Page 19 of Rejected Wolf's Secret Baby (Rejected Moons 4)

This is a slippery slope, and I’m not sure it’s one I can afford to think about. Emmy has to be my priority. I can’t raise her here, in proximity to her birth father, and just keep hoping that no one ever finds out about the connection between them. She doesn’t look that much like him now, but I can’t afford to bank on that lasting forever.

“Do you want to go to the bar?” Brandon suggests. “Drinks are on me.”

Shifter bars are so different from human bars, and I’ve missed their energy. “Sure,” I say. “You’re on. But you’ve got to let me buy the first round.”

He laughs. “It’s a deal.”

He turns toward the bar and I turn along with him. I wonder where this night is going to take us, but at the same time, I don’t wonder at all. It’s already starting to feel like a foregone conclusion.

At least Kayla won’t mind when I don’t come home until late. Seeing me with Brandon is exactly what she wants.

11

BRANDON

Itakeadeepbreath and steady myself before sliding into my seat opposite Alicia at the bar.

I know she’s not dressed for me. She came out in what she was already wearing when I rang her doorbell. She’s not wearing cutoff shorts like the ones she wore when we were teenagers out of any desire for me to look at her ass. She didn’t tie off that white button-down shirt at her midriff so that I could admire the smooth plane of her abdomen.

And when she folds her arms, I know she’s not deliberately pushing her breasts up to entice me.

At least, IthinkI know that. I can’t be sure about that last part. And whether it’s her intention or not, she absolutelyisenticing me. I could tear off her clothes and take her right here on the table.

“So, tell me about the day you left the pack,” I say once we’re seated and holding a couple of drinks.

“I’m surprised you want to hear about that,” she admits.

I shrug. “It was a long time ago,” I say, not bothering to act like I don’t know what she’s talking about. “I think we can be adults about it. Don’t you think so?”

“I do. I just... I’m really glad to hear you say that,” she says. “I was worried things would be awkward between us. Especially after what happened the last time I was home.”

I raise my eyebrows. “I thought we weren’t ever going to talk about that again.”

“That’s not what we agreed on,” she objects. “We said we weren’t going to tell anyoneelseabout it.”

“Ah.”

“Anyway, I’m glad you and I can get along, that’s all. I don’t want it to be awkward while I’m here.” She takes a sip of her beer. “Why do you want to know about the day I left home?”

“I’m assuming it’s an interesting story, that’s all.”

“My stepmother—well, my ex-stepmother—was responsible for setting the two of us up,” she says. “Did you know that? It wasn’t my father’s idea. Not originally.”

“Why did Deidre care? I always got the feeling she wasn’t that invested in Vern’s other children.”

“Oh, she was invested in us all right,” Alicia says. “She was always looking for ways to run us down in front of Dad, to prove to him that Lonnie was the only one of his children who was worth anything. That’s why Pat was mated so young, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“She wanted to get her out of the house, so she got David to ask Dad to set them up two years earlier than he would have done on his own. She was only eighteen when they got married.”

“I don’t think I knew that.”

“We were pretty young at the time.”

“Yeah,” I agree. “I guess we were.” That seems like such a long time ago now. “But why did that mean she wanted to set me up with you?”

“You didn’t have the best reputation at the time,” Alicia reminds me. “She took me aside before the ceremony and told me she’d put me with you because you were a troublemaker and would never amount to anything. And…she threatened me.”

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