Page 24 of Alpha’s Secret Baby Girl (Nightfall Island Alphas #1)

After their time together at the town hall, Rafael was surprised when Gwen distanced herself from him again.

He had thought that when she went to speak with Kira, it was about the recurrence of her vision, but when he tried to ask her about it, she only flinched and refused to look at him.

That night, she even insisted that she sleep in Lianne’s room, claiming it was in case Lianne had a nightmare.

Rafael knew Gwen well enough these days to know when she was lying.

“Did I do something?” he asked the next morning, before Lianne woke when he found Gwen making coffee in the kitchen.

Gwen gave him an exhausted look. Her shoulders were so tense they were halfway to her ears, the smudges under her eyes so dark he almost thought it was eyeliner. “No. You didn’t do anything.”

“Then why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not avoiding you. We had a lovely dinner last night and watched some TV,” Gwen mumbled, not looking at him.

Rafael reached for her, but she slid out of his grasp. “What is this, then?”

“I’m just tired.”

“Gwen, please. Don’t do this again,” he said, not even caring that he was begging.

Gwen ran her hands through her hair. “We’re training some more today, right? I’m not avoiding you, Rafael. I promise. I’m just tired.”

No, you’re hiding something from me. He stared at her, trying to find the words to convince her that she could trust him. How could he do that when he didn’t even know what the matter was? Maybe it was just that she was tired. Maybe he was reading too much into the events that had happened earlier.

Maybe.

Chelsey showed up at the house again to watch Lianne. When she saw her, Lianne threw herself to the floor and glared at her parents.

“No fair! I want to learn magic, too!” she wailed.

Gwen kissed her forehead. “Honey, we don’t know if you’re going to be a witch at all. You’re still too little for magic.”

Lianne wiped her hand over her eyes. “I’m not too little. I can be a witch, if you let me.”

“Maybe we can work on potions,” Chelsey suggested. It did not seem to cheer Lianne up.

Gwen dragged her feet as they left, continually glancing back at the house with a hesitant expression. When Rafael touched her hand, though, she snatched it back and strode to the car without a word. Rafael’s wolf howled. He could almost feel their relationship dissolving again.

But when he put the car into gear and started to drive, Gwen rested her hand on his thigh. “Sorry,” she whispered.

Rafael’s muscles loosened slightly. He didn’t answer, only put his hand over hers and squeezed lightly.

They drove in silence to the town hall, where they quickly set up for her training.

She was unable to produce the blue shield again at all, and when she tried other spells, they were equally ineffective.

Her motions were jerky, and she kept getting a distant look on her face as she stared at the doorway.

“Concentrate on your magic,” Rafael finally snapped after he accidentally knocked her on the head with a hollow, dollar-store bowling pin.

His frustrations reached a boiling point.

There was something she wasn’t telling him; he knew that, and her refusal to open up hurt him more than he cared to admit.

“You’re going to get yourself killed if you can’t even concentrate in a low-stakes situation.

What will you do if you end up facing off against the demon? ”

Gwen’s hands clenched into fists as she glared at him. “Oh, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m distracted when there is a fucking demon who’s coming after my daughter—”

“Our daughter,” Rafael interrupted.

“—And who has already tried to kill me. But how many times were you attacked again?” She tapped her chin and opened her mouth.

“That’s right—” She cut herself off. Her arms dropped, and guilt flooded her face.

She took a deep breath and shook her head, stepping backward.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, that was out of line. ”

Tension still rippled through Rafael’s body, but he counted to ten in his head and forced his own fists to relax.

“I know this is a lot of pressure. I know that you’re afraid, and no, the demon hasn’t attacked me.

Only you and Lianne. That doesn’t mean I don’t have skin in this game, Gwen.

It’s not easy to feel this helpless when there is nothing more I want than to protect both of you. ”

Gwen wrapped her arms around her middle. “I don’t think this is working.”

“Then we’ll change our approach. Maybe some meditation—”

“That’s not what I mean.” Gwen’s arms tightened as her throat worked. “I think I need to leave the island.”

Rafael couldn’t answer. Was she crazy?

“The demon will follow me. I can just leave and lead it away. I’ll keep learning more magic.

I’ll find another community of witches that will be able to teach me.

Then I’ll be able to take out the demon.

Lianne will be safe here, with you. She’ll have a stable life, and you’ll be able to teach her. ”

“You’re not leaving.”

Gwen shuddered, then looked into his eye. “I thought you said you shouldn’t have forced me to stay. Was that just words to get in my pants?”

Rafael fell back a step. She was so cold. So… unlike her. “You’re running away.”

“I’m not. I’m trying to leave so—”

“You’re running away right now,” he interrupted. His voice was low. “You’re lashing out, trying to make me angry. Trying to play on my guilt so that I’ll stop asking you what you saw in your vision.”

Gwen shook her head. “No. No, I—”

She clutched her head suddenly, stumbling.

Rafael leapt forward and caught her around the waist to keep her from falling.

She collapsed into his chest, whimpering and shivering.

Her head dropped to his shoulder, and he slowly lowered them both to the floor.

She was reacting differently than she had yesterday with the vision. Was this something else?

