Page 55 of A Secret Baby By the Alpha

He bent down and placed one arm behind my knees, sweeping me up so that he could carry me like a bride through the threshold. The motion was sudden, making me erupt into giggles.

“Are you laughing at me?” he asked, feigning offense at my laugh.

“Always laughing with you,” I replied.

“Good,” he said. “I love to hear your laugh.”

His lips pressed against mine as he carried me into our bedroom. For the first time in a long time, I finally realized that I was home.

Epilogue - Colson

The relief I felt walking up the front steps to our house after another long meeting with the Dark Alphas group was palpable. It was another scorching hot summer day, and while the others were out on another mission, I had abstained from this one.

Missing out on the heat was just a bonus for me, though. This mission was all about taking new territory for the group—a task I had given up in recent months.

At first, they had been reluctant to allow me to abscond from any group activities, but after I explained that I was still ready and willing to go on missions that were about protection and safety—and had proven that willingness to them—they had ultimately relented.

All except Pack Desmond, that is. Gage was still furious with me over his perception that I had sided with Christa and Jenny over the Dark Alphas. He continued to take every opportunity to goad me and attempt to get me to go against the group so he would have a reason to declare a battle between us without incurring the wrath of the others, but his attempts had been fruitless. I saw no reason to risk life and limb for a cause that wasn’t noble. Not when Christa and Jenny were waiting for me at home.

Things might be different if it seemed as though Gage was planning another covert attack against us, but he seemed to have given up on that notion. The threat of retribution from the other packs had been enough to convince him to behave—at least for the time being.

I opened the front door and immediately heard music blaring from Jenny’s room. She had taken up the guitar recentlyand, unfortunately for our eardrums, had settled on the electric guitar as her preferred sound. The daily sound of imperfect chords blasted through the house on a regular basis now, but it was a small price to pay for our daughter’s happiness.

“I’m home!” I called out as I tossed my shoes into the front hall closet.

“In here!” Christa replied.

I followed the sound of her voice into the kitchen and saw my mate and a guest sitting at the table. The woman had long, raven-black hair tied back in a braid that went down to her waist and mahogany skin. She didn’t look familiar to me at all, and I struggled to think of how she had come to be sitting in our house.

“Col, this is my childhood friend, Renea,” Christa explained.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, reaching over to shake her hand.

“The pleasure is mine,” Renea replied.

Her brown eyes were wide and kind, and I could see that she was sincere in her greeting. A childhood friend of Christa’s meant that Renea was from Sparkle Hollow, though. Ever since we had accepted their terms, Christa’s old pack had left us alone. I was holding up my end of the bargain and had already paid two installments toward the debt we owed to them and the Moonstones.

“What brings you to Pack Marsden?” I asked.

“Just catching up with Christa,” she said with a smile. “I was passing through on my way to visit my brother up north and got permission from the alpha to make a pit stop here.”

“I’m glad he agreed to your request,” I said.

The admission that Alpha Lex was still keeping tabs on us wasn’t surprising, but it was a useful piece of information for us to have. As much as we wanted to believe that we would be allowed to continue living here peacefully, Christa and I had agreed that we needed to keep our guard up on all sides. There was no telling who might seek to hurt us, and we wouldn’t put Jenny at risk again.

“As am I,” Renea said. “But unfortunately, I need to head out. It’s been so good to see you, Christa.”

“You too,” Christa said, standing up to hug her friend. “You’re welcome to stop by any time you’re in the area.”

She walked her friend to the door and bid her goodbye before heading back in to give me a hug.

“I missed you,” Christa said.

“I missed you, too.”

The music from Jenny’s room stopped, and we heard her answer her phone. Although she was only ten, we had decided to get her a cell phone after the incident with Gage a few months ago. It was more for peace of mind than anything else, but it seemed to be helping. We all felt safer knowing that Jenny could reach us at any time if she needed to, and she had been using the phone to keep in touch with her new friends in the pack as well. Anything that helped her feel safer and more at home was a bonus in our eyes.

“Dad, are you home?” Jenny shouted from the hallway as she came out of her room.

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