Page 27 of Alpha’s Secret Baby Girl (Nightfall Island Alphas #1)

“Search the basement,” Rafael ordered Michael and Chesley. “Gwen and I will go outside.”

Gwen’s heart pounded in her throat as she shoved her bare feet into her shoes and tripped on her way out the door. “Lianne?” she cried into the dark night.

Was it always this dark? The street lamps were still glowing, but their pools of amber-colored light seemed to be so far away.

The yard was deep in shadow, so that even the light spilling from the doorway was as muffled as her voice was.

It was as though someone had wrapped a cloth over her eyes.

The sky was overcast, no moon to be seen.

Goosebumps rose over Gwen’s arms as she hurried down the driveway, checking behind the hedges while Rafael went around the house.

Both of their calls rose in the air, but they seemed muted somehow, as though the night itself was muffling the noise.

The secondary barrier around the house wasn’t that big.

How could she have disappeared so quickly?

A prickling sensation swept between her temples, over her eyes.

Gwen tasted bitterness at the back of her throat.

She raced back down the driveway and rounded the house to the left, her gaze scanning the yard.

“Lianne!” she shouted. “Where are you?”

She paused, listening hard.

Nothing.

As she went to the other side of the house, the one with more bushes and flowers, it struck her that they were going about this all wrong. She could still hear Rafael’s voice calling to Lianne. But he should take his wolf form. Use his nose to track her down—

Movement caught her eye. Gwen turned to see Lianne’s pale hair glowing in the night. She was back on the driveway, walking steadily forward in a strange, mincing way as though she wasn’t quite sure where she was going.

“Lianne!” Gwen shouted, going after her. “You turn around this instant and—”

The air left her lungs as she saw what Lianne was walking toward. The demon. It was silhouetted by the faint glow from the sky, illuminated by the light from the house. Its hands stretched out, splayed against the air. The barrier. Lianne was only a few yards away, walking steadily toward it.

“No! Lianne, come back!” Gwen screamed.

Lianne didn’t even twitch, and as Gwen raced toward her, a spike of pain shot through her temples.

No, no, no! Not now! Her vision darkened, and suddenly she was back in the bedroom.

She, Rafael, and Lianne were sleeping until Rafael woke.

He left, and two tiny bits of shadow crept up the bedpost. One pressed into Gwen’s eyes, making her fall faster asleep.

The other crawled into Lianne’s ear, and she sat up, eyes still shut, head and arms limp as she slipped from the bed.

She was still asleep.

The demon was puppeting her. Bringing her to it so it could kill her.

The vision from the town hall welled in Gwen again, blinding her once again.

Dammit! She tried to shove the vision aside, but the image seared itself over her eyes—Lianne lying on the ground, blood seeping into the mud, Rafael’s pained howl, and a deadness in Gwen’s chest—

“No!” Gwen screamed. She felt her magic burst to life inside of her, hot and bright, burning away the shade of a demon that was still pressed over her eyes.

That was why she hadn’t seen Lianne, why—she snarled, shoving herself back to her feet.

Two bright dots glowed somewhere in the demon’s face, and they moved ever so slightly, as though flicking from Lianne to Gwen.

Lianne had stopped walking. She shook her head slowly back and forth, but when Gwen called out for her again, there was no answer.

Rafael burst from around the house. He was in his wolf form as he loped down the driveway.

Lianne jerked and started running for the demon.

Gwen could barely breathe, was barely aware of her own feet slapping the pavement as she chased after them.

Her hands shot forward as she called on the burning inside of her, some mother’s instinct.

Light singed through the air. It passed harmlessly over Rafael and Lianne and struck with a blow into the demon’s chest. It released a pained howl.

The light lingered, zipping through and around the demon. Pieces of darkness broke from the main bulk of it, chasing the light. The demon clawed at the barrier, its terrible voice making Gwen’s ears bleed.

Rafael was almost to Lianne. But Lianne was already at the barrier.

She slipped through, and the demon lunged.

Gwen screamed again, and Rafael charged through, his howl ringing through the air as his jaws clenched around the demon’s wrist. The weight of his bulk slammed into the demon’s side, forcing it back a step, and the swipe it took with its other hand barely missed Lianne.

The demon whirled, slashing at Rafael. Something dark sprayed into the air.

The demon threw Rafael off, sending him rolling across the ground.

Shouting came from behind her, but Gwen ignored it.

She reached the barrier just as the demon grabbed for Lianne again.

Gwen snatched her daughter’s arm, dragging her back just in time.

The demon’s claws raked across the barrier uselessly as Gwen fell backward, dragging Lianne with her.

“Wha?” Lianne gasped. She shuddered and started to flail. “Let go.”

Her voice was slurred, her eyes half-shut and glazed. The demon howled and pounded its fists against the barrier. Gwen focused, trying to find the magic inside of her once again. Light blazed in her hands, and she pressed them to either side of Lianne’s head, praying that it would work.

Lianne blinked. The glassy, far-off look faded. “Mommy?”

Rafael was just getting to his feet. The demon’s blow must have knocked him on the head. He stumbled as he turned and snarled. The demon whipped around, its glowing eyes locking on him once more. Gwen’s heart stopped. She lifted her hands, the light weak against the night as she screamed once more.

Rafael bunched his muscles, ready to attack. He didn’t realize she and Lianne were inside the barrier.

“Rafael!” she screamed as he charged.

