My wolf began pacing back and forth in my mind, she growled lowly wanting to protect her pup. So many questions and thoughts invaded my mind, and I was paralyzed with fear, what was I going to do? Would we make it out of the exit door without being seen?

Unaware of footsteps approaching, I'm startled when I hear his deep husky voice utter my name. The sound of my name rolling off his tongue had my body tensing, unable to move from my seat.

"Lara?" He repeated, his tone shocked and surprised.

A cold chill ran down my spine, it was disabling and intense, I couldn't bring my eyes to look up.

I simply stared at the table in front of me as if it were the most interesting thing in the world. When he said my name once more, I sighed deeply, biting onto my lip before looking up at him through my eyelashes, watching as his eye line caught onto our daughter, his face scrunching up in bewilderment.

I took his frozen state as an opportunity to quickly pick-up Kennedy, placing her onto my hip as I hastily walked past him, but not without accidentally brushing his arm against mine.

It pulled him instantly out of his trance as the sparks from our touch ignited against his skin, travelling up his arm from our contact.

The day he rejected me, I never accepted or rejected him back which meant we would always have a connection, the sparks, the desire, and the want to be one would never falter or disappear.

I was a meter away from the door, when his hand grabbed my shoulder forcing me to stop. I reached my hand up, holding Kenny's head and face from view as I tucked her into the crook of my neck.

I brought my eyes up to look at him, his eyes raging with fire. His posture was on edge and he towered over me, his fists clenched, and his jaw hardened. He was glaring at me in coldness and in fury. "Is she mine?"

His words were bitter and harsh in sound.

In silence, I diverted my gaze to anywhere but him.

"She's mine isn't she." He growled, no longer a question in his mind, simply stating the fact.

A sudden spark of ferocity hit me, tired and aggravated by him. "I tried to tell you Gabriel, you never wanted to listen to what I had to say."

Unable to control himself, he began to shake as his breath became laboured, his fury showing as low growls emitted from deep within his throat. He stopped immediately when he heard whimpers coming from the small figure clinging to my neck.

He stopped and stared softly at her. I gently rubbed my hand up and down her back, letting her know that there was no problem, trying to settle any worries she had. I felt her relax, slowly bringing her head out to face us while still positioned in my neck.

"She looks just like you," He began. "She's very beautiful." He added, complimenting her as he sent her a gentle smile after a minute of silence.

Kennedy got embarrassed, mumbling a thank you before a cute blush entered her cheeks, hiding herself further into my neck.

I laughed at her reaction, and Gabriel sent her a wide smile; she copies him and flashes her identical tiny dimples.

The moment made my heart pulse faster especially as Gabriel's laugh flowed through the air. "What's your name?" He asked, stoking her cheek causing our daughter to beam as she told him her name. "Kennedy."

Gabriel mirrored her expression before turning to look at me, his eyes shining with determination and conviction.

Gabriel then turns serious, his stance more powerful and looking for answers. "We clearly have things we need to talk about."

I cringed slightly, not cowering but uncomfortable. I didn't have anything to say to Gabriel, I didn't feel like I needed to or owed him anything. For the sake of our daughter, I would be willing to sort something out but nothing more.

"We need to leave Gabriel; we both have a flight to catch."

He breathed in deeply, trying to gain control of his wolf who flickered between his eyes. "No Lara, you're both coming with me." He lowered his voice, not wanting to use a frightening tone in front of his daughter.

"No Gabriel," I replied sternly, not faltering from confidence. "We are not a part of your pack and I am not obliged to go anywhere with you."

Raising an eyebrow at me, he turned around to his pack members whose attention were fully on us. They were shocked and astonished by the revelation that their Alpha had a daughter.

I went to move forward, seizing the opportunity to exit quickly, wanting to remove myself from this awkward situation.

Persistent on getting to my car quickly, I hastily walked towards my vehicle but was compelled to a stop when two hands reached for my waist containing me.

It was followed by a booming voice full of authority and dominance. "You're coming with me Lara."

"Don't touch me Gabriel, you have no right. You have no authority over me, you lost your right to have any communication when you rejected me that morning over four years ago."

