Silver Daddy

by Liam Kingsley

  “Tell me you’re not running late,” he said.

  “We’re not running late, yet.”

  “Mm-hm…” I could almost see the look of disbelief on his face.

  “Stacia’s looking for her dress.”

  “The one you didn’t pick up from our house last night like you were supposed to?” Trevor asked with a sharp tinge to his voice. I cringed.

  “That…would be the one.”

  “Daddy!” Stacia shouted, her voice muffled like she had dug her way to the bottom of her overflowing closest. “It’s not here!”

  “Tell that little princess not to worry her pretty head about it, and you can also stop stressing,” Trevor said. “It’s right here, we’ll get her into it when you get here. If we have time.”

  I let out a relieved sigh. “Thank you. I’m so sorry I forgot to get it, I’ve been caught up on this deadline and—”

  “It’s fine, it’s fine. Just get here soon!”

  “Of course.” I hadn’t actually realized how late it was, and a spike of ice shot down my spine. If Stacia turned up late to her other daddy’s claiming ceremony, she’d kill me. The second Trevor hung up on me, and before I had a chance to collect my thoughts, Danette called me back.

  “Done?” she asked as soon as I answered.

  “With what?” I leaned through the doorway of my study and called to Stacia. “Trevor has the dress! Find another outfit before the ceremony. Make it cute.”

  “Okay, I’ll wear pink,” she said with excitement. She was a firecracker, but at least she wasn’t stubborn.

  “Great choice, sweetie.” I turned back to my computer and re-saved the document before I closed it.

  “The book. Are you done with the manuscript?” Danette asked.

  I let out a short laugh. “Yes. It’s done. I’ll give it another quick once-over before I send it to you, but yes, the bulk of the work is done.”

  “But the deadline isn’t until next week. You’re usually notoriously late. This is very suspicious.”

  “There’s a…wedding I’m going to today, and I just wanted this out of the way so I could relax at the ceremony. You know? Live a life. Not think about writing up all of these plot points.”

  “Oh, so you can get swept up into the romance of it all.”

  “Mm, and get swept up in the jealousy. Not so much looking forward to that.”

  “Oh please, what do you have to be jealous of? You’re young and handsome, there’s plenty of time for you to find a good alpha.”

  “Hmph. It appears my fate is to dream up these romantic moments for fictional characters, not to live them.”

  “Listen, honey, your work speaks volumes about your capacity for genuine connection and caring. Anyone would be lucky to have you.”

  I pursed my lips and considered Danette’s kind words. For a moment they actually felt real and like something I could believe about myself…

  “Besides, a wedding is the perfect place to meet someone special, isn’t it? Love is in the air.”

  My throat tightened and my heart started to race. There was someone I was looking forward to seeing at the claiming ceremony… My mind drifted to memories of summers as a teen spent at my friend’s house, of catching glimpses of his father, Greer. Like the times I saw him shirtless as we all worked in the garden or played in the pool, his muscles rippling, his skin gleaming with either sweat or crystal clear water that would form in droplets and then run in rivulets to soak into his shorts… And then I reflected on the fantasies I’d written into my latest novel, of Greer holding me in his arms, kissing me, making love to me…

  Danette snapped me out of it. “Now, are you sure you’re only into male alphas? Because that niece of mine I’ve been telling you about for years just got out of a relationship and she’s a real sweet girl—”

  “Thank you, Danette, but I gotta go. Bye now!”

  “I’m just saying think about it. She’s lovely. I can set it up!”

  “Bye now!” I hung up on her and laughed. Oh, yes, I was definitely sure. Though it wasn’t uncommon for male omegas to have a relationship with a woman, we were basically made for men. Whereas all alphas had their choice of any omega, male or female. Actually, it wasn’t that uncommon for two alphas to get together. Or two omegas… Okay, so the combination didn’t really mean much, but I was into Greer.

