Page 21 of Alpha’s Secret Baby Girl (Nightfall Island Alphas #1)

After Gwen was attacked, pack security was doubled.

Every able-bodied shifter was put into training to learn how to identify and defend against the demon should they face it, though it was highly stressed to leave the engagement with the special ops as much as possible.

More of these specialists were brought in, too, and they soon became a common sight in town.

Rafael was showing more signs of stress as the Council continued to press him to solve the problem quickly.

Gwen thought that they were being unfair.

Everyone looked to him to solve the problem, and he was trying to do it.

Their continually telling him to fix the problem wasn’t actually helping to fix the problem.

The Council was also continually watching her.

She didn’t mention it to Rafael, knowing he had enough problems to deal with, but she found that there were a handful of shifters who had taken to following her around whenever she left the house.

The only break she got was that Rafael had lost his composure with the council and yelled at them that witches were the ones who had protected the town in the first place, so it made no sense why they were keeping the old witch records from the people they knew had some witch blood in them.

After that, Thera gave Gwen, Kira, and Chelsey unmitigated access to the grimoires and other records.

There was so much to wade through, and Gwen despaired of finding something that would actually help in time.

It seemed that the protections around the town were holding, though, and first one, then two weeks slipped by without any further sightings of the demon.

Gwen was at the park, re-reading the frantic notes she’d taken the previous night from the grimoire she was trying to decipher while Lianne played with Jewel. That had become a fast friendship, which eased some of Gwen’s worries about being on the island.

When one of the other mothers brought her two little ones with her, though, Gwen hurriedly stashed her notes in her purse.

She watched carefully, ready to call Lianne home if the other kids started to ignore her.

To her surprise, when the siblings went to the playground, they joined Jewel and Lianne without a fuss.

The mother glanced at Gwen and headed in her direction.

Gwen tensed. She recognized this woman as Michelle Cavallaro, one of the ‘in crowd in high school who liked to torment her, Kira, and Chelsey. Michelle looked hesitant, her shoulders hunching inward as she stepped up closer.

“Hello,” Michelle said, not looking at her.

“Hello,” Gwen answered.

She braced herself, expecting that Michelle was going to ask her to leave or express some sort of accusation about the demon.

Though the more overt jibes had died away, Gwen was under no delusion to think that they accepted her.

While she hadn’t had any interactions with Michelle at all since coming back to the island, Michelle had been friends with Jenny Carps, who made her children cross the street if she even saw Gwen in town.

Back in High School, Jenny often had Michelle do her dirty work.

Michelle twitched, twisting her hands. “I was glad to hear that you’d recovered from the demon attack.”

“Oh. Thanks,” Gwen said uncertainly. She frowned doubtfully at Michelle. Was she being genuine?

“May I sit?”

Gwen nodded, shifting to one side to make room for Michelle to sit. The other woman did so, delicately as though she was afraid Gwen would snap and curse her. Or, Gwen realized, because she expected Gwen to tell her to go fuck herself.

“I know it’s years too late, but I want to say I’m sorry,” Michelle said, her shoulder hitching higher.

“For everything in high school. We were horrible to you, Kira, and Chelsey. None of you deserved it. I wish I had been braver. I didn’t think it was right even then, but I followed along with them anyway.

I know you have no obligation to forgive me, and I will understand if you think this is only because you’re the Alpha’s mate.

I’ve thought about reaching out in the past, but I wasn’t brave enough. ”

Her voice was soft, pained even. Gwen was quiet at first, uncertain.

She wasn’t sure if she was willing to forgive Michelle, but was that because she thought this might be a trick?

She was exhausted from not being able to trust what people said to her.

Rafael’s earnest expression burned in her mind.

Despite her determination to talk things through, she had always lost her nerve when the time came.

She sighed as she pulled herself back to the present. “The pack wasn’t built for bravery, at least not under Randall. You would have been treated as badly as we were if you had tried to stand up for us. So I understand why you did what you did.”

