Page 19 of The Alpha’s Unclaimed Mate

Bella abandons all pretense of cooling down and bounces over. “Mia, Mia, you have to come to our house. My uncle was famous. Like TV famous. We’ve got all his games on tape, posters, everything.”

“You were on TV?” Mia rounds on me, eyes huge.

“A long time ago.”

“He scored from the halfway line once,” Bella announces, dead serious. “It’s on the wall.”

Mia’s whole face goes bright. “Can I see? Mom never lets me stay up for matches.”

The thought of this child curled on my couch under my roof warms the wolf. I clear my throat against it.

“That’s your mom’s call.” I straighten. “I’ll ask her at pickup. If she says yes, you and Bella can have a movie night out of my old games.”

Bella whoops. Mia beams up at me, pure delight, and I have to turn away before my face gives me away.

I send the squad to the showers and tell myself I’ve got a hundred things to handle before the final bell, when the plain truth is I’m counting down to the moment I can catch Jessa on the front steps and talk sense into her. Whatever she’s fleeing, I can build a wall around it. She doesn’t have to gut her daughter’s future to feel safe, and I mean to make her see that before she does something they’ll both regret.

By the time the last bell goes, I’m back at my desk with the donor folder open and still unsigned, the window cracked for the smell of cut grass and the rain coming in off the hills. Gate noise drifts up, engines idling, kids hollering goodbyes, the turnstile squeaking on its hinge.

Then a child’s cry cuts through all of it, high and scared, and I’m on my feet before I’ve decided to be.

The window shows the whole front drive. Two kids, a boy of maybe seven and a smaller girl, are both digging their heels into the asphalt against a woman who has each of them by the wrist and is hauling them toward a parked sedan. The boy twists and kicks, screaming for his mother while the woman drags him off his feet.

A second woman has the girl’s free arm, thin and dark-blond, fighting to pull both children back toward herself while they lean into her with everything they’ve got. She has to be the mother. The gate guard’s been pulled to wave out the car line, so not one person down there is doing a thing about a grown woman dragging two terrified kids across my front steps.

I’m already moving for the door when a familiar figure cuts across the drive at a dead run. Even from where I stand, I’d know that stubborn set of shoulders anywhere. Jessa’s wading straight into the middle of it.

I get a hand on the door and stop. She’s reached them already, wedging herself between the dark-blond woman and the one doing the dragging, her voice carrying through the open window, the wolf’s hearing pulling every word out of the noise.

“Let go of them.” She’s got a palm on the boy’s shoulder, steering him back toward his mother. “What’s your problem?”

“Stay out of it.” The dragging woman doesn’t ease her grip. “This is family business.”

“Then your family’s got a problem because these kids are screaming.”

“They’re my brother’s children. I’m their aunt.”

“Did you give birth to them?” Jessa snaps.

“I just told you,” the woman hisses. “I’m their aunt.”

Jessa is not one to cower away. She sneers. “Then you’ve got no right to put your hands on them.”

The aunt’s chin comes up, color climbing her throat. “Don’t you go sticking your nose into a family matter.”

Jessa crosses her arms over her chest and plants her feet, and from where I stand, I can see her dig in for the long haul. “You know what? I have a lot of time on my hands today. I want to get involved.”

The aunt switches tack. “Do you have the first idea who you’re dealing with? My brother’s a firefighter in this town.”

“Am I supposed to be impressed by that or frightened?”

“You should be both.” The woman raises her voice. “He can make life very difficult for you.”

I settle against the window frame, watching. I’d like to see that man try.

“I’ll take my chances. And if you drag those children one more inch, I’m calling the police.”

Watching her skin the woman alive with her tongue is fascinating. The animal in me never minded her temper turned on me, but it likes the sight of it turned on someone who’s earned it even better.