Page 5 of Alpha’s Secret Baby Girl (Nightfall Island Alphas #1)

This place was so different than what it had been when she left seven years ago.

Gwen felt like a bobble-head toy, her neck constantly moving as she tried to absorb everything around her.

When Kira invited her to spend a little time on the island, she had expected to see a few coats of paint at best. But this…

this was a complete transformation. It was nothing like the island she knew when she was younger.

Not only did everything look brighter and cleaner, but people seemed a lot happier as well.

Many of them smiled at her and Kira in that ‘I acknowledge your presence and don’t want to make you uncomfortable’ way.

“This is… amazing,” Gwen said. She tugged at her sleeves, fidgeting as a strange wish welled in her chest.

If Rafael were on the island right now, maybe she could talk to him.

See if he had changed as dramatically as the rest of the island had.

She felt bad for leaving Lianne with Chelsey instead of bringing her into town with them.

She hadn’t wanted people staring at her daughter, and certainly didn’t want word getting back to Rafael that she was running around with a six-year-old child.

Lianne looked like her, not Rafael, but he wasn’t stupid.

He’d be able to put two and two together.

“It’s better than that,” Kira told her. “Rafael has made serious social changes as well. All of us, witch descendants and other outcasts, are protected members of the pack. He has cracked down hard on anyone who tries to shun or bully us, and a strict policy is in place that doesn’t allow businesses to turn us away.

Things aren’t changing overnight, but they are changing. ”

Gwen’s traitorous heart fluttered. Over the last few years, as her contact with Kira and Chelsey dwindled to near extinction, she had put in a strict ‘no-pack’ rule on what they talked about. So hearing that Rafael was the Alpha had caught her off guard.

The fact that he stepped up so much still sent her pulse racing.

Could it be that he wasn’t the bastard she’d been telling herself he was for the past seven years?

Maybe there was a reason for him to reject her in front of the entire pack.

Maybe… maybe it wouldn’t have been such a terrible thing for him to know he’d fathered a child.

The thought made her hands grow cold. If he really wasn’t as bad as she’d convinced herself, she had done something unforgivable by keeping him away from Lianne.

But I don’t know enough for that yet. He rejected me.

He acted like I was nothing. I don’t know why he has done all this.

And if he had known about Lianne and he’d decided to take custody…

he would have gotten it, especially in those early years when she barely had a job and struggled to make ends meet.

She shook those thoughts from her head. No use in worrying over the past when it was already gone.

Kira led her into Main Street, showing off the various statues that had been erected there. Kira cooed and gushed over many of them, but Gwen was so distracted by all the changes that she hardly heard her friend.

Finally, she wrenched her focus back to Kira. “It’s beautiful. This place has changed so much.”

Kira’s eyes glowed with pride as she nodded. “We are doing very well. All those old tenement buildings were torn down and replaced by new apartments. The Alpha has done a lot of good work here.”

“He really has,” Gwen murmured. She put her arms around herself and turned to Kira. “And… you said that he hasn’t taken a mate?”

Kira peered at her, a knowing look on her face. “No. He hasn’t. Though they do say he had a few flings while he was away at college.”

Gwen winced. Of course, he’d had flings.

A man as handsome as Rafael had to have women throwing themselves at him.

While she hadn’t exactly had ‘flings’ of her own, she’d had the opportunity.

She was busy and hadn’t wanted to have another man in her life, but if an overweight single mother like her had men interested in her, someone like—

“Gwen. It’s been a while,” said a deep, husky voice behind her.

The air seemed to disappear from around her. Kira’s eyes widened, turning into bulging circles in her face. Her mouth opened as though she was going to blurt out ‘I didn’t know he was here.’ Gwen didn’t let her. Instead, she turned to face him.

Rafael Buchanan was even more handsome now than he had been seven years ago.

The last traces of baby fat that had softened his sharp angles had disappeared, leaving him with a hard, lean body, a chiseled face, and an aura of complete self-assurance.

Her mouth went dry as her gaze lingered over his sun-kissed brown skin, his dark eyes, and those lips she remembered pressed against her skin.

Suddenly, she was glad she’d left Lianne with Chelsey.