Relief showed on Michelle’s face. “Thank you. You don’t know how much that means to me.”

Gwen smiled, relaxing.

“Um, if it’s not too much, maybe you can stop by my place after the kids are done here?” Michelle asked, looking hopeful. “I’m having trouble with some of my flowers, and I remember my grandmother talking about her grandmother’s flowers and how the witches in town always helped her out with them.”

Surprise rippled through Gwen, and she squinted at Michelle, once more uncertain whether she was being serious. Having magic was always counted as a negative. Was this a trap or an olive branch?

“I can try,” she said slowly. She had come across some plant-based spells in her research. “I’m not sure how much I can actually do. I haven’t really used magic on purpose before.”

Michelle gave her a hesitant smile. “Then maybe this will be good practice?”

“Maybe,” Gwen agreed.

That was the start of things turning around.

Gwen was able to successfully tap into her magic for a few small spells that helped perk up Michelle’s flowers, and after that, more and more of the women in the pack asked for her help for small things.

There was still some hesitancy on all sides, but it showed a certain amount of acceptance.

At first, she was worried about bringing Lianne with her on these excursions, afraid that she would end up rejected by the kids her age as a reflection of their parents’ attitudes toward Gwen.

As Lianne’s friend group grew, she stopped asking to go home.

Gwenn wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

While she was glad her daughter was getting accepted here, she was putting down more roots here on the island, which she wasn’t sure she wanted.

“These look beautiful, thank you,” Michelle sighed a week later as she clasped her hands together, beaming at the hollyhocks that grew along her fence.

“I bet these spells are going to be very useful during the growing season next year. Our crops last year were very poor, and Alpha Rafael had to import more fresh vegetables than usual.”

Gwen nodded, trying to keep her expression blank. If everything went to plan, she wasn’t going to be here during the growing season next year. Right? That’s still what she wanted. Didn’t she?

Michelle glanced over to where her two kids played with Lianne, and her smile softened further. “They’ve been asking to invite her over every day. She has a lot of her father in her, doesn’t she?”

“She does,” Gwen answered, her voice soft.

This was the closest anyone had come to actually asking directly whether Lianne was Rafael’s daughter.

She was right when she thought people would assume.

They were, yes, but it was still an assumption.

Even though Lianne favored her in appearance, Lianne having Rafael’s scent would be a pretty damn big clue.

“Has she shown signs of magic use?” Michelle asked, looking at Lianne.

“No. But I didn’t show signs until after I got my wolf.

That will be a few years yet for Lianne, especially if—” Gwen cut herself off, wincing.

She had been about to say, ‘If Lianne didn’t end up with a wolf at all.

’ She was the daughter of an Alpha, and that ought to have given her a powerful wolf, but it was a strongly believed wives’ tale that children always took after their mothers, which was one reason why Randall would never have accepted her and Rafael’s relationship.

Lianne had been very interested in Gwen’s magic, though.

Whenever she saw her mother poring through the spellbooks, she raced over and begged for Gwen to read aloud.

It was useful because sometimes when Gwen struggled to understand something in her head, saying it out loud would make it click.

But Gwen didn’t want to talk about Lianne possibly having magic, not with Michelle.

They might have gotten closer, but that didn’t change the years of bullying.

Or what the pack might think of Lianne if she showed signs of magic.

Before she could change the conversation, the garden gate opened. Michelle let out a sharp gasp, and Gwen turned. Her stomach plummeted when Jenny Carps stepped into the garden. She gave Michelle a brittle smile, which turned to the familiar arrogant smirk when her eyes flickered over Gwen.

“Mrs. Buchanan,” Jenny greeted. “What a pleasant… surprise seeing you here.”

Gwen tightened her jaw. Everyone knew that she had kept her maiden name after the marriage.

The only reason Jenny would deliberately refer to her that way was as a sly dig.

