Page 21 of Alpha's Secret Baby Girl
She glared at him a moment longer before she stiffly said, “I know the urban legend that there was a coven of demons that claimed the island as their own and caused all sorts of terriblethings. Then the witches came to the island, seeking refuge, and in exchange for banishing the demons, the shifters let them stay. And promptly forget the witches were the ones that saved their asses and mistreated any children born of witch-shifter unions.”
She turned her glare back at the Elders. Rafael wanted to snap again, until he saw how much she was trembling. The heat in his chest eased. She wasn’t being prickly for the sake of being prickly. She was afraid. It must be taking all she had to keep standing here, weathering the distrustful looks the council still threw her way.
All of a sudden, Rafael wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and take her away from here.
“Whatever magic the witches used to banish the demons wasn’t fully binding. They escape from time to time.” Thera steepled her fingers again. “The witch-descendants have always served as a sort of alarm system for when the demons were going to reemerge. It is clear from your visions that we will be dealing with them again soon.”
Gwen shivered more obviously and nodded.
“We have some tips for you to employ whenever you feel the vision starting.” Thera pushed a piece of paper across the table.”
“What is it?” Rafael asked, picking it up.
“Ways that, with any luck, will let us know more details about this demon and what it wants. In the meantime, we will keep studying.” Thera stood, her silent way of saying the meeting was over. Normally, Rafael would force the point to linger a little longer, to remind them that they weren’t going to push him around. He had always thought his father was unnecessarily bullying toward them, just as everyone else, but they were stubborn themselves.
Today, though, all he wanted was to get Gwen out of there. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her toward the door. The Council stared after them, but he ignored them. Gwen’s body was soft and warm next to him, but her shaking made his heart ache. This wasn’t just because of her visions. It was born from a lifetime’s expectations to be mistreated by everyone in that room.
Even me,he realized.
They were out of the building, in his car, and halfway back home before Gwen spoke.
“I’m not changing my name.”
Rafael tensed. “What?”
She turned a baleful look onto him. “I’m not changing my name.”
Out of everything that had gone down with the Council, that was what she was most concerned about? He gritted his teeth at the absurdity of it. “We’re married.”
“So?”
“So, I want to have the same last name as my wife and daughter,” Rafael answered.
“You can take my name, then,” Gwen shot back. “After all, you didn’t even like your father. Why should we all take his name when my mother was a delight?”
Rafael pulled the car to a stop. He turned to her, ready to tell her it wasn’t the same, when he stopped himself. Her eyes were wide, her skin pale. Whatever she was feeling, it wasn’t just anger at being assumed to have changed her name. No… this was because he’d made the unilateral decision that they were going to be married. She was fighting back against that, trying tomaintain her own autonomy in a situation that was bigger than she was.
And she was right. He didn’t like his father. “I… guess I can consider it,” he said reluctantly, because he didn’t want to hurt her any more than he already had. “I like having the same last name as my brother, though. I can’t see myself easily convincing him to change it.”
Gwen looked startled. “Is that… a joke?”
“If you have to ask, I must be doing it wrong.”
Gwen’s shoulders hunched. “I don’t know how to deal with the idea of demons coming after my daughter. Being on the island puts her in more danger, just like I said, if the demons arehere.”
“The stories say that once they latch onto someone, they will chase them across the world. There is one that I remember about Martha Willowby—”
“I heard that story, too.” Gwen shuddered. “You’re right. It’s just… a lot. I don’t want Lianne to know. She’s too young and it will only frighten her.”
They gazed at each other for a moment longer. Gwen broke it by turning abruptly and pushing open the door with more force than necessary. They were both quiet as they went into the house. There, Lianne instantly jumped into Gwen’s arms and started to excitedly talk about all the crafts she, Chelsey, and Kira did. The tension melted away from Gwen.
“Show me,” she urged, and Lianne pulled her toward the kitchen.
Rafael watched them, his heart aching. It wasn’t just the loss of Lianne’s first years that hurt him; he was startingto realize. He wished he could have been there for Gwen. He wished he could have helped her and made things easier for her.
All because he couldn’t stand up to his father for her.
Things are different now, he swore. He was here to look after them both. No demon was going to hurt either of them, not while he remained Alpha.
