Page 87 of Alpha's Impostor Bride

As I stir the pot, I glance at Finn, who has had his nose glued to the kitchen window ever since we got home from the store. “Finn, get away from there.”

He looks at me, not listening. “He’s been standing outside for hours, Mom. He’s out there every day. It’s been, like, a week. Can’t we invite him in?”

“No,” I reply shortly.

“Why not?”

I move the spoon around a little more aggressively in the meat stew.

“He didn’t even have lunch, and now we’re having dinner, and—I can take a plate to him!” He gives me a hopeful look.

I set down the spoon and turn to face my son. “Why are you so concerned about him?”

Finn shrugs and looks back out the window. “I don’t know. He seems kind of lonely.”

His words take me by surprise, and despite my reluctance, I walk over to the window and peek out. Cedric is leaning against a tree across the street. That seems to be his preferred spot. His eyes are pinned on the house.

I thought for sure he would try to talk to me, to get me to listen or to convince me to change my mind. But he just watches the house like a silent protector. It doesn’t sit well with me. It would be easier to remain angry if he at least tried to invade my personal space. I need to take out this anger on somebody, preferably him, but Cedric doesn’t want to play along.

He does look a little lonely.

As soon as the thought strikes me, I shake it off. No. I’m not going to feel sorry for him.

“Come on, Mom. Let me take a plate to him. He hasn’t had anything in forever. I never see him eat.” Finn nags me with a persistence only a boy his age could have. When he was born, I altered his birth certificate date with Erik’s help, just a minor precaution. In the eyes of the world, he’s still seven. Not that it matters now.

“No.” My refusal is weaker this time around.

“But why?”

I give him a stern look. “I have my reasons. Now go clean your room and wash up. Dinner will be ready in half an hour.”

Sulking, he heads toward the hall, but not before muttering, “You’re so unfair.”

He’s stubborn to a fault. I wonder where he gets that from.

I shoot a dark look Cedric’s way.

I don’t know how to explain to my son why I’m being this way. I can’t tell him how terrified I am, given how Cedric’s actions seem genuinely protective to everybody else. But I can’t believe that. Before I left, I believed the same thing, that maybe he did care.

And where did that leave me?

I’m too scared to even consider believing that Cedric had nothing to do with what happened eight years ago. What if I trust him now, and it’s all just lie? The consequences would be long lasting. But no one seems to understand that. Probably because nobody else, aside from me, has anything to lose.

I hear a knock, and before I can even turn around, Finn’s bouncing footsteps reach my ears and he’s opening the front door.

“Finn!” I call out in exasperation. He’s not supposed to open the door to anyone.

I’m already heading over when I hear him shout out, “Mom, there’s a lady here!”

A lady? She must be a saleswoman. Odd time to show up, though.

Wiping my hands on the dish towel, I walk toward the door. “We’re not interested in anything you’re sell—”

The words get stuck in my throat when I lay eyes on the woman standing on the front stoop.

Shock has me staggering backward. Eight years has aged the woman who once looked after me, the one I still miss. Fine lines, graying hair. But those kind eyes are the same as always.

“Harriet,” I breathe.

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