“Alpha Rafael,” Gwen said stiffly. “I wasn’t expecting to see you.”

She had to get out of here. Away from him.

Her body burned. Her fingers itched to reach out to touch him.

After seven years, she should be stronger than this, but every nerve ending in her cried out to be soothed by his touch.

Heat pooled in her belly, and the memories—gods, the memories!

It would be far too easy for her to fall into his trap again.

Just because he’s changed the town doesn’t mean he’s changed himself, she reminded herself.

Rafael frowned at her. “What brings you back to the island?”

“Nothing,” Gwen said quickly.

But Kira answered at the same time. “She’s been having visions of danger.”

Gwen winced. “They’re nothing.”

“They’re not nothing,” Kira insisted.

Rafael’s gaze flickered around them. Gwen quickly did the same. Was anyone watching? It didn’t seem like they were, but Rafael jerked his chin down the road.

“Come with me to my office. I want to hear about these visions.” He turned on his heel and marched away. A paper bag swung loosely in his hand.

Gwen glared at Kira but reluctantly followed.

Her mind reeled over everything, not helped by the strong, manly scent that wafted off Rafael as he strode on ahead.

Gods, she missed that scent. She found herself breathing it in, trying to convince herself it wasn’t because she wanted to be buried in his arms again.

They went to the town hall, Gwen barely noticing the changes now.

Rafael led them upstairs to a modestly decorated office.

He set his bag on the desk, but he wasn’t paying enough attention.

It was only halfway on and fell off. Two books spilled out.

Gwen bent to help pick them up automatically, then snorted when she saw the titles.

“101 Ways to Make Him Fall in Love?” She read the first self-help book, then laughed out loud when she saw the second book, a romance with a shirtless man clutching a woman to his chest as she gave him a dewy-eyed look. “Captured Rogue Alpha Pirate.”

Rafael took the books from her, his cheeks darkened with a flush. “They’re gifts.”

“Rogue Alpha Pirate,” Kira murmured. “I gotta get a copy of that one for myself.”

Rafael waved a hand as though he was brushing away an annoying problem. “Never mind that. Tell me about these visions.”

His tone was sharp and commanding in a way that reminded her all too well of Randall.

Gwen’s stomach churned even as she tried to push through and ignore these feelings of doubt.

She didn’t want to tell him anything, but if what Kira said was true, her wants here were low on the priority list. The town and the pack were in danger.

There were still enough vulnerable people here who didn’t deserve to suffer.

And moreover… Lianne was in danger, too.

She explained her visions about the demonic forces creeping up on the town. “The latest ones included my daughter,” she said, not looking at Rafael as she spoke. “She was screaming. I tried to get to her, but the vision always ended here.”

Silence followed. It lingered long enough for Gwen to shoot an uncertain look at Rafael’s face. A flicker of shock was on his face. As soon as he noticed her looking, it disappeared. He straightened his shoulders and nodded once. He didn’t ask about her daughter.

“These visions are always here on the island?” he said instead.

Gwen nodded.

He rubbed his chin as he thought. “I wish we knew more about how magic worked. Do you have any contacts on the mainland?”

“No. I haven’t looked into my witch heritage at all.

We’re not popular no matter where we go, it seems,” Gwen said, staring at the floor.

Her heart ached. So far, Lianne hadn’t shown any signs of magical inclinations, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have them.

Had Gwen been neglectful by not learning more?

“You are welcome to stay. To look into any historical records you can find here in the pack,” Rafael offered. His voice was stiff but not hostile.

Gwen’s heart began beating faster. He was only offering so that she could have answers for these visions because they threatened the pack. Right? “I never intended to come back to stay. I… I don’t belong here. I have a life on the mainland. I don’t want to come back.”

Rafael’s eyes met hers. He stared at her intently, the way she remembered him staring at a particularly difficult passage in Shakespeare. Finally, he let out a soft sigh. And Gwen knew he wasn’t going to argue with her. Wasn’t going to try to make her stay.

But then the door opened.

Chelsey stepped in, her eyes widened with worry.

Lianne clung to her hand, sniffing and rubbing her nose with the back of her hand.

A grass stain smudged the hem of her green dress, and a small patch of road rash marked her knee.

