Page 62 of The Alpha’s Unclaimed Mate

Inside, I carry Mia up while Bella trails me on the stairs, her hand fisted in the back of my shirt, her eyes sleepy but aware. I lay the girl down in the small spare room, and Bella crowds close to the edge of the bed.

“Is Mia gonna be okay?” Her voice has gone tiny.

“She’s going to be fine.” I pull the blanket up over Mia’s shoulder. “We’ll look after her tonight, and the healer will come again tomorrow. You’ll see.”

Bella nods, then crosses to where Jessa stands in the doorway and wraps both arms around her waist. “I’ll watch Mia all night so you don’t have to worry.”

Jessa’s hand comes down on the fair head. “I want you to sleep, sweetheart.” She crouches to Bella’s level. “I’ll be the one checking on her. That’s my job. Are you hungry? You should eat something.”

Bella shakes her head against Jessa’s shoulder. “I just want to be near Mia.”

“Okay.” Jessa rises. “Then let’s get you into your pajamas, and you can get in bed with her.”

She helps Bella get ready for bed, and I understand it’s half about staying in the room herself. When it’s done, she sits on the edge of Mia’s bed, bends, and presses her mouth to the girl’s hair. “Sleep.”

I lean on the door frame and wish I could also kiss my daughter on the forehead.

When her shoulders start to droop, I cross and touch her elbow. “Come on. You’re dead on your feet.” I take her down the hall. “You can shower and change,” I tell her at my door. “I’ll be outside. Take your time.”

I grab a beer from the kitchen and carry it out to the porch. The night’s cool, the woods ticking with rain that stopped an hour ago, and I sit with the bottle sweating in my hand, too tired to go inside.

The screen door clicks. Jessa comes out in an oversized T-shirt and pajamas, her hair damp at the ends.

“Is there another one of those?”

I hold mine up. “Take this. I’ll get a fresh one.”

She takes it and drops into the chair beside me, knees drawn up. I come back with a second bottle and sit. For a while, neither of us says anything, the two of us drinking in the dark.

“Why would a man do that?” She turns the bottle in her hands. “To two little girls. What does he want with them?”

I weigh how much of the truth I can hand her. “I don’t know.” At least that part’s true. “Bella’s parents were murdered when she was a year old. She doesn’t know that. There’s a chance that tonight ties back to that and a chance it doesn’t. I just don’t know at this point.”

Her head comes up. “Murdered?”

“Years ago. It was never solved.” I take a slug of the beer. “It doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with that. But aside from that, I don’t see why the two of them would be targeted. Until I know who that man was actually there for, the two of you are safest where I can see you. I know this estate is open, but it’s very secure. Nobody can break in here without raising alarms. Your apartment is not that safe.”

She’s quiet, taking that in.

“You’re sure you’ve got no enemies of your own?” I ask. “Nobody from before, nobody you crossed?”

She shakes her head. “The only people who ever came after me were collectors. I cleared every cent of it. There’s no one left to come.”

“Your ex-husband’s debts.”

“Yes.” The word is small.

I don’t say anything for a moment. “I’m sorry you had to go through that on your own.”

She lifts a shoulder. “It’s fine. I still have Mia. I’m good at rebuilding myself. When—” She hesitates. “When Mia’s father turned his back on us, I was in college on a scholarship.”

My jaw tightens, and I look down at the beer in my hands. “That must’ve been rough. Your parents must have been furious.”

My voice is hoarse, the guilt eating at me.

She laughs quietly. “No. I was a foster kid my whole life. There were no parents to get angry with me. I lost my scholarship, though. I had to wait tables and do all sorts of odd jobs. I ended up dropping out. It was my last year as well.”

The bitterness in her voice is old, and I swallow the regret. I ruined her life, and I don’t even remember doing it. “Bastard.”