Page 8 of The Alpha Wolf’s Secret Baby Boy

Who is he, and why is my wolf reacting this way?

“Yes, sir,” he responds matter-of-factly. “We should get going. My ma is gonna be mad if I haven’t found my seat in time.” He rubs a hand across the back of his neck sheepishly, grimacing as if he’s having war flashbacks, and suddenly, his eyes widen. “Hey, aren’t you the alpha’s brother?”

“Yes,” I chuckle again, frowning at myself for feeling so comfortable around the boy. “Yes, I am.”

The boy grins from ear to ear, and I gasp at the tug on my heartstrings, as if I’m supposed to recognize him.

But I don’t know anyone in Nightclaw except for my brother and Amelia.

“Cool.” The boy nods thoughtfully and rushes off to join his friends. The group shuffles into the pack center, and I’m left staring at the door, a magnetic pull beckoning me inside, that strange feeling of uneasiness growing stronger.

My frown deepens, but I feel so foolish that I hang my head, shaking it as I laugh to myself. I’m probably just unnerved by the findings on the border, and I have no reason to feel this way.

I’m just worried about Damita, Amelia, and my brother. That’s all.

But when I look up, I catch a glimpse of a face I thought I’d never see again.

A name I never imagined would cross my mind ever since she disappeared from Valley Walker.

“It can’t be…” I whisper, my heart racing as I realize there’s one more person I should be worried about.

She’s rushing into the pack center, tying a knot on her apron behind her neck, her blonde hair braided down one shoulder, her hazel eyes sparkling almost fiery red as the sunlight catches them when she glances over her shoulder.

My heart stops long enough for her to disappear inside the pack center, and my whole world crashes down in an instant.

I’m not worried about her because she’s in danger.

I’m worried about her because of the danger she brings to my inner wolf, and all the memories that surface in one single glimpse.

The agony of finding her cabin empty the night of my swearing-in ceremony. The excruciating physical pain that tore into my chest for months after she abandoned me. I feel it again, the dull ache of those buried memories, crashing into me as the pull yanks at my being.

I’m forced to face the fact that the woman I lost when I became alpha is right here, under my nose, in my brother’s pack.

How can it be?

How can Poppy Barnes be here?

Chapter 2 - Poppy

Rushing into the pack center, the wolves are already finding their seats, but there’s no time to check on Daniel.

I need to get to the kitchen to serve lunch.

Doing a quick scan of the dining hall, I spot my son at the table designated for the younger wolves, laughing with his friends. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I hardly have a moment to spare when a hand grips my arm and tugs me away.

I gasp when I’m pulled into the kitchen, a pair of searing green eyes meeting mine.

“Where the hell have you been, Poppy?” Ingrid, the Nightclaw beta’s wife, asks with her hands propped on her hips.

I wince as I rummage through my mind for a suitable excuse, but when I open my mouth to speak, I manage only a listless squeak before she pushes a ladle into my hand.

“You said you were serving lunch today. Did you forget?” she continues, picking up the pot from the stove.

“I—I didn’t forget,” I mumble, sighing out my frustrations.

Ingrid must see the irritation written on my face, and she tilts her head to the side.

“You’re not okay, are you?” she frowns, setting the pot back down before reaching up to touch my forehead with the back of her hand. “You’re getting a fever, Poppy. Are you sick?”