Page 14 of The Alpha's Baby Girl

Rowan could see the hesitation in her eyes. She looked back at his friends who he had abandoned to come speak to her.

“Don’t you have to go back to your friends? Weren’t you talking before I got here?” she asked him with raised brows.

Rowan looked back at his friends who were engaged in conversation just as Articus raised a hand in a thumbs-up without looking at him.

“No, we’re all good. I don’t need to go back there. Besides, if there is anything that they want to say, we can always talk about it in another meeting,” he said, looking back at her. “Let me drop you off, that way we can discuss what to do and how to look for whatever it is that’s causing this trouble.”

“Fine,” she said as she turned around to face the door.

Rowan was relieved that she had agreed. Given how much she had argued with him, he’d thought that she would fight him on it and likely choose to leave without him.

Rowan had no intentions of talking about pack safety. There would be time for that later. For now, all he wanted was to have her close to him for as long as he could manage.

He led her outside to his car where his driver was waiting for him, and asked him to take them to the Moonwood Inn.

Juniper sat beside him, looking out the window; she observed the environment while he observed her. There truly was so much difference between how she’d looked before and the way that she looked now.

“You have really changed a lot,” he said, trying to make conversation. “How was life in the human world?”

She looked away from the window and turned to look at him. Her brows scrunched as she thought about his question.

“It was fine,” she said simply.

“Was it much different than life with us?” he asked again.

“Yes, it was.”

“How was it different?” he asked curiously as she looked out the window again.

He truly wanted to know everything that had happened in her life in the past seven years. Had she enjoyed her time there? He knew she would not have missed being here, as there had been not much good for her here, but if she had enjoyed it then it would be more difficult for him to persuade her to stay.

“Well. In the human world, it was very easy to just live like the humans and experience all that they did, like going to parties or staying up late at night or dating someone, since I could easily pass myself off as one of them.”

Rowan was no longer listening to what she was saying. At the mention of the worddating, his wolf had begun to growl inside his mind. He struggled to keep his fists from clenching as he tried to remind himself that he had caused all of this, but all of that flew out of his head.

Boyfriends? She had boyfriends?

‘Okay, hold your horses, you have no right to care if she has had any boyfriends or if she has been with other people, when you rejected her. That is just predatory,’he said to himself, trying to remain calm.

‘We should find those people and rip them to shreds,’Hanlon growled angrily inside of him. The wolf was not angry at their mate but at the fact that there had been men in her life other than Rowan.

Rowan closed his eyes as he tried to calm himself. As much as the idea seemed like a very appealing one, and it would appease their anger, he knew that doing that would only make it easier for her to walk out of his life.

At this point, he knew that it was a bad idea to even let her know that he was having these kinds of thoughts because that was one surefire way to get her annoyed and send her packing.

For now, he would have to listen and try as much as possible to not let his emotions rule him.

“Oh,” he said, clearing his throat when the sound came out coarser than he had intended. “Anybody serious? Any relationships you’re still holding down or going to meet again?”

Rowan froze as she looked at him suspiciously, but then she relaxed and shook her head.

“No, I didn’t have anything serious with anybody. They were mostly just flings that I involved myself with for the experience and temporary enjoyment.”

He felt his wolf calm down a little at her statement. He was happy to know that there was no one in her life who she prioritized and considered important, as he still hoped to be that person for her. Rowan relaxed into his seat feeling a little less bothered.

“I think your magic is great by the way. Was it very difficult for you to learn that magic?” he asked curiously.

“Yes, it was hard.” She nodded, a small smile playing on her lips that showed there was a story there. “It was a bit difficult, but I was able to get pointers from another witch.”

---