  I finished off the last of my iced coffee then finally stood up from the desk with a quiet groan. I knew I should probably start thinking about what I was going to wear to the claiming ceremony. I had already nominally picked out a white shirt with a light lavender print, but I just remembered the dress Trevor had got for her was made up of pale shimmery pink layers, and her shoes were rainbow sequins. So, it might be better to rethink my wardrobe choice.

  Was I being overly fussy to try to coordinate clothing with my child? Well, absolutely, but I had a style reputation to uphold, and I had to look my best if I had any hope of my fantasies coming true.

  Stacia skipped into the study, already wearing a pretty, vibrant dress I’d given her for her last birthday.

  “Beautiful, honey! What a great choice.”

  “Thank you. I know,” she said simply, brimming with a level of easy confidence that melted my heart, but then she leaned against the wall and folded her arms. “You’re not wearing that, are you?”

  “This? Oh, no way!” I tugged at my stretched-out t-shirt. “I just got done writing.”

  She turned her head and gave the clock a pointed look. I bit the inside of my lip, determined not to laugh.

  “I know. I’m getting ready now. I’ll be quick, I promise.”

  “You also have to do my hair.”

  “Uh, what did you want me to do with it?” I asked.

  “You have to put it up.” She widened her eyes and stared at me with a challenging expression.

  I gave her a grimace and shook my head. “What about that floral headband? Leave your hair down, sweetie. Let it get a little sun.”

  “Hair doesn’t need sun, Daddy.” She scrunched up her nose as if she was completely disgusted at my ineptitude before storming out the room.

  A snarky attitude from Stacia was a sign that she was excited, nervous, and full of energy. I was a bit of all three, myself.

  I hurried to my bedroom and flicked through shirts, vests, jackets, scarves, hats, and slacks. I could have stayed there all day, putting together outfits. Like Stacia, I loved my wardrobe. But she was faster than me. She strolled into my room as I started buttoning up the baby blue shirt I’d picked out. At the very least, she had followed my advice and picked out a flowery headband. It wasn’t quite sitting right on her head, but I knew she liked the independence of dressing herself. I’d fix it when she wasn’t thinking about it anymore and wouldn’t be affronted.

  “Daddy, why does hair need sun?” she asked, tugging on a lock of her hair.

  Pleased that she’d given it some thought, and hadn’t completely disbelieved me, I smiled. “Well, it will do magic things to your hair. It can make it go lighter,” I replied as I smoothed down the front of my shirt and admired myself in different postures.

  “Seriously?”

  “Go ask Alexa, honey,” I said as I picked out a pocket square—golden yellow with white polka-dots. “Say, ‘Alexa, does hair get lighter in the sun?’ and she’ll tell you.”

  She scampered off, as eager to learn as ever. I loved how my daughter was so thirsty for information, and admittedly I also loved how it gave me a chance to finish off getting ready, sparing a few seconds to neaten my hair in the mirror.

  Greer probably doesn’t care about perfect hair anyway. The thought was instinctive, and I reproached myself for it. It didn’t matter what Greer liked. I could admire him shamefully from a safe distance as I always did, and that was that. Besides, the answer to “what does Greer like?” was probably not omegas twenty odd years younger than him.

  That being said, I wasn’t sure whether wolf shifters were all that stuck on age when it c
ame to their partners. Like humans, they had their choice of omegas, male or female, but they were usually drawn to scent or something like that. At least, that’s what Jason had told me, but there was still so much I didn’t know about shifters. Even though I was deeply involved in their community, I still felt far outside of it. It sometimes made my head spin to think my friends had been shifters all the years I was growing up, right under my oblivious nose. I still wouldn’t know to this day, had it not been for the blessing of Stacia’s arrival…

  Jason, my best friend, and I had a very drunken one-night stand nearly seven years ago. When we found out I was pregnant, he had to admit I wasn’t just having a baby… I was having something else. And then it came out that all of these friends of mine who lived in the gated community on the north side of town were actually wolf shifters… Including my friend Jaxon’s father and sole object of my desire, Greer.

