Page 22 of Alpha’s Secret Baby Girl (Nightfall Island Alphas #1)

Rafael had planned to spend the evening with Gwen and Lianne.

The demon hadn’t been seen for weeks now, and since he’d been training along with other wolves in the pack to get to a point where he could help hunt the demon without putting the special ops team at risk, he thought it was high time to take an evening off and reconnect.

Just when he had just pulled out all the groceries to cook their meal, however, his phone rang. It was Joshua.

“There’s been a sighting,” Joshua said urgently.

Rafael glanced up at Gwen. Her face was pale, but she nodded once at him. “Go.”

He took off, using the motorcycle he’d imported—it moved faster than the cars.

Soon, he had met up with the special ops team, and they headed out together.

The tall trees of the island went by in a flash as they made their way through the forest trails.

As they reached the reported location, the scent of blood hit Rafael hard.

His stomach flipped, and he pulled his motorcycle to a stop.

“Spread out,” he ordered.

His wolf itched to be freed and to engage as well, but he kept his human form as he joined in the search. The forest was utterly still and silent. So where was the blood coming from? He moved through a patch of fern fronds, higher than his head, and his foot nudged something on the ground. A hand.

Rafael bent and brushed aside some forest debris, revealing the body. He called for the special ops, and they gathered up the body, pulling it into the clearing.

“That’s Robert Goodchild,” Paul breathed.

Rafael nodded, recognizing the man. He was from a pack on the other side of the island. A dead shifter was bad enough, but from another pack… He had to fight down the urge to curse out loud as he lifted his face to the sky.

“Let’s get him back to town,” he ordered. “I’ll contact his Alpha to arrange for the delivery of the body.”

“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 he clenched 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 he wasn’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.

Rafael rubbed her back soothingly. “I’m sorry. We just have a lot of work to do.”

Lianne growled.

“Hey.” Gwen leaned forward and brushed Lianne’s hair from her face. “It sucks, doesn’t it? You want Rafael to stay closer to us.”

Lianne nodded.

“I do, too. And Rafael wants to stay. Sometimes we just don’t get what we want, even as adults.” Gwen stroked Lianne’s cheek gently.

“I just want…” Lianne sighed. “I wish I could change into a wolf. Then I’d fight the bad guy, and we could all stay home.”

Rafael winced. What did she know about the ‘bad guy ‘?

It dwelled on his mind as they got her ready for a playdate with her friends.

After dropping her off, he and Gwen went to the town hall.

Joshua and Michael were there, and when they heard the plan, Joshua scowled, but Michael said it was a good idea.

The two left quickly, though, not wanting to be around during the actual use of magic.

“Do you think Lianne will have a wolf?” Gwen asked as she and Rafael set up for their tests.

“I don’t know. She could end up as a witch like you,” Rafael said.

Gwen winced. “I hope she has a wolf. I want her to be happy.”

Was the unspoken assumption that if Lianne were a witch like Gwen instead of a wolf shifter like Rafael, she would end up miserable?

“Gwen.”

She bit her lip and avoided his gaze.

“I will always look out for you. Both of you.” His stomach tightened, and he let out a soft breath as he came closer. He tucked his fingers under her chin, enjoying the sense of her smooth skin, and tilted her face to his. “And I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” Gwen repeated, her voice soft.

“I handled this whole thing terribly. I should never have decided that you were staying on the island, willing or not. I shouldn’t have decided we were getting married, whether you liked it or not.

I wasn’t behaving like a man should. I was acting like my father.

” The words were bitter but true. “I never wanted to be him, but I’m still his son.

I’m trying to change. I’m trying to be better.

I know that doesn’t change what I’ve done.

You don’t have to forgive me. I just need you to know I’m sorry. ”

She slipped out of his hold. “Let’s concentrate on this magic stuff. It won’t do any good to be sorry if the demon ends up killing us all.”

They finished setting up, and Gwen read the passage in the book about forming a shield against dangers.

It was a smaller, less permanent version of the net that was domed over the town.

She described what she had to do, and Rafael frowned.

There was little ceremony or incantation.

Mostly, it was moving her hands in a certain way as a visual way to inspire her brain to think of the shield in certain forms. Other than that, it seemed it was all about mental focus.

“If this goes wrong, it shouldn’t blow anything up,” Gwen said anxiously as she looked around.

They had put together a small series of projectiles for him to throw at her. It ranged from soft, spongy balls to plastic bowling pins. They were hollow and unlikely to cause damage, but would still hit when they struck. Rafael started with the softest of the items.

“Ready?” he asked.

Gwen took a deep breath. She held her hands cupped in front of herself and her face pulled into a determined expression.

She shaped her hands into a dome and lifted them over her head before pulling her arms to either side.

Nothing. There was meant to be a pale blue flicker that would indicate the shield was in place.

Rafael shifted from foot to foot, squeezing the squishy ball in his hand.

She did the same motion to no avail. Her lip curled back, and she did it again, faster and more impatient this time.

Rafael tossed the ball aside and jogged over to the book. “Let’s read the passage again. Maybe you missed a step.”

“I didn’t miss a step,” Gwen snapped, agitated.

Rafael glanced over the passage, then flipped the page and kept reading. He paused on a note that was scrawled in the margin. “An agitated mind will find it difficult to control magic in the shapes it desires.”

Gwen lowered her hands and turned to him. “What does that mean? Think happy thoughts?”

Rafael closed the book, considering. “I think that you are distracted by your fears about the demon and everything else. Which is understandable,” he added quickly, not wanting Gwen to think he blamed her. “Perhaps if you spent some time concentrating on happy memories and tried again?”

“I… will give it a try.” Gwen took a deep breath and closed her eyes. After a moment, she lifted her hands again. She put them over her head and moved them more gracefully downward.

A flicker of blue sprang up around her. At Rafael’s gasp, her eyes snapped open. She looked at the light blankly, then squealed. The magic disappeared, but Gwen danced on the spot. Rafael laughed and raced over to her. Gwen threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly.

“I did it!” she cried. “Score one for me!”