Accidental Surrogate for Alpha

#Chapter 307 – Old Friends

Ella

Two hours later, Sinclair and I welcome our friends back to our house for a casual breakfast and coffee

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or mimosas, according to preference to celebrate Rafe’s moonlight baptism. I can tell our guests are dragging – they’ve been up all night, after all – but spirits are high.

“Wow,” I say, leaning back against Sinclair’s chest with a croissant in one hand, a cup of coffee in the other. Rafe, thankfully, is asleep in his little recline stroller. Usually I’d put him to bed in his crib, but I want people to be able to say goodbye if they have to leave. “I can’t believe everyone I still up,” I say, peering around at our friends and family. “I mean, I know we’re on baby time so normal hours mean nothing anymore, but everyone else…”

“It’s a special occasion,” Sinclair murmurs; lowering his face to my hair and taking a long sniff of my scent. “We’re used to it. In wolf culture shifter children are rarer than we’d like, so we take the time to celebrate them when they’re born.”

“That’s so nice…” I say, sniffing a little, my eyes filling with tears.

“What?” Sinclair asks, pulling away from me a little, shocked. “Are you – why are you crying –

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I swat at him, laughing a little. “What! Hormones! I’m tired! Leave me be.” Then I brush the tears off my cheeks, smiling despite them. I’m just overwhelmed and grateful, honestly, for all the love that our family has shown our baby. “It really is a beautiful tradition,” I murmur, and Sinclair kisses my cheek before moving away to talk to some of the Alphas who have come to see their new prince.

As Sinclair moves away, Isabel quickly moves to my side to take his place. “Hi, mama,” she says, giving me a warm smile as she wraps an arm around my waist. “How are you doing?”

my arms around her again, “how

she smiles at her mate across the room lets me know that her words are an understatement. James raises

put her upstairs in one of the guest rooms?” I ask Isabel quickly, taking her hand and squeezing it. “You

a smile. “I’m so glad we could be here and meet the baby – but we both want to get home. We have…a

little love seat in the corner and I follow her there, Rafe’s little pram in tow, so that we are

and as private as we can be.

hard pregnancy, and I know that the birth wasn’t easy on you either – you really shouldn’t have been paying attention to anything besides your body and Rafe and Sinclair –

tell me –“My stomach is roiling with guilt to think that I’ve

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days of the war when you were away on the boat. It’s nothing that he’s done wrong – Sinclair has made so many strides –

him by war – just, had no idea where he was, if

where Sinclair is standing. “I’m

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do this sort of work. If Sinclair intends

not because …well, Ella, if you’re still healing, you need to focus on yourself first. You can

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heart softens and I take a deep breath, still worried but touched by my friend’s concern. She knows me so well. “Thank you, love,” I say, giving her a little smile. “I’ll take care of myself, and my family. But I’m going to help too. Can you tell me? Who is the

lowering her voice and looking

frown at her, not understanding, but giving her the space to work

both know that the right side won this war. That Damon would have worked to disenfranchise the humans completely, to enslave them if he could. Sinclair, we

her, remembering the councils during the war when

think of it, to see some