Mommy, I Want A New Alpha Daddy

Tigerlilly

AZALEA'S POV

--

The soft wind blows across my heated cheeks as we walk across the open field, a few white and yellow flowers grown here and there, dancing as the wind wraps around their delicate stems. "Isn't she heavy?" What a stupid question to ask. I mentally slap myself. Sucking my lips into my mouth, I glance at Corbin, an amused look on his face. The sun shines down from above, and it was like watching golden honey on midnight silk. The cool edge of his raven hair was now glistening with warmth of golden beauty.

"Stupid question, sorry." I shrug, forcing myself to face forward to hide the blush creeping over my cheeks and not stare at the one person who knows how to push my limits.

"Stupid question indeed," He chuckles, his broad chest barely moving as his smile stretches across his face. An immediate pulse of anger vibrates through my bones. He did not need to confirm it.

“I don’t know,” I taunt, biting down to keep the rage from surfacing. My eyes dance over his muscular arms, and damn they're huge, “Seems like you’d struggle.” My shoulders lift into a small shrug, and his eyes bulge at my offensiveness, but the boiling anger simmers into a hot breeze. Folding my hands behind my back, my shoulders square, “So you know, I could carry you both and it wouldn’t be heavy.” A smug grin tugs at the corners of his lips, and mine part on a sharp gasp, “Are you implying that I’m fat?” I scoff, c*****g an eyebrow.

His face visibly pales as panic swirls in his eyes, “Goddess, no.” He quickly blurts alarmingly. “I just meant that she’s not heavy and— and—” I snicker at his frightened expression, my lips refusing to go wider than a small smile as the world's grief presses down on me. I shake my head as I raise a hand to stop him from panicking. There's no need for both of us to suffer, “I know what you meant, Corbin.” I murmur amused, and his shoulders visibly sag with relief.

Corbin blows out a long breath, “Still the little Tigerlilly,” He grins, and immediate tension shoots through my bones like lightning, tainting my mood black and blue.

My smile fades into nothing but a thin line of what I’ve been walking on the entire day, and the hallow hole in my heart returns like a burst of the flesh.

At least there was one simple, heartfelt, light moment that distracted me.

A moment that shouldn’t exist today.

I’m supposed to feel my father’s loss, but with Elion’s lies being brought to light, my heart is split in a thousand pieces that are stuck in a tornado, shards shooting out here and there, gutting more of my chest.

Turning in my seat, smiling triumphantly, I hold up my paper, showing Corbin my perfect score. 'What you got, Ashy?' I taunt, knowing that the teacher said that there was only one person with a perfect score. Corbin's eyes narrow on me, his lips twitching up in a scowl before it slowly spreads into a wicked grin as he ever so slowly lifts his own paper, his eyes rounding as he holds up his perfect score too. 'Thought you were too good for me, Morvain?' Corbin tilts his head, eyebrow raised. 'Seems like the teacher needs to go for a head scan.'

"I'm not a Tigerlilly," my eyes roll, chest bouncing as I huff. "You are, even if you don't see it yet." He breathes the words calmly, reminding me of a calm wave washing over the shore, but all I see is the storm beyond the calm waves, the deadly kind that threatens to drown you.

We reach the Alpha's manor, a large dark gray home with three stories. Stopping in front of the large oak door, I turn to Corbin, "I can take her," I step closer, "And make her uncomfortable?" he snorts, his eyes flicking down the length of me, "No offense, Az, but you're tiny." His eyebrows scrunches when his nose does, and the scrutinization on his face has my eyes narrowing on him. "And for five years, I have been doing just fine by taking care of my daughter." I snap, heat exploding through my body like I'm set on fire. "I just want to help." His eyebrows furrow, "And I don't need it." I stare at him wide-eyed. He studies me for a beat, "No, you don't--" he breathes, his jaw tight, "--but you can accept it." He adds fuel to the flame, and I can feel it catching fire.

Contemplating my response, I scoff, "Get better insults, that one is old." I shake my head. The tension fades ever so slowly, "I have plenty of time to come up with new ones, just you wait," He smiles, the dimple forming in his cheek making my shudder.

Corbin Ashthorn, the flirting manipulator. It's always been his tactic, to distract before taking down.

The real question is, what the hell is he planning this time?

My eyes flit down to my sleeping daughter, and I open the door, leading Corbin to one of the downstairs bedrooms to lay Lyra down.

Stepping foot into my childhood home, a weight lifts from my shoulders. The high ceilings leaves space for the light to infiltrate the space, and the open space's marble floors shine with how spotless they are. My eyes flick over to the dark brown leather armchair that my dad used to sit in while reading through papers when I got home, and my heart cracks at the ghost of his image.

