Page 63 of The Alpha’s Unclaimed Mate

She chuckles now. “Maybe. You know, they threw one-dollar bills at me when I went to tell him. One of his guards or someone, I don’t know who, told me to get rid of it.” Her voice breaks. “You know, I took them. I hadn’t eaten in two days.”

I squeeze my eyes shut. Bastard. You useless fucking bastard.

“But I promised myself I’d give my child a good life, and I did.” Jessa looks at me. “I got back on my feet. I waitressed, washed toilets, cleaned people’s homes. At night, I would go to an Internet cafe and take courses in finance and accounting. Free ones, some government funded programs. If I had cravings, I ignored them. If my feet throbbed, I ignored them. I had to go to a free clinic. But I always remembered that the man who seduced me threw one-dollar bills at me like I was some whore.”

“Jessa!” The word is torn from my mouth, and when she looks at me, there is anger in her eyes.

“What? It’s true. He didn’t even have the guts to come out and see me. I helped him, and he seduced me, and then he ruined my life.”

I seduced her?

She helped me?

I want to rip through my memories. Why? Why can’t I fucking remember?!

“But I got Mia.” Just like that, Jessa deflates, the anger replaced by weariness. “So next time you ask me why I don’t tell the father, I suffered, Marcus. By myself. I lost everything, and while I did get back on my feet, that doesn’t change that it was all because of him. He doesn’t deserve to know.”

I can’t even summon an argument.

“You’re right,” I whisper hollowly. “He doesn’t deserve to know.”

She hesitates and then takes a long chug of her bottle. “You’re good with Mia. I can see it. She likes you. I can see that too.”

Her words startle me out of my own head, and I gaze at her. Her expression is troubled.

“I—” I choose my words carefully. “She is Bella’s friend, and she’s a good kid. In my eyes, she and Bella are equal, which is why I dote on them the same.”

She’s quiet for a few seconds. “You shouldn’t have kissed me. I don’t have room in my heart for anyone other than Mia.”

Something stirs in me, a flicker of hope. “Neither did I. Till now. Am I really that bad of an option? Is it because of Bella?”

Jessa’s head shoots up, and she scowls. “Of course not. Bella’s a little angel. Why would I have a problem with her?”

“Then what is it?”

She purses her lips and shakes her head. “I’m not interested in any sort of relationship with anyone. I don’t trust men. The ones I did attempt to trust screwed me over. So while I don’t mind Bella and Mia being friends, you and I are not going to be anything.”

I study her profile. I can’t accept that. Because if Mia can’t enter my life as my biological daughter, then at least I can have her as a stepdaughter. My wolf is pacing anxiously inside me. Whatever she suffered in the past I can’t change, but I can fix things now.

“So I’m not trustworthy in your eyes?” I ask quietly.

She swallows. “That’s not it.”

“Because when I look at you and Mia, I see something. When I look at you two and Bella, I want more. And if you think I’m going to give up, that’s not going to happen. You can push me away all you like, but I’m not going to give up.”

This is the first time I’ve openly and honestly declared my intentions.

She flushes and turns her face away, out at the black tree line.

“My track record with men is bad.” She says it to the dark. “I’m not built to gamble my heart, or Mia’s future, on a coin toss. As long as the two of us are all right, we don’t need anybody else in it.”

It shouldn’t get to me, but it does. She’s just shut a door in my face, and my chest aches. “Do you think you’ll always believe that? What if you meet someone good, someone who knows how to cherish you and ou—your daughter? What if you meet someone who’s willing to put you first? In ten years when Mia is off to college and you’re alone, won’t you regret it?”

“I don’t think I will.” She meets my eyes steadily. “Mia’s my whole life.”

“I hear you.” I roll the bottle between my palms. “Up until a little while ago, Bella was the whole of mine. No room for anything else, and I liked it that way.” I watch the trees. “Things change whether you want them to or not.”

Neither of us fills the silence.