However, it wasn’t that sly at all. “Jenny. It shouldn’t be a surprise, seeing as I’ve been visiting Michelle often enough this past week. ”

Jenny twirled one finger around her hair. “Right, right. You’ve been using magic on her little flowers, yes? I suppose I should say it’s surprising that you’ve been spending your talents on garden work. Seems to be rather unimportant for the witch who is the Alpha’s wife.”

Gwen was just debating how hard to smack back when Michelle spoke up.

“Grow up, Jenny,” she snapped. “It doesn’t make you look better to run around talking like a mean girl from High School. There’s no reason to talk that way.”

Gwen expected to hear a ‘especially toward the Alpha’s wife’ tacked at the end of Michelle’s speech, but it didn’t come.

Michelle looked a little nervous, a little frustrated, but she narrowed her eyes at Jenny anyway.

Jenny, in response, seemed taken aback. When she glanced at Gwen, Gwen could see the cogs turning in her mind.

The once-outcast was now intimately connected with the most powerful wolf in the pack.

For Jenny, Michelle was switching allegiance to the more powerful player.

Because for people like Jenny, that’s all it came down to. Gwen almost felt sorry for her.

Jenny’s mouth thinned. “I didn’t realize you felt so strongly about a little bit of light fun,” she said slowly, clearly trying to pivot.

Gwen shook her head. She didn’t want this to become a whole thing. “Michelle, you were talking about taking the kids inside for some ice cream?” she prompted.

“I… yes. I’ll do that,” Michelle said, though she looked hesitant.

Gwen gave her a comforting smile. She was grateful for her attempt to get involved on Gwen’s behalf, but she could handle this herself.

She hadn’t said anything about Gwen needing respect as the Alpha’s wife.

Michelle didn’t think she deserved respect for her position relative to Rafael, but rather as a member of the pack.

She was just trying to be the brave person she had wanted to be back when they were younger.

Now, however, Gwen was the Alpha’s wife. She had social currency that Michelle didn’t have.

Once Michelle had taken the kids inside, Gwen turned to Jenny. “Are you alright?”

Jenny blinked, her mouth opening slightly. She snapped it shut again, cheeks coloring. “I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You did say you lost a pet recently. And I’ve noticed you’ve been avoiding people.” Meaning me, Gwen thought. “I want to make sure that you’re doing alright.”

“I’m fine.”

Gwen cocked her head, studying her, and nodded once. “Alright. But just know that I’m not here to be your enemy, Jenny. I might be holding a grudge from High School, but I won’t let my personal feelings make things more difficult for you. If you need help, tell someone.”

Jenny stared at her for a long moment before she scoffed and shrugged. “Whatever.”

She flounced away, and Gwen didn’t bother to go after her. Instead, she headed toward the house. She wasn’t going to be petty, but that didn’t mean she was going to chase after the approval of people who didn’t want anything to do with her.

Just as she turned the corner, she jumped. Rafael leaned against the house, a small smile on his face. Gwen clutched her chest, backing away from him.

“Goddess! You scared me half to death,” she complained.

“Sorry,” Rafael said, not looking sorry at all. His grin widened. “I thought I might have to intervene. Glad to see that I didn’t have to.”

Gwen chewed her lip as she gazed up at his handsome face.

His dark eyes were bright with some unspoken emotion, his lips so kissable that it made her heart flutter.

Her stomach tightened, butterflies erupting.

Why was it so easy for her to fall back into these feelings?

She tried to remind herself of the reasons that she needed to keep her distance, but when he reached out to brush a pale strand of hair from her cheeks, she couldn’t stop herself from leaning into his touch.

“You handled that masterfully,” he told her, his voice thick with emotion. “I’m proud of you.”

She shouldn’t feel thrilled to hear it. But she was anyway. She sidestepped him, heat rushing to her face. “Er, thanks, I guess,” she mumbled. Then, because he looked like he wanted to say more, she blurted, “Let’s go inside. Lianne will be happy to see you.”

And she fled into the house, cursing herself for her own cowardice.