CEO's Runaway Mate and Her Cubs

The crisis over the picture didn't last long because Nate and Scarlet started praising Lara. She was so cute as a kid, they would say.

Scarlet wanted a similar dress even if it was so far from her actual tastes. Jaden just observed his sister with a frown and reached his mother. He sat on her lap and hugged her for comfort, realising the other two were too focused on the wrong thing to notice how his mommy was worried.

He couldn't understand why his mommy felt like that, but he would have comforted her just as she did with them when they were little.

Meanwhile, father and daughter had temporarily forgotten about any restraint.

«Daddy, don't I resemble my mommy?» Scarlet asked, putting the picture next to her face. «We are so alike.»

Nate laughed, striving to find any similarity other than their hair. Scarlet was too similar to him. Even as a girl, she resembled him more than Jaden.

«You're a hundred per cent like me!» he declared, pushed by an instinct he didn't know how to name.

Had ever cared about that? No, but having kids meant discovering new parts of him every day.

«Daddy!» Scarlet exclaimed, and her eyes filled with tears. «I want to be like my mommy...»

Nate lifted a brow, his inner thoughts fighting between feeling hurt or making fun of that little heartless thing.

«I don't know, Scarlet. We can try tying your hair.»

«But my mommy doesn't tier her hair,» Scarlet noticed.

Her face changed, and she glared at Nate, angry like a wild kitten.

«Daddy!» she scolded him.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Nate continued laughing, moving his eyes on Lara out of reflex. He would do that every time the pups did something he found amusing. There, he found Jaden patting on Lara's shoulder.

Nate's wish to play with Scarlet disappeared, and he returned on focus. He would keep the picture in his drawers and watch it better later. First, he needed to ensure Lara was all right for real and not just in words.

«Hey,» he said, sitting on the chair next to her, «we'll find out who leaked the picture and make them disappear.»

«I don't really care,» Lara said.

«But you should. They're leaking your personal information without asking you. I'll call the magazine later today and hear their explanations. How dare they?»

Lara blinked, surprised.

«It's no big deal,» she said. «Just a picture. My mother is trying to attract attention but it won't work. She doesn't know much about me; she can't entertain the reporters for more than this.»

«It doesn't mean you have to let her do it,» Nate said. «I don't want to see you suffer. Not for something this trivial.»

«Thank you, Nate,» Lara said, «but I will solve this on my own. I'll call her and tell her to stop. I can't trouble you more than this.»

«You're not troubling me,» he pointed out. He wouldn't care if not for her feelings. And there was no way Lara would bring damage to the company.

She was doing nothing, either way. It wouldn't be her fault.

While collecting reasons for her not to worry, he realised that she already knew everything. Just, it wasn't enough for her to relax. Not knowing what Gracelyn would do hurt her more than her mother's actual actions.

«Okay,» he said, then. «But don't refrain from telling me if you need anything. We should solve it together, Lara. It's not your problem but our problem. Of both of us, just like anything related to the pack is yours as well.»

She sighed, oddly happy. She forgot about her mother's dreams of greatness for a moment and took the chance to smile at Nate.

Jaden noticed her change in mood and lifted his head. Lara pecked his forehead. Her son was so loving, that morning.

«I also want mommy's picture,» he said, his eyes filled with an undefined worry.

«I don't have my pictures, Jaden. Unfortunately, I left them all home when I left.»

His eyes flew to the magazine, but he didn't say anything. There were already two people battling for that one copy.

It was the first time Lara saw Jaden ask something actively, and it broke her heart how he gave up immediately. Differently from his sister, Jaden wouldn't insist too much.

«Oh, mommy's boy,» Lara whispered before hugging him tightly and kissing his face a hundred times.

Nate and Scarlet observed the scene, wondering what had that lucky brat done to deserve so much attention. They didn't even know what to ask of Lara because Jaden was silent and giggling with his mommy.

«Let's find another copy,» Lara said. «I'll buy this magazine for you.»

Jaden's eyes widened, and he laughed even more. Not just he would get his copy, but he would also spend some time with his mommy in search of it.

Scarlet and Nate exchanged a glance, realising they would be stuck with each other for the day.

«We'll find it,» Lara said, heartening Jaden's non-existing worries. He didn't even care anymore about the picture. He would be with his mommy! «Even if it means crossing the whole city and checking every place selling magazines.»

Her words made Jaden secretly hoping they would find it in the last place. It would mean touring the city with his mommy.

«I need to work,» Nate said, dejected. Why couldn't the company go on without him?

«Really, daddy?» Scarlet inquired. «I want to see it.»

«It's the same as usual, Scarlet. I sit at my desk and sometimes talk on the phone. Nothing different.»

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«Oh, but that is not real work,» she said. «My mommy will do so much more today!»

«Well, I guess everyone has their role,» Nate declared. «Your mommy does work and I weak pretty suits.»

«That's right. Your life is not bad, daddy.»

«You're right, Scarlet. It's not bad at all.»

Since the day Lara and the twins had appeared, everything had a meaning. Even his daughter understating his value was part of it. He wouldn't give up even on the pain the little girl could cause with a few words alone.