Page 39 of Secret Wolf Baby

“Come look.”

He pushed himself up and moved around the desk to read over my shoulder.

“He was the alpha of a different pack,” I said. “Before the Blood Moon.” I drummed my fingers on the desk as I considered. “You know, I’ll bet there are some people there who would be willing to talk about him.”

“Interesting. It’s not exactly common for alphas to leave their packs.” Declan raised an eyebrow. “Makes me wonder if something happened.”

“Less ‘if’ and more ‘what,’ if you ask me,” I muttered. Turning to look at him, I asked, “Mind if I go have a chat with their alpha? Might be able to get something out of him.”

“Worth a shot. I doubt they would have the same loyalty as some of the people in his current pack,” Declan noted. “Bring a couple people with you when you go.”

“I’ll set something up,” I agreed.

Nodding, he straightened and headed to the door. He was just about to step out when he paused and looked back over his shoulder. “And Jackson?”

“Yeah?”

“This time, don’t bring home any women.”

He left and closed the door behind him.

***

“This is delicious,” I told Audrey as she, myself, and Claire sat at the dinner table. I forked another mound of spaghetti into my mouth.

“Thanks,” she said, her cheeks turning the faintest hint of pink as her lips turned upward.

“Yeah, it’s really good,” Claire said—or, rather, garbled.

Audrey shot her daughter a look. “Don’t talk with your mouth full,” she chided.

Giving her mother an almost identical glance of annoyance, Claire obeyed. A moment later, however, she put a single strand of spaghetti in her mouth and slurped it up, staring at her mom in defiance the entire time.

“Now you’re just being obstinate,” Audrey said, clearly fighting some mix of amusement and annoyance. “You—”

Her words were drowned out by another loud sucking sound, though not from Claire. She turned, and her eyes shot daggers at me as she watched me suck in a noodle.

“What?” I asked innocently.

“You know what,” she said.

“Nope,” I said, shrugging. Raising my eyebrows, I met Claire’s eyes and gave an elaborate slurp as I sucked another noodle into my mouth.

Claire giggled, and I grinned. Glancing over, I saw Audrey give a faint smile as well.

“Don’t you encourage her,” she said. “You’re going to be a bad influence.”

“Me? Never. Spec-ops guys have perfect manners. We’re fantastic influences.”

“Right,” Audrey said, rolling her eyes but smiling more freely. It was nice seeing her smile.

“Were any of your missions dangerous?” Claire asked me.

“Some,” I said. “But I had a great team with me, so I never worried.”

“Which was your favorite?” she asked with genuine curiosity.

I rubbed my chin. “Hard to say. I really liked the one where I had to fight a lion and a gorilla in an amusement park.”

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