Page 90 of Rejected Wolf's Secret Baby (Rejected Moons 4)

“Yeah,” I agree. “You can do a hell of a lot better than a guy like that.”

“And now I have,” she says, touching the new mark I left on her neck last night. Fuck, I love seeing her marked up. I love knowing that anyone who looks at her will see that she’s claimed and know that she’s mine. It’s the sexiest feeling in the world.

It also fills me with pride and confidence. It makes me sure that I can handle fatherhood. After all, I’m Alicia’s mate, and alpha to boot. This will be nothing compared to that.

“Let’s go,” I say. “I’m ready. Let’s do this.”

I go into Alicia’s room and sit down on the bed, my heart hammering with nerves and excitement.

I’m actually going to meet my daughter.

Not that we haven’t met before, of course. But this time is different. This time, we’ll know that we belong to each other. It’s going to change both of our lives forever.

Alicia comes into the room holding Emmy in her arms. She’s blinking a little, looking around like she’s confused about what’s going on.

“You didn’t have to wake her,” I say, feeling a little guilty about it.

“No, it’s all right,” Alicia assures me. “She was already awake. She tends to wake herself up pretty early, and then she just lies around playing with her stuffed animals until someone comes to get her.”

I nod. I have so much to learn about her, and I can’t wait to start.

“Emmy,” Alicia says, sitting down on the bed beside me, “this is Daddy.”

Emmy stares at me, wide-eyed.

“Hi, Emmy,” I say. I feel a little awkward. I’m not sure how to talk to a two-year-old—it’s never really come up for me before. I’m probably making a total hash of it. “It’s nice to see you.”

Emmy shrinks against Alicia’s shoulder.

I look at Alicia. “It’s okay,” she says. “It’ll take time. But she’ll get used to you soon enough. Kids adapt.”

“She warmed up to me pretty quickly last time. Am I doing something wrong?”

“No, you’re fine,” she says. “She just woke up, and she was with Kayla all night while I was out. She’s a little disoriented, that’s all. Aren’t you, Emmygirl?”

Emmy buries her face in Alicia’s neck.

“Just a little shy,” Alicia says softly. “Don’t worry. I bet by this afternoon she’ll be trying to show off all her toys to you.”

I nod. “Do you think we should wait to take her over to my house?”

“No, she’ll be all right with me there,” Alicia says. “And I don’t want to wait another day to be with you, or for the three of us to be a family. We’ve waited long enough.”

I can definitely agree with that.

Alicia stands up and settles Emmy beside me on the bed. “Why don’t the two of you get comfortable with each other?” she suggests. “I’m going to make sure we have all our things.”

It looks like everything is already packed. I remember the argument we had just a couple of days ago, and how it seemed like everything was coming to an end between us. I’m sure she was planning to leave the pack and go back to her human life.

Thank fuck that didn’t happen. I don’t know what I’d do without her.

I turn my attention to the little girl on the bed beside me. “Don’t worry, Emmy,” I tell her. “I know I haven’t been around very much, but you and I are going to be great pals now. It’ll be like I never missed a day of your life, I promise you. And I promise I’ll never miss another one. Now that we’re a family —you, me, and your mom —we’ll always stick together.”

“Daddy,” she says softly.

I swear, it feels like my heart is going to burst. I’ve never been so happy about anything in my life as I am to hear that simple word from this little girl.

Daddy.

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