Tangled Hearts - The Alpha's Baby Mama
Chapter 105: Emotional baggage...

As soon as I ushered myself inside his office, Noah rose to his feet and came to me. His eyes roamed my face, taking in my calm expression "Are you alright? Did he try to hurt you?"

"One question at a time, babe," I sighed and brushed past him to sit on the space on the couch, massaging my neck and also aware that the men were staring at me intensely. The air was heavy with tension and they all had complicated expressions on their faces.

"Well," Kurtis prompted after a beat of strained silence "What happened between you and Conrad? What did he tell you? Did he make any threats or something? Listen, I know you’re tired here but it’ll be better if you tell us what happened so we can start working ahead of them because from everything that has happened so far, Conrad is at least a step ahead of us,".

I relaxed against the sofa this time, throwing my legs on the coffee table in front of the sofa as I allowed a small, satisfied smile to curve my lips. "He agreed to keep quiet about me visiting the hotel but it comes with a condition," I paused and let my eyes scan the eager gaze on the face of every man in the room. "In exchange that I convince Noah to accept the Kings coming for the meeting and that you would also throw a banquet in that regard and lastly, you’ll accommodate them for three days,".

"What!" Noah’s eyes turned red with anger "Does he think that here is a fucking resort? It is enough that I have to put up with the never-ending Alpha meeting and he wants me to add those snobby bastards here too. I’m sorry but I cannot agree to that. Go back and tell him that I said No and he should come and report me to you. I don’t care,".

"His demands are ludicrous," Kurtis shook his head "Does he understand what it means to host a King for a night? The servants, all the tiny details and the discomfort that comes from trying to meet everyone’s specific wants and needs? C’mon, he’s got to be kidding,".

"Well, he wasn’t," I shrugged raising my hand to stop Noah was arguing further "To say the truth, I don’t understand what is going on. I know I was asked to check on King Tanner... something along those lines but when Conrad announced Tanner’s death to Noah, he was considerably too calm for someone who lost a friend. Perhaps, is there something I should know?"

The men exchanged interpretable glances before Kurtis shook his head "Yes, there is more to it, Selene but I’m sorry we cannot tell you. We do not want you to become a weak link at any point. So, I hope you can understand and this is not an attempt to belittle all your efforts these past few days,".

I wanted to demand that they tell me everything in detail but I decided against it at the dying minute, even if I wanted to know, it’ll be much more later. All the while, I noticed Xavier was unusually quiet unlike him and had his gaze fastened on me as if he was in a deep contemplative thought. Shrugging it off, I continued calmly.

"Fine, his demands are outrageous but we need to consider this situation clearly before we make any decision. If we outrightly refuse to meet his demands, it might give Conrad the grounds to pursue whatever he has in mind. I think more than anyone that he’s hoping that we refuse. I know how I was treated in those few minutes; I spent in the hotel. So, please...".

I turned my gaze to Noah who had an exasperated look on his face and for a moment, I considered telling them about my purse that was with Conrad but after a moment’s thought, I brushed it away. I decided not to. Since Conrad promised that he would return it to me if I kept my end of the bargain, then I should just focus on doing that.

A muscle ticked on Noah’s jaw as he raised his gaze to watch me. "Are you sure he doesn’t have anything else on you for him to make such outrageous demand?"

"What he has on her is more than enough to blackmail her repeatedly," Xavier said quietly giving me a quiet look "She’s your mate and she’s in a hotel visiting another man. He could spin the story in whatever way he pleases. That’s how it always works plus given the fact that she’s not everyone’s favorite at this point. It could lead to a lot of things. So, even if you want him to come report to you, you can’t stop him from asking his men to spread it to the people. It’ll be chaotic,".

"But agreeing to his demands..." Kurtis shook his head "He’s up to something... I have a terrible feeling about all of this. How long did he give you to keep your bargain?" Kurtis asked.

"From now until noon," I said quietly then turned to Noah again "But the decision falls on you, darling. I know this is for the Pack’s sake and if I must be sacrificed for its sake then I truly don’t mind, honestly. My only wish is they keep my babies away from this fiasco. I’ll be fine,"

Extending my hands towards him, I waited for him to take it before I moved closer to him, nestling my head on his shoulders. "I know it’s a difficult decision so let me make it easy for you. You don’t have to oblige him. The security risks of having all the kings here at once are far too great. They could use this opportunity to sneak in spies and plant a lot of things before they go. So, I understand you,".

"You’re still the Luna and Queen of this Pack, you should be protected first before anything," Xavier said between greeted teeth "Why should protecting her be an option? It was so easy for all of us to agree for her to go on the mission. Now, it has come for her to be shielded and it’s been deliberated upon,".

"Well, it was not me that asked that she be sent on this mission," Noah lashed back as he glared at Xavier with murderous intent. "More than anything, I didn’t want her to be sent but you and Kurtis clubbed me into it. Stating it’ll be beneficial for all of us and a whole lot. I don’t know what you and him intend to benefit from this deal because of the way you pushed but my people are as important to me as my family. So, excuse me if I don’t jump into decisions quickly,".

"Stop going back and forth about nothing, Uncle," Xavier said coldly "It’s time to protect her. Or did you steal her away from me just to let go of her now because of something as little as this?"

It took a while for Noah to understand what Xavier meant but when he did. He flew into rage. His face turned purple as he shook a finger at Xavier’s direction.

"Don’t you dare disrespect me, Xavier Steele. I’ll damn the consequences and punish you if you talk to me that way. I’ve been putting up with you all this while just because of our mother,".

"Darling, it’s okay," I said quietly trying to pet him into silence but Noah wasn’t having it. He brushed me aside and crossed over to where Xavier was standing. Xavier on the other hand remained there without flinching. The only thing that was moving was his perfectly carved eyebrows that reacted with each word Noah said.

"How many times have I told you to leave my marriage out of your scrutiny. You had your chance and you screwed it. The moon goddess gave her to me and now you won’t let me enjoy it? For fuck’s sake, Xavier... what is your problem?" Noah’s nostrils flared.

For a moment, the room heated with the hot steam coming from both men until Xavier broke the silence and murmured under his breath.

"I don’t have time for this," then turning to Kurtis "I’ll be in my room waiting for you," with that, he walked out of the room leaving just three of us. As soon as he left, Noah growled with frustration as he leaned against his desk, trying to control his emotions.

Kurtis rose to his feet, his expression hadn’t change from before. "Your majesty, you have to stop enabling Xavier. It’s clear that both of you still have a lot of emotional garbage unchecked and it keeps getting in the way. I think you should just sit down, have a conversation with him and trash it out,".

"You know, the last time I did that, he told me to my face that he was going to take back Selene. Do you know the amount of disrespect I’ve had to put up with because of him? But no more. If he tries one more time, he won’t leave unscathed. So, you better tell him Kurtis,".

"It’s not in my manner to put myself in any family’s situation. So, I apologize my lord but I cannot do what you’re asking. You and Xavier would have to figure it out yourself and as for the current situation, just let us know how you wish to proceed and I promise there’ll be no questions asked. I will do as you have said,".

Kurtis bowed and left the room leaving just me and Noah.

"If you want me to go..." I shuffled my feet.

"No!" he sighed drawing me close to him as he gathered me into his arms "What do you think I should do?"