Page 8 of Cowboy Wolf's Secret Baby

“But I’m already…”

“Taryn,” Beth said, quietly.

Without another word, the little girl slid off her chair and went into the other room.

“Why are you here?”

“Can’t I come by and say good morning to my baby girl and granddaughter?”

“No. What do you want?”

“The coven is having a meeting tonight. I want you to come.” She looked at the room that Taryn had disappeared into and said, “And her, too, of course.”

“No,” Beth said.

Matilda’s face turned red and she puffed up her chest. “You are still my daughter. You shall do as I say.”

“No,” Beth said.

“You’re still mad at me for what I did to that man,” Matilda said. “You’ve got to get over that. He was no good for you.”

“That was for me to decide,” Beth said. She set the cooked bacon to the side and mixed up the pancake batter, pouring it onto the griddle. “If there’s nothing else, Taryn needs to eat.”

Matilda growled at Beth and left.

“I’ve got to start locking the door,” Beth muttered to herself.

“Can I come back now?”

“Yes, Baby Girl.”

Beth flipped the pancakes. Conner deserved to know about Taryn. She was sure that Conner would be an amazing father. There just wasn’t any way she could tell him. Conner would never remember Beth. Matilda’s spells were way too powerful. She was probably the most powerful witch in Wyoming. If Beth tried to tell him about Taryn, Conner would think that she was just some weirdo woman trying to pull a con on him.

“Are you okay, Mama?”

“Yep.”

“You’ve got that look on your face again.”

“Oh. I was just thinking.”

“Grandma got you all riled up again, huh?”

“I guess you could say that.”

“Can I go for a run today?”

Beth sighed. “Yes.”

After breakfast, they went to a secluded place on the mountain where Taryn could strip and shift.

“Thank you for letting me come. I know you don’t like it when I go for a run.”

“I just don’t like the fact that I can’t run with you and keep you safe. There are things in the forest that can hurt you.”

“There are things in the rest of the world that can hurt me, too.”

“I know.” Beth sighed.

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