A babysitter

Lucifer's POV

I left Ashlyn's arms before she woke up the next morning and I walked out of the room hoping the early morning air would blow away any mucky thoughts in my head.

Sofia stopped me before I could cross the stairs.

"We need to talk." She said as a matter of fact.

I frowned at her despising the tone of authority in her voice. "Should you not have returned to the French quarters by now?" I asked her irritated already by her presence.

She heaved in shock. "Are you sending me away?" She asked.

"As a matter of fact yes. I do not need your drama right now." I said to her and turned to leave.

"Because of her?" She inquired in a hateful tone.

I turned around. "Because of whom if I may ask?" I asked her. Damned, the French wanton. I need no permission to ask a question before I do.

"You know well who I'm talking about." She said to me.

"Since you have decided not to be clear, I leave you to whatever hate is eating you up," I said and turned to leave again.

"I'm talking about your mistress, Ashlyn the vampire." She said and I turned around again and this time expressionless.

"What about her?" I asked her.

"So she's your mate after all." She said and I narrowed my eyes at her.

"You heard quite well what I said last night. Why stop me here to repeat the same thing I said myself?" I inquired getting upset for being stopped and questioned. I hated being questioned.

"Is that why you've been so kind and lenient with her?" She asked.

"Kind? lenient?" I mocked and let out a dry laugh. "Ashlyn may let you in on what sufferings have been inflicted on her," I said to her. I was not about to give this French wanton the kind of information she wanted to hear. "With that done, I'm off. I have no time to stand and talk about meaningless things." I said to her and walked away. This time, no turning back to answer any more irrelevant questions.

Ashlyn's POV

I woke up the next morning to find myself on Lucifer's bed. I struggled to sit up as I looked around. He was nowhere in sight. How did I get on his bed? I could only remember standing close to the wall and falling asleep.

I stared at the sheets and then stared all over the room again. Then I remembered having a nightmare about my father and then sobbing. I could also feel someone consoling me at that moment too.

Just then Lucifer walked into the room and eyed me up and down. I got off the bed guessing that was what he wanted.

"You slept on the job." He said to me.

And "Oh." Was the sigh that left my lips and he narrowed his eyes at me.

"I believe there are some tasks around the pack house for you to do." He said to me as I stood there thinking about last night.

"I do not think any tasks have been assigned to me," I said to him.

"Well then you're in luck I should say. Today, we begin the preparation for the annual Highland Alpha Games. There will be lots of things to set up before the alphas arrive. Get downstairs to Ripper or Kill, you'd be told what to do." He said and then looked away turning his back against me.

"What are the Highland Alpha Games?" I dared to ask him. His turned back indicated that he was done with me and I should take my sorry arse and leave but here I was still standing. My main question itching to get off my lips.

"It's a game conducted and participated by all alphas in the whole of Scotland." He said. "Now scurry off, those hands need to get busy." He said to me.

I turned to leave then he stopped me. "Do ensure to take off my shirt before stepping downstairs." He said and I looked down at myself and realized I still had his shirt on.

"If I may ask," I dared to speak. "Did you by any chance hold me last night while..." I did not get to finish asking my question when he burst into a sarcastic laugh as he turned around to look at me.

His expression turned deadly serious. "Do I perhaps look like any babysitter to you?" He asked and I shook my head a little.

"Good. Foolish of you to assume that I'd hold you in my arms. I do not even cuddle you during or after sex." He said frowning deeply at me and I realized he was right.

Lucifer was not the kind of man to exhibit such emotions. Perhaps I had dreamt of being comforted too.

"I'll take my leave now," I said to him.

"Do so." He said without a string of emotion attached to it and I left. The instant I walked into my room, I was immediately reminded that I lost a child there. I swallowed back the tears forming in my throat. I'd have to learn to live with it. Perhaps she was not meant to stay. What if she had been born only for her to discover the ugly truth that her mother was a mate to her father but she was treated as a slave and a mistress?

"And what if he changes if the child had been born?" Iona asked me.

I scoffed. "Not Lucifer. He has a heart of stone. He could be the devil himself, who knows?" I said to her as I took off his shirt.

"And yet, he offered you his shirt to cover your nudity?" She asked me.

"That was not an act of kindness. He did so cause he did not want the other men to feast their eyes on his property." I said to her.

She curved a smile. "Isn't that what jealous lovers do?" She asked me.

"No!" I exclaimed. "It's what possessive Masters do. He wants to be the only one who gets to see me naked and no one else." I said to her as I walked into the bathroom.

"And you'd call that what?" She asked.

"Damn you, Iona, I just told you. It's called being possessive." I said to her as I relaxed a bit in the bathtub.

"Yes it is and that's sweet I must admit." She said.

"What?" My eyes flew open in surprise. "What are you insinuating now Iona?" I asked her.

She grinned. "Nothing. Just the fact that he's handsome and have you seen his Lycan Steel?" She said and I rolled my eyes.

"What about him?" I asked her.

"He's fierce and so hot at the same time. I've been having thoughts you know." She said winking.

I stifled a laugh. "Turns out my body is not the only whore here. You are too." I said to her.

"I'm a part of you remember? We're one." She said to me.

"And I hope you also remember that we've just lost a child," I said to her closing my eyes.

"I can't forget that." She said retreating as I closed my eyes to imagine if the child had been born, how would life have been?

Would life have treated me differently or cruelly? Would it have wound her up in my fatal fate? Would it have been more pleasant and indifferent for her?

Different thoughts spread through my mind like wildfire on a harmattan morn. How my child would have lived in this world with me? How it would affect her to have a weak mother like me. Would I have been able to protect her from the troubles of the world? I doubted that. I could not even protect myself from my troubles. But as they say, a mother's greatest strength comes from her child.