Page 108 of The Alpha’s Unclaimed Mate

Jessa presses her mouth into Mia’s hair and shuts her eyes. “Sloane is one of you, isn’t she? I saw her teeth change. She was actually going to kill me.”

My jaw sets so hard my teeth ache. “I’ll deal with Sloane.”

“She knows what Mia is.”

“She does now.” I hold her eyes. “Which is why I was asking you what she saw.”

“Can Bella do what Mia did?” Her eyes flicker toward my niece. “I mean the claws.”

“Not for years. A child’s wolf is too young to survive the change, so it sleeps until she’s grown enough to hold it.” I glance at my niece. “She’ll get there.”

Jessa looks at me a long time. Then she reaches over and pulls Bella into her chest alongside Mia, holding both girls at once. “You two are cousins,” she says into their hair. “You’ve been family this whole time, and neither of you knew it.”

Mia’s head comes up. “So Marcus really is my dad?”

Jessa nods.

I expect Mia to be a little upset, but to my surprise, she beams. “So he can stay with us now, right?”

Jessa’s lips move, but she doesn’t seem to know what to say.

“His family’s complete now.” Bella’s voice is barely there. “He’s got his real daughter, so he doesn’t need me.”

I go down on my heels and take both her hands. “I’ll need you till the day I die,” I tell her. “You’re mine, just as much as she is.”

Bella’s chin wobbles.

“He’s right. You’re every bit as important to me too,” Jessa adds. “To be honest, Bella, if I end up staying with your uncle, it’ll be about eighty percent because of you.”

Bella laughs, wet and startled. Mia wraps her arms around her. “We’re not cousins. We’ll be sisters. My mom can be your mom.”

Bella hugs her, and I watch the two girls clasp each other’s hands.

Jessa puts her hands on their shoulders. “She’s right. Now why don’t you two head back to the house. Your uncle—father and I will be right behind you.”

They run ahead, and I turn to look at Jessa only to see her slump to the ground, her gaze bewildered.

“Jessa?” Alarm taints my voice as I crouch beside her.

She looks at me, and this time, she lets the fear show. “You’re not human.”

I realize she had been putting on a front for the kids.

“You’re terrified of me?”

“Wouldn’t you be?” She looks at me, and her eyes are enormous. “Put yourself where I’m standing and tell me you wouldn’t be.”

“Do you think I’d hurt you?”

She pauses. “No,” she says at last. “I don’t believe that.”

“Then why?”

“Because there’s an entire world in front of me that I didn’t know existed an hour ago.” Her hand grips my forearm. “My daughter has claws, Marcus. You took a bear apart with your teeth. I don’t know how to deal with that.”

I study her and then ask gently, “Will you be able to accept her now that you know what she is?”

Jessa gives me an outraged look. “Of course! That’s my child.”