The minute Miguel had opened his eyes, Skyler had lost all his sense of reasoning. The boy reminded him so much of when he was a child.
"Alice?" He called. Alice rushed over to his other side, grabbing his arms.
"Yes champ. I'm here". Alice half chuckled, half cried.
"Who is this man?" Miguel had always been an inquisitive child.
"A friend of uhmm....mum". Miguel's eyes lit up when he heard his mother.
"Where's mum? Did she go to get me a candy?" He was excited and anxious at the same time. Alice scratched the back of her head.
"Erm.....uhm....mum is...." She stumbled on her words.
"Your mum had to rush to work". Skyler cut in, saving Alice from further stammering.
"Work? Didn't you call her Alice?" The boy sounded like he wanted to cry.
"I did... it's just..."
"Mama chose to work over me? I know she'll never do that". Miguel cut in, tears brimming at the corner of his eyes.
The tears pained Skyler. Whoever had kidnapped his mate and caused his son so much pain was going to pay for it.
"Look champ. Mama didn't have a choice okay. It was an emergency and if she didn't go, she would have lost her job and then she won't have money to get you all those toys and candies. Would you love that?" Skyler spoke softly and the boy shook his head.
"But she'll be here soon right?" The boy sounded hopeful. Skyler wanted to run mad but he knew he had to comport himself.
"The thing is. Mama's work demanded that she traveled out of the state and she will be gone maybe a day or two". It pained Skyler to lie to his son in this manner.
"But she will call right?" His lips were shaking, signifying that he was trying his best not to cry.
"I don't know champ. Mama's gonna be really busy. So she sent me to be here. To take good care of you". And that was it, the boy let the tears flow. Skyler was radiating in anger and the people in the room cowered away in fear.
"Are you my new father Mama was supposed to go out with tonight?" The boy asked while still crying. Skyler didn't know how to respond. After Fira discovered who he was, he wasn't so sure she was gonna want to have anything to do with him.
"Don't cry champ. I'll take you to my house. I promise you'll love it. It's a big mansion. You're gonna have lots of candies. We're gonna go to wherever you want to go, get you whatever you want. Alice is gonna be there too. You can watch TV every hour of the day if you please. You can skip school if you don't feel like it".
"Really?" The boy sniffed.
"Whatever you want champ. Whatever you want".
"Can we go already? I hate the smell of this hospital". Skyler laughed and that calmed the tension in the room.
After paying the bills, Skyler carried Miguel out of the hospital. He had ordered another car to be brought.
"Alice, enter this car and the driver will take you to your house to get whatever you want before bringing you back to mine". Alice nodded. She was still feeling sad and depressed.
The ride back to Skyler's mansion was filled with friendly chatter between Skyler and Miguel who eventually slept off in his arms.
Immediately they arrived, Skyler carried the boy upstairs to the room adjoining his. He had already called and had it prepared.
"Phone Chris. Tell him I need him tomorrow morning. I have a sick child". He ordered his P.A.
"Alpha, he'll be here by 8 tomorrow".
***
Alice was a crying mess. She was shaking seriously.
"It's all my fault. It's all my fault. It's all my fault". She kept chanting to herself.
It was her fault Miguel got hurt. It was her fault Miss B was taken and now Miguel was gonna live with a strange man. And she had to go too.
With shaky hands, she grabbed the knife and sliced her both wrists. Blood shot out and she cried as she watched herself bleed. Slowly, she felt faint and collapsed on the floor, unconscious.
Vincent waited in the car. What could be taking the girl so long? It had been close to 30 minutes. What could she be packing?
He decided to go check for himself.
"Alice! Alice!!" He called as he went inside.
The parlor was littered with alcohol bottles and there was a man of about 40, passed out on the couch. Obviously her father. The whole place reeked of alcohol.
He opened from door to door till he got to her room and found her passed out on the floor, still bleeding.
"Alice!" He hurriedly swept her into his arms and as he rushed out, he saw an empty bottle of antidepressants.
He put the girl in the back seat and rushed to the closest pharmacy where she was treated despite her unconscious state. Vincent was assured she would wake soon and was given medications for her.
On his way back to Skyler's mansion, he got a call.
"What's taking you so long?" It was Skyler.
"Sir the girl passed out in her room without my knowledge. I went in when she was taking so long. Apparently, she's depressed and on antidepressants so she hurt herself. But I've taken her for treatment and we're on our way back.
Skyler cursed under his breath and ended the call.
"Damien, any information?"
He called immediately after ending the call with Vincent.
"Nothing sir".
"What do you mean nothing? They didn't go far!!" He was frustrated. How could they not find his Fira?
He needed to drink else he was gonna kill someone. But looking at the little boy on the bed, his son, he refrained from it and instead, got a chair to sit by his side.
Since the night he had seen Fira in his hotel room, despite his drugged state, he had been mesmerized. He wondered how he didn't sense her as his mate. Maybe because he was her second chance mate and her first mate was yet to reject her. Since that night, he couldn't stop thinking of her. Just when he found her and wanted to make things right, she was abducted.
Vincent drove into the mansion and immediately lifted Alice into his arms and up the steps into the house. He refused help from anyone. No one was allowed to touch her besides him. After all, she was his mate.