Page 16 of Alpha’s Secret Baby Girl (Nightfall Island Alphas #1)

There were two more civilian demon sightings over the next few days, once near a popular swimming hole and a second dangerously close to town.

There hadn’t been any further attacks, luckily.

He advised everyone to keep their children and pets inside and not to enter the forest, especially not alone.

The council was upset with him because the entire pack now knew about the demon, but there was nothing to be done about that.

The special ops recruits engaged with the demon several times, but it had chosen to run rather than fight.

They had managed to injure it in the last encounter.

That, paired with his own experience of attacking the demon, gave him optimism that they could fight it.

He was determined to destroy it before it could harm anyone in the pack.

Especially Gwen and Lianne. They were becoming more entrenched in his life with every passing day.

Lianne was always thrilled to see him at the end of the day, and she demanded his attention whenever they were together.

She was silly and stubborn and just so excited about everything she saw and did.

It was exhausted, he had to admit, trying to adjust to that energy when he was used to coming home to an empty house every day. But he loved it.

And Gwen… Even though he had so much on his mind, he kept thinking about her all through the day.

Not just his need to protect her. Oh, no.

He found himself drifting off during meetings, remembering the feeling of her slickness on his fingers.

The smell of her arousal and the taste of her lips.

He ached for her to the point of distraction.

Joshua and Michael noticed, too.

“Stop thinking about sex,” his brother snapped, throwing a pencil at him.

They were in Michael’s office, looking over the budget constraints for the special ops teams. It was costing more money than they initially thought, since many of the recruits were coming with nothing to their name. They had real-world needs that Michael was concerned about covering.

“Hey.” Rafael frowned at him.

Michael glowered in response. “Maybe you need to start going home over lunches if nighttime isn’t enough. You’re distracted and edgy, and it’s making work with you a pain.”

Rafael rolled his eyes.

“You know, the ancient Greeks thought that the measure of manliness was controlling their desires, including and especially sex,” Michael continued. “Which means you and your sex obsession would be considered very unmanly.”

Rafael shook himself. He had, indeed, been thinking about sex.

He hadn’t shared with either Mike or Josh the truth about his relationship with Gwen.

She was the one who said she didn’t want anything else, and he was trying to respect that.

He was trying to keep his distance when all he wanted was to slip into her bedroom at night, get on his knees, and show her how much he wanted to give her.

“What makes you think I’m thinking about sex instead of something else?” Rafael asked instead. He wasn’t about to air his dirty laundry, especially not with something so private.

Michael twisted his face. “Do you really want me to tell you that?”

Rafael took note of his own body, suddenly self-conscious. He currently had no physical symptoms of his thoughts, but waved a hand, brushing off Michael’s words. Knowing his brother, he’d end up taking this conversation too far if Rafael didn’t stop him.

“That’s not what I was thinking about at all,” he lied smoothly. “I was thinking about how people are still blaming my wife for the demons coming to the island. I’ve had the Council explain the truth more than once, and people still blame her.”

Michael shifted uncomfortably. “I wish I could say that wasn’t true, but yeah.

They do. The pack is frightened, and Gwen is an easy target.

Her showing up right before the demons is damning enough, but people are saying that you and her aren’t married at all, that she’s using magic to make you think that you married her seven years ago. ”

Rafael ran his hands through his hair.

“It would help if you formally declared Lianne as your daughter.”

“No,” he answered instantly, shaking his head. “No, Gwen doesn’t want to do that yet. She wants us to have more time before she tells Lianne.”

Michael folded his arms. “Maybe this is one thing where she doesn’t get to make that decision.”

Rafael grimaced. “I think I gave up any right I have to veto decisions when I forced her to marry me.”

“Yeah, that was a dick move,” Michael drawled dryly.

He folded his arms and shook his head, his eyes sharp as he gazed at his brother.

“And wasn’t that because you wanted everyone to know that Lianne was your daughter?

So by not telling the pack, what was the point of the rushed marriage in the first place? ”

“At the time, it seemed like the best idea,” Rafael said. He ran a hand through his hair. “Once this demon stuff is taken care of, I’ll give Gwen a proper apology and give her the choice as to whether she stays or leaves.”

“Why not give her that choice now?”

“It’s not safe for her to leave the island when a demon is after Lianne,” Rafael barked, agitated.

Michael gave Rafael a knowing look. “And what makes you think she’ll leave and put Lianne in danger now?”

He had no answer to that, so Rafael ignored him.

It wasn’t any of Michael’s business as to why he was doing what he was doing.

He did bring up one good point, though. The pack did need to be better introduced to Lianne.

With the tension the demon was causing, he wanted to make sure that the pack was willing to stop up and protect her.

Not to mention, they needed something to see that he was in control. They needed something to let off some of the pressure and relax. With the constant threat of demons, it was no wonder that the pack was restless.

He had just the thing, too. He smiled as he straightened. “I’m going to throw a party.”

***

Lianne clung to his hand, chewing her lip as she looked around at the freshly decorated town hall.

Though it was still summertime, the decorating committee had pulled out the fall-themed décor from last year’s Halloween party.

No spooky skeletons, but lots of red and orange leaves, pumpkins, and other such things.

The lights were set to just the right brightness, and a long table of refreshments lined the back wall.

