Page 82 of The Alpha's Forced Rejected Mate

“You spoke to Dad?”

She nodded, dusted the table with her fingers, and then fixed her sparkling gown. “He’s sorry he couldn’t make it, but he’ll be here in the morning.”

“Oh. I wondered if he got the invitation.”

“I made sure he got the invitation.”

I teared up. “Mom…”

“We haven’t always been very good to each other, Robyn, but let’s try to be good to Sydney. Together.”

I smiled warmly. “Yeah, together.”

Cliff appeared with two plates of cake and a cup of milk. I hungrily accepted my plate and dug in, noticing that my motherwas opening her mouth to say something. When she caught me staring at her, she clamped her mouth shut and turned away.

Good.

Let that continue for a lifetime, please. We had enough things to worry about inside this pack. Cliff snuggled up to my right and handed Sydney a plastic fork. She eagerly stabbed her cake and munched happily, dabbing her father’s nose with a little frosting.

“Did Angora get back to you with a report?” I asked.

He nodded. “Yeah, she says there’s a pattern of possessions on the east coast. We’ll know more tomorrow.”

“We’ll buckle down and prepare for the worst.”

“Maybe that was the worst.”

I frowned. “We can’t be sure yet. At least get Faye to leave some easy spells or something behind.”

“Angora cleansed the area and put up wards. Why do you want spells?”

Jillian huffed as she stumbled up to the table and leaned against it. “Sonya won’t make me stop dancing.”

I chuckled. “Mom, can you let Jillian sit?”

Mom grinned. “Of course, Dear.”

She moved for Jillian to sit down and disappeared into the crowd. She was probably on the lookout for someone’s outfit to pick apart.

I pushed a bottle of water toward Jillian, who gratefully lifted it, uncapped it, and chugged half of it in a matter of seconds. She gasped when she was done. “They are killing me on that dance floor.”

“Save some energy for the research party tomorrow,” I joked. “I can’t lead that thing without you.”

“Research for what again?”

My expert reflexes kept my mouth safe from my daughter’s hard head as she excitedly kicked off my lap and darted toward Hector.

Cliff glowered. “Aw, she’s got a new bestie.”

“Isn’t his daughter your bestie?”

“Yeah, but that’s different.”

I laughed. “How is that different?”

“It’s not fair.”

Chuckles bubbled from me until I was hoarse. “You’re ridiculous.”

---