Page 18

“Are you sure it’s no trouble?” Reagan asked for the third time.

I was helping with the pack house construction project again today. The frame had been constructed and walled in, and we had moved on to the next phase of the project. At that point, we realized we were missing a few items that needed to be picked up from the hardware store on the other side of town.

“I really don’t mind going,” I assured him. “Just give me the list, and I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

“It’s a pretty long list. Do you want someone to go with you?” he asked.

“I think I can handle it,” I repeated.

He passed the list to me, along with a credit card and the keys to one of the pack vehicles. I climbed inside and drove to the store, passing through the main part of town and a few neighborhoods to get there. I hadn’t been to this side of town before today. This was closer to Alpha Franco’s territory, and part of the no man’s land that separated their pack from Colson’s.

The hardware store was small but appeared to be well-stocked. I grabbed a cart at the door and made my way through the aisles, checking items off the list as I put them in the cart. By the time I reached the last aisle, I had a full cart and an empty list, so I headed for the checkout.

As I approached the front of the store, another customer entered, and I saw it was Alpha Franco Stone. We hadn’t officially met before, but he was easy enough to recognize based on his association with my home pack. I had already run into Sienna once, so I supposed it was inevitable that a similar circumstance would happen again.

I ducked my head down and pretended to be busy studying my list so he wouldn’t notice me, but he made a beeline right for me.

“Excuse me,” he said. “You look familiar. Have we met?”

I only had a split second to decide how I was going to respond. If he recognized me as Christa from Sparkle Hollow, he could tell them where I was, which might result in problems I didn’t have an answer for. But I also couldn’t pretend that I had no idea who he was. He was an alpha, after all.

“I don’t think so,” I told him. “I’m Jenny—part of Alpha Colson Marsden’s pack.”

“Ah, that explains it,” he replied. “I must have seen you around town.”

I smiled, hoping to end the conversation. Although he had accepted my answer, he didn’t seem fully convinced. There was a slight narrowing of his eyes that seemed to indicate my story wasn’t a good enough answer to his suspicions.

“I’m sorry for stopping you,” he continued. “It’s just that you look like someone else. Someone my wife grew up with.”

“That’s okay, I get confused for other people a lot. Just have one of those faces, I guess,” I lied with a laugh.

“Well, sorry to bother you,” he said.

“It’s no bother,” I assured him. “Have a nice day!”

I continued walking toward the checkout and resisted the urge to look behind me to see if he was still watching. I didn’t think he had bought my story. At least, not totally. All I could hope for was that he wouldn’t put the pieces together or ask Sienna if she had seen me around town.

Reagan was pleased when I came back with a completed order, and the rest of the day passed without incident. When we reached a stopping point, I decided to call it a day and head back to Colson’s house.

“Hey, Mom!” Jenny said when I got home, bounding toward me covered in flour. “We’re making pizza!”

“Sounds delicious,” I told her.

“I’m just supervising. So if it tastes bad, that’s all on Jenny,” Colson teased.

“Hey!” Jenny exclaimed with a pout.

“I’m only kidding, Jenny-bug,” he replied with a laugh. “How was your day, Christa?”

“It was good,” I said as I took off my shoes. “The pack house is coming along really well. I think you’ll be happy with it.”

“I’m sure I will be.”

I decided not to tell him about the encounter with Franco in the hardware store. For all I knew, the other alpha had bought my lie about being a member of Pack Marsden, and that would be the end of it. I didn’t want Colson to worry that my presence in town was a danger to him, or that I was in danger in any way. Still, I couldn’t help but worry about what would happen when Sparkle Hollow found out where I was.

“I’m going to shower before dinner,” I told them.

I headed toward the hallway but paused, looking back into the kitchen where Colson and Jenny were adding toppings to the pizza they had created together. My heart warmed at the sight, realizing that Jenny was finally getting the chance to bond with her father. A smile filled my face as I watched them, and they looked up at me at the same time.

“What?” they asked in unison.

“Nothing,” I assured them. “I’ll be right back.”

Dinner together was a comfortable, calm affair, and I realized I had made the right choice in not telling Franco who I was. Jenny deserved this chance to be with her father without interference from pack politics.

“Alright, baby,” I told her when we were done cleaning up. “Time to go to bed.”

“Colson, can you put me to bed tonight?” she asked.

He looked at me questioningly, and I nodded with a smile.

“Of course, Jenny-bug,” he said.

She ran to her room to get dressed in her pajamas, then shouted for us to come in. Colson pulled the covers up to her shoulders as I stood watching from the doorway, letting them have their moment together.

“Goodnight,” he told her sweetly.

“Goodnight,” she replied. “Mom, are you coming to bed?”

“Not yet, baby,” I told her. “Are you okay in here without me?”

She nodded as I said goodnight, and Colson and I both kissed her on the forehead. We shut off the light and looked back at her peaceful form, already slipping into slumber.

“Come with me,” Colson said, tugging my hand.

He led me to his room, where a fire had been started in the fireplace.

“Cozy,” I said appreciatively.

“You seemed like you could use a nice relaxing evening,” he explained. “Come lay down with me.”

We climbed into his bed, and he pulled me onto his chest. I could hear his heart beating along with the crackling of the fire, and before I knew it, I fell asleep.