Page 45 of The Alpha’s Unclaimed Mate

Mia looks between us, shrugs, and pads out, pulling the door shut behind her. The second the latch clicks, he turns to me, and the easy charm’s nowhere on him.

“You really didn’t know she was allergic to that flower?”

I frown at him. “Why would I lie about that? This is the first time in ten years I’ve seen her react to anything. I’d remember.”

He nods slowly, but he doesn’t look satisfied. “There’s some documentation I need to clear up on Mia’s file.”

A small alarm starts up at the base of my skull. “What documentation?”

“There are gaps.” He chooses the words carefully. “Around her birth father.”

Everything in me goes still. This is the conversation I’ve dreaded since I first saw him on that road, the powerful man with lawyers and time, tugging the one thread that unravels everything.

“What about him? His name’s right there on the paperwork.”

“It is.” He holds my gaze levelly. “But there’s nothing else attached to him: no contact number, no ID on file, no way to reach him.”

“Because there’s no need to reach him,” I say tightly. “I’m her mother and her guardian. He has no involvement in her life, and you already know that.”

“We need his information for the file.” His tone stays mild, which only winds me tighter. “His ID, a number, something. As a precaution.”

“A precaution against what?” I’m on my feet, my body coiled. “She’s enrolled. I’m her mother, standing right in front of you. Why does a soccer school need to hunt down some guy who’s never so much as sent her a birthday card?”

“It’s policy.”

“It’s harassment.” I sling my bag over my shoulder. “You know what, forget it. If a complete file matters this much, I’ll pull her out. I’ll find the money for canceling her enrollment somehow.”

He’s up out of his chair fast, close enough that I have to tip my head back to hold his glare, and God help me, the pull’s still there under the fear. “That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Then what are you saying?” I plant my feet. “Because I can’t give you what I don’t have, and I’m not about to go digging up a man I’ve spent years hiding from. I don’t know what this really is, Marcus, but whatever I did to make you want to use your authority to push me into a corner, you should just tell me, instead of trying to have my daughter taken away from me.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to do!” he snaps.

My nails bite my palm. I won’t cry in this office. I shouldn’t feel so hurt, but this pain in my chest won’t go away.

He stands there with a strange look on his face. “Derek.” He says the name slowly, testing it on me. “His name on the file is Derek. It’s a common one.”

My pulse trips. “So?”

He’s fishing. I don’t know what for, but he’s casting into water he’s got no business near. Every instinct I own says to grab my daughter and run for the state line.

For a long moment, he watches me. I watch him watch me, and I can’t tell what he’s hunting for. Then he steps back. “Nothing. I’ll see what I can sort out on my end.”

“Thank you.” I grab the strap of my bag and don’t let my hand shake. “And I meant it. If this becomes a thing, I’ll withdraw her. There’ll be no hard feelings, no drama. I’ll just take my kid and go.”

He looks at me for a long beat and gives nothing away. “There’s no problem,” he says quietly. “Go on home. Take care of her. I’ll handle it.”

It’s the right answer. Every word of it is reassuring. He’ll handle it. I believe he means it, but the trouble is I no longer know what “it” has become.

So I have no idea why, all the way down the corridor and out into the lot with my daughter’s sticky hand in mine, my heart won’t stop pounding.

Chapter Ten

Marcus

The door to my office opens, and I look up. Adrian walks in and drops into the chair across from my desk, sliding a folder over without a word. I flip it open.

“Two cases,” he says. “The latest involves two young males, both out of the Ridgeback pack, three territories over. They hit a human club one night and never came home.”