Chapter 424 – Falling for the Alpha as a Surrogate Novel

Filed To Story: Falling for the Alpha as a Surrogate Novel

“I don’t know,” Cora says, grinning at Benny, as delighted as I am. “I guess we’ll just have to see, won’t we?”

“Hey, Benny,” Isabel says, coming to stand by his side and offering her hand. “You know you’re not supposed to sneak out of bed – Dr. Hank said two more days of bed rest before you’re cleared to go to the children’s home.”

“Dr. Hank is fulla soup!” Benny says, crossing his arms and frowning up at Isabel. The sincere disbelief and frustration in this kid set me off laughing again and Benny turns to grin at me. He takes Isabel’s hand, though. ” I don’t feel sick at all, since the lady came yesterday!” he protests, pointing at me. “I should be allowed to go and find my mom!”

My laughter dies a little as he mentions his mother again, but I do my best not to let it show in my face.

“I know, kid,” Isabel says, grinning down at him and giving me a wink. ” Maybe we’ll have Dr. Hank come and look at you again, see if you can’t go tomorrow.”

Satisfied with this, Benny nods and consents to be led back to bed, calling his goodbyes to us over his shoulder.

I stand up with Cora, sighing and watching him go.

“He reminds me of you,” she says, and I look over at her in surprise to see a big grin on her face as she watches the little boy get tucked back into his bed.

“Really?” I ask.

“Yeah,” she says, turning to me with a smile. “So full of life, ready to question everything even though the world has delt him a tough hand. He’s got Ella Reina vibes for sure.”

I purse my lips together, trying not to let my sincere pleasure show on my face at the compliment. Because even if Cora meant it as a compliment for Benny…well, he’s just so damn cute, and vivid, and determined that I can’t help but be pleased with the idea that I am anything like him.…

“Oh geeze,” Cora says, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and turning Rafe and I towards the entrance to the tent.

“What!?” I protest, confused.

“Let’s get you out of here,” she murmurs. “Before you start adopting kids.”

And I laugh but…I don’t really protest.

Because, as a former orphan myself? I know how important it is for these children to find homes and families that love them. And I certainly have enough love in my heart to make that a reality for a kid like I used to be, a kid like Benny.

I just…wonder what Sinclair would think of the idea. Even just hypothetically. I’m still wondering on it when Cora nudges me with her elbow as we pass through the gates of the camp.

“Hmm?” I ask, inviting her to tell me what she’s thinking.

“I know we’ve kind of left it off the table for a bit, Ella,” she says, looking over at me seriously. “But…I wanted to talk to you about all of this wedding business.”

“Oh!” I say, my eyes going wide and eager. And then I laugh, shaking my head as Conner opens the back door of the car for me. I murmur my thanks to him and begin to strap Rafe into his car seat as Cora goes around to the other side. “Honestly, I’m glad you remembered, Cora – because I honestly keep forgetting to talk to you about it amongst everything else that’s been on our plates the past few days. But Sinclair is really excited about it! He thinks it’s important!”

Cora bites her lip a little as we close our doors and buckle ourselves in.

“Oh no,” I say, seeing her expression and reaching for her hand over top of Rafe’s carrier. “Oh, Cora, you don’t want to do it?”

“It’s not that I don’t see the importance of it, Ella,” she says, shaking her head a little as she takes my hand. “Or that I’m not grateful for you and Sinclair for offering this to us but…” she sighs and I hold her gaze as Conner begins to drive us home. ” Honestly, Ella, I know I’ve never talked about getting married before, and that this whole idea of a mating ceremony for me is incredibly new, but…it’s more important to me than I thought it would be.”

I nod, understanding, listening.

“And,” she continues, “I…I want something that really reflects me and Roger. That’s small, and intimate, and feels…special to us. Not…like a spectacle for the whole nation.”

“I understand,” I say, softly. Because as wonderful as my own big ceremony was for me, it really was just for me. And Cora, I know, has been waiting for just the right moment for Roger to give her his mark – she really wants it to be right.

“But I don’t want to disappoint you,” Cora says, looking up at me with worried eyes.

Ella

“Cora,” I scold, frowning, “you know I don’t’ feel that way – ”

“Well I know you’d never say it,” she protests, sighing. “But I do get that this union between a wolf and a human that, symbolically, it’s important. And even if you’re not disappointed that it could be… disappointing.”

“I want you to have the mating ceremony you want, Cora,” I reply, steady in my truth here. “Especially in the case of something as important as this.” I give her hand a little squeeze before pulling mine away. “But if you’d like to consider a middle path…maybe you could let me show you what I was thinking?”

She turns her head to look up at me, surprised. “You’ve been…planning?”

“Just a little,” I say, unable to keep the eagerness out of my voice. “Just late at night when Sinclair is asleep and I can’t sleep, or I get up to feed Rafe – ”

“You’ve been loosing sleep over this!?”

“No!” I protest, but then I hesitate. ” Well, not much.”

“Ella!”

“Just – can I show you what I was thinking!?” I plead, “sister to sister!? And then, if you hate it, you can say no.” A wide grin comes to my face then. “But I think you’re going to like it.”

Cora gives a big sigh, leaning back into her seat and closing her eyes. ” Fine, Ella,” she says. “But this is not a yes.”

“I didn’t think it was!” I say, newly excited. Because honestly…it’s gorgeous, and I can’t wait to show her my plans.

When I come sighing into our rooms that evening, Sinclair immediately looks up at me from his casual position on the bed – looking down at his tablet, still doing work, as usual – and immediately laughs.

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