“Dragons!” she cried.
Greer seemed to stiffen beside me a little before relaxing and wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
“Look,” she said, pressing her nose to the tank and smiling.
“Sea dragons,” Greer said as we reached her. He put his hand on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “Much nicer than land dragons.”
I glanced at him, remembering what Jason had told me about the problems the pack had been having with dragons; that the two men who had attacked Trevor had been dragon shifters. Dragon shifters had also been starting fires in the forests at the foot of the mountains and even in town. There was so much seriousness in his voice that I worried the problem was worse than anyone had let on. Greer smiled at me, then inclined his head toward the big, seahorse-looking creatures as they wiggled in the seaweed.
“What’s the best part of the aquarium?” he asked Stacia.
“Octopus!” she said quickly, and then she took off down the corridor before I could blink. I smiled at Greer and shrugged, noticing the worried look on his face.
“She won’t go too far,” I promised.
I was right. We found her at the octopus’ exhibition where she seemed to be talking to another kid. But when we got up close, I noticed she’d crossed her arms and was frowning.
“Don’t! Leave it alone,” she said, scolding the boy she was with.
He looked about eight years old, and he just rolled his eyes and turned back to the enclosure. With a thick finger, he tapped on the glass. The octopus opened its eye and its entire skin turned a bright red.
“Hey! I said leave it alone. It’s the rules. You’re making it mad,” Stacia insisted.
I was about to step in when the older kid’s dad did the same. But of course, he was on his son’s side.
“Alright little girl, take it easy,” the guy said to my daughter. That did it. I cleared my throat and stepped up beside Stacia.
“Is there a problem?”
“No, no problem.” The guy held up his hands and shook his head. “Just trying to look at an octopus here.”
“Daddy! Rules say don’t-don’t tap,” Stacia stammered, and my chest ached when I noticed tears welling in her eyes.
“I know, sweetie. You’re right. Hopefully, these two will understand not to do that now.” I turned to address the guy and his son, but they were already walking away. Stacia pouted and huffed. We were two seconds away from a tantrum when Greer stepped over and kneeled down next to Stacia.
“Maybe the octopus will sneak out and bite them with its beak,” Greer whispered in her ear. A giggle escaped through her pout, and a smile tugged on her lips.
“I hope so.” She sighed then turned to look at the sleeping octopus again. “I love you.”
Crisis averted, I gave Greer a grateful smile and took his hand in mind. Stacia bounded around the aquarium with her usual enthusiasm, only pausing to dodge other unruly kids or to stop herself from running directly into the glass. That wasn’t even out of self-preservation so much as it was to save the creatures behind the glass from getting a fright.
There was one tank she didn’t hesitate with—the sharks, and not because they terrified her.
“They’re cool, Daddy,” she told me, tugging on my hand. “They bite you to death.”
A young aquarium assistant stepped up to us. “Actually, did you know that sharks don’t really like eating people shaped like you and me?”
Stacia shook her head, wide-eyed and eager for new information.
“It’s true. Most of the time, when sharks bite humanoid people, it’s because they’ve made a mistake. They think they’re about to bite into a nice, tasty seal, and they’re awfully disappointed when they find out they’re wrong. We don’t taste right at all.”
Greer and I hung back, letting Stacia babble away and ask as many questions as her heart desired.
“I think you made a really good call with this aquarium trip,” I said quietly to Greer, careful not to disturb them. “We might just have developed a brand-new obsession.”
“Pretty cool one to have. Sharks. Marine biology. I could imagine her going to college for that.”
“Honestly, at this stage, there aren’t many things off the cards. She’s, uh…whatever the academic equivalent of a triple threat is.”
Greer was about to answer when I realized the aquarium assistant was attracting our attention. I smiled, tuning in as she spoke the end of her sentence.
“…If that’s okay with dad and grandpa?”
Yikes.
“I’m sorry?” I asked, feeling awkward. I hoped this wouldn’t upset Greer. Was the age difference between us really so prominent to others?
“I wanna feed the shark,” said Stacia. “She’s nice.”
“Of course you can, honey,” said Greer, smoothly taking the reins. Man, I was grateful to have his confidence around. I still felt kind of flustered, unsure how to handle the whole “grandpa” situation. Thankfully, Greer had an answer for that too. “And not to cause a stir, but I’m not grandpa. I’m boyfriend.”
Boyfriend? I like the sound of that.
The assistant flushed. “Oh! I’m sorry. That was rude of me.”
“Not a problem. Thank you; she’d love to feed the shark. Right, Keifer?”
“Yes, absolutely. You just listen carefully and do as you’re told, sweetie, okay?”
I didn’t really need to tell her this. She was a spitfire, for sure, but she wasn’t badly behaved—just a little over-keen. I gave Greer a sheepish smile as Stacia was led to the side of the tank, where the feeding took place.
“I’m sorry about that,” I said.
“It’s not your fault. Honestly, I think it’s kinda funny.”
I grinned, tipping my head against his shoulder. There were a couple of other parents nearby, and I did notice a few looks of surprise, and even disapproval, but knowing Greer was fine with it meant I couldn’t care less. In fact, it now gave me a bit of a kick.
