Page 12 of The Alpha’s Unclaimed Mate

“You’ll be seeing a lot of her.” I keep watching the two figures shrink toward the street.

“What do you mean?”

“She’s about to be your new classmate.”

Because the girl I signed off on for a full scholarship, the one starting at Crestline Monday morning, was named Mia. Mia Vasquez.

I huff out a laugh and shake my head.

Monday is going to be very interesting.

Chapter Three

Jessa

It’s four in the morning when I finally accept that I just won’t be able to sleep tonight.

I haven’t gone under once, not for a minute. I’ve spent the whole night flat on my back, staring at a water stain on the ceiling I hadn’t noticed before tonight, running the same worries over and over. Back in the city it’s an hour earlier, but Mrs. Petrov, my previous landlady, keeps a farmer’s hours, up before the birds with her tea and her crossword. I should give her a call. Last night’s online search for apartments back in the city came up with nothing. I need to move back now, not months later when there is availability.

I slip into the kitchen so I won’t wake Mia and dial the number.

She answers on the third ring. “Petrov residence.”

“Mrs. Petrov, hi. It’s Jessa.”

“Jessa, my goodness.” Warmth pours down the line, then a thread of worry behind it. “It’s the crack of dawn out your way, sweetheart. Is everything all right? Is the little one all right?”

“She’s fine. We’re both fine.” I wind the loose thread of my sleeve around one finger. “I’m sorry to call so early. I wouldn’t, only I couldn’t wait, and I knew you’d be up.”

“I’m always up. What is it?”

“The apartment.” My voice is small. “Mine. The one I left. Is it still available?”

The pause that follows tells me everything before she says a word.

“Oh, honey.” She breathes it out, gentle and sorry. “I rented it out two days ago to a young couple, very sweet, expecting their first. They signed the lease that same afternoon.” She pauses for a moment. “You told me the move was a dream come true. You said Mia’s new school was the best in the country. What happened? Why’re you trying to come back? Is everything okay?”

“It is.” I swallow against the ache climbing my throat. “It is. Never mind. Forget I asked. Go finish your crossword.”

“Jessa.” Her tone sharpens with affection. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

“It’s nothing I can’t sort out. I promise.” I make myself laugh, and it comes out brittle. “Give my love to Mr. Davies and his floods.”

I hang up before she can hear the panic in my voice.

So that door’s shut. I lean against the windowsill and look out at the tree line going gray with the first of the sun, and I try to add it up like the accountant I am. I quit my job to come here. Go back, and I’m hunting for work all over again, when here I’ve already got a position waiting for me Monday with a better salary. And an apartment in a good school district. In Mia’s old district, those don’t come cheap or fast. Mrs. Petrov’s was a small miracle, which is why I held on to it for so long.

I let out a groan, rubbing my hands over my face. “What am I even doing? I can’t just leave.”

But I can’t stay here either. Not in this town. Not with Marcus Steele in it.

He hasn’t recognized me, so maybe I should stop expecting him to. I was nothing more than another woman in his bed. But memory is a tricky thing. We’ll keep colliding on wet roads and in playgrounds until one day it might click and he remembers me. And then he’ll look at Mia.

It’s one thing to turn away a pregnancy. A woman on his doorstep he never has to see again, that’s easy enough to wave off. But seeing a living, breathing ten-year-old with your own eyes looking back, knowing she’s yours, that’s something else. I’ve watched him with a child now. I’ve seen how soft he goes around a kid.

What if he wants her once he knows? What if he decides a rich man with his name and his lawyers has more right to her than I do? What if he makes my life hell just for keeping her from him?

I push off the sill and make coffee with hands that aren’t quite steady.