Kim nodded. “Oh, same. Have a nice glass of wine and just chill and chat.”
“Bliss!” Alice agreed. “But I’ll have some sparkling water or something instead of wine.”
Hayley spotted her teacher across the street and suddenly justhadto go greet the educator. Kim flashed Alice an apologetic smile, but Alice waved her off. She watched them go before continuing on her walk. It was something she did every day since moving into Dawson manor.
She drove into the neighboring small town where most of the thunder lived and worked, parked her car near Town Hall, and walked the length around the town square. She liked taking in her surroundings and meeting the locals.
Alice was setting down roots. She was making friends and long-term plans. She even had a nice little studio in the manor where she could do her magic and even host guests and clients. Her days of being a lone traveling witch were long behind her. Now, she was a wife and a mother-to-be. She was a friend and an alpha mate.
“Alice, hello,” Mrs. Sanders, the owner of the grocery store, waved at her. “How is your walk going today?”
“Fine, just fine.”
“Soon enough, you’ll be waddling around here.”
Alice rubbed her belly. “Won’t be long before I have a carriage for this little baby.”
“Oh, I just can’t wait to get all the baby snuggles,” Mrs. Sanders said, waving her goodbye.
This was a common reaction for the folks who knew the baby was likely to be half-witch and half-dragon. The first creature of its kind. Or so it was believed. Alice couldn’t be sure, but she didn’t care. So long as her child was healthy and had a happy home, Alice would be pleased.
“There you are,” a deep male voice cut into the conversation.
Alice turned at the sound of her husband. “Hey, honey. How’s your day so far?”
He grinned. “A lot better now that I’m seeing you.” He leaned down and kissed her gently. “How’s the daily walk going?”
“Really good, actually. The sun is out, and it’s so nice here.”
His grin turned into a full smile. “Your home is nice,” he said.
Alice sighed happily.Home. She had a home now. Not merely the place where she lived but a group of people who cared for her, and she cared for. There was stability, and Alice couldn’t get over how nice it felt to actually settle. And it was all because she had gone to Hellscape Holiday Resort for help.
She had gotten a hell of a lot more thanhelp. Her whole life had changed because she meant a man.Herman. Herdragon.
“I’m so happy we met,” she blurted out. “At the resort, I mean. I’m so happy to be here with you, Cooper.”
“That’s all I want, love. You’re happiness and safety are all I want.”
“Safety, huh? Still worried?”
“I will always be worried, Alice. You’re my wife. You’re carrying our child, and once this little one is born, you’ll be the mother of my child.”
“Nothing is going to happen to me. Nearly five months have passed since we were in the resort. If someone was going to come after me, they already would have. Our plan worked, Cooper. We got married, we mated, and we started our lives together. That was enough of a deterrent. We won.”
Cooper’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, and Alice knew that he was always a little bit afraid the past would come back to haunt them. He feared that the threat would be reawakened one day and that Priscilla would come for her again. In his worst fears, Priscilla and Michael joined forces to destroy them both.
Alice refused to believe that was a possibility. Priscilla was a stubborn witch. That was true. It was also true that Priscilla had aligned herself with powerful witches to plan her coup, but there was a difference between that and partnering up with a dragon. Priscilla lookeddownon shifters for her own messed-up reasons…she was a messed-up person to begin with. Over the years, while Alice was on the run, she often thought that Priscilla had been made into this evil creature by life. But maybe that was giving too much compassion to her mother’s killer.
Alice was glad to put this all in the past, and she had lived all of her life in fear.
Now that she was settled with a family and a child on the way, sherefusedto let the fear of the past take any more of her precious time. Now was the time to live.
She cupped her husband’s hands in her face. “Husband, take a breath.” He grinned, but she wasn’t done. “It is going to be fine. We’re safe here. This was always supposed to happen. This is good.”
“I know. I’m just going to worry about you and this little baby.” He rubbed her stomach. “You behaving in there?”
Alice giggled happily. Seeing her husband like this always melted her heart. “The baby is just fine,” she assured him.