Page 3 of A Secret Baby By the Alpha

Jenny shrank further into the van at the dark undertones in the man’s mirthful laugh. If it weren’t for the fact that I needed to protect her, I would jump into action immediately, but I needed to think this through. So far, I had only seen these three men, but there must be more waiting outside. I couldn’t fight them all off by myself.

“Desmond, that’s enough,” Colson said to the man before turning his attention to me. “Christa, it’s okay to come out. They won’t hurt you.”

Desmond made a scoffing sound, but I could tell from the fire in Colson’s eyes that he was telling the truth. He wouldn’t allow his companions to harm me.

I reached behind me to grab Jenny’s hand and gave it a squeeze, pulling her along behind me as I stepped out of the van and onto the asphalt.

“You’re kidding, right, Colson?” the one named Desmond asked. “They can’t go free. We agreed beforehand—no witnesses.”

“We also agreed that we wouldn’t harm anyone from Sparkle Hollow,” Colson pointed out. “Unless you’re trying to start a war with the most powerful pack in the area—a pack with half a dozen allied packs—then these two are off-limits.”

Desmond growled in response but remained silent. As they argued, we were joined by more members of their group, all talking amongst themselves about their successful takedown and wondering what Jenny and I were doing there. From what I could see, I was dealing with at least ten attackers. There was no way I would be able to fight them all off, especially not while protecting Jenny. If it came down to it, I was going to have to give up my life to buy her enough time to escape.

From my position near the back of the van, I could see the bodies of all four of my traveling companions. They were in their human forms, so I knew they hadn’t even had time to transform when they left the vehicles—if they had even made it that far. I pulled Jenny close beside me and turned her so that she was facing away from the carnage. There was nothing I could do now to protect her from being in this situation, but I could minimize the damage. I cursed myself for bringing her along.

She’s too young for this, I thought wistfully.This was supposed to be a simple transportation job.

Nothing is simple anymore,my wolf, Cassia, reminded me. And we were younger than Jenny when we saw our first battle.

That was different. A different time.

Not so different,Cassia argued.

Looking again at the dead Moonstone wolves, I realized she was right. In spite of all the alliances Alpha Lex had made, our pack was still vulnerable.

The voices of the wolves around me became more animated, and my attention was drawn back to them and away from the death and carnage behind us.

“I’m telling you, we can’t let them go,” Desmond said animatedly. It looked as though he and Colson were in a standoff, both trying to get the rest of their group on their side. I still couldn’t tell if anyone was in charge or if they were all on equal footing. They carried themselves with the self-assurance of alphas, but none were taking command.

“Stop your posturing, both of you,” one of the other wolves interjected. “I’m sure we can come to a solution that benefits all of us, but we need to get the cargo loaded up and get off the road before someone else comes through here. Right, Axel?”

“Alpha Charles is right,” the first man, Axel, agreed. “Alpha Colson, take them to your car. We’ll deal with them later.”

Alpha Colson?Cassia repeated, her ears pricking up at the title.

It sounds like they’re all alphas. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad, though.

Colson seemed pleased that the warriors’ attention was on the gear and not us, although Axel was still eyeing me warily.

“Let’s go,” Colson said to me sternly, nodding in the direction he wanted us to take.

I obeyed silently, thankful that no one else seemed to be accompanying us to the waiting vehicle. Jenny and I were safe for now, but who knew what the rest of the wolves would decide once they were done looting the van? We would have to make a break for it, and this was going to be our only chance.

We crossed the road, and I saw that Colson was leading us into the trees. If we could get out of sight for just a moment, we could run. I would only need a few seconds head start to transform and get Jenny to climb on my back. She couldn’t transform, but I knew I was fast. I was fairly certain I could outrun Colson. I would have to.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the only thing I was carrying—a tube of lip balm—and tossed it toward the road. It made a light clattering sound that drew Colton’s attention.

“What the—” I heard him say.

It wasn’t much, but it was the only distraction I was going to get. I took off at a run, tugging Jenny’s arm to encourage her to run with me, and headed toward the trees. Our feet thudded against the compacted soil, finding purchase in the tough weeds that littered the ground. My heart beat quickly as adrenaline coursed through my veins, fueled both by fear and the sudden exercise.

As we reached the trees, I started to believe we were going to make it when a solid mass hit me squarely in the back. I released Jenny’s hand so that the force of my fall wouldn’t pull her down with me, but I was too late. We both went sprawling, tackled by Colson. He was faster than I remembered.

“Run, Jenny!” I yelled, hoping she would be able to get to her feet quickly and escape before anyone got their hands on her. I attempted to roll to my feet, but Colson had a firm grip on my arm.

“Don’t!” Colson shouted at her, something like panic bubbling up in his voice. “If you run, the others will catch you before I do.”

White-hot fear burned my throat as I looked between Colson and Jenny, pleading with my eyes for him to let us go. He pulled me to my feet and held tight to my elbow so I wouldn’t escape again.

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