Page 43 of Alpha's Secret Baby Girl
“What was he doing in our territory, anyway?” Joshua growled, his hands clenched at his sides.
Rafael glanced at him, noting his agitation. “Think about it, Josh. It’s a good chance that he wasn’t here willingly. The demon must have grabbed him and dragged him over here, hoping to start shit between our packs.”
They were already not on good terms with that pack, thanks to his bastard father. Randall had attempted to annex them during his reign, leaving a bitter rivalry in its wake. Rafael had been doing his best to soothe those relationships, but most of his focus had been on improving his own pack, rather than interpack alliances.
There was just too much. His father had left behind too much shit for him to clean up all on his own. Rafael pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting against the familiar fury that clawed at his chest. He couldn’t think clearly when all he wanted to do was grab Randall by the shoulders and shake him. He wanted to scream and yell at his father, the way his father used to scream and yell at him, until he got some goddamn answers!
As the special ops team prepared the body for transport, Joshua moved closer to Rafael. Josh was a good-looking guy, and with his golden eyes and golden hair, he bore a striking resemblance to a sun god. He easily had wider shoulders than anyone else in town, even rivaling the special ops crew. When heclenched his hands, his muscles bulged. None of them stopped the look of fear that clouded his gaze.
“How are you going to address this? The Alpha might end up blaming us for all of this. You know that he didn’t believe in the demon threat to begin with,” he said, his voice low. His usually serious expression was even more serious than normal.
Rafael dragged his hand through his dark hair. That was a good question. The pack in question had refused to engage with their special ops services and had point-blank refused to meet with Rafael about the demon threat. He had informants in their town, and from their reports, he was certain that the pack wasn’t involved with the demons at all.
But now? Now they either had to convince the Alpha that demons were real or face the threat of war.
***
After a very long, very exhausting night with the other pack’s Alpha, Rafael was ready to collapse into bed as soon as he got home. Dawn peeked over the ocean, lighting the space with its rosy hue. He stood on the porch a moment, his mind running over the conversation he’d had. It hadn’t gone as badly as he had feared. The other Alpha accepted that he and his team had nothing to do with Robert’s death.
Doesn’t mean I believe in your demon nonsense. Nobody in my pack has seen anything,he’d snarled.Someone in your pack killed Robert Goodchild. I will give you one week to find the killer and hand them over to me.
A week.
It wasn’t much time, and he wasn’t sure how they were going to get out of this. They had no killer to hand over, and hewasn’t going to give them a scapegoat. But if the Alpha refused to believe in demons, what could he do?
“Rafael?” Gwen stepped out onto the porch. Dark circles smudged the space beneath her eyes.
“Gwen. You should be sleeping.”
“Couldn’t sleep,” she answered, her gaze moving over him quickly, as though checking for injuries. “Are you… How did it go?”
Rafael winced. “We’re good for now.” He wasn’t going to burden her with this knowledge, at least not until after they both had a solid sleep. “Have Kira and Chelsey shown any signs of using magic the same way you can?”
Gwen shook her silently. They had all been trying to develop their magi further, thinking they might need to use it as a weapon or defense. Kira and Chelsey had been able to brew potions, but so far, that was it. Even Lianne could make simple potions with supervision. She was thrilled with the one that made her shoes change color with no mess. But even Gwen wasn’t sure if the potions showed any real magical aptitude or if it was something anyone could do with the right ingredients.
Rafael could see the weight on Gwen’s shoulders from being the only witch in town with access to her magic. And even then, she could only do a few small spells.
How much more would she and the others be able to do if their magic hadn’t been shamed? If they weren’t treated as outcasts for it? It was an exhausting thought, and he carefully pushed it aside.
“No more tonight. Or rather this morning,” he said, glancing at the bright point on the horizon where the sun was. “Come to bed, my love. You need your rest.”
“You need rest,” she muttered, her cheeks taking on a rosy glow the same color as the dawn.
She took his hand and led him inside, up the stairs, and to his bedroom. There, they lay on the bed together, with Gwen tucked into his arms. They didn’t even bother changing into their pajamas. Rafael breathed in her scent, letting it calm him. He briefly wondered if Lianne would think it odd to find them like this.
The last thought in his head before he drifted off was,I called her my love. I hope she didn’t notice. I wanted a more romantic moment to tell her that I love her.
***
In the morning, Rafael suggested to Gwen that they take advantage of the space in the town hall for her to practice some of the more elaborate spells that she had found in the ancient books. Gwen, still looking tired from waiting up the whole of last night, frowned at him, her eyebrows knit together.
“Do you think it’s a good idea?”
“I think we’re going to need your magic before the end of this,” Rafael answered. “I know that’s not what you wanted to hear, but with the way things are going—”
He cut himself off when Lianne came into the room, hugging her teddy bear to her chest. She crawled into his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. With a grunt, Lianne dropped her head to his chest, hard enough that it hurt him.
“You’re going away again,” she grumbled angrily.