Gabriel's grip never loosened. "I have regretted that night for a long time, I didn't understand when I was eighteen years old at how much I needed you, how much I wanted you."

I shook my head, overwhelmed and suddenly emotional. "No, Gabriel. You don't get to do this right now. I told you that night, that I would never chase you, that I wouldn't fight for someone who wouldn't fight for me."

"You don't get to do this." I whispered shakily, tears welling up as the memories of his rejection flooded me at once.

He bit his lip for a moment, sighing deeply before letting go of his grip on my waist. "Lara, we don't have to talk about us, but we have to talk about our daughter. You can't just take her away when I've only just found out about her."

"I tried to tell you, I called, texted and left countless amounts of voicemails. I went to the border of your territory only to be turned away. I begged, cried and pleaded with you to call me back and you never did."

Kennedy held onto me tighter, my emotions unmeaningly reflecting onto hers. "Then let's talk about it. I'm not denying what you've said because it's true but let's discuss it in private and away from Kennedy."

"She doesn't need to hear this conversation." He added, his hand reaching out to rub his daughter's back as he sensed her worry.

I took in a deep breath, shaking my head slightly before pushing my hair out of my face.

Against my better judgment, I nodded to Gabriel's relief and he directed us to his vehicle across the street, a large black SUV.

Gabriel walked ahead of me as six of his pack wolves followed closely behind, one grabbing Kennedy's car seat from my vehicle before placing it into the middle of Gabriel's car.

He looked so much older; his facial features had changed so much. His shoulders were broader than I remember, his muscles more prominent and doubled in size. I cursed our mate connection for the attraction that I still felt, I couldn't help it, it was designed for that reason.

Gabriel opened the front passenger side door for me, and I quickly placed Kennedy into her car seat before occupying the front seat. Two wolves sat beside Kennedy, either side.

I had passed Gabriel's wolves my car keys in the understanding that they were going to follow us. Gabriel started the engine and began the hours' drive towards his territory.

The silence in the car was awkward until Kennedy whispers lowly, catching everyone's attention. "Where are we going mommy?"

I give her a smile, reassuring her that everything was fine. "We're going to Gabriel's house."

She looked confused, but I didn't want to say anything further. Kennedy instead stared at the huge, muscled male on her left, her eyes going slightly wide before leaning forward in her car seat, whispering once again. "Why are they so fat momma?"

I couldn't help but laugh out loud, my mouth slightly open. The males sat beside her were obviously of high rank, their aura's screamed Beta and Third in Command.

I had recognised his Third in Command as Eli, since he was the one who had to escort me back to Blood Walkers territory when I turned up unannounced. He had always been friendly towards me.

His Third in Command faked a loud gasp in amused shock. "It's all muscle baby." He declared, flexing his muscles. We all began laughing as he tried to prove his point only be outshined by the Beta, who decided to flex his own.

"You're such a show-off Dan." The Third in Command huffed, his ego now deflated.

Dan chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "It's not my problem that you've got arms like string cheese."

Nobody could help the laugher than escaped our mouths as I smiled at Kennedy. "It just muscle." I informed her, after finding my composure.

The car journey wasn't as awkward after that, the Second in Command had introduced himself as Dan with Gabriel telling me that the other four wolves were pack warriors who were following close behind in two cars.

Kennedy began to shuffle in her car seat, she was getting restless from being bored. I leaned down, grabbing her colouring book from her bag, passing it to her along with some colouring pencils.

She started to draw two wolves on the blank piece of paper while forcing Eli to hold her pencils. Eli watched on as she began colouring them in, his eyes concentrating on every movement. "You got names for the two wolves you're drawing?"

Kennedy nodded eagerly, pointing to her drawings. "This one is mommy and this one is Bella." I held in my laugh as Eli pursed his lips together, his eyebrows raising in interest. "Is she pretty?"

Eli looked up at me, his eyebrows raised in a suggestive manner.

Kennedy began gushing about Bella making me laugh further as she didn't understand the meaning behind his question which only made me laugh harder. Bella was the name of her human friend's pet chihuahua.

"Very pretty." I confirmed to an eager Eli, unable to help myself.