Right next to the armchair is a lamp, my mother's favorite, a tall one with a yellow globe, and the cover? A full moon, like the night they met.

"Should I put her on the couch?" Corbin's voice pulls me back to the present. I shake my head, forcing myself to turn toward the hallway below the stairs and I walk, not bothering to look back as I listen to his footsteps falling behind mine.

I open the first bedroom, the spotless, white room. I step inside, immediately thinking of the deep closet filled with coats behind the white sliding door that I used to hide in when playing hide and seek with my parents as a kid. Strutting to the curtains, they make a soft swish and a clink as the metal rings cling against the steel pole as I pull them shut to keep the light out.

Facing the bed, Corbin already has Lyra tucked into it below the feathered duvet, her brown hair flowing over the white pillow.

Corbin gazes at Lyra, his eyes shimmering as he steps back, smiling sweetly down at her.

He follows me out of the room, and I slowly turn the knob to not make a sound as the door shuts. "You know..." Corbin sighs, and when I face him, he's leaned against the opposite wall, hands tucked into his trouser pockets. "I can help," I blank at his offer. "With?" My eyebrows raise as my arms cross over my chest.

"The pack, anything." His gaze momentarily flicks to the door behind me, but I find the offer skeptically kind, "I've got it," I shrug, even though I do not have it right now. I have enough experience of what not to do by watching Elion. My father did it right, I'm just going to do it better. I just need the time to settle into everything.

"Are you sure?" The skepticism swirling in his eyes has my blood boiling. "Did we not attend the same academy?" I tilt my head, and his eyes widen at my snappy tone, "You know that it isn't the same as--", "Was I not Luna for six years?" I blink away the tears of my past.

I will miss the Nythming pack, but I will not miss Elion. I will not miss wondering if I was good enough, because the truth is, I never was, and I never will be, not for Elion.

I was never Bexley— and thank the Goddess that I never would be.

"You were," he murmurs unsurely, but I think he knows that he's walking on thin ice in the wrong pack. "Then why are you questioning me?" I sneer, and immediately suck in a breath as I close my eyes. I do a quick take behind me at the door, listening for any sound coming from beyond it. Relief floods me as my daughter sleeps soundly, and I turn back to Corbin, eyes narrowed as I nod toward the foyer and start walking. He follows like a lost puppy, but when I stop outside the house and turn to face him, he walks tall, keeping his chin up and eyes sharp like a cat. A breeze tousles his hair lightly as he stares down at me with an intense gaze, "I did not mean it like that, Azalea, and you know it." His chin dips slightly as his gaze burns into me. "Do I?" My arms raise and fall to my sides, "Why are you even here?" A question I should've asked earlier, much earlier. "Why am I here? I brought your sleeping daughter--", "No!" I interrupt, leaning past him to pull the door shut.

"Why did you come to my father's funeral, Corbin? Why did you approach me?" The rage bubbles beneath my skin like a volcano before erupting. “Because I knew him, and I know you,” A reasonable explanation, but am I really going to fall for it? "You knew me." I correct bitterly.

Staring him down, our eyes tango as we hold each other’s gazes. “He was a wonderful Alpha, and I still know you” He continues, cracking underneath the weight of my glare, but the Azalea Corbin knew doesn't exist anymore. “I know that he was a wonderful Alpha, but for the love of the Goddess, stop acting like we're friends.” The words come out chipped and cold, “We are friends, at least I thought we were,” His voice cracks and the gentleness in his eyes are replaced by burning rage.

I take a step back, “Just because we know each other doesn't mean we're friends.” I cross my arms, hugging myself. Turning my head, I gaze into the direction of the graveyard, a heavy weight pressing down on my chest, making it harder to breathe. “Az, I’m here.” I notice him inching closer from the side of my eye, and my entire body tenses up at how softly he speaks. “I can see that,” I grit out without looking at him.

“Then look at me,” His impatient tone catches me by surprise. He’s been civil and kind the entire time, and it’s time for the real Corbin Ashthorn to come out and play.

“I really don’t feel like hurting my eyes any longer,” I huff, the hurtful words lessening the tension in my chest. “Ouch,” he rubs across his chest, stepping in front of me with a teasing smile.

My gaze reluctantly flicks up as I stare at him through my lashes, “Does it hurt?” he quirks his bushy brow, a taunting smile curving at his lips.

I compose myself, straightening my shoulders, “I think I went blind,” I deadpan, eyeing him with distaste.

He has always known how to creep under my skin and crawl around in my nerves, but what really has my system going into shock is when he laughs, a true laugh unlike the bitter or cocky ones I’ve witnessed.

This one is new, full of light and joyful, the total opposite of what I am.