  Not that I ought to be still thinking about Greer, but honestly? The thought of one side of him being this rough, animalistic, biting creature did not make it any easier to keep my cool around him. He was as alpha as they came. I could just close my eyes and have him step up behind me in the shower, imagine his strong, muscular arms wrapping around my body as water cascaded over me, his grip tight and his voice low and gruff as he murmured in my ear, and—

  That reminded me. I hurried to the bathroom and popped a heat suppressor pill. I’d already taken one that morning, but the last thing I’d want was to upset alphas in the middle of Jason’s ceremony by accidentally giving off come fuck me pheromones, so I figured another wouldn’t hurt.

  I checked out my reflection in the bathroom mirror one last time before calling through the house. “Okay, honey. Almost time to go. Are you finished?”

  She ran in and grabbed my hand. “Hair gets lighter in the sun,” she said, almost awed.

  “I know. Isn’t it amazing?” I grinned at her. The fact that Alexa was a more convincing authority than her own father was probably something that ought to be addressed, but in an age of robot overlords controlling our every stream of information, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised.

  “Can you please put curls in?” she asked, tugging my hand.

  “No time for curls now, Stacia, I’m sorry. But you look beautiful just like that, I promise. You definitely look like a princess.” I ran my fingers through her hair and tucked a strand behind her head.

  Her mouth set into a deep pout I would have found almost comical if it hadn’t made my heart ache every single time she did it. It was hard being an omega dad. I did my best to keep the boundaries firm, but I was such a softie. I’d do anything for her. Even risk being late for her other dad’s claiming ceremony.

  “Oh alright, we’ll do some curls real quick,” I said, hoisting her up onto the bathroom counter as she beamed and clapped excitedly. I reached under the counter for the curling iron and got to work doing whatever I could to make my princess happy.

  With a head full of curls, Stacia gazed peacefully out of the backseat windows as we sped across town. We headed north up Pack Lane toward the looming gates of the shifter homestead. Until Jason had told me about shifters, I’d thought all of my friends just lived in a fancy, rich, gated community. I supposed it was all of those things—fancy, rich, and gated, and the closest-knit community I’d ever known. But it was more than that. The gates also represented protection. And their greatest source of protection was to keep their community a secret from most of the humans in Timberwood Cove. Every time I passed through the gates and stepped onto their land, I felt the weight of responsibility to keep their secret.

  “When’s my claim day?” Stacia asked quietly.

  I was positive she’d already asked Jason or Trevor this question, and I was also positive they’d given her the same answer. “It will happen when you meet your special someone and you decide you want to be with them forever,” I said, drumming my fingers on the wheel as we made our final approach toward Wolf Lodge.

  “I hope it’s soon.”

  I didn’t. “You’re going to have to grow up first,” I said, glancing at her in the rearview mirror and wrinkling my nose, as though this were some great hardship. “Sorry, kiddo.”

  “So when are you going to get claimed?”

  I gave her a soft smile as the car inched to a stop. “I won’t. I’m not a shifter. Humans have weddings.”

  She frowned. “I know that, but you could meet a shifter and get claimed, like Trevor.”

  “Or I could stay human and get married.”

  “I’d rather you become a wolf, but okay, so when are you getting married?”

  I think Grandma would like an answer to that question too.

  “I don’t know, honey. It’s the same rules as for claiming. It’ll happen if I meet somebody special, who wants to be with me forever.”

  I stepped out of the car then crossed around to open her door. By the time I got there, she was already looking at me like I’d forgotten something obvious. “Well, find them, Daddy.”

  “You’re right,” I agreed, suppressing a grin. “I’ll look.” At least the way she said it was entertaining. If I stopped to think about it for too long, being alone like this probably wouldn’t be half as funny.

  We made our way to the clearing, surrounded by a bustling crowd of smiling shifters. Kids weaved through legs wherever there was space, and when I caught sight of Jason across the clearing, he looked as though he might be excited enough to do the same thing, if only it were socially acceptable.

  Stacia tugged my hand, and I looked down to listen to her. “What is it, honey?”

