Page 20 of Fated Alpha Baby

I still can’t tell how much Amalia knows.

“Well, it is my business when a potential ally starts questioning which powers my witches have. If you know who he is, and you have met him before, then you know he is from a werewolf pack that has certain abilities outside of mere shapeshifting.”

I nod slowly. “Yes. I know. But what does this mean? What does it have to do with me?”

“Oh, nothing really, my darling.” Amalia takes my hand, and we begin walking down the path toward the night market. “But Alpha Conan is here to represent all the Bitterroot Valley packs. And their council would not have sent him if he were not smart. They have already brought us a prisoner of this war with the demons, and the Bitterroot Valley packs have magic. I cannot help but suspect that he will not enter this alliance without making sure it is worth his while.”

Slowing down when I see Conan stopping at Shanice’s stall, behind Clarissa and Milly, who wait in line for their donuts, my heart begins pounding again.

He’s watching her closely. As if he can sense that she is his daughter.

Thank Goddess she’s been taking her potion so her scent remains masked!

“So you’re parading us like we’re supposed to be useful to a bunch of werewolves?”

Amalia chuckles. “Of course, not, dear Hannah. I am simply assuring our most important guest that he will not go wrong with this alliance. Shanice and others like her might not agree, but we need the wolves to fight this war as much as they need us. It is time we accepted that.”

I purse my lips and nod hesitantly, still unsure if Amalia knows more than she’s letting on. But I decide not to pry. If there’s one thing I have learned over the years, it’s to trust Amalia’s judgment and believe that she will tell me exactly what I need to know when the time is right.

And I have nothing to worry about now.

The quicker the conference is over, the faster Conan Becker will leave Augusta, and we can return to how things were before he visited.

The only thing I’m afraid of is the can of worms that was just opened, and how unbelievably attractive Conan still is after all these years.

How am I going to survive this weekend?

Chapter 5 - Conan

“Sister Amalia is quite accommodating for a witch, don’t you think?” Theodore Haines, the alpha of the Goldfang Pack, snickers as he leans back with a smirk.

“I have known Amalia for a long time, Theo. She’s not as cruel as the stories go,” Alpha Orlando Caldas from the Nightcreek Pack muses.

“You’re biased, because your mate was one of them,” William Moon, the alpha of the Blood Mill Pack, sneers. He’s the bald man from yesterday, who helped Simon take Marcus Hale to the witches’ dungeon.

Orlando gulps at the mention of his mate. “Perhaps I am. But the sisters have shown us nothing but kindness. It makes sense to give credit where it’s due.”

The Nightcreek Alpha turns his attention to the front of the meeting room, and a pang of sympathy clutches my heart.

Last night, when I found myself at the village bar, drowning my sorrows in liquor that wasn’t strong enough, Alpha Orlando walked in and joined me. We got to talking, and that’s when I learned why he was adamant to drown sorrows of his own away.

His first love was a witch, part of the August Moon coven. She died fighting demons last year, leaving him and their ten-year-old son, Nico, behind.

All because of a deal with another pack that betrayed both the witches and the Nighcreek Pack.

It’s no wonder everyone is particularly tense about the conference and entering into an alliance.

But I have a reason of my own to be tense.

Last night, I learned that Hannah Young is in Augusta.

Not just that, but she’s a very gifted witch with the powers that are distinct to the woman I have been searching for.

The woman who is supposed to be my true mate.

I can’t let it slide. I cannot let her slip through my fingers like she did in the past.

She won’t get away like she did when we shared a bed, and then she fled the valley with nothing more than a note to say goodbye.