Page 26 of Alpha’s Secret Baby Girl (Nightfall Island Alphas #1)

Rafael’s instincts to rush straight back to town were curtailed by Gwen’s insisting that they instead go to the place she saw in her vision, where she’d seen their mother reinforce the shield.

Michael sat in the backseat with Gwen, his head swiveling around, constantly on alert for any sign of attack as Rafael drove.

His foot felt impossibly heavy, and he wanted to slam it down on the gas, but getting killed in a car crash wouldn’t help.

His wolf snarled as he listened to Gwen’s panicked breathing in the back. She was thinking the same thing he was. If they didn’t get back to town in time, then Lianne…

“She has Joshua with her. And Chelsey and Kira,” Gwen mumbled, just loud enough for them all to hear, even though she was talking to herself. “Have to reinforce the boundary. Otherwise, the demon can just get in again.”

Rafael’s hands tightened as he pressed down on the gas a little more. Neither Kira nor Chelsey had strong wolves. Neither of them could use magic except in potions. But Joshua is with them. And there were still members of the special ops in town.

They arrived with squealing brakes at the spot where the demon killed Rafael’s parents.

He shifted into wolf form as soon as he was out of the car.

Michael did the same, and they maintained a loose formation around Gwen, allowing themselves space to intercept the demon if it attacked.

The cedars and ash trees were utterly still around them.

Gwen hurried to what appeared to be an inconspicuous boulder, a marker whose purpose had long since been forgotten.

She dropped to her knees next to it, placing both hands against the stone. Rafael turned his back, keeping a close eye on the foliage around them. It was a prime location for an attack.

“Done,” Gwen said after a few minutes. She scrambled back to her feet, and the three raced to the car.

This time, Rafael didn’t have the patience for driving safely. He took the bends at dangerous speeds, making them all knock into doors as they raced toward town. Blood rushed in his ears, but not loud enough to block out Gwen’s whimpers.

“Your mother had latent magical abilities,” she said in a voice so small he didn’t know if she was trying to talk to him, Michael, or herself. “She had a strong wolf, too. Lianne has better chances. Maybe she’ll be a wolf and a witch and…”

She collapsed into whimpers again. The distress raced through him, but he was already driving a breakneck speeds. They couldn’t get back to town any faster.

They arrived to find chaos. Smoke belched into the sky with several houses on fire.

The pack raced about, trying to put out the fires.

Dark sparks shot through the sky near town hall, and Rafael zipped through the streets toward it.

There, they found the special ops team facing off with the demon.

It was huge, five times bigger than when they had last seen it.

The empty space where its face should be had two pale glowing dots as massive clawed hands swiped at them.

Rafael leapt from the car and shifted to his wolf form. As he charged toward the demon, it howled suddenly, the sound like a tornado bursting through the air. Then it swung into the air, funneling itself into a sheet of darkness over the sky and abruptly vanished.

Everything went still, but only for a few minutes.

The special ops teams spread out, sniffing and growling as they searched for where the demon had gone.

A body lay on the ground. Rafael’s heart stuttered as he recognized the Elder Priest. Blood pooled around the body, and his skin was the color of a corpse.

“Rafael,” Gwen called.

He turned. She was in the driver’s seat of the car, already slowly backing away. Rafael raced back and jumped in through the back door. He shifted to human form as she whipped the car around.

“Hunt the demon,” he yelled through the window, and then they were gone. Gwen drove even more recklessly than he did, over lawns and through hedges until finally she skidded to a stop just shy of hitting the porch of his house.

Inside, they found Joshua in his wolf form and Kira armed with kitchen knives. When she saw them, she cried out in relief and moved to hug Gwen.

“Lianne?” Gwen called out, her voice high-pitched. “Lianne?”

“She’s with Chelsey in the bathroom,” Kira said quickly.

The only room in the house with no windows for the demon to sneak in through. Smart. Rafael shook himself, growling softly as the adrenaline lingered. They rushed to the bathroom, and when Chesley flung it open, Lianne burst out. She slammed her small body into Gwen’s, sobbing and clinging to her.

The demon was still in town, though. The barrier was restored, so unless it could get out, and not back in—

“Gwen.” Rafael marched over to her and grabbed her arm. His fingers dug in too tight, and he winced more than Gwen did, releasing her at once. He took a short breath. “Sorry, I didn’t—”

“What is it?” she interrupted, searching his face.

Right. Focus. Rafael straightened himself. “You need to put a protective barrier around the house.”

“I don’t know if I can,” Gwen said.

“You can,” Rafael told her, infusing his voice with confidence. If what he’d read in the spellbooks was correct, then the biggest hurdle Gwen was facing was her own self-doubt.

Gwen opened her mouth, but when Lianne pressed her face tighter into her stomach, she winced.

Rafael’s wolf huffed, and he leaned forward.

Was she injured? But no. There was a wild, terrified look to her eyes that had nothing to do with physical pain.

She nodded once, then turned to Kira and Chelsey.

“I’m going to need help. You might not have access to magic the same way I do, but you can still give me energy. And I’m going to need it. Big time.”

***

Rafael hated leaving Gwen and Lianne, but he didn’t have much choice. The town was in chaos. The demon had wreaked havoc, destroying almost a dozen buildings. The special ops team scoured the space within the barrier without finding a trace of the demon, and Rafael couldn’t join them.

