Page 33 of The Alpha Wolf’s Secret Baby Boy

I just bought myself enough time to figure out a way out for Daniel and me.

Now, to deal with another problem.

Damian wants to stay the night in my cabin, and that means I can’t bring Daniel home yet.

Damian and I prepare to leave for Fort Smit when we’re done having breakfast, but I can’t concentrate much and barely have an appetite. When it’s time to leave, he leads me directly to his SUV parked in the driveway, and I’m relieved that we don’t have to walk through the pack as if he’s flaunting me as his mate.

It’s like he’s loosening the grip he’s had on me since the abduction and forced ritual, and I can breathe again, even if it’s just for a moment.

Maybe that’s why I’m able to stare out the window as we drive onto the main road, marveling at the views of the mountains as we pass by. I’d forgotten how beautiful Cedar Valley was, having spent years burying every memory I had of the place.

Especially the memory of Damian.

I hate that he appears more level-headed than he has been these past two nights. I almost want to pinch myself in case I’m imagining things, but instead, I find myself stealing brief glances at him as he steers the car toward Fort Smit.

Perhaps I’d forgotten how he makes the simplest tasks seem so swoon-worthy—

“You alright? You’ve barely said a word since breakfast,” he comments, and I frown, snapping my head to the window.

Angry at him. Angry at myself.

“I’m fine,” I say as I cross my arms and keep my eyes fixed outside as the tree line on the right melts into a blur of brown and green.

Damian sighs. “Since you want to keep our mate bond a secret from everyone in Nightclaw, how do you propose we arrive in the pack territory?”

“You can drop me off at the south border. I can return to my cabin, and you can enter from the main road.”

“Right. And you’re still not going to tell me why you want to keep this a secret?”

“I told you already, Damian. It’s not a good time.”

He sighs again, sounding rather disappointed when he says, “Fine. If you insist. We will tell my brother when you are ready.”

I nod without saying anything, fighting the urge to look at him again when every bone in my body wants me to turn. I just can’t understand his behavior anymore.

Truthfully, I don’t wish to make sense of it. Besides, by tomorrow, Daniel and I will be gone, and this mate bond will mean nothing. Just like the past ten years meant nothing.

But it takes every ounce of sheer willpower to stop myself from being consumed by the scent of citrus and musk heavily swarming my airways.

I gulp hard when the space in the SUV becomes too tight, almost suffocating.

Why did he have to find me? Why did he have to push this mate bond on me?

“There’s something on your mind,” Damian speculates, and I scoff as I straighten up in my seat.

“I told you I’m fine, Damian. All things considered.”

“It didn’t have to be like this, Poppy. I’m—”

“Save it, Damian. I don’t care why you did what you did.”

“That’s fair.”

“Don’t get me started on what’s fair or not,” I sneer sarcastically. “And don’t pretend as if you care now.”

A moment of silence stretches between us before Damian whispers, “Maybe I do…”

I let his words get lost to the silence, choosing not to respond because I know better. He doesn’t care. He didn’t care ten years ago when it mattered, when I was about to tell him that I was pregnant with his child. He chose being alpha over being my mate and confidently claiming me in front of everyone when his father was still alive.