  “I need to find Trevor and get changed.”

  “I know, baby. We’re gonna go find him now.” I squeezed her hand, and then shielded my eyes against the sun, glancing around the party for Trevor. Or any recognizable faces, really. Most of the people around me must be shifters, though I supposed there might be a few humans among them considering Trevor used to human, and so had some of the other omega mates. I wasn’t one-hundred percent sure how many of their immediate family were ever told. My parents certainly didn’t know Stacia was a shifter, and she’d been pretty good at keeping that secret, though it had been hard for her at times.

  “Trevor!”

  I felt Stacia trying to tug her hand out of mine, independent as ever. I turned, and sure enough, she’d spotted him before I had. I gave him a quick wave and let her run off to perform her duty as his flower girl. By the time I caught up to her, she was already happily chatting away to Trevor about her dress.

  “Hey, we’re not late,” I said before giving him a broad smile. Trevor made my best friend happier than any of us had ever seen him, and he was already proving to be a reliable co-parent for Stacia. What wasn’t to like? “And you look so excited.”

  He nodded, his grin contagious. “It’s just great to see so many people. Lots of love out here today.”

  “There is,” I agreed as I glanced around and sighed. “You can really feel it.”

  Being a romantic was kind of written into the job requirements for a romance writer, and I ticked that box easily. There was a markedly warm energy buzzing around the crowd as we all shared in our friends’ happiness.

  “No date?” Trevor asked as he looked me over.

  “Not today.” I smiled and stroked Stacia’s hair back over her shoulder.

  “Well, listen, I have a darling single friend who—”

  I laughed and held up a hand. “Everyone’s trying to set me up today. I’m fine here alone, soaking it all in. Really.”

  Even I could hear the uncertainty in my voice.

  “I get it. Boy, do I ever get it. Listen, if anyone knows what that’s like to be single and not so ready to mingle, it’s me,” Trevor said kindly, and I found comfort his understanding. I swallowed and nodded, trying to hold back a wave of jealousy. Trevor had been as single as I was, but he’d found love, and a way into the pack.

  “I’m happy for you,” I said, giving his shoulder a squeeze. He place
d his hand on mine and held my eyes as he smiled gratefully.

  “Just stay hopeful, and say yes when the opportunities present themselves. I spent years thinking I had no hope of ever finding love when in reality it was right in front of me—or behind me, but you know what I mean. So, please, stay hopeful. You never know what fate has in store for you.”

  I bit my bottom lip to hold back a surge of emotion. I nodded. Trevor looked at me with sympathy and brought me into a big, warm hug. I squeezed him tightly and let out a big sigh as I relaxed into his arms.

  We started laughing when we felt two small arms wrapping around our legs.

  “Family cuddle!” Stacia said as she nuzzled her face against my knee.

  As we pulled apart, I gave Trevor another appreciative smile, before I looked down at Stacia and scrunched one of her curls up to give it more volume. “Okay, enough about me. This is your day, Trevor. I’ll leave you two to get ready. Enjoy it, okay?”

  “Thanks, Keifer,” Trevor said with a smile.

  “Bye, Daddy!” Stacia waved at me as she skipped ahead to get changed into the dress Trevor had made for her.

  I grinned as I ducked away, weaving through the crowds to find a seat for myself so I could relax before I’d be called up for my duties as Jason’s best man.

  Just stay hopeful, huh? Sure. Why not?

  For a moment I entertained fantasies of being “forced” to take the only empty spot next to Greer; a very tight fit that required an awful lot of shared personal space. Of course, the reality was quite a bit different. I did spot Greer’s handsome frame right at the front of the crowd, but he was already boxed in by other guests. Instead, I slid into a spot next to a couple of women in large sunglasses and awesome neon hair. Another fated pair of shifters? I couldn’t guess, but by the way they were holding hands as the ceremony finally began, it was easy for me to imagine they were remembering their own special day.

  Man, I love love. Now, if I could just go ahead and find it…

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