We followed Stacia to the shark feeding activity where she was put into a small caged platform that ringed the tank, and instructed on what to do, other children and adults lining up behind her waiting on their turn. When Stacia dropped the first piece of food into the tank and squealed with excitement as the jaws of a shark grabbed it, I couldn’t help feeling a surge of pride.
By the time that was over, Greer and I were exhausted, but Stacia was more excited than ever. We took a seat on a bench as she ran off to enjoy the underwater-themed play area. I’d been holding Greer’s hand the whole way around the place, and it felt strange not to be physically touching him now. Nevertheless, there was a crackle of something between us even without making contact. I didn’t need any more confirmation this was something special, but if I had, this would’ve been it.
“She’s a sweet kid.” Greer nodded toward the play equipment. Stacia was holding the swing set still so a younger child could climb into it. “I don’t know what training course you went on or what magic pill you took, but, man, you’re a natural parent.”
I smiled, lighting up at the compliment.
“You’re sweet. I just do my best, and she gets a lot of input from a lot of different people. I feel like that’s good for any kid.”
“Agreed.” Greer turned back toward me. “So, this might not be the right time to ask, but considering what you’ve just said, other than Jason, has Stacia had any other influential people in her life, someone she might still see?”
For a second, I didn’t realize what Greer meant, but then the penny dropped. “Oh, no. After that night with Jason, I haven’t… I mean…” I felt my face flush, but then I steeled my shoulders. A lack of a sex life was nothing to be ashamed of. I was a single parent, and Stacia had always been my priority.
“Sorry, maybe that was none of my business.”
“No, that’s alright, and I’m glad you asked. I assume it’s because you want to be in her life?”
In reality, as the previous pack leader, Greer had
had quite a lot of influence over how Stacia lived. For a start, Jason and I had needed Greer’s approval for Stacia to live with me. I was positive Greer wouldn’t have refused me my rights, but because Stacia was a shifter, he had to make sure she would be brought up within the right environment. In the end, we’d all come to a perfectly happy arrangement. That wasn’t going to change, even if Greer wanted to have a different role now.
“I’d like to,” he said in answer to my question.
We smiled at each other, and I bumped him with my elbow. “What about you? I know the only really special someone was Coral, but is there anybody I ought to be jealous of? Anybody caught your eye?”
“This is the part where you find out about all of Jaxon’s other friends with crushes on me.”
I could see the twinkling in his eye, but I still nudged him. “Don’t torment me. I’m not built for it.”
He laughed, leaning back on the bench. “To answer your question properly, though. No, nobody else. I really feel like a part of me was frozen for the past however many years. Like I flicked an off-switch after Coral died, and it only flicked back on again when I was ready to find you.”
I nodded, realizing it kind of made sense to think of it that way. I had wondered why Greer and I hadn’t worked this out earlier—why my scent hadn’t enticed him until now. Maybe that was a mystery we’d never solve. If so, it didn’t matter to me. Here and now was all that mattered.
I’d expected Stacia to zonk out into a deep sleep as soon as we got home, but having Greer around just seemed to keep her excited. She demanded he play a game with her, and he was more than happy to oblige.
“Draw four? Again?” Greer groaned at their game of Uno like he’d never seen such an injustice. “Aw, man!”
As Stacia laughed like a banshee, I glowed from my seat on the couch. Needless to say, it filled me to the brim with happiness to see Greer and Stacia getting along so well. This wasn’t really a surprise, of course. They already had a connection with each other from the pack, but that didn’t make me any less pleased to see how fun and committed Greer was as a caretaker.
He was as generous with his attention to Stacia as he was with me, and it was heartwarming to watch him from a distance, observing those hard-won people skills of his. Years of leading the pack had given him experience few people could claim, and it seemed to have sculpted him into a real responsible family man—and a big kid, whenever he got the chance.
But as I watched them and thought about their pack bond, my heart twisted a little. It was still something I couldn’t share.
“I win!” Stacia announced. This might have been the third time she’d said so, and it hadn’t once been true yet, but this time Greer glanced at me, and I nodded, tapping my watch.
“Yup. You win. I am bested.”
“And with not a minute to spare. Because now it’s time for bed.” I jumped up off the couch.
Stacia lifted her arms up for Greer to carry her, and he scooped her up with ease. “Is this the prize for winning? A personal taxi cab to bed?”
“Yeah,” she agreed.
At some other hour of the day, she’d probably have tried to bargain for more time before bed, but she’d been rubbing her eyes for the past half an hour. Now she’d been reminded it was bedtime, I didn’t imagine she’d be conscious for much longer.
I led her man-sized taxi down the hall to her room, opening the door to let them through. By the time he placed her gently down on the bed, her head was already dropping to the pillow.
“You had a good day today, huh?” I asked, smoothing her hair out of her eyes as I sat on the side of the bed. Lucky we’d insisted on PJs already this evening. “You got to feed the shark.”
I glanced over my shoulder as Greer left the room, heading back to the lounge I supposed, and then I turned back to Stacia. She was almost out.