Something flew over her head. Michael charged through the barrier, heedless of the danger.

His wolfish form was a blur as he attacked the demon’s leg.

He distracted it just long enough for Rafael to dodge a blow that would have shattered his spine.

The light in Gwen’s hands flickered as her lungs seized. What were they doing?

Get back through the barrier, she wanted to beg, but her lungs just weren’t working.

She watched helplessly as the brothers fought the demon, frozen with fear and a strange, tingling numbness in her limbs.

She couldn’t look away, couldn’t pull Lianne back to the house.

Hands were on her arm, trying to tug her to her feet. Chelsey.

But then Chelsey, too, went still, watching the battle. Rafael tore a limb off the demon, but the severed appendage merely reformed itself, turning into something that spun and dove around them. The scent of blood rose heavy in the air.

Gwen tried to put more magic out, tried to build a barrier around the demon to keep it in one spot and prevent it from continuing to attack.

But she was frozen, inside and out. Someone was screaming.

Was it her? She felt oddly untethered. The two wolves seemed to be moving in slow motion, taking far too long to attack and dodge.

She tried to make them go faster, tried to warn them, but her jaw was welded shut.

So she wasn’t the one who was screaming.

Who was?

She tried again to bring her magic forward.

It slipped through her grasp, trickling away from her.

But the light was growing brighter. Not the light in her hands.

It trembled and died, but there was more light.

It blinded her, searing against her eyes.

The scream was louder now, and she realized it was Lianne.

Lianne, her hands lifted in the air as though she was trying to ward off the demon.

Lianne, screaming and blazing with light.

Gwen suddenly understood why she was frozen, why Chelsey stood there, her hands lightly touching her arm and Lianne’s shoulder.

They were making a conduit, the three of them.

The man from Gwen and Chelsey’s bodies was flowing toward Lianne.

It moved into the light around her, growing brighter and brighter until Lianne was as bright as the full moon.

The demon kicked Rafael in the chest, sending him flying through the barrier. Michael was caught in a massive, clawed hand.

Lianne screamed again, and this time the magic rippled out from her.

The energy exploded through the night like a supernova.

It crashed into the demon. It stumbled, then roared.

Its body writhed and then, suddenly, it was torn to shreds.

Those pieces scattered about like flies before the light consumed them, too.

Soon, there was nothing left of the demon except the memory of where it had been.

The light faded with Lianne’s scream. Gwen sucked in a deep breath, shuddering as movement came back to her. Lianne slumped against her, whimpering.

Everything became very still. But rather than that strange, slowed-down time where she had been frozen, this stillness was simply a moment where they all came back to themselves.

Gwen’s heart raced as she processed what had just happened.

Lianne had tapped into the magic. She’d siphoned from Gwen and Chelsey both and then had obliterated the demon.

That blast of magic had been more powerful than anything Gwen had been able to produce. And considering Chelsey hadn’t even been able to make a flicker before…

Gwen reeled as she pulled her daughter into her arms. Rafael and Michael moved stiffly, in pain.

Chelsey was the one who first hauled Gwen and Lianne to their feet.

She walked them back into the house, made them sit on the couch, and went back for the men.

Rafael was bleeding from his chest, wincing in his human form as Michael and Chelsey helped him inside.

At some point, they’d both put on boxers, though Gwen wasn’t sure where the clothes had come from.

“I need to contact the special ops,” Rafael started. He glanced around for his phone, grimacing every time he moved.

“No, you don’t,” Michael said firmly. “You got beat pretty good by that demon. I’ll take care of the special ops and have them on the lookout. You stay here, get patched up.”

Chelsey headed out of the room, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll get the first aid kit.”

Lianne twitched and scratched her arms, staring at the adults with a look of stunned surprise.

Gwen didn’t even know what to say. She checked Lianne for any signs of injury, but other than a little gravel stuck to the seat of her PJs, she was unharmed.

Gwen’s hands shook as she tucked Lianne into a blanket on the couch and turned her attention to Rafael.

By this time, Michael had retrieved a cellphone and was already making calls. He retreated to another room while Chelsey brought back the first aid kit. Gwen began to clean and bandage Rafael’s injuries.

“I’m going to make some food,” Chelsey announced, wringing her hands. “That’s what we need. Some nourishment.”

Gwen thought it was probably more so that she could cry in privacy. Her eyes were welling with tears. But she didn’t say that, only nodded in acknowledgement.

Lianne pushed off the blanket and continued to scratch her arms. “It itches,” she complained, rubbing her foot over her calf. Her expression became pained. “It itches!”

Had the demon done something to her?

Before Gwen could worry too much, Rafael leaned forward. “Lianne, do you feel like you want to run?”

“Yes,” Lianne whimpered, writhing as she tried to itch her skin.

“And you feel like there’s a scream inside of you, just waiting to burst out?”

At Lianne’s nod, Gwen understood. Those were symptoms she recognized from when she was just starting to figure out how to shift. But how? She was so young! Gwen bit her lips together, fighting the anxiety that washed through her at this.

Rafael gestured Lianne over to him. “What you’re feeling is your wolf. It wants to get out, but you’re not ready yet. So we’re going to have to take some deep breaths to help soothe it until the itchy feeling goes away, okay?”

He started to walk her through the calming exercises while Gwen finished patching him up. She watched father and daughter, and the feelings that flooded her heart were stronger than any she could have anticipated.

This is why she needs him, she thought. This is why I need him.