Gwen turned to her daughter at once, scooping her into her arms. Lianne burst into tears and buried her face in Gwen’s neck.

“She was taking too long on the slide, and one of the boys pushed her,” Chelsey said.

“My leg is broken!” Lianne wailed.

Gwen rubbed her back soothingly. She turned, intending to ask Rafael for a bandage that she could put over Lianne’s knee.

But Rafael had stiffened. His jaw clenched tight, and his nostrils flared, pulling in the new scents that had just come into his office.

Gwen’s stomach plummeted. Lianne’s scent.

A child always smelled like their father.

With her own weak wolf, she didn’t have much of a sense of smell.

But Rafael would smell it. He’d smell that Lianne was his daughter.

Gwen’s arms tightened around Lianne. She felt her eyes widening, the truth pouring out of them.

She wanted to lie, or hide, or explain. She wanted to tell Chelsey and Kira to leave so she could tell him that she had lived the last seven years thinking he hated her.

She wanted… she wanted to have a calm, rational discussion.

That ended with him telling her that he never stopped loving her.

Rafael’s shoulders slumped slightly. His gaze lingered on Gwen’s gaze, his mouth opening slightly.

For a brief, impossible moment, she thought maybe he could read it all in her eyes.

Maybe he’d understand why she did what she did, and he’d tell her it was okay, that they could talk when emotions weren’t so high.

He could offer her a place to stay on the island until they sorted it out, and he could tell her that he never meant to hurt her.

“Mommy, it hurts,” Lianne wailed.

Rafael’s eyes hardened again.

Gwen swallowed hard, hating that look on his face.

Without a word, she fled the office. Her ears buzzed.

Get back to the boat. Get out of here. But Lianne was hurt.

She needed to take care of her. And Rafael was calling her name, so Gwen dodged into the bathroom, swinging the door shut.

She locked it and closed her eyes, chest heaving.

It took all of her strength to pull back, to ground herself in the moment and not let her panic utterly overwhelm her. What would Rafael do now that he knew?

She was more stable now, but would the courts care when she was on a waitress’s salary and he owned one of the fastest-growing companies in the world?

Not to mention if he wanted to fight for custody, he could keep it in the courts until she had literally nothing left to fight for.

She didn’t want to think he would do such a thing, not when he’d turned the town around like this.

But the look in his eyes before she left.

Oh, he was angry. She’d only ever seen that look once before, and it hadn’t been on Rafael’s face. It had been on Randall’s.

Her hands shook, but Gwen cleaned off Lianne’s knee. She wasn’t bleeding anymore, the injury already having scabbed over. Lianne had calmed by the time she was done, more wanting comfort than anything else. She wiped her eyes as she sniffed.

“Who was that guy you were talking to?” Lianne asked, testing the strength of her leg. “He looks nice.”

Gwen’s voice caught in her throat. She didn’t answer, only washed her hands and stepped out of the bathroom.

Kira and Chelsey were nowhere in sight. But Rafael was.

He stood across the hallway. His suit jacket was unbuttoned, his dress shirt loosened at the collar.

His expression was flat and emotionless.

“If you give me your key and address, I’ll arrange for your things to be brought back to the island,” he said.

Gwen’s heart lurched. “That won’t be necessary. We’re going home.”

Rafael’s gaze flickered to Lianne, who pressed into Gwen’s legs and hid her face. His expression softened slightly, and he gave Gwen a significant look. “Why don’t I show you and Lianne to the children’s playroom? So we can talk.”

At least he was aware enough not to argue in front of her. Gwen tried to think of an excuse to say no, but she already knew it was useless. She nodded once because she didn’t want Lianne to be afraid. They went to the playroom, which was full of neat toys that Lianne quickly became distracted by.

“You are moving in with me,” Rafael said as soon as it was clear Lianne wasn’t paying attention.

Gwen shook her head. “I don’t need—”

“I didn’t ask what you need.” Rafael narrowed his eyes. “The boat you came on has already been sent back. You’re staying, Gwen. This is non-negotiable.”

Gwen stared at him. Dread filled her stomach. In all her imaginings about what Rafael would do if he found out, this wasn’t one of them. What was she going to do now?