Page 38 of A Secret Baby By the Alpha

As I approached the front of the store, another customer entered, and I saw it was Alpha Franco Stone. We hadn’t officially met before, but he was easy enough to recognize based on his association with my home pack. I had already run intoSienna once, so I supposed it was inevitable that a similar circumstance would happen again.

I ducked my head down and pretended to be busy studying my list so he wouldn’t notice me, but he made a beeline right for me.

“Excuse me,” he said. “You look familiar. Have we met?”

I only had a split second to decide how I was going to respond. If he recognized me as Christa from Sparkle Hollow, he could tell them where I was, which might result in problems I didn’t have an answer for. But I also couldn’t pretend that I had no idea whohewas. He was an alpha, after all.

“I don’t think so,” I told him. “I’m Jenny—part of Alpha Colson Marsden’s pack.”

“Ah, that explains it,” he replied. “I must have seen you around town.”

I smiled, hoping to end the conversation. Although he had accepted my answer, he didn’t seem fully convinced. There was a slight narrowing of his eyes that seemed to indicate my story wasn’t a good enough answer to his suspicions.

“I’m sorry for stopping you,” he continued. “It’s just that you look like someone else. Someone my wife grew up with.”

“That’s okay, I get confused for other people a lot. Just have one of those faces, I guess,” I lied with a laugh.

“Well, sorry to bother you,” he said.

“It’s no bother,” I assured him. “Have a nice day!”

I continued walking toward the checkout and resisted the urge to look behind me to see if he was still watching. I didn’t think he had bought my story. At least, not totally. All I couldhope for was that he wouldn’t put the pieces together or ask Sienna if she had seen me around town.

Reagan was pleased when I came back with a completed order, and the rest of the day passed without incident. When we reached a stopping point, I decided to call it a day and head back to Colson’s house.

“Hey, Mom!” Jenny said when I got home, bounding toward me covered in flour. “We’re making pizza!”

“Sounds delicious,” I told her.

“I’m just supervising. So if it tastes bad, that’s all on Jenny,” Colson teased.

“Hey!” Jenny exclaimed with a pout.

“I’m only kidding, Jenny-bug,” he replied with a laugh. “How was your day, Christa?”

“It was good,” I said as I took off my shoes. “The pack house is coming along really well. I think you’ll be happy with it.”

“I’m sure I will be.”

I decided not to tell him about the encounter with Franco in the hardware store. For all I knew, the other alpha had bought my lie about being a member of Pack Marsden, and that would be the end of it. I didn’t want Colson to worry that my presence in town was a danger to him, or that I was in danger in any way. Still, I couldn’t help but worry about what would happen when Sparkle Hollow found out where I was.

“I’m going to shower before dinner,” I told them.

I headed toward the hallway but paused, looking back into the kitchen where Colson and Jenny were adding toppings to the pizza they had created together. My heart warmed at the sight, realizing that Jenny was finally getting the chance to bondwith her father. A smile filled my face as I watched them, and they looked up at me at the same time.

“What?” they asked in unison.

“Nothing,” I assured them. “I’ll be right back.”

Dinner together was a comfortable, calm affair, and I realized I had made the right choice in not telling Franco who I was. Jenny deserved this chance to be with her father without interference from pack politics.

“Alright, baby,” I told her when we were done cleaning up. “Time to go to bed.”

“Colson, can you put me to bed tonight?” she asked.

He looked at me questioningly, and I nodded with a smile.

“Of course, Jenny-bug,” he said.

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