Page 47 of The Alpha's Forced Rejected Mate

“I say we should get that witch to come back and do a land cleanse,” Larry suggested, “because we can’t risk another exposure. We won’t survive it.”

Sonya elbowed Larry. “You really think you’re the one to make that call?”

Larry’s cheeks bloomed like red magnolias. “Oh, my apologies, Alpha. I didn’t mean to…”

Cliff beamed. “Don’t worry about it. I appreciate your pack-focused, solution-based approach to this scenario. I agree; we should hire two witches to do a cleansing.”

Sydney stumbled into the room and held up the cups. “The Funny Man is my daddy!”

Laughter filled up the living room, my house, my heart. I stood in the doorway of the kitchen and watched as my little girl wobbled over with the unopened bag of cups. She set it on Cliff. That was her thing ever since this morning when we told her about Cliff being her daddy. She liked sitting things on top of his lap, including Mr. Charles, who seemed to have earned a permanent seat on Cliff’s right knee.

Those two were an instant pair.

Cliff held up his hand and snapped his fingers. “Robyn, could you get me a notepad and a pen? I want to take notes.” He snapped his fingers again. “Actually, could you take the notes? I see a desk over there…”

I sighed as he dove into a conversation with Larry about what kind of witch to hire. He knew so much about them, with his sister being one. I headed for the desk after setting the plate of snacks on the coffee table. I walked between words, it felt like, and headed for the desk where I could write things down.

The moment my bottom was in the chair, I realized I was getting snapped at again. I glared at Cliff from across the room.Why does he keep doing that?Instead of looking at me to say what he needed, he spoke to Larry instead. I sat still for a minute, trying to figure out what to do.

“What was her name again?” Cliff asked Larry.

Sonya raised a hand. “I think it was Angora.”

Cliff nodded. “Robby, can you write that down?”

“Yeah, let me get right to it,” I snapped as I grabbed a pen. I fought the urge to be sarcastic. I wasn’t exactly a fan of being treated like his secretary.

He was acting like my mother.

“Oh, can you get the lemonade?” Cliff asked.

Sydney slid from his lap. “I’ll get it.”

I shot up. “Wait, Sydney—it’s too heavy for you!”

Sonya jumped to her feet and scampered after me to help me with Sydney. My smile must have conveyed relief because Sonya touched my shoulder like any mother might if she recognized her daughter was having a bad time.

I took her hand. “I’m just tired.”

“Something is bothering you.” She nodded her head back to the living room. “You should say something.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

She eyed me like a bird of prey, wise eyes turning to slits. “Whatever you say,Robby.”

I puckered my lips with a sense of defeat and then exhaled loudly. “Okay, fine,yes. Something is bothering me. I’ll say something.”

Sonya smiled with such approval that it made my heart hurt yet again to feel it coming from her. “Please, don’t wait. An unspoken pain becomes a resentment.”

I tried not to chew on those words for too long. It was Cliff’s first day as Alpha. Maybe I needed to cut him some slack. Everyone was under stress with his new leadership, and we were adjusting to our freedom again. I had to handle one thing at a time.

So long as it didn’t become a resentment first.

Chapter 15 - Cliff

Within one week of defeating the evil that had plagued the Wildtooth Tails, I had gutted their paper system structure and worked closely with Larry and Sonya to convert everything to digital files. This massive undertaking wouldn’t be finished for a while, but it helped that Robyn was delegating with Sonya and Larry whenever I wasn’t around. She would get an ear full of someone, usually an elder, about how they didn’t appreciate the way things were shifting.

People didn’t always like change, even if it was good for them.

---