Page 26 of Bully Alpha's Secret Baby

“Jade, listen—”

“Oh, I’m listening.” She stalks forward, and her eyes flash with a rage I have never seen from her. “Tell me, Damien. Was it funny for you? Did you and your buddies have a good laugh? Placing bets on whether or not you could get me into bed?”

I rub a hand over my face, trying to buy myself a second to think. That was three years ago. I didn’t think she’d ever find out, didn’t think it mattered. But of course it matters. It always mattered.

“Jade, that was a long time ago. I was stupid. I didn’t even—”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” she snaps, stepping so close I can feel the heat rolling off her body. “Don’t you daretry to brush this off as some immature mistake. That wasn’t a joke, Damien. That was my life.”

Her words hit hard, and I feel the guilt rise like bile in my throat. She’s right. There’s no excuse for what I did. I was a cocky, arrogant asshole, and I hurt her in ways I didn’t even understand back then.

“I’m sorry,” I say, and even to my own ears, it sounds pathetic. Like it doesn’t even come close to what she deserves to hear. “I was a different person back then. I didn’t think—”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Her laugh is bitter, hollow. “You didn’t think at all, did you? Just Damien Lucas, the bigshot alpha’s son, doing whatever the hell he wanted and not caring who he hurt along the way.”

“I care now,” I insist, stepping forward. “Jade, please. I’m not that guy anymore. You know I wouldn’t hurt you like that now.”

“Now?” She arches an eyebrow, folding her arms tighter across her chest. “You’re telling me you wouldn’t do something like that now, but that’s not the point, is it? You did it, Damien. You made a bet about me, about whether or not you could sleep with me. And the worst part? I actually thought you might’ve liked me back then.”

There’s a crack in her voice, just for a second, and it slices right through me. She thought I liked her. Hell, I did like her—more than I knew how to deal with at the time. But I was too stupid to admit it. Instead, I treated her like a game, like something to win.

My eyes flit to the scar on her neck, the one I left during our mating ceremony.

“I did like you,” I say quietly, but she shakes her head.

“Don’t.” She turns away from me, taking a deep breath like she’s trying to hold herself together. “I don’t want to hear your half-assed apologies. I don’t want to hear your excuses. I just want you to stay away from me.”

“No.” The word comes out harder than I intended, and she whips around to glare at me again. “No, Jade. You can be mad at me, but you’re not leaving. You and Penny aren’t going anywhere.”

Her eyes narrow. “You can’t control me.”

“This isn’t about control,” I snap, dragging a hand through my hair. “This is about making things right. I know I screwed up. I know I hurt you. But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re part of this pack now. You and Penny. I’m not letting you run off again.”

She stares at me, and for a second, I think she’s going to punch me. But then, without another word, she turns and storms down the hall toward the bedroom.

I follow, not entirely sure what I’m doing, but when I reach the doorway, I see her sitting on the edge of the bed, stroking Penny’s hair as the little girl dozes off. The sight tugs at something deep inside me, something raw and real. Jade might hate me right now, but she’s still here. She’s still trying, in her own way, to make this work for Penny’s sake.

Or at least, that’s what I think until she glances up and announces, “I’m getting her to sleep, then I’m leaving.”

“Where are you going?” I ask, leaning against the frame, trying to keep my tone casual even though I feel like I’m losing my grip on this whole situation.

“Out,” she says, brushing Penny’s hair back gently. “I need air.”

“I’ll come with you.”

“No, you won’t.” Her voice hardens again, and she stands up, turning to face me with that same fierce determination I’ve always admired. “You’ve done enough tonight, Damien. Just… just leave me alone for a while, okay?”

There’s no room for argument in her tone, and I know better than to push her when she’s like this. So I nod, even though every instinct in me wants to follow her, to fix this somehow. But maybe that’s the problem. I can’t fix everything. Not tonight.

She leaves the room without another word. I stand there for a moment, staring at the spot where she stood.

I’ve made mistakes before, plenty of them, but this? This feels like the one I can’t come back from.

I glance down at Penny, listening to her soft breathing as it fills the room, and sigh. If I want to make this work, I have to start by being the father she needs. But more than that, I need to be the man Jade can trust.

And right now, I’m not sure if I know how to do either of those things.

The second Jade slams the door behind her, I know I can’t just stand here. Not while she’s storming off into the night, hurting, angry—again, because of me. I glance at Penny, who is fast asleep in the bed with her tiny fingers curled around the edge of the blanket.

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