Page 40 of Brutal Alpha Bully

But if Nora was mine, I’d be able to smell it, loud and clear. The Sorel scent would be obvious. Hell, Kalen would have noticed and told me about it before now.

All this forces me to face something else—I wanted Phina to tell me that Nora was mine. I wanted it to be true that the few times we were together in high school were enough for her to get pregnant.

Even with the pain of knowing I’d missed so much of her life already, I would happily accept the joy of knowing Nora was mine. That I would have some claim to Phina and her daughter.

If it was public knowledge that Phina had my child, it would make things a lot easier in the pack for me to claim her again. It would only make sense.

But pressuring her isn’t going to make things better—it’s only going to make things worse. The last thing I want is for Phina to pull away from me, to feel that she needs to hide.

When I stand from the couch, I follow her into the hallway. There, I find her coming from the upstairs bathroom, her cheeks pink, her skin glowing. Is this what she used to look like before? How had I never noticed?

“Hey,” I say, catching her by the arm as she goes to walk past me. I pull her back and line her up against the wall, watching as her gaze rises to mine, unsure and waiting for my next words.

Clearing my throat, I say, “I’m sorry for probing. I was just… curious.”

She shifts uncomfortably, clearly unused to accepting apologies. “It’s okay.”

“I—I don’t want you to run from me, Phina.”

Her eyes widen. “What do you mean?”

“I want… to see where this goes. Between us.”

If it’s possible, her eyes widen even more, flitting back and forth between mine. This close, I can still smell my scent on her, the heady evidence of our sex. I can feel her heartbeat picking up speed and resist the urge to lay my palm over her chest, right above it.

“You do?”

“I do,” I say, swallowing, opening my mouth to add more, but I’m cut off by the sound of Nora rousing herself in the bathroom. Phina and I separate, eyes still on one another, both of our heartbeats picking up speed.

I tell her with my gaze that we can talk more about it later.

She looks away from me, gaze settling on the bathroom door as Nora steps out. While Phina goes to her daughter, I follow the sound of buzzing to the kitchen, find my phone there, and check the texts from the guys.

They’ve contained the fires for now.

I confirm to them that I’m fine, even as an ache stretches out through my chest, a pain I hadn’t noticed when I had Phina in my arms.

A moment later, Nora and Phina appear in the kitchen, watching me expectantly.

“Is the fire done?” Nora asks, her voice small.

I nod, eyes moving between her and her mother. “For now,” I say, which seems to calm her somewhat.

Phina meets my eyes, and I realize Silverville has needed me far more than I ever thought.

This town needs me to help stop the fires.

And Phina has needed me all this time. Needed an apology, needed someone to lean on, needed someone to protect her.

Now that I’m here, the idea of moving back to Illinois grows weaker and weaker with every passing second.

Chapter 20 - Seraphina

I know that I shouldn’t, but I find Xeran in his room again the next night.

And the next, and the next.

He labors over my body, touching each part of me like he’s marveling at the fact that I exist. During the day, Xeran steals a moment to touch me, to twirl his fingers in my hair or lay a stray finger on my waist.

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