Page 81 of The Alpha Wolf’s Secret Baby Boy

“What did you hear me say?”

She gulps, visibly uncomfortable with the question. “I don’t know exactly what she meant when she told me to remember who I am,” Poppy sighs.

“I think you are special, Poppy,” I declare with certainty and a soft smile when she finally returns her eyes to mine. “This is a big deal, you know? We probably wouldn’t have made it out alive if you didn’t come to that battlefield.”

Poppy takes a deep breath and stares at her palm, inspecting her fingers as she wiggles them. “Yeah…I’m just not used to it, I guess,” she shrugs.

“You didn’t answer my question…” I remind her with a hint of amusement in my voice.

Poppy looks up, bewildered. “What question?”

“What did I say to you while you were in the trance?”

“Damian, I—” she begins, then stops abruptly.

I chuckle, suddenly feeling the same nervousness I once felt when I asked her out many years ago.

“It’s okay, Poppy.” The sound fades as I become more serious, realizing that I shouldn’t be wasting any more time between us.

Ten years is way too long.

“I don’t know if you heard what I said when I held you in my arms in front of that fire,” I say earnestly, “but I’ll tell you anyway.”

Poppy simply stares at me as I continue.

“I told you I loved you. Always have—”

“Always will,” she finishes for me.

One corner of my lips turns up in a smirk. “So, you did hear me.”

Poppy lowers her chin and averts her eyes as she blushes profusely. “For a while I thought I was imagining it.”

“You weren’t, because it’s true,” I admit, turning my face away when a bout of shame comes over me. “I love you, Poppy. I’ve loved you since the start of our friendship, and I’ve loved you even in the time of your absence.” I turn my face back and meet her teary eyes. “I’ve always loved you, and I failed you.”

She shakes her head slowly. “I allowed my insecurities to make me do very stupid, impulsive things. I never should have left—”

“No,” I say firmly. “I don’t want us going forward with any regrets.”

I let out a determined breath and pulled the covers off me, sliding my legs off the side of the bed.

“Damian, what are you doing?!” Poppy exclaims and shoots to her feet. “You’re not well, and you need to be lying down.”

I chuckle, though I’m touched by her concern, and begin peeling off the bandage that covers my chest over one shoulder and under one arm. “Look. You’ve healed me. I’m fine.”

Poppy gasps as she steps closer, reaching out with both hands to touch my chest where a ghastly wound almost had me bleeding out last night. I close my eyes momentarily and bask in the warmth of her fingers on my flesh, and when I open them again, she’s staring at me with soft eyes.

“I thought I lost you,” she whispers, and that’s when I reach out to cup her cheek.

“You won’t get rid of me that easily, Poppy,” I chuckle. “I had to survive. I needed to hear if you feel the same way.”

“Of course, I do, Damian,” she whimpers, her bottom lip trembling like she’s on the verge of crying. “I love you, too, and I told you that last night.”

My lips curve into a mischievous smile. “I know. I heard you.”

Poppy gasps and playfully smacks my shoulder. “You sneaky ba—gah!”

She’s startled when I suddenly grab her and pull her onto my lap, our lips so close that I can taste her just from her breath. Her hand slides over my shoulder, snaking up through the hair at the back of my head.