Layla's POV
"Mind your tone and have a little f*****g respect." Nicole hissed furiously as she jabbed her finger at me, "I'm still your mother."
"You're not my mother," I laughed, "You're the woman who looked at me and instead of love she saw a problem. You're the woman who looked at the bastard child and saw a solution to the scandal that her own mate had caused. That's not a mother. Not for either of us."
Nicole pressed two fingers to her temple and drew in a long breath. When she spoke again, her tone had shifted and her duplicity pissed me off more than I could ever put into words.
"Layla," she said, softer now. "Listen to me. This isn't about old wounds, let's not go over things that we can't change. This is about survival, for us all, surely you can see that? Kian has t