“A shark called Sara,” I said. “I bet she’s asleep now. Dreaming sweet dreams about chasing seals and swimming in the open sea.”
Stacia gave a slight nod. “You and Greer go to bed too?”
“Soon, honey, yeah.”
Her eyes opened a little, and I saw a familiar flash of curiosity in my daughter. “Dad and Trevor said Greer’s your fated mate.”
“Yeah, he is.” I saw no reason to keep it from her. I doubted they’d actually told her this; presumably, she’d overheard them talking. She was good at that. “What do you think about that?”
“Good. I like him.”
I was pleased to hear it, even if I wasn’t surprised. “Well, I know he likes you too.”
“He gonna claim you?”
I swallowed nervously. I’d been trying not to think about that. I didn’t want to work myself up into a frenzy about something complicated and probably very distant. What I had with Greer was already incredible, but it was new, and there were a lot of moving parts to consider. Besides, he’d already claimed Coral. For all I knew, he wouldn’t want to claim another omega out of respect to her—not even his fated mate.
None of this was very easy to explain to a six-year-old, so I just tucked her in and tried my best. “Not yet, but maybe someday.”
Either she was too tired to argue or this was sufficient; either way, she didn’t answer. I kissed her on the cheek. “Goodnight, sweetheart. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Night, Daddy.”
Her eyes were already closed when I turned off the lights. By the glow from the hallway, I saw her snuggle up and drift away to dreamland. I was holding a big smile as I headed back to the lounge. When I got there, Greer was just tidying away the Uno.
“Wow, you’re an angel.”
“You haven’t even seen the beer I got you yet.”
I held a hand over my heart as I went to sink down into the couch. Sure enough, there were two glass bottles of a Cove Brewery ale on the coffee table. I took a long sip and let out an even longer sigh of satisfaction. I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the soft couch cushion. Only when I felt the cushion shift beside me did I open my eyes again, smiling wider at the sight of this windfall in my life—this alpha who was changing everything.
“You’re way too good to me.”
“I intend to get even better if I’m allowed to stay.”
“It’s cute that you think you’d be allowed to go.” I grinned, shuffling across until I could curl up against his chest, still upright enough to drink my beer. He teased a hand through my hair while we simply enjoyed the new quiet in the house.
“You’re really good with her, you know,” I said as I took another sip.
Greer smiled, tipping his head in gratitude. “I’m pretty good with kids, sure. I’ve had a lot of practice over the years.”
“Well, mine in particular can be a handful, and she loves you, so… I’m happy.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” he said before taking a long drink of his beer.
I smiled and took hold of his spare hand in mine to play with the fingers. Talking about kids drew my mind over to another topic we should probably cover, especially at a time like this, when we weren’t in Stacia’s earshot.
“So, you like being around kids, still.”
“Of course.”
“Does that mean you’d be happy to have one?”
Greer blinked, lowering the bottle from his mouth as he contemplated the question. “I guess so. I haven’t really thought about it. I think I might be a little past that now.”
I scoffed. “Greer, you’re fifty-five. You’re not falling to pieces.”
“That’s still pretty far on to have a baby,” he insisted. “To be seventy-six the year they turn twenty-one, if it’s even possible.”
“That’s a no, then?”
“I wouldn’t say that,” he said. He finished off his beer, and then set the empty bottle down on the table beside us. “I mean. Instinctively, I can tell you I’d be happy, but honestly, I’ve never thought about it. Never seemed like a possibility after I lost Coral and the kids.”
“No, I know. It’s okay. It’s not as sensitive a topic as you’d think, really. It hurts. Course it does. But it’s kind of a dull ache, these days. Not so sharp anymore.”
I lifted his hand to kiss it, feeling him flutter his fingers under my lips.
“Why do you ask, anyway?”
“Well,” I said, kissing his hand again. “You knotted me. And if I recall, we were going too fast for condoms.”
“But you’re were on suppressors.”
“Yes, which for some reason didn’t seem to be working. The suppressant is supposed to stop my heat, yet I still seemed to have most of the symptoms around you. So, either it wasn’t working at all, or you had some kind of influence on my body because I’m your mate. I don’t know, but either way, last time I was on heat and a shifter knotted me, I got Stacia.”
“I guess you did.”
Was he turning over the possibility in his mind too?
“What will be will be, I guess,” he said. “To be honest with you, right now I’m more focused on the part where you talked about being knotted.”
I grinned. “You can’t talk like that when Stacia’s home. You’ll drive me crazy.”
While I finished the last of my beer, he took my hand in both of his, carefully massaging my palm with strong and insistent thumbs. It was soothing, and I closed my eyes to concentrate on the feeling—to let him slowly work me up like I knew he wanted.
“We don’t have to play loud and rough,” he said. “I can take you slow and gentle too. Give you time to bite down hard and keep it quiet.”
My toes curled at the thought, but I didn’t answer. I wanted to let him keep talking and soak up the sensuality of his smooth words in such a rough voice.
“I’ll work you open. Really take my time. Take all that slick and get you primed and ready for me, and then you’ll see stars when I push inside and fill you up.”
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