“Why don’t you go play with those children?” Rafael encouraged Lianne, gesturing to a group of kids her age.

Lianne looked at him as though he were crazy. “No, thank you, Raf-el.”

She pressed in closer to him, ducking her head the same way Gwen did when she was feeling particularly stressed.

Rafael loosened his hand from hers and tousled her hair.

The way she looked around at the people around them reminded him of the way Michael was always terrified of any sort of public event when he was the same age.

Randall’s answer to this terror was to make Michael more terrified of his own father than of the crowds.

Rafael knelt beside her. “It’s a lot of people, isn’t it?” he asked, trying to mimic the gentle way Gwen would talk to Lianne.

Lianne nodded, her lip trembling.

“Would you like me to go with you to see the other kids?”

She nodded again.

Rafael kissed her forehead and stood again.

Holding her hand, he led her over to where the kids played with their parents watching.

These parents gave Lianne a surprised look as they approached.

When he introduced her, they quickly had their own children come over to introduce themselves as well.

Several of the parents, with wide grins, suggested their kids show Lianne around.

Given the confused looks the kids gave them, that wasn’t what their parents had been telling them before now. A little girl, slightly shorter than Lianne, came forward boldly. “I found a bug. You wanna see?”

The girl’s mother flushed, but Lianne nodded eagerly.

She seized the girl’s hand and they took off to a corner at once.

Rafael chuckled at their departure. After some small talk with the parents, he made his rounds in the hall, keeping a careful eye on Lianne.

She was happily ignoring him in favor the whatever bug it was, but he couldn’t help the nervous flutter of his heart.

He trusted the pack, but he didn’t want Lianne to realize she couldn’t find him and panic.

He was so absorbed in watching Lianne that he almost didn’t notice when Gwen arrived.

He had told her the party was happening, but from her lack of enthusiasm, he’d assumed that she wasn’t going to come.

Now, as she stepped in with Kira and Chelsey, he straightened.

One more glance at Lianne—happily inspecting the lines in the cinderblocks for more bugs—and he headed for Gwen.

She was resplendent in a pale blue dress with a ruffled, off-the-shoulder bodice and a skirt that split up to the thigh.

Rafael’s eyes moved over her greedily, enjoying the way she’d put her hair up to reveal the neck that he longed to kiss.

The two sisters behind her looked nervous but held themselves with a deliberate, straightened air, keeping their heads held high.

Rafael nearly winced to see their darting, fearful eyes.

If there were so many whispers circulating about Gwen, who was his wife, how much more hatred would Kira and Chelsey be facing with their much weaker connection to anyone in power?

It must have been hell for them over the past few days.

Rafael had been so busy keeping track of the special ops’ progress that he hadn’t paid enough attention to the pack’s reactions.

Well, that was a problem he would rectify. The party was the first step to conserving pack unity. He would figure out the next step tomorrow. It was a dangerous time, but they would get through it if they pulled together.

His mouth tightened as he caught sight of Thera eyeing Kira, Chelsey, and Gwen with a distrustful look.

It would certainly be easier to keep pack unity if it weren’t for that.

For as much as Thera said she didn’t blame the witches in their midst, her actions spoke otherwise.

They still weren’t allowed access to any of the grimoires that their ancestors had left behind.

Gwen caught his eye and immediately stiffened. She started searching the crowd, and Rafael knew she was looking for Lianne. He hurried to her side and took her hand as he pointed out where Lianne was.

“She found a friend who found a bug,” he explained.

Gwen’s shoulders relaxed. “Ah. Bugs. Lianne loves bugs. One time, when we were dealing with a lot of fruit flies, she cried when I put out a trap and drowned a bunch of them. I had to put it away during the day and put it out at night and be extra careful with the fruit and garbage.”

Rafael chuckled. “Reminds me of Michael. He went through a phase where he wouldn’t even step on ants. But don’t tell him I told you, he’ll tell you something far more embarrassing about me in revenge.”

Her eyes twinkled. “Ah! So you’re saying I have to tell him, then?”

He laughed.

Gwen’s smile faltered. He could almost see the shutters slide closed behind her eyes.

Ducking her head, she excused herself abruptly.

Rafael didn’t protest, though his wolf urged him to follow her.

He kept his distance, moving closer to Lianne again so Gwen wouldn’t have to worry about her.

Gwen, Kira, and Chelsey stayed in a loose group for a couple of hours before Chelsey became overwhelmed by the crowd.

By then, Lianne had run out of bugs and was happy to return home with Chelsey.

After that, Rafael wasn’t sure what to do.

He had greeted the people he was obligated to greet and had made sure to be social with people who were otherwise still somewhat on the outside of their pack’s society.

He was like Michael and Lianne in this respect.

Parties weren’t for him, though he readily understood their benefits.

So he contented himself with watching Gwen. She moved through the party with confidence, pulling Kira with her. The confidence that shone through her made his blood burn. He wanted to go over to her, pull her into his arms, and tell her just how sexy she was.

He was just considering doing that when one of the special ops, a dark-haired man named Daniel, stepped up to her.

Rafael tensed as he watched them. Daniel’s gaze roved over her quickly, and one of his hands reached out, resting on her hip.

Rafael’s wolf growled. What the hell did that man think he was doing?