Page 38 of Alpha's Secret Baby

My shoulders tensed again, and I leaned forward in my desk chair. “I need to stay a little longer.” My voice fell to a hush, keen not to have Fern overhear me. “I need to make sure Fern accepts me as her father. I’ve been absent for such a huge part of her life, and I feel like I owe her more time.”

“I hear you,” Bert said simply. “And how are things with Cherry?”

Suddenly restless, I rose from my chair and started to pace the hardwood floor of my study. Cherry and I had been leading a blissful existence the last few weeks, nurturing our mating bond. I was certain that she was more in love with me than she ever had been, but a note of unease ran through me as I contemplated what I had to do next and soon.

“I love her, Bert, and I know she loves me, but… I just don’t know what will happen when I ask her to come back to Seattle and the pack with me.” The thought of her choosing her life here in Berlin overmehad my heart ricocheting off my chest.

I ran my hand tiredly down my face. “I don’t know if I’ve done enough to convince her to come back.”

“Then stay, Dylan. We’re all fine here. Stay, and when it’s time, you’ll bring them both home. I know it.”

As my Beta said bye to me, the overpowering sense of uncertainty kept me in its grip, and I wished I had Bert’s confidence that the future would play out as he said it would.

As fall rolled in, so did Fern’s birthday. Cherry and I had decided that it was the perfect time, having taken a long weekend off of work, to tell Fern that I was her biological father.

After clearing up our breakfast of pancakes, which had become a staple at weekends, all three of us sat down in the living room. Cherry’s smile was a little strained, and I knew she was as nervous about telling Fern the truth as I was.

“Are you giving me a present?” Fern asked, looking between us suspiciously as if she expected us to pull out a gift from somewhere.

“You said you wanted your presents in the park,” I reminded her.

We’d invited a few of Fern’s friends to a party in the local park. A handful of her friends and their parents were all going to attend in the afternoon. I’d arranged for a group of caterers and a party planner to set up for us.

“I thought you might have a special one or something,” Fern said, still looking between us curiously after we’d asked to talk to her.

“Well, it is a sort of gift, Sweetie,” Cherry began. “I think it’s the best kind of gift, actually. It’s a truth that I’ve not been able to share with you. But I think now that you’re a big girl, it’s time.”

She looked intrigued and serious at her mom’s referring to her as a “big girl.”

“Fire away,” Fern said, doing a very good impression of me on the phone to Bert.

Both Cherry and I stifled a smile as we held each other’s eyes amusedly. Then Cherry’s silver stare grew serious, waiting for me to take the lead.

“We wanted to check that you liked me first, Fern, before telling you this,” I said. “Because your happiness is the most important thing to your mom and to me.” My heart thumped furiously as I said, “Because you see, I am your real dad, Fern.”

My daughter’s dark eyes skimmed my face seriously, and I felt the quiet weigh me down as I waited for a second time to see if this little girl that I already loved would accept me.

“I like you very much,” Fern said decidedly. “So I’m pleased you’re my dad.” With that, she hugged me, and I squeezed her tight. She asked excitedly, “Can I put on my party dress now?”

Cherry had designed and made her a special princess dress just like Elsa’s, her favorite Disney princess, and she’d been desperate to put it on since waking. But Cherry had rightly said she could wear itafterpancakes. The syrup stains on Fern’s pajamas showed what a wise decision that had been.

“Go ahead, Sweetie,” I said, borrowing Cherry’s endearment for her. Because she wasminetoo, and she now knew it.

As Fern rushed off excitedly, I collapsed back into the sofa, feeling flattened by the huge wave of relief that hit me. Cherry stroked my face, smiling at me tenderly.

“You’re a great dad, by the way,” my mate whispered, and my contentedness lapped at me even more.

But despite Cherry’s tender words, I knew that I needed to broach more with her concerning Fern. Our daughter had mentioned a special gift earlier, and I did have one I intended to give her. But I needed to talk to Cherry about it first. And I knew it would start a whole other conversation. One I didn’t know we were ready for. Yet, if we weren’t ready for it, I feared we’d never be.

Taking a breath, I said, “Incidentally, I do have another gift for Fern later.” I pulled a necklace on a leather strong out of my pocket. I’d retrieved it from my house earlier in the week.

Cherry stared at the crescent moon and wolf pendant. “The Alpha-in-training necklace.” Cherry’s voice was quiet. Subdued.

“I want to give it to her later today,” I explained. “I want to tell her it’s a special family heirloom that it belonged to her grandparents. And all those in the Starsmoon line. I’d like us to tell her together when the time’s right about her shifter heritage. I know we’ve dropped enough on her plate for now. But in the future, I want her to know all of herself.”

Cherry was attuned to every word I said, her expression growing increasingly strained.

I hated seeing my mate look so tense, but I forced myself to ask the other question I’d been concerned about. “I need to ask; why doesn’t Fern have our pack’s scent?”

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