Page 1 of Rejected Wolf's Secret Baby (Rejected Moons 4)

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ALICIA

“Alicia!”

I drop my bags on the floor of my father’s kitchen and let him pull me into his arms. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in the same room with anyone in my family, and now we’re all together again. And I’ve got some seriously mixed feelings about that—but at least Deidre isn’t here. At least she’s out of our lives.

Dad lets me go. I turn to my sisters, Kayla and Patricia. Pat’s standing with her husband, David. Seeing him is strange. I’m sure he feels like close family to everyone else in this kitchen, but he and Pat only married five years before I left the pack. I just didn’t have that long to get to know him in the first place.

“Hey, kid,” Pat says. “Welcome home.”

I feel myself bristle. This isn’t home. “I’m here for a visit, but nothing more than that. I fully intend to go backhome in a couple of days.”

Kay pounces on me. She’s only two years older than I am, and we’ve always been close. She’s the only member of the family I still speak to regularly by phone. Still, talking on the phone hasn’t prepared me for the shock of seeing her in person. She’s changed. Life has gotten to her, etching lines in her face and graying her hair.

I think of my own skin, treated regularly with human-designed skin care products, and my hair, which I dye every couple of months. I’m only a little bit younger than my sister, but now she looks much older than me. I suddenly find myself wishing I’d allowed myself to age naturally. I picked up the habits of humans without even thinking about it, but Kay looksgreat. I didn’t need to be afraid of letting my body evolve in that direction.

Maybe I’ll quit with all the anti-aging products.

“It’s good to see you,” Kay murmurs, squeezing me tightly. “Thanks for coming home.”

The wordhomedoesn’t bother me so much when she’s the one saying it. I nod and hug her back. “It’s good to see you too, Kay,” I say. “It’s been too long.”

“Let’s sit down,” Dad suggests, pulling out his chair at the head of the table.

Kay, Pat, and David join him, but I remain standing. They’re all at ease here in this kitchen, but I’m not. I never will be.

“Where’s Lonnie?” I ask.

As if in answer to my question, my youngest sibling—my half-brother, Lonnie—bangs through the door, acting for all the world as if he lives here. A young woman—probably in her late twenties—is trailing behind him. I don’t know her.

He looks me up and down like he’s checking for flaws, like he imagines I care what he thinks of me. “So,” he says. “You’re back. Couldn’t cut it in the human world?”

“I’m not back,” I assure him. Lonnie and I hate each other, and we always have. I’m sure he’s no happier to see me than I am to see him.

He grabs the young woman by the arm and tugs her forward. “This is Maddy,” he tells me. “My new mate.”

“What happened to Lola?” It’s not normal for a wolf to go through mates the way Lonnie does. He’s on his third already. Kayla keeps me updated about his antics. I mean, it’s not like there’s anything great about the women he chooses. Lola was a bitch. But I wasn’t expecting her to be out of the picture.

Lonnie makes a face. “She got all old and saggy.”

“Does he think this new girl isn’t going to get old?” I ask. I can’t figure out how my brother’s mind works.

“Alicia, sit down,” Dad says. “You and Lonnie can catch up later.”

Right, because catching up is totally what we’re doing. It feels more like squaring off. I can’t stand my brother. I wish he would just spend all his time at Deidre’s house, now that she and Dad are divorced. I don’t know why he still comes over here at all.

Maddy wraps herself around Lonnie like a vine, and I’m hard-pressed not to roll my eyes. She looks like she’s trying to mount him right here at my dad’s breakfast table. I remember what it was like to be that age and attracted to someone but come on. There’s a time and a place.

Fortunately, the two of them head upstairs. “What are they doing here?” I ask Dad.

“He just came over to take some things.”

“You shouldn’t let him take your stuff.”

“It’s his stuff, Alicia. He left it here.”

I sigh.

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