Page 27 of Fated Secret Baby

Maybe he will be fine with it. Once he hears Juniper is his daughter, maybe he’ll want to see her, and we can see each other more, and…

Stop getting ahead of yourself.

“Mommy. I’m hungry,” Juniper whines.

I look down at her. We’re at the little park near Amara’s brother’s place, which she says is pretty empty most of the time. The other kids in the pack are in school, so there’s no one here. Amara scouted it out, then told us it would be safe. There are a couple of cars in the parking lot, but they aren’t using the empty playground.

Being the only kid on the playground, though, seems like it might not be as entertaining for my kid as I thought it would be. She’s pretty bored, an emotion that is currently taking the form of hunger.

I point down. “You have a bag of apple slices in your hand.”

“These make me more hungry.”

“Are you a little bored?”

“No,” she says, crossing her little arms and glaring at me. “I’m hungry.”

I sigh. “Well, come on, kiddo. Let’s get out of here.”

I manage to load her into the truck, and I’m just hopping in myself, when I hear voices. Quickly, I duck into the truck, too. The windows are still rolled down to take advantage of the cool mountain air, and I can hear as the other people get closer.

Unfortunately, I recognize one of the voices. It sends a thread of ice down my spine.

It’s Orion’s mom.

“…and you’ll never believe who I saw there,” she says. I think she’s walking, maybe with some friends, because another voice prompts her to continue.

I get down, tucking myself low in the driver’s seat. “Junie, hide,” I hiss, looking back at my kid. She’s in her booster, but she can still lean down. She has to.

Orion’s mom is absolutely going to recognize her.

“Mommy?” Juniper asks.

“Hush,” I say, ducking down further in my seat. “Mommy needs you to hide for just a second, okay?”

“Why?”

“Pretend we’re secret agents,” I say, desperate for her to follow my lead.

She gives me a look, and for a second, I think it’s not going to work, but then she nods. “Okay,” she whispers.

“When you hear the people stop talking, we can get up.”

“Okay!” She leans to the side, hopefully out of view of the window.

I strain, listening to the conversation.

“…I have a perfectly acceptable list of mates for him! The nerve of him, saying that he would cut me off if I didn’t accept her!”

“Esther, he was rude, but do you really think choosing a mate for your son is a good idea? If the boy is happy, let him be happy.”

“If he wants to be my son, he’ll listen to me! That woman is no good, and she’ll just leave…”

The conversation drifts away, and Juniper pops her head up. “We did it! Secret agent Mommy! Secret agent Junie!”

“We did,” I say, trying to smile.

Inside, though, my heart is breaking. Orion must have gone to his mom. He must have told her… something.

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