lphas Second Choice novel Chapter 47

Chapter 4

“Brother?”

The word slipped out before I could stop it.

Sleep deprivation had turned my mind to fog, only after hearing my own voice did I realize, he’d forbidden me to call him that long ago.

I couldn’t afford to offend the Bloodmoon Pack again.

After all, years ago, to punish me for “bullying” Skyla, Cassian had only needed to utter one sentence, and the entire werewolf realm blacklisted me overnight.

“Alpha,” I corrected myself quickly.

I was still wondering why he’d suddenly shown up here in the Northern Territory, too distracted to notice the faint flicker of pain on his face.

“I’ll help you with that,” he said softly.

“No, I’ve got it.” I reached for the grocery bag in his hand, but my balance wavered; Hope, asleep on my back, whimpered faintly.

“Don’t push yourself, Paige bear.”

He caught my arm before I could try again. “Let me give you and your daughter a ride home.”

Paige bear.

It had been years since Cassian had called me that.

Our Alpha parents were often away visiting other packs, and Cassian had practically raised me himself.

When he’d still considered me his sister, he truly did love me.

Someone once asked him if he wasn’t afraid I’d cause trouble since he spoiled me so much.

He’d only half–smiled and said,

“So what if she causes trouble? If she does, I’ll clean it up for her. No matter how big it gets, I’ll protect her.”

But then Skyla returned to the pack.

At first, he still told me I would always be his sister

But whenever Skyla picked fights or threw cruel words at me, Cassian would only say, “She’s been through a lot, Paige. Just let her have her way.”

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He said we owed her.

And because I didn’t want to make things harder for him, because he’d been my brother for over twenty years, I kept giving in.

Over and over.

Until the day he believed her lies without question. That was when I finally realized he had stopped seeing me as his sister long before I stopped seeing him as my brother.

When he withdrew his protection and left me to fall, when the entire pack turned its back on me, I learned just how foolish I had been to rely on him.

The car ride was silent.

It had been years since I’d sat in a luxury car like this.

I held Hope close, huddling on one side of the seat, wondering why Cassian had come.

Did Jaxon tell him? Was he afraid I might hurt Skyla, so he rushed here overnight to make sure?

Would he punish me for giving birth to Lucien’s child? Throw me into a cell beneath the pack

house?

I didn’t know. Didn’t want to know.

My head throbbed, so I held Hope tighter, not noticing the way Cassian’s gaze lingered on me, filled with something dangerously close to longing.

“Paige bear…”

I looked up at him. The years had put more lines around his eyes now, visible traces of age and

exhaustion.

“Four years ago, we all thought you…”

“Thought I was dead. I know.”

I interrupted calmly.

“You can keep thinking that way. I’ve never wanted to compete with Skyla. Everything that’s hers was always meant to be hers. It’s only right that things went back to her.

“You don’t need to worry, or send anyone to watch me. I just want to live quietly with my daughter.

“And you have my word, she’ll never look for Lucien. I swear on my life, I’ll never use my child to destroy what Skyla and Lucien have. You can rest easy.”

I looked at him steadily, repeating, “You can really rest easy.”

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He froze. “I’m not-

“Then what?” I asked quietly.

“You’re afraid I’ll misuse my bloodline as the former Alpha’s daughter? Don’t worry. I won’t. I’ve already changed my name. I’m not Paige Rivera anymore, I’m Paige Forrester.”

“Paige!”

He suddenly cut me off. His voice cracked, eyes reddening.

“I’m not here to punish you. I came to bring you back to the pack.”

Chapter 4