done”. I told them before walking away with the twins holding each of them by the hand.

The park was filled with kids and their accompanying parents or sitters, with laughter, joyful screams, and running feet.

In a matter of seconds, they both let go of my hands and run to join their friends.

“They are a delight, aren't they?” A familiar voice asked from behind.

“Marie!” I exclaimed with a smile. “What are you doing here? Did you have a shift at the store?”

“I got fired.”

“Again?” I asked with mocking disappointment.

“It is not my fault!”

“It never is,” I said as I walked to a bench.

“It really wasn't. A customer was being deliberately rude to one of the teens working with us. She deserved that punch.”

“You punched her?!”

“She deserved it!”

“Oh, Marie. What am I going to do with you?”

“You can love me like you always do- wow!”

“What?”

“Who is that with your kids?”

I turned to see who she was talking about and felt my stomach drop in horror.

Crouching at their level, a familiar man can be seen talking and smiling at the twins, shaking their hands and laughing with them, and like as if he could feel me, his gaze locks onto mine, with deadly accuracy.

“Do you know him?” Marie asked me.

How would I not know him even though we've not seen each other in five years?

Rex, the man who rejected and chased me out of his pack, to be with his ex girlfriend because I was barren.

Elena's POV.

I couldn't bring myself to believe how Rex had tracked me down. I felt my world pause for a while as all I could recall at that very point was how he had ordered me to leave his pack for good.

I felt this hurting pain in my chest as I looked at how he crouched to their level.

"Does he know those are his children?" I mumbled within as his gaze was still locked to mine.

It was obvious. They had this striking resemblance with him. I groaned even more as I looked at him. All the screams, the laughter of children and the conversations of adults all turned to some low pitched, unclear sound.

All my ears could process were the voices in my head. And I could still hear his voice so clear in my head when he had asked me to leave his pack for good. I could still hear the voice of Maya as well. And now, seeing him reopened the old wound I struggled to move over from.

"Elena?" Marie called out to me again as she shook me lightly, bringing me back to reality.

"Are you alright?" She asked me.

How would I be alright when the last person I ever expected to see after all these years was now right back into my life and he was playing with my two kids, Kanu and Kiana.

"Mummy?" Kanu screamed happily as he looked at me. "That's our mummy!" He answered Rex who now turned again as he looked at me.

"Was he here to take them away from me? Why exactly is he back? What does he want from me?"

Different questions popped up. I walked up to where they stood talking to Rex.

"It's time to go home, babies!" I feigned a smile at him as I turned to look at them.

I looked at Marie who still stood in bewilderment as she watched how I got disorganized the very moment I saw them with the strange man.

It was another difficult one to explain the real story now. I had lied about the father of my little angels.

He was a past I wished to forget and never for once did I think of having my entire life swept off the ground completely again by the man who I grew to hate.

"It's time to go home. Say bye!" I forced a smile now, the breeze blowing and pushing my hair to my face and Rex looking right into my eyes.

If he was here for my little angels, then there was absolutely no way I was going to let him take them from me.

I scowled within as he waved them goodbye as I carried them away back to where Marie stood, confused and trying to take in everything happening right that moment.

"What was that for, Elena?" She asked as we drove back home in a cab.

"Mummy, are you okay?" Kanu asked as he looked at me, pouting out his lips as he played with his fingers.

"Yes I am, baby!" I responded as I pulled both him and Kiana to my body, kissing their forehead multiple times before paying attention to Marie who was already tired of getting snubbed by me.

"Who…"

"It's nothing serious. He reminded me of someone from my past. I'm totally fine, Marie." I answered with a smile on my face as I stretched out my right hand as I wrapped her left hand lightly.

She forced a smile as she looked away. I knew she wasn't done yet but then, she knew I probably wouldn't say much because the kids were with us.

We arrived home a few minutes later and she left for her apartment as I walked down to my apartment and Kanu and Kiana couldn't just stop picking at each other as they argued about the strange man who had spoken with them at the park earlier.

"Mummy?" Kanu called out to me as he looked at me. "The man gave us some chocolates." He confessed as he brought out the 3 wraps of chocolates from his pocket as he raised them up, giggling as well and giving me those baby doll eyes.

That was a way of them making me do what I naturally wouldn't want to do.

"Kiana?" I frowned at her as I finally understood what their long argument was for.

I scrunched to their height as I looked at both of them. "What did mummy tell you about strangers?" I asked them.

"Never to take things from strangers." They chorused in a low voice as they looked at me.

"And what happens if you take things from strangers?" I asked again, looking at how they tilted their lips now with those pulpy eyes.

"Show mummy first!!" They chorused again as they maintained eye contact with me.

"Good. Very good. Now, give mummy a warm hug!" I opened my arms as they rushed in for a hug, giggling as I wrapped them up in my arms tightly and printed kisses all over their faces.

"And what is your new friend's name?" I couldn't stop myself from asking as I let go of them.

"Uhmm…" Kiana shrugged as she was trying to recall his name.

"Rex. Rex." Kanu responded as he giggled.

I knew why he was giggling. He felt happy remembering Rex's name before Kiana.

She rolled her eyes as she opened one of the chocolate as she pushed it inside her mouth.

"And what else did he say to you?" I asked, looking at Kanu this time around.

"That he was going to come pay us a visit someday." Kanu replied as he looked at me.

"And you both are friends!!" Kiana cuts in with a grin as she looked at Kanu now.

"Friends?" "Come around someday?"

My heart skipped as I heard those words.

"Why is he here in Kingston? And what is he up to?" I winced as I stood upright.