Page 59 of Impregnated By the Alpha

“Yeah, man, I’m in,” said the surfer.

They shook on it. When the surfer walked away Jonah breathed a deep sigh of relief.

“Hey,” Moira said, making him look at her. “You’re doing great. Step by step.”

“Step by step,” he agreed. “Want me to take her? You should take a break and sit for a while. I can show her around.”

Truthfully, she was tired, and a break sounded like just the thing. “You don’t mind?”

He took Cora from her and smiled down at his daughter, who had him wrapped around her finger the moment she was born. “Never.”

While Jonah went off to introduce Cora to Devon and Beth, who had come from the White Winter territory to celebrate, Moira settled herself into a chair. Vera swooped in a second later, and Moira braced herself.

She never knew what to expect anymore from Vera. Moira was now a leader of the Silversands, guiding the pack toward a brighter future. She owned the bakery, which was thriving. And she had a mate who loved her fiercely. Her life didn’t need fixing, and Vera was a fixer.

“Are you happy?” Vera asked, looking down into the neck of the beer bottle in her hand. It dripped condensation over her fingers.

“I’m happy,” Moira replied.

“That’s all I ever wanted for you,” Vera said.

Moira bit back her first response and her second, and by the third, she realized that maybe Vera was telling the truth. Her own truth. Maybe the controlling and the pushing and the veiled insults and the not-so-veiled had all been a means to an end for Vera. A way to make sure Moira ended up somewhere good for her. Maybe she hadn’t known any other way to show her love.

So Moira let it go. It felt like a weight lifting off of her shoulders, like the first breath of air after coming up from a long dive.

“I know,” she said. And she did.

They shared an unreadable look to everyone else but that spoke volumes to Moira. Their relationship would change, but it would survive.

“What’s going on between you two?” Moira gestured between Rami and Vera with her water glass. “He’s grilling for you? Asking ‘how high’ when you say jump?”

Vera, for the first time in Moira’s memory, blushed. It softened the harsh lines of her cheekbones and brought a girlishness to her face, but Vera snorted.

“Rami? He’s just a friend. If that. Like an acquaintance that comes in handy sometimes,” she insisted, not meeting Moira’s eyes. “Don’t become one of those people who starts trying to fix up everyone around them just because they found a relationship. It won’t work on me.”

“The lady doth protest too much,” Moira said, grinning. “Just admit it. You’ve got a crush.”

Vera flicked a potato chip at her. “Keep your voice down.”

“It’s our secret,” Moira promised.

“Swear it,” Vera demanded.

Moira crossed her heart. “I swear. Until you’re ready to tell me you’ve got a big fat crush on Rami, I’ll keep it to myself.”

People can change, Moira thought to herself, looking around from Vera to Jonah and the White Winters, if you give them a second chance. Two years ago, she could never have imagined her childhood bully becoming the man she spent her life with. Now, she couldn’t imagine spending it without him.

“I need to tell you something, Moira.” Vera turned suddenly serious. She leaned in close and dropped it down to a whisper. “Something that very few other people know, and it has to stay that way.”

Moira almost told her to keep it to herself. They’d had peace for only a few months. A few months of rebuilding the town and drawing in visitors who might one day stay. If this was going to disturb her, she’d rather bury her head in the sand and stay ignorant. But Vera went on anyway.

“Something is happening out east.”

Moira frowned and drank the last of her water, throat going dry. “What do you mean, ‘something’?”

“I’m not even supposed to know this.” Vera waited for Evelyn to pass by before continuing. “But I overhead Adria talking to Spencer, and I couldn’t help myself; I had to listen to the whole thing.”

Now Moira knew she didn’t want to hear whatever it was, but if it would affect the Silversands, she had an obligation to listen.

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