Page 44 of A Secret Baby By the Alpha

“One hundred percent. And I’m not going to let your peacocking affect me. Not today. I hope you have the day you deserve,” I said with a smile.

I could see that Gage was furious, but when I didn’t play along with his tactics, he ran out of ways to try to get under my skin. With a huff, he turned on his heels and walked away.

I chuckled to myself at how easy it had been to turn the tables on him and continued walking towards home. I had more important things to worry about today than an alpha with an attitude problem.

I arrived back at the house, finding Christa exactly where I had left her.

“You weren’t gone long,” she said, surprised by my return. “Did you find what you were looking for on your super-secret mission?”

“I did,” I responded.

I gave her a hug and pulled back to look into her eyes, wanting to remember this moment for the rest of my life. Gage’s sudden appearance wasn’t going to dampen my day.

“Hey, is everything okay?” Christa asked.

She looked concerned, and I realized a slight shadow must have crossed my expression when I had thought about the encounter with Gage. Deciding not to keep anything from her, I divulged what happened.

“I ran into Gage again,” I explained. “I was outside the jewelry shop, in the same place you ran into him last time. I don’t know what he was doing there, but he confronted me about not taking any territory in the last raid.”

“Did you two get into a fight?”

“Not this time. I decided to take a page out of your book and kill him with kindness,” I said with a smile.

“I bet he loved that,” she said, a matching smile creeping onto her face.

“He was pissed.”

“Good,” Christa said with a laugh. “But what were you doing outside the jewelry store? Did you get another gift for Jenny?”

I shook my head.

“Not this time,” I said, pulling the ring box from my pocket. “This time, I got something for you.”

I opened the box and dropped to one knee, holding the box out in front of me to display the ring inside. Christa’s hand covered her mouth in shock as she realized what I was doing.

“Christa Lionel,” I began, hands shaking with anticipation, “will you make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife and true mate?”

Chapter 22 - Christa

There was no way for me to know what was in store for our future, or how things would go between Colson and Sparkle Hollow, but there was one thing I knew for sure: I loved Colson. I couldn’t think of anything I wanted more in the world than to be his wife.

“Yes,” I said. “I’ll marry you.”

He placed the ring on my finger. I admired the way it sparkled in the light, casting tiny rainbows over every surface when I moved it.

“This is beautiful,” I whispered as he got to his feet and took me in his arms.

“A beautiful ring for the most beautiful woman in the world,” Colson said.

“That’s the cheesiest thing you’ve ever said,” I laughed as I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.

His lips were soft against mine, as if I were a valuable and precious artifact he needed to protect.

“But it’s the truth,” he said against my lips.

“Mm,” I agreed happily. “So, when are we getting married?”

“Today,” Colson said.

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