Page 64 of Betrayed Alpha Bride

He tilts his head slightly and narrows his eyes. I feel a flicker of fear in my ribs, making my heart pound and sweat break out on my brow.

It’s like he knows.

“Technically, yes,” I answer, keeping my voice even. I deliberately end the sentence there, refusing to give him any more information.

“Any witches in this town?” he asks, a little too casually.

“No,” I answer firmly. “Well, not that I know of.”

“Interesting,” Dan says. “Really interesting little town. It was good of your mate to let us stay.”

“Yes, it was,” I reply. “But he hasn’t decided you can stay indefinitely, so be careful.”

“Of course,” he says very politely. “We certainly will.”

“Good,” I mutter, going around him. “Bye.”

As I hurry down the street, his words stick in my mind.

It’s really silly, but I can’t help feeling like he knew I had no shifter gene… and witch blood is in me, as well as my son.

When I finally slow down, I realize I’ve wandered into the outer edges away from the main street of town. Muttering softly with frustration, I take a side alley that will lead me back there, trying to ignore how empty the place feels.

As I reach the corner, I hear footsteps behind me. Nearly tripping over the gutter, I hurry into the narrow street, jogging a little to get to the next crossway.

The footsteps behind me get louder, but when I look behind me, I can’t see anyone. That scares me more than anything, and I break into a hard run.

As soon as I turn my back, I hear the footsteps again. I’m too afraid to look back now, and just put all my effort into running. I lose the groceries as I charge around a sharp bend, the paper sack falling out of my hands and sending apples rolling across the street.

It’s hard to draw a breath, my chest is so tight, but my feet don’t fail me. I keep running towards the end of the street, sure that there’s a turn at the end that will lead me straight back to town. When I get there, I almost scream in frustration when I find the only way through is blocked by a tall wire fence.

As the footsteps get louder and faster, I consider climbing it, but I know that even if I made it to the top, I’d get cut to shreds by razor wire. Gulping, I turn to face my stalker.

“Clara?” the voice floats around the corner, echoing around the stony walls. My lip trembles, and my hands shake, but I stand my ground as the man comes into view, fully blocking my path.

“Clara, are you alright?”

The voice!

“Galen?” I ask, taking a couple of steps forward.

“Yes, Clara, it’s me! What the hell is going on?”

“I thought someone was following me!” I cry, throwing my arms around him without even realizing what I’m doing.

“Someone was,” Galen chuckles. “Me.”

“Yeah,” I laugh, stepping away from him. “I guess you were.”

“What happened?” he asks.

“I had a weird encounter with that Dan guy,” I say. “Then I took a wrong turn, ended up down here, and when I heard your footsteps, I thought he was after me.”

“Why would you think that?” Galen asks, his voice low. “Did he try to hurt you?”

“No, nothing like that,” I reassure him. “It was just a weird conversation. Nothing threatening at all.”

“Okay, good. I haven’t had a chance to check them out yet—I had a meeting with Kit.”

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