Her breathing was rapid, her eyes shut as her fingers alternately dug into his arms and loosened so much he thought she might have fallen unconscious.

Her whole body shook. Was she having a seizure?

He tried to think of the signs but didn’t know enough.

All he could do was hold her and keep her upright, to make sure she didn’t hurt herself further.

Eventually, her eyes opened. Her skin was white, her lips pale.

Her breathing was sharp and shallow. Rafael pulled his phone from his pocket and texted the doctor to come to his office, then helped Gwen to the elevator.

Was it just yesterday when they had gone to his office full of vigor and passion?

Gwen didn’t protest his commands, which only proved to him that she was in bad shape.

In his office, he lay her down on the couch and got snacks and a bottle of electrolyte water from the fridge. She downed the bottle so hastily she slopped on her shirt. As she lowered the bottle, she looked at the stain with embarrassment.

Rafael brushed her sweaty hair from her face. “The doctor is coming to check you out.”

Embarrassment lit her cheeks with pale color. “That’s not necessary.”

“Maybe not, but it will make me feel better.” He hesitated a moment before asking, “What did you see?”

She shut her eyes again. “How long until the doctor gets here?”

Rafael checked his phone. “She’s on her way.”

“I’ll tell you when she’s gone,” Gwen promised.

She nibbled on the snacks and drank more water. By the time the doctor arrived, she looked much improved. The doctor gave her a checkup and recommended bed rest and plenty of fluids. Gwen even stood and tried to leave. Rafael stopped her gently and led her back to the couch.

“You told me you’d tell me,” he reminded her.

Gwen brushed her fingers across her forehead, though there was nothing to brush away. “I did.”

He waited silently.

Gwen glanced at him and quickly looked away again. “It’s not going to be easy to hear.”

“I’m a big boy. I can handle it.”

“It was a vision of the past this time. I’ve never seen the past before,” she said slowly, rubbing her fingertips in circles on her temples now. “I saw… I won’t go into the details.”

Rafael fought down the irritation. Was she delaying, or was she trying to think up lies to tell him? He grasped her chin lightly and turned her face toward him. His mouth was drawn into a tight line as he studied her.

“Tell me,” he whispered, but it was an order.

“It wasn’t a car crash that killed your parents,” Gwen murmured. “Or rather, it was. But it wasn’t an accident.”

Cold washed through him. His fingers tightened on her chin unconsciously. “What are you talking about? What happened?”

“I’m not going into detail,” Gwen said again, shuddering.

“Gwen!”

“The barrier was failing,” she said, speaking quickly as her voice shook.

“That’s when the demon escaped. The same one stalking the island now.

Your mother was a witch descendant and had magic, too.

It was weak magic, but your father thought it was enough.

They… they were trying to restore the barrier.

The demon attacked. Randall defended Isabel as she did what needed to be done to fix the barrier.

He died defending her. But after he was dead… ”

Rafael felt as though all the air had disappeared from the room. His hands shook as he searched Gwen’s face, searching for any sign that she was lying. He almost hoped he’d find it.

“They died protecting the pack,” he murmured. “But the accident…”

“The demon didn’t want anyone to know. It set the scene. Made it look like it was the crash that killed them.”

Nobody knew. Not even the Council. All these years, he’d railed against his father, had hated him for what he’d done.

He hadn’t thought there was anything good about Randall Buchanan, that he’d died and killed his wife through another instance of selfishness and spite.

Rafael had half convinced himself that Randall had committed suicide and murdered his mother, because why should she be happy if she couldn’t belong to the former Alpha?

Rafael’s gut churned. He groaned as the agony swept through him.

“I always thought he was nothing more than a selfish prick,” he said. He pressed his face into the couch as his mind churned over this information. “Was there anything else I didn’t know? What other things did he do that I just didn’t acknowledge?”

Gwen’s fingers combed through his hair. “Rafael, you can’t think that way.”

“But what if… what if it was all because he was protecting us?” His mind focused on his own actions when he first realized Lianne was his daughter.

He had acted badly. He’d acted like his father.

So what if Randall’s behavior was rooted in the same fear?

“What if he was trying to make us strong enough to fight the demons? What if—”

“Rafael.” Gwen pulled his head up, making him look at her. “It doesn’t excuse what he did.”

Rafael stared at her, trying to understand her words.

“What he did was abuse. You can’t justify abuse by saying it came from a good place or anything like that.

He never told you, and that’s on him,” she said, her voice growing stronger.

“It’s not your fault; he didn’t say anything.

And if he really was trying to strengthen the pack, why would he treat us witch-descendants so poorly? ”

She was right. He knew she was right, somewhere inside.

But all he could think of was the last time he’d seen his parents.

He and Randall had been fighting, no shocker.

Randall had said Rafael didn’t understand.

Was he talking about the demon? His mother had run after him.

She’d begged him to come back inside. Wanted him to apologize to his father and hear him out.

Would things have turned out differently if he had? Would he have been able to see things through his father’s eyes and convince him to see through Rafael’s? Would he have been able to make the changes here on the island? If he could have just done more…

He thought he’d gotten over these torments, the ones that whispered he could have saved his mother at the very least.

Now?

Now it felt as though his scars had been ripped open once more. And he didn’t know how to stop the bleeding.