Page 53 of Fated Alpha Baby

I crouch near the sill, dragging two fingers through the black residue. Smoke curls around my skin immediately, the corruption reacting to my alpha energy before dissolving beneath the force of my magic.

This wasn’t an attack. This was a search.

The realization hits me like ice-cold water running over my skin. My blood runs cold.

Behind us, Clarissa shifts faintly in her sleep in the adjoining room, completely unaware. Hannah hears Clarissa’s movement, too, and her panic explodes.

“She’s not safe here,” Hannah cries, rushing past me toward Clarissa’s room. “They’re after her—”

I grab her before she can spiral further, catching both her wrists gently but firmly.

“Hannah.” My voice is stern.

She’s trembling violently now, tears gathering in her eyes as fear overtakes every ounce of composure she had earlier.

“I knew it,” she whispers brokenly. “I knew something was wrong, but I couldn’t make out exactly what it was. I should have known. I should have seen it coming. She’s not safe here.”

My jaw clenches so hard that it aches.

The demons are evolving. Learning. Strategizing.

And now they’ve found something worth hunting.

My daughter. My mate.

Rage, unlike anything I’ve ever known, detonates inside my chest.

“They touched this house,” I growl darkly. “They came near my child. They came near you…”

The air around me shifts violently with unstable currents of power. And for the first time since Hannah returned to the valley, fear flashes across her face—not because of me, but because she knows exactly what’s at stake.

“We’re going to deal with this,” I promise Hannah, clutching her shoulders tightly. “For now, we need to get Clarissa out of here. You two can’t stay here if you’re being hunted.”

***

“I can’t leave Hannah and Clarissa in the west,” I announce to Damian and Heinrich, along with their mates, after we’ve gathered in the Iron Breath meeting chamber, where I called on them for an urgent meeting. “I don’t think they’re safe there anymore.”

“I understand your panic, Conan.” Damian places a hand on my shoulder. “Have you reported the attack to Amos?”

“He and the other council members are going to join us soon,” I say, running a hand through my hair and glancing at Hannah beside me. “This matter is urgent, considering the wards aren’t keeping the demons out anymore.”

“Of course, they’re adapting again,” Heinrich grunts as he turns to his mate. “It appears Silver Stone is no longer a target.”

“No. But Iron Breath is a target now,” she says, and both of them turn to me.

I gulp as I look at Hannah, and she nods as if permitting me to speak freely.

“We have reason to believe that the stakes are higher in Iron Breath than they are in any other part of the valley.” I turn to Sophie and nod. “Apart from you being pregnant with the alpha’s child, which already puts Red Moon in danger.”

Sophie frowns, instinctively placing a hand on her very bulging belly. She’s a week away from giving birth to her and Damian’s child—a hybrid, just like Clarissa.

“Well,” I begin, “your unborn child is not the only hybrid in the valley, not the only child of an existing alpha and Ashclaw descendant.” I reach for Hannah’s hand, giving it a gentle but firm squeeze. She returns the reassurance, and I proceed to say, “Hannah and I have a child together. Her name is Clarissa, and she’s almost eight years old.”

The room goes quiet for a moment, but it’s mostly because this is new information to Damian and Sophie. Yesterday, both Heinrich and Annika learned the truth from Hannah and me. Now, the alpha of Red Moon and his luna have just learned the truth.

Sophie’s eyes widened. “So, you two knew each other before? Why didn’t you tell us about your daughter before, Conan?”

“Conan didn’t know about her.” Hannah steps in and explains. “I used to be a part of this pack, but I—”