Page 25 of Rejected Wolf's Secret Baby (Rejected Moons 4)

“Sure. It’s just…I didn’t see it until he showed up at the door to pick you up. But haven’t you ever noticed how much Emmy looks like Brandon?”

“She doesn’t look like him,” I say automatically.

“Yeah, she does,” Kayla says. “It’s the eyes, mostly. They’re the same shape and color. You’ve really never noticed this? Do you have a picture of your ex? Maybe we could compare.”

“Kayla.”

“And she’s got his nose, too,” Kayla says. “That’s a little more subtle. I wouldn’t have noticed it if I wasn’t already paying attention because of the eyes, but I was looking at her after you guys left, and shereallylooks like him.” She hesitates. “Did you sleep with Brandon, Alicia? When you were here three years ago?”

I sigh. “You can’t tellanyone.”

She claps a hand over her mouth. “Holy shit. Sheishis. And you fucking hooked up with Brandon!?!!!”

“Can we please not talk about this right now?”

She looks down at Emmy, who’s turning the pages of the book I was reading when she came in. “She’s not following any of it.”

“I don’t want him to know,” I say. “I don’t want anyone to know.”

“Why don’t you want him to know? Emmy deserves to have a father.”

“She’s not going to, though,” I say. “We’re not going to be staying with the pack. Eventually, we’re both going to go back home. If Brandon knows about her…I don’t know what’ll happen. For all I know, he might try to take her away from me. Or worse Lonnie could go psycho if he finds out and try to ruin all of us!!!”

“I don’t think he’d do that. Brandon anyway, but Lonnie would lose his shit!”

“You don’tthinkBrandon would. But you can’t be sure. He’s committed to pack life. What if he doesn’t want his daughter raised in the human world? What if he thinks he knows better? You must see how I can’t take that chance.”

“Fuck,” Kayla says quietly. “I don’t know. It doesn’t seem like you have a good option.”

“My good option is the one that lets me keep my daughter,” I say. “I’m not going to take a chance on anything else. I can’t afford to risk it.”

"But what if you’re missing out on something great?” Kayla asks. “What if Brandon would be a really good father, and you and Emmy never get to find that out?”

“Well, that would be unfortunate,” I say. “But I made this decision a long time ago, Kay. I’m not changing my mind about it now.”

“And you don’t feel any differently now? Being back, seeing him again, that hasn’t changed your mind?”

I hesitate.

The truth is that seeing Brandon againhasmade me feel some things I haven’t felt in the past. For the first time, I’m feeling guilty about keeping them apart. Brandon has been surprisingly kind to me since I’ve been here, and in return, I’m lying to him about the fact that he has a daughter. I’m also keeping someone who seems to be a decent man out of Emmy’s life. Kayla’s right: she does deserve a father. That father is right here, and now he knows she exists, and I’m still keeping them apart.

But I can’t bring myself to do anything else. Even though I like Brandon, I just can’t besureof him. What if he’s loyal to Lonnie? Lonnie hates me and would do anything to fuck up my life. If Brandon’s loyal to him, that would mean Lonnie could have him working against me.

And then there’s Deidre to consider.

She’s not with the pack now. She’s off at the Boneyard, the place where druggy shifters go to get wasted. But she could come back at any time, and if she found me here with a baby, it would get ugly.

And if she knew it wasBrandon’sbaby…Shit, I can’t even imagine what she might do.

Torment us?

Probably.

Try to take Emmy from me? Likely.She might even try to kill her. She wants Lonnie to be the only continuation of my father’s bloodline. Her existence would be a threat to her son.

No. It’s just been me and Emmy from the moment I knew she was growing inside me. We’re a pair. I can’t let anyone else into that.

“You have to keep this a secret,” I tell my sister. “ I don’t want anyone knowing who her father really is, not even the rest of our family.”

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