Chapter 4

Emilia Susannah Caine. He liked the name. Emilia, after a childhood friend he lost to cancer and Susannah after her mother. 

Finally, he was able to take her home, he went back to the hospital right after the full moon to pick her up. 

Mrs Grace was already doing a good job of handling her. 

She cried less and less but something told Gabriel that that would be the least of his worries.

Emilia was like all babies really, all she really did was eat, sleep, poop and cry and Emilia took each and every one of her tasks seriously. 

She ate a lot, she went through bottles and bottles of milk that even her donor's milk couldn't sustain her, they had to supplement with formula. She slept a lot during the day, so long as nobody in the house made a noise, she would have her nap times uninterrupted. She equally pooped a lot, the first time Gabriel had to change her diaper, he was mortified. He had called the doctor, was baby poop supposed to be green?! 

The doctor said it was normal. And the smell! Oh the smell also got everywhere, her smelly diapers were a menace enough for his delicate werewolf smell. He could sniff them from half a mile away and could also tell without checking her diaper, when she needed a diaper change. 

Emilia had a weird concept of time, she slept during the day and terrorised them in the night. In fact, her first two nights in the house, he didn't get any sleep.  

No matter how or what he tried he just couldn't get her to sleep through the night and he tried as much as possible not to bother Grace during the night. She already had enough on her plate during the day, besides Grace wasn't even a live in staff.

In fact, that was one of the things that made him start to consider the prospects of a nanny.

That and the fact that Grace was too old to be taking care of a newborn.

Grace had recommended Ms Wyatt, claiming the young woman could benefit from the arrangement. Besides, she was already donating her milk to her. Gabriel was sceptical but he had chose to respect Grace's wishes and extend an offer. 

Loretta Wyatt. The woman was an enigma. There was nothing much he could find on her online, not even a social media account. He ran her information through the city's database and her information came out and a grainy picture of her on her driver's license. She was twenty two, young, very young. She had very dark hair and large hazel eyes. She was beautiful, but there was also something dark and mysterious about her. 

As far as he could see from her information she had no criminal records, but Gabriel couldn't shake the feeling that that was not all about her. Besides, she had been  pregnant, even though she had lost the baby, she must have family, or a partner somewhere. 

He had his lawyer prepare a contract, one that he was sure anyone would swiftly accept. And after the contract was done he drove over to Jay's diner where she worked to present it to her. 

Even from inside his car, parked in the parking lot he could see her working. She had a small trim figure, he couldn't believe she was the same woman who had given birth two weeks ago. She walked gracefully, elegantly, her face gave no emotions. she was smart and quick on her feet, but there was a faraway look in her eyes. The look of someone that had given up. 

He was curious about her. Very curious. 

Slowly, he walked out of his car and walked towards the diner where she was. 

As he got closer to her, he caught a whiff of her scent. That was interesting, he could smell herbs, with a tinge of blood and a slight lavender scent. 

He looked at her again, she didn't appear to be bleeding anywhere. Except she was on her period. Being a werewolf could be tasking sometimes. It meant that he could smell everything, he could smell sickness in someone's body, he could smell blood, he could smell someone's emotions, like a taste on his tongue.

It was much easier for him to detect if the person was a werewolf. A bit harder to detect for a human but not entirely impossible, especially for him since he was an Alpha. 

His smell, just like the other heightened senses he had was a gift and a curse. 

"Ms Wyatt are you Ms Wyatt?"

He asked as he stood behind her while she wiped a messy table. Grace called her Lori, he decided to use that instead of her full name. 

"Yes."

She said without even looking back. 

"Can we sit and talk somewhere."

She finally turned to look at him and Gabriel felt like he had been punched in the stomach. Just then, he felt a line, like an invisible force had bonded him to the woman in front of him. 

He swallowed uncomfortably as he watched the woman in front of him. 

Mate. She was his mate. 

He looked at her again, there was no inkling in her eyes, no sort of recognition. She must be human, so she wouldn't feel the mating pull. It would be slower for her. It would take her weeks, months even for her to realise. She had to fall in love with him first before she ever knew. 

As Gabriel walked back to his car after she told him to wait for her at the end of shift, he was lost in his thoughts. Why? Why her? 

