~Layla~
“You can’t just sit and wait for something bad to happen. She’s with Kade! How much safer could she be?” Anna asked and tossed her arms in the air. The frustration was seeping into her voice as she tried to pull me from the living room window.
Anna grabbed my hand and pulled me back. She took the drapes from their holders and pulled them shut.
“Hey!” I screeched. When I tried to open them up, she turned around and raised her finger.
“Big ass, super trained, mega strong warriors are currently patrolling not just the border but also alongside the wall, both sides, that stretches around this giant house. Speaking of this giant house, we have those same spectacular warriors stationed within these walls with instructions to kill if anyone makes it in. I won’t let you pass life by while waiting for something that may never come.”
“Analise said—”
Anna shook her head and cut me off. “Nah, I don’t care. She can be your friend at night when you’re asleep and be responsible for keeping you worried. I, on the other hand, am your waking best friend and will be responsible for making sure that you live this life you were given a second chance too. Now come on.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me behind her out of the room.
We walked into the kitchen, and Anna started rummaging through the cabinets. She took out flower, cacao, pots and pans, and many other things. She put all the ingredients and tools on the counter and gestured me over.
“What are we doing?” I laughed and looked at the mess that had already filled the counters. The flour bag fell and spread in even patterns like fluffy snow.
Anna was proudly smiling from ear to ear. She was so sweet to want to do this for me. Anna wanted to put a smile on my face and stop me from worrying, but I couldn’t. Kade was away with his parents and Mason to discuss pack business, and our daughter was with him. I was even certain he had Danielle tail them, just in case. She was as safe as could be, but this uneasy feeling and growing worry in my gut was impossible to silence.
Anna shoved a spatula into my hand. She poured the ingredients into the different bowls and had me butter the pan. She switched the spatula for a whisk and pushed the bowl into my hands.
“Whisk away,” she said joyfully. It took me a while to realize. I had been so preoccupied thinking about my daughter that I had missed most of the steps, but now that I stopped and looked, I saw what we were making.
“Unicorn cake?” I breathed. Anna looked up from the stove, where the chocolate was melting into liquid goodness. She smiled and lifted the food coloring in her hands.
“What else?” She giggled.
Anna whisked the second batter. She poured half of it into a separate bowl and added the chocolate chips. After it was thoroughly mixed, she poured the yellow food coloring in. The batch I was whisking was the bottom layer. I poured in the cacao, and Anna added pink coloring to the second batch. We also had blue and purple that would be separate layers.
Anna whisked fast. Her eyes moved to the stove, where the chocolate had melted and was starting to bubble.
She moved the pot. The chocolate was ready. We finished the rest of the layers and put them in the ovens. Luckily, this kitchen was designed to cook for a big household, so it was fully equipped to handle our seven-layer cake.
“Catch!” The bottle of icing came flying through the air.
I reached up and grabbed it, and the sprinkles were already neatly stacked.
Anna jumped up on the counter, drenched in batter and flour.
Her legs swung from the edge, and she wiped her head with the towel.
The wall seemed fascinating when her eyes stuck on it.
“Do you remember when we were ten and made this for the first time?”
I laughed so hard my head flew back.“How can I forget? We abused my kitchen, trying to get everything ready before my parents got home.”
The kitchen looked like a bomb had gone off. Every single drawer was pulled out, and they were filled with spilled baking soda from when we couldn’t get the lid off; the counter was sticky with splashed batter, and we dropped the jar of honey on the floor.
“Remember your mom’s reaction?”
My laugh turned to a scoff of admiration. Her reaction was priceless—not at all what I had thought it would be.
“She walked in and hugged us. Sat by the table and grabbed a fork.” I laughed.
“She ate more cake than we did,” Anna giggled, looking down at the floor. Mom sat with us for an hour, eating cake and laughing at stories we told her.
After we were done, we cleaned up together. Mom was impressed by how much mess we had created in such a short time, but she never complained.
I felt Anna’s eyes on me and looked up. She sat on the counter, silently watching me. The ominousness in the air was continuously thick.
“You know we’ll all be fine, right?” she asked me warily. There was a hesitation in her voice.
Her tone dripped with care and worry.
“I just don’t understand why we can’t just be happy. Why beating Nathaniel wasn’t enough. You know?” She nodded and shrugged a shoulder.
“It’s not up to us, I guess. Take one down, another one rises. You are mated to the most notorious Alpha in the country, and not only that, but you were also an Emberclaw, a fated one at that. Normal and happy just wasn’t in the cards for us.”
I saw the tears in her eyes—the pools of tears and wishes for different paths. I knew she had them; I had them too.
Maybe our lives before this weren’t perfect, but they were ours. We had each other, and we had our families. There was a drama-free liking to them that I didn’t appreciate back them.
“You’ve grown,” she said, breaking the silence starting to suffocate us.
“How do you mean?” I asked her and pushed away from the counter.
“You’re more mature now. It’s been less than a year since we left the Red Moon Pack, but you’re different. You don’t think with your heart anymore. That passionate, careless acting that always got you in trouble…” She laughed and shook her head. “It’s gone. You stop, and you think before you act now. I’m proud of you, Layla.” Anna jumped off the cover. Before she took a step, I tossed my arms around her and pulled her in.
“I couldn’t have done any of it without you.” I cried.
Anna pulled back and grabbed my shoulders. Her eyes dripped with awe, and her jaw dropped. “You’re a mom now, Layla! I mean, what the fuck?!”
We laughed, the kind of laugh that made your stomach hurt and your face ache.
“Layla!” Mason came running into the kitchen. A big smile painted his face, and he was holding a stuffed toy in his hand. “Where is she?” he asked and raised the stuffed bunny to his chest. His smile grew bigger until it reached his ears.
He played with the bunny’s ears, and I laughed while Anna went to take the cakes out.
“She’s with her father. They’ll be back soon, I hope. I miss her,” I whined.
The aroma of freshly baked cake filled the kitchen. Deliciousness, if ever there was any, was this cake right here.
His features changed into confusion. Slowly, his head shook from one side to the other. The last oven closed, and the pan was placed down. Anna walked around the island and looked at Mason.
“No, Layla. Kade gave her to Tracey. She was supposed to bring her to you half an hour ago.”
