Page 9 of Alpha's Secret Baby Girl
“No. I haven’t looked into my witch heritage at all. We’re not popular no matter where we go, it seems,” Gwen said, staring at the floor. Her heart ached. So far, Lianne hadn’t shown any signs of magical inclinations, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have them. Had Gwen been neglectful by not learning more?
“You are welcome to stay. To look into any historical records you can find here in the pack,” Rafael offered. His voice was stiff but not hostile.
Gwen’s heart began beating faster. He was only offering so that she could have answers for these visions because they threatened the pack. Right? “I never intended to come back to stay. I… I don’t belong here. I have a life on the mainland. I don’t want to come back.”
Rafael’s eyes met hers. He stared at her intently, the way she remembered him staring at a particularly difficult passage in Shakespeare. Finally, he let out a soft sigh. And Gwen knew he wasn’t going to argue with her. Wasn’t going to try to make her stay.
But then the door opened.
Chelsey stepped in, her eyes widened with worry. Lianne clung to her hand, sniffing and rubbing her nose with the back ofher hand. A grass stain smudged the hem of her green dress, and a small patch of road rash marked her knee. Gwen turned to her daughter at once, scooping her into her arms. Lianne burst into tears and buried her face in Gwen’s neck.
“She was taking too long on the slide, and one of the boys pushed her,” Chelsey said.
“My leg is broken!” Lianne wailed.
Gwen rubbed her back soothingly. She turned, intending to ask Rafael for a bandage that she could put over Lianne’s knee. But Rafael had stiffened. His jaw clenched tight, and his nostrils flared, pulling in the new scents that had just come into his office. Gwen’s stomach plummeted. Lianne’s scent. A child always smelled like their father. With her own weak wolf, she didn’t have much of a sense of smell.
But Rafael would smell it. He’d smell that Lianne was his daughter.
Gwen’s arms tightened around Lianne. She felt her eyes widening, the truth pouring out of them. She wanted to lie, or hide, or explain. She wanted to tell Chelsey and Kira to leave so she could tell him that she had lived the last seven years thinking he hated her. She wanted… she wanted to have a calm, rational discussion.
That ended with him telling her that he never stopped loving her.
Rafael’s shoulders slumped slightly. His gaze lingered on Gwen’s gaze, his mouth opening slightly. For a brief, impossible moment, she thought maybe he could read it all in her eyes. Maybe he’d understand why she did what she did, and he’d tell her it was okay, that they could talk when emotions weren’t so high. He could offer her a place to stay on the island until theysorted it out, and he could tell her that he never meant to hurt her.
“Mommy, it hurts,” Lianne wailed.
Rafael’s eyes hardened again.
Gwen swallowed hard, hating that look on his face. Without a word, she fled the office. Her ears buzzed. Get back to the boat. Get out of here. But Lianne was hurt. She needed to take care of her. And Rafael was calling her name, so Gwen dodged into the bathroom, swinging the door shut. She locked it and closed her eyes, chest heaving. It took all of her strength to pull back, to ground herself in the moment and not let her panic utterly overwhelm her. What would Rafael do now that he knew?
She was more stable now, but would the courts care when she was on a waitress’s salary and he owned one of the fastest-growing companies in the world? Not to mention if he wanted to fight for custody, he could keep it in the courts until she had literally nothing left to fight for. She didn’t want to think he would do such a thing, not when he’d turned the town around like this.
But the look in his eyes before she left.
Oh, he was angry. She’d only ever seen that look once before, and it hadn’t been on Rafael’s face. It had been on Randall’s.
Her hands shook, but Gwen cleaned off Lianne’s knee. She wasn’t bleeding anymore, the injury already having scabbed over. Lianne had calmed by the time she was done, more wanting comfort than anything else. She wiped her eyes as she sniffed.
“Who was that guy you were talking to?” Lianne asked, testing the strength of her leg. “He looks nice.”
Gwen’s voice caught in her throat. She didn’t answer, only washed her hands and stepped out of the bathroom. Kira and Chelsey were nowhere in sight. But Rafael was. He stood across the hallway. His suit jacket was unbuttoned, his dress shirt loosened at the collar. His expression was flat and emotionless.
“If you give me your key and address, I’ll arrange for your things to be brought back to the island,” he said.
Gwen’s heart lurched. “That won’t be necessary. We’re going home.”
Rafael’s gaze flickered to Lianne, who pressed into Gwen’s legs and hid her face. His expression softened slightly, and he gave Gwen a significant look. “Why don’t I show you and Lianne to the children’s playroom? So we can talk.”
At least he was aware enough not to argue in front of her. Gwen tried to think of an excuse to say no, but she already knew it was useless. She nodded once because she didn’t want Lianne to be afraid. They went to the playroom, which was full of neat toys that Lianne quickly became distracted by.
“You are moving in with me,” Rafael said as soon as it was clear Lianne wasn’t paying attention.
Gwen shook her head. “I don’t need—”
“I didn’t ask what you need.” Rafael narrowed his eyes. “The boat you came on has already been sent back. You’re staying, Gwen. This is non-negotiable.”
Gwen stared at him. Dread filled her stomach. In all her imaginings about what Rafael would do if he found out, this wasn’t one of them. What was she going to do now?