He left the demon hunting to the experts, focusing on security instead.

He had to ensure they didn’t have another breach like this one, which meant having more guards standing watch.

He pulled people from all the houses on the outskirts of town, whether or not the building was intact, and saw to it that everyone was housed, either in the town hall, the school, in other people’s houses, or even within the storefronts.

Gwen was nearby during this, but not close enough to talk.

After putting a protective barrier around her house, she began healing whatever injuries she could.

Kira was with her while Lianne stayed home, within the secondary protection, with Chelsey and Michael.

On the few occasions when Rafael had time to stop and breathe, he was impressed with how Gwen handled the crowd.

She managed to soothe the panic and arranged for people to get food and water.

She ensured that everyone had a task to keep them busy, so that things moved smoothly.

The day passed without any further signs of the demon until close to dusk, when the special ops team reported seeing it outside of the barrier. It was heading across the island to one of the other towns, and they chased after it.

Rafael already knew they weren’t going to find it. But it had gotten out of town—which meant that either the barrier worked one-way, keeping things out but not in, or Gwen’s efforts to reinforce it hadn’t worked after all.

Or, his mind said as he finally moved to Gwen’s side to insist she go home and rest, there’s more than one.

That grim line of thinking did nothing to help calm him.

He caught Gwen as she stumbled, and she let out a sigh, pressing her cheek to his shoulder.

The pack had bedded down for the night in the town hall.

A few children cried, and their parents comforted them.

Nobody looked at him and Gwen as he led her from the building.

Belatedly, he wondered if he ought to have had her put the protections around the town hall and moved everyone inside.

But even for as big as it was, there wasn’t room for everyone to sleep here.

“We need to get you home so you can sleep,” Rafael said.

“I need to stay. Look after things,” she answered exhaustedly.

Rafael shook his head as he helped her into the car. “No, you need to be at home with Lianne. You’ve done more than enough, my love. Now I need you and Lianne both to stay in the house with the extra protection.”

Gwen’s eyes glittered in the passing streetlights. They drove in silence for some time before Gwen whispered, “I want you to stay with us.”

“I’m the Alpha. I need to get back to the town hall and make sure the people are protected,” he answered.

“They have the special ops. And you need your sleep, too. You can’t make smart choices when you’re falling over from exhaustion.”

As though to prove her point, Rafael yawned.

His limbs weighed heavily, and if they were attacked, he wasn’t sure how much fighting he’d be able to do.

A frown tilted his lips downward. Gwen was right.

He needed sleep, to rest, if only so he could protect the pack and his loved ones more effectively.

All the lights in the house were on. As Rafael and Gwen stumbled bleary-eyed into the house, they found Chelsey and Michael passed out on the couch.

They were on opposite sides, but their fingers were stretched out unconsciously, their fingertips brushing against each other.

Rafael tiptoed passed them, comforted by the slow rise and fall of their chests.

Lianne was in bed, the lights on, her arms wrapped around her teddy bear. She twitched and whimpered in her slip.

Rafael and Gwen glanced at each other.

“Should I move her to my bed while you get changed?” Rafael whispered.

Gwen nodded once. “I’ll be there shortly.”

Lianne whimpered again. She didn’t wake as Rafael picked her up, but her face turned into his chest and her trembling stopped.

The tension in her small body released. By the time he’d carried her to his room, she was relaxed and breathing evenly.

Gwen arrived shortly, wearing a t-shirt and a pair of PJs shorts.

Rafael didn’t change his own clothes before he and Gwen lay down. He wasn’t going to stay long.

Gwen’s hand found his, Lianne between them. She tangled her fingers with his and gazed at him in exhaustion and something else. He leaned in to brush his lips over her forehead.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, too.”

Her eyes shut, and she let out a soft sigh. But her body did not relax.

***

Rafael slept. Not deeply, but he did sleep. When he woke, feeling heavy and aching but alert, he carefully made sure Gwen and Lianne were both still covered in the blankets before he slipped out of bed. Lianne reached for him.

“Don’t go,” she whispered.

“I’ll be right back,” he answered, smoothing her pale hair from her forehead. “I promise.”

He placed a kiss on her temple, then slipped out of the room. Downstairs, Chelsey and Michael were awake and appeared to be in the middle of an argument. They fell silent upon seeing Rafael. Chelsey waved an angry finger in Michael’s face.

“You woke him up.”

“Good, because he needed to be woken up,” Michael answered grumpily.

Rafael frowned. “Have there been more demon sightings?”

Michael shook his head. “The special ops team lost the demon at the territory boundary with the other pack. I ordered them to return to town and thought you should know. Joshua also reported that the plumbing in the town hall has clogged. He’s got someone working on it.”

“All of which could have waited until tomorrow,” Chelsey grumbled. She pointed at Rafael. “I hope you’re letting Gwen sleep.”

“I am. I—” he started.

Gwen burst into the room. Her head swiveled as she took in her surroundings. “Where’s Lianne?”

“She was upstairs with you,” Rafael answered.

“She’s not there! She wasn’t in her room or the bathroom.” Gwen’s face lost all color. “She’s gone!”