Page 41 of Alpha's Secret Baby Girl
Gwen nodded, shifting to one side to make room for Michelle to sit. The other woman did so, delicately as though she was afraid Gwen would snap and curse her. Or, Gwen realized, because she expected Gwen to tell her to go fuck herself.
“I know it’s years too late, but I want to say I’m sorry,” Michelle said, her shoulder hitching higher. “For everything in high school. We were horrible to you, Kira, and Chelsey. None of you deserved it. I wish I had been braver. I didn’t think it was right even then, but I followed along with them anyway. I know you have no obligation to forgive me, and I will understand if you think this is only because you’re the Alpha’s mate. I’ve thought about reaching out in the past, but I wasn’t brave enough.”
Her voice was soft, pained even. Gwen was quiet at first, uncertain. She wasn’t sure if she was willing to forgive Michelle, but was that because she thought this might be a trick? She was exhausted from not being able to trust what people said to her. Rafael’s earnest expression burned in her mind. Despite her determination to talk things through, she had always lost her nerve when the time came.
She sighed as she pulled herself back to the present. “The pack wasn’t built for bravery, at least not under Randall. You would have been treated as badly as we were if you had tried to stand up for us. So I understand why you did what you did.”
Relief showed on Michelle’s face. “Thank you. You don’t know how much that means to me.”
Gwen smiled, relaxing.
“Um, if it’s not too much, maybe you can stop by my place after the kids are done here?” Michelle asked, looking hopeful. “I’m having trouble with some of my flowers, and I remembermy grandmother talking about her grandmother’s flowers and how the witches in town always helped her out with them.”
Surprise rippled through Gwen, and she squinted at Michelle, once more uncertain whether she was being serious. Having magic was always counted as a negative. Was this a trap or an olive branch?
“I can try,” she said slowly. She had come across some plant-based spells in her research. “I’m not sure how much I can actually do. I haven’t really used magic on purpose before.”
Michelle gave her a hesitant smile. “Then maybe this will be good practice?”
“Maybe,” Gwen agreed.
That was the start of things turning around. Gwen was able to successfully tap into her magic for a few small spells that helped perk up Michelle’s flowers, and after that, more and more of the women in the pack asked for her help for small things. There was still some hesitancy on all sides, but it showed a certain amount of acceptance.
At first, she was worried about bringing Lianne with her on these excursions, afraid that she would end up rejected by the kids her age as a reflection of their parents’ attitudes toward Gwen. As Lianne’s friend group grew, she stopped asking to go home. Gwenn wasn’t sure how she felt about that. While she was glad her daughter was getting accepted here, she was putting down more roots here on the island, which she wasn’t sure she wanted.
“These look beautiful, thank you,” Michelle sighed a week later as she clasped her hands together, beaming at the hollyhocks that grew along her fence. “I bet these spells are going to be very useful during the growing season next year. Ourcrops last year were very poor, and Alpha Rafael had to import more fresh vegetables than usual.”
Gwen nodded, trying to keep her expression blank. If everything went to plan, she wasn’t going to be here during the growing season next year. Right? That’s still what she wanted. Didn’t she?
Michelle glanced over to where her two kids played with Lianne, and her smile softened further. “They’ve been asking to invite her over every day. She has a lot of her father in her, doesn’t she?”
“She does,” Gwen answered, her voice soft.
This was the closest anyone had come to actually asking directly whether Lianne was Rafael’s daughter. She was right when she thought people would assume. They were, yes, but it was still an assumption. Even though Lianne favored her in appearance, Lianne having Rafael’s scent would be a pretty damn big clue.
“Has she shown signs of magic use?” Michelle asked, looking at Lianne.
“No. But I didn’t show signs until after I got my wolf. That will be a few years yet for Lianne, especially if—” Gwen cut herself off, wincing. She had been about to say, ‘If Lianne didn’t end up with a wolf at all.’ She was the daughter of an Alpha, and that ought to have given her a powerful wolf, but it was a strongly believed wives’ tale that children always took after their mothers, which was one reason why Randall would never have accepted her and Rafael’s relationship.
Lianne had been very interested in Gwen’s magic, though. Whenever she saw her mother poring through the spellbooks, she raced over and begged for Gwen to read aloud. It was useful because sometimes when Gwen struggled to understandsomething in her head, saying it out loud would make it click. But Gwen didn’t want to talk about Lianne possibly having magic, not with Michelle. They might have gotten closer, but that didn’t change the years of bullying. Or what the pack might think of Lianne if she showed signs of magic.
Before she could change the conversation, the garden gate opened. Michelle let out a sharp gasp, and Gwen turned. Her stomach plummeted when Jenny Carps stepped into the garden. She gave Michelle a brittle smile, which turned to the familiar arrogant smirk when her eyes flickered over Gwen.
“Mrs. Buchanan,” Jenny greeted. “What a pleasant…surpriseseeing you here.”
Gwen tightened her jaw. Everyone knew that she had kept her maiden name after the marriage. The only reason Jenny would deliberately refer to her that way was as a sly dig. However, it wasn’t that sly at all. “Jenny. It shouldn’t be a surprise, seeing as I’ve been visiting Michelle often enough this past week.”
Jenny twirled one finger around her hair. “Right, right. You’ve been using magic on her little flowers, yes? I suppose I should say it’s surprising that you’ve been spending your talents on garden work. Seems to be rather unimportant for the witch who is the Alpha’s wife.”
Gwen was just debating how hard to smack back when Michelle spoke up.
“Grow up, Jenny,” she snapped. “It doesn’t make you look better to run around talking like a mean girl from High School. There’s no reason to talk that way.”
Gwen expected to hear a ‘especially toward the Alpha’s wife’ tacked at the end of Michelle’s speech, but it didn’t come. Michelle looked a little nervous, a little frustrated, but shenarrowed her eyes at Jenny anyway. Jenny, in response, seemed taken aback. When she glanced at Gwen, Gwen could see the cogs turning in her mind. The once-outcast was now intimately connected with the most powerful wolf in the pack. For Jenny, Michelle was switching allegiance to the more powerful player.
Because for people like Jenny, that’s all it came down to. Gwen almost felt sorry for her.
Jenny’s mouth thinned. “I didn’t realize you felt so strongly about a little bit of light fun,” she said slowly, clearly trying to pivot.
