Page 23 of Alpha's Secret Baby Girl
Rafael lifted one of his dark eyebrows as his gaze ran over her form. “I always liked the smell of your sweat, and when your face is flushed like that, it highlights the green of your eyes.”
“Stop it.”
“It’s the truth. And in case you have any lingering doubts, Gwen Parker, I found you sexy and attractive seven years ago, and I still find you sexy and attractive. Time hasn’t changed that,” he said, his voice lowering to a seductive growl.
Heat pooled in her belly. Her breathing hitched, and she had to look away quickly. “Don’t talk like that in front of Lianne.”
“Lianne is on the other side of the pond. She can’t hear.”
Gwen shook her head. “Don’t.”
Her pulse thrummed. He was still attracted to her? Even after everything, after how angry he was with her for keeping Lianne hidden from him? She twisted her hands together, trying to come up with some excuse not to believe him. She couldn’t. And even worse… she knew that her feelings weren’t exactly staying in the ‘anger’ category either.
I have to be careful,she told herself.Otherwise, I might just go and fall in love with him again.
***
“We should come here every day,” Lianne said as they started heading back down the path. She didn’t want to ride again, not yet, so they were walking in human form for now. “It’s so pretty, and we can see the tadpoles get bigger and become frogs! But don’t touch the frogs,” she added with a stern look up at Rafael. “It’s like acid on their skin.”
Gwen internally smiled at the very serious expression on Rafael’s face as he nodded. “Duly noted. No touching the frogs. Except to eat them.”
“You don’t eat frogs!” Lianne burst into giggles, shaking her head.
“I don’t?” Rafael gasped in mock surprise.
Gwen laughed, watching them fondly. A flicker of movement caught her eye, and she turned in time to see a dark shape burst through the trees. Something cold and hard slammed into her chest, sending her tumbling backward. Rafael shouted, and Lianne screamed. Gwen gasped for breath, fighting for strength to push herself up. There was a strange numbness burning across her chest.
She managed to flip onto her back and saw a black shape above her. It was a deeper black than night, a point of utter darkness as though someone had taken a pair of scissors and crudely cut out the shape of a person. A single point of light beamed from where the face would be. Her lungs locked as she stared up at it. This was the same sort of darkness in her visions.
A demon.
“Mommy!” Lianne screamed.
There was a subtle change in the shape of the empty blankness that was the demon, as though it was turning. Gwen sucked in a deep breath, forcing her aching lungs to expand as she grabbed a handful of forest debris.
“Hey,” she gasped, unable to get any volume. She threw the debris at the demon. It turned more fully, the pinprick of light that was its face disappearing entirely. Its arms lifted outward.
Gwen grabbed a branch and threw it, the wood bouncing off the demon’s back. Rafael had Lianne in his arms, crouched protectively around her, his eyes flitting from the demon to Gwen. His lip curled back, and he snarled blackly.
“Stay back,” he warned.
“Hey!” Gwen shouted again, trying to distract the demon.
It stepped toward Rafael. No. Not Rafael. Lianne. It was after her daughter. Lianne was the target. Gwen’s blood rushed in her ears as she picked up a second branch, stumbling as pain lanced through her.
The demon crouched. Lianne screamed again, clinging to Rafael. He shoved her toward the path. “Run!”
Lianne stumbled and fell. The demon lunged for her, but Rafael shifted in the blink of an eye. He slammed into the demon, and they both rammed into a tree, splintering it. Gwen, her chest still aching and still short of breath, focused on Lianne. The sound of snarls and howls of pain filled the air, but she desperately ignored the wrench in her gut. She had to get Lianne away.
She grabbed Lianne’s arms and yanked her to her feet. Lianne yelped, in surprise or pain, Gwen didn’t know. She swung her daughter into her arms and ran as hard as she could. She gasped, stumbled, and nearly fell, but regained her feet and kept pressing on.
Behind them, a long howl rang through the forest.
***
Gwen stood at the window, her arms around her middle as she stared outside, looking for any sign of someone coming to tell her what was going on. As soon as she was away from the demon, she called Michael and explained to him what had happened. He had rounded up many of the wolves and went into the forest to help Rafael.
What if they were too late?