Ever since he was a young wolf he always imagined what his mate would be like. He never thought of his mate being any different than him. His mate was a werewolf. His mate was supposed to be a werewolf. 

The moon goddess tended to work in mysterious ways and created situations like this but this was a tricky one. 

He was alpha. Alpha of one the best packs to ever exist. Alpha of one of the packs with the strongest bloodlines. How could his Luna be weak? How could his Luna be human?

It just didn't make any sense.

He would keep it to himself. He would keep the information to himself. At least until he knew what to do with it. 

A few moments later she walked out of the diner in a layered red dress and boots. She had loosened her hair out from it's ponytail and she let it flow freely. Without the uniform she looked much better, prettier even. 

He came out of his car and went to open the door for her, he could see the surprise on her face, but she didn't say a word. 

He caught a whiff of her again, the lavender scent seemed stronger now, overpowering, it  must be a perfume she donned on. 

This was going to be hard. Very hard. If she was to be Emilia's nanny, then he had to stay further away from her. The stronger the mating bond became, the harder it would be for him to deny the feelings he would have for her. 

Ten thousand dollars a month. Lori had never possessed that much money in her life, or even seen it before. It sounded impossible, almost impossible that this man would be giving her so much, just to be his daughter's nanny.

He could have refused Grace and picked anyone, anyone else who would be more professional than her. Anyone better. 

But he was willing to choose her. 

Perhaps if they knew more about her history they wouldn't be so willing. Perhaps if they knew what she had done they wouldn't even offer. 

She dropped off the contract on her coffee table and picked up her house phone and called the Fullers again. It went to voicemail, like it always did. 

They were not picking her calls. 

Lori sighed. 

Perhaps it was finally time to confront them. She had never been to their house before but she had the address. She had written it down one time after spying it in a document. The Fullers had been very formal with her, so they had never extended an invitation for her to come over. 

Perhaps now was the right time. 

She thought as she walked into her small room and picked out a faded black jeans and large grey T-shirt. She swiped her boots for flats and washed her face before leaving.

The Fullers residence was about twenty minutes away from her place. In a totally different part of the city. 

She could remember the very first day she had met Mrs Anne Fuller. It was the day she had found out she was pregnant. She went to the hospital thinking she had a stomach bug because she couldn't keep any food in and the doctor has said she was three months pregnant. She had irregular periods so when she kept seeing blood throughout the three months she thought she wasn't pregnant. 

Her first thought was abortion, she wanted one right away, but she was too far along and the thought of it alone scared her. 

The nurse had walked into her room and gave her a pamphlet on adoption Lori had accepted it and walked out of the hospital room. On her way out she had bumped into a thin slender women. The woman helped her pick up her pamphlet then she introduced herself. 

She offered Lori a ride home, Lori at that moment couldn't figure out why she was being so nice to her. The woman had stopped by a fast food restaurant and asked her if she wanted anything to eat, Lori was reluctant to impose but she was hungry so she had accepted. While they ate Anne Fuller had asked her if she was pregnant and if she was considering adoption. Lori nodded. Then Anne Fuller had then recounted the story of her life, how she and her husband have been trying to have a baby for ten years. 

She stated directly that she would like to adopt Lori's baby. Lori was confused, it all happened so fast. 

At first she was sceptical, then she had done her research and found out just how many kids in her city alone were waiting for adoption. Lori herself had been in the system, so she knew how it was, she knew how it could be. 

Then Mrs Fuller grew more persistent, she would bring Lori food, call her everyday to check on her, offered to drive her to her doctor's appointment and after three weeks Lori caved. They were nice people, nice good people, her baby would be in safe hands. 

In less than a week a contract was drafted. Lori signed it, relinquishing her rights as a mother immediately the baby was born. The Fullers had stated she would have no contact with the baby and even if she did, she would not reveal that she was his birth mother. 

Lori agreed. She agreed to everything. It was for the best, she told herself. He was in better hands. Except when the inevitable happened. 

The taxi stopped in front of the Fuller's residence, a nice white house with a picket fence, the kind of house you dreamed of having a family in. The lawn was perfectly manicured and the lights were on. 

The Fullers were home.