Page 17 of Alpha's Secret Baby Girl
“You don’t have to say anything. I had to tell you. There are seven years of assumptions and silence between us; the only way to bridge that divide is by being honest.”
Gwen nodded once. “I will think about this. Thank you for your honesty, Rafael. I can’t promise that it will make a difference. I can see that you’ve put a lot of work into this pack. You’ve made changes, and for that, I do believe that you’re working to distinguish yourself from your father.”
Rafael’s stomach twisted into a knot. His wolf whimpered, wanting to go to his mate, but he held himself back. He heard the unspoken words. “But?”
“But you still forced me to marry you. That’s not in the past, and it doesn’t matter that you keep saying that it was for the best.” She stood, the coffee still in her hands. “You made a decision and didn’t care what I had to say. That is no way to treat a person that you claim to care about.”
And with that, she turned and walked away. Rafael didn’t follow.
Chapter 7 - Gwen
Gwen lifted her face to the sky, enjoying the clear blue. In her opinion, there was no more beautiful sight than an ocean sky. It blazed with light, stretching over the water. As the seagulls wheeled overhead and let out their entitled little cries, she smiled. There had been a time when she wished she could shift into a bird instead of a wolf and go flying away from this island, to somewhere nobody knew her.
In the end, she didn’t need wings to escape.
Except, she had come back. Her smile faded as she lowered her head again. The beach was deserted except for herself, Kira, and Chelsey. Although this was a sandy stretch, the area was teeming with jellyfish and coral in the water, making it a hazardous place to swim. So people rarely came here, except to sunbathe.
Kira stretched out on a worn beach blanket nearby, her head resting on her arms. She wore a white bikini with a frilled skirt that did amazing things to her ass. Chelsy, on the other hand, was dressed in a one-piece suit and a long, kimono-style coverup, complete with a wide-brimmed straw hat.
“That was a heavy sigh,” Chesley said, looking up from her book.
Gwen shrugged. She had agreed to this girls-day-out with her only two friends here on the island as a chance to get reacquainted with them. That, and to put some distance between herself and Rafael. His apology from yesterday had caught her more off guard than she cared to admit.
“I’m a bit worried about how Lianne will do with Rafael. She’s certainly taken with him, but…” She started picking at a hangnail and made herself stop, instead pulling out thehand cream from her purse to rub into her cuticles. “I’m just concerned about how it will go.”
Kira rolled onto her back and squinted at Gwen. “He’s her father. She’ll be fine.”
Gwen bit back a retort. Randall was Rafael’s father, and he wasn’t fine. “I hope so. Yesterday they got along well together. When she became boisterous, he didn’t yell at her. He was very patient, even indulgent. But people can hide who they are, and I don’t want her to get hurt.”
More than that, she didn’t want her daughter to get caught in the same web of abuse that was so common on this island.
“He won’t hurt her. The Alpha is great with kids,” Chelsey said. “He has more patience with them than their own parents do at times. He’s a good Alpha, and he’ll be a good father to Lianne. Especially once she starts to shift, it’ll be good to have a strong wolf to teach her how to keep control of her wolf.”
Gwen tried not to wince. She did have a weak wolf, so much so that it was a chore to shift from one form to the other. She used to care a lot more about that. Being back on the island, would she start hating herself for something she couldn’t control again?
Kira added, “He’s been a wonderful Alpha to us.”
Gwen couldn’t stop herself. She blurted, “Is that why you told him about my visions?”
“Well… yes,” Kira answered, as though it should be obvious. “He’s been amazing for the pack. You saw all the changes he’s made around here. And there’s plenty more that you can’t see, too. He’s put a real effort into makingeverything more socially equitable. He’s even made it so that the scholarships are chosen anonymously.”
“Not sure how anonymous it can be when everyone in town knows everyone else’s business. They’ll know who is applying based on context clues,” Gwen muttered.
Chelsey rolled her eyes. “Now you’re just trying to find something to complain about.”
“Am not!”
“Yes, you are.” Chelsey adjusted her big hat so the brim didn’t dip quite so low over her eyes. “You’re building up walls because you don’t want to see that he’s a changed man. He didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps, and that scares you because it means you have no reason to keep your distance from him.
Gwen huffed and stared back at the rolling waves. From here, it looks peaceful, idyllic even. To the untrained eye, this would be a wonderful place to shed their clothes and go skinny-dipping. It would end in pain and tragedy if they did. It was exactly how Gwen felt now. As though only she could see the dangers that lurked beneath the surface when it came to Rafael Buchanan.
“Besides, these visions of yours aren’t going to go away if you leave,” Kira said. “Rafael can help figure out what it means and protect you and Lianne from whatever danger is waiting for you.”
And who will protect us from Rafael if he switches the flip and turns out to be just like his father?
“It’s best for you to be here, where we can help you with your visions,” Kira continued, oblivious to her inner turmoil. “We’ve been learning about magic, so we can start teaching you. If you can control it better, maybe the visions will becomeclearer and you’ll be able to figure out exactly what the danger is.”
Gwen wrapped her arms around her knees. “I appreciate the pep talk, and I am happy that you two have been able to learn so much. But that doesn’t change things. It’s just… difficult. You say that the pack has changed, but has it actually gotten better or—” she cut herself off, unwilling to say the words she actually wanted to use.
