CEO's Runaway Mate and Her Cubs

After a few days of calm, Lara and Nate remembered that they weren't alone in the world. Even if sometimes they wished to be, their family was not the only one.

They lived in the pack, but the pack wasn't the whole world either.

There was more out of there. People living, working, chatting... Striving to reach their goals or just to get some entertainment.

As such, with no worry at all, they were brought back to the real world by yet another article in a newspaper.

The pictures were wonderful. Scarlet would have collected them.

But the contents? Yet another gossip article with no proof and claims as vague as to make it impossible to sue.

However, the message was clear. Lara Clayton was a gold digger.

Coming from a medium family - which in fact wasn't very true - and with no formal education, she had attracted Nate Woods's attention. How? That was the mystery every tabloid wanted to solve.

But there was no way Lara and Nate told them the truth. It was too early to reveal the existence of the pups. And they weren't ready to give up their peace for that.

«It's not important,» Lara said, closing the tabloid and throwing it away.

«Are you sure?» Nate wondered, looking up at her. She was standing next to his desk while he was sitting, reading the newspaper when he noticed the article.

He was looking for financial information, but that issue had ended in his office because someone thought Lara would have liked reading while he did.

«I'll talk with the girls delivering the newspaper in the morning,» he said, moving his hands on the armrests as if to get up.

«No, don't,» Lara said. «They have no fault. And I don't want them to filter what I can read. I'm to decide about that, right?»

«Yes, but...»

«It's just an article, Nate. I mean, you read it: there's nothing written there! No information, no source. Just talks about me being greedy, which is true: I want everything!»

«You want a family,» he pointed out.

«A family, to be happy with you, maybe even other kids. I'm so greedy, Nate,» she chuckled.

«Other pups? How many? Should we get to work now?»

«Now? No, it's early.»

«But if you want many, it might be wise to start immediately.»

«Immediately, now?» she asked, crossing her arms. Unbelievable. How could he find the face to be naive and uncertain, sometimes? How?

«When you're ready,» he said. He didn't want to sound rushed, but time was flowing... Even at that moment, seconds were passing. They would become minutes, hours, days... They had no moment to waste.

They had wasted enough.

«Shall we have twins again?» Lara asked, then. «It would save us time. Two plus two is four. Enough pups, right?»

«Twins? We're not in such a hurry, after all. And we don't get to decide.»

«No? So, what are we going to do if they're twins?»

His forehead filled with sweat as he imagined four pups. Two Jadens, two Scarlets.

He would have died of work. Little Jaden would ask one question after the other, while little Scarlet would soon learn to call him daddy and point at shiny objects.

«We'll raise them together,» he said, though. He couldn't tell Lara he was actually worried of that option.

If she could do it with two kids alone, he could as well raise another two with her help. And they weren't alone: they had a pack, a grandma, and a new grandpa.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Also, the older kids could help out a little. Jaden could answer the simplest questions. Scarlet could comb her sister's hair.

«As for the article,» Lara said, returning to the topic. Thinking about making babies in the office was dangerous for Nate's schedule. He had a few meetings to attend, that day. «I don't think we should do anything. It's better to ignore it. It's not the first time they wrote I'm a gold digger, and it won't be the last.

Who cares? We'll prove them wrong by staying together till the end of time.»

«Agreed,» he said. «We'll stay together forever.»

«So, don't worry about it,» she added.

Nate sighed, leaning back on the chair. Ignoring? Letting a useless tabloid write stuff about his mate?

But she was asking him.

His inner argument was helped when Lara pecked her cheek.

«Don't think about that anymore,» she said. «Unless you want me to act like a spoiled wife. Do you want me to be demanding and complain every time you say no?»

Say no? When had he done that? Oh, but had she asked much? Not really. Maybe she thought he wouldn't accept, which led her not to ask at all.

«I'd like that,» he said. «A demanding wife. That would be nice.»

«It would be nice for a change, but you'd get tired after a while. No one deserves to be used like that, Nate. Not even if you like the idea.»

«No demands?» he sighed. «Are you sure?»

«You already have the twins being demanding.»

«I'm talking about you now, not the kids.»

She chuckled, sitting on his lap and hugging his neck.

«All right,» she said. «I'll try.»

He nodded, his eyes shining happily.

«I demand a kiss,» she exclaimed.

She soon got her wish fulfilled, but Nate still wasn't happy about it. However, that was better than nothing. He was happy his mate would act like that: it meant she felt as safe as to relax.

And she was starting to believe he would remain forever. That he wouldn't disappear into thin air. It was such an improvement from their starting point that he almost felt tired.

Tired of all the steps taken to reach that point. But satisfied. He wouldn't exchange one single step, not even one of his - their - struggles, for anything in the world. Those led him to where they were: in his office, kissing sweetly at his desk.

It was damned worth it. Even just for that single moment, let alone for the rest of their lives.