by Eve Langlais
“What do you mean, free? I thought we had a deal.”
Her lips twisted. “Ah, yes, the proposition from my billionaire moose. I guess you didn’t hear the news.”
“What news?”
“The nurse told me. It’s all over social media. The fact that Rory lied. He’s not your cousin. At least not by your Aunt Trixie. Because his mother is still alive.”
His eyes widened. “What? How do you know this? We’re still waiting on the DNA tests.”
“The media did what you couldn’t. They dug past his backstory to get the real truth. Apparently, he’s Malcolm Rory Beauchamp Lupin.”
“Lupin, as in the fucking Lupin family who owns Lip Smackn’ Syrup and Candy, Incorporated?”
“One and the same. Beauchamp is his mother’s maiden name. A mother very much alive. As is his father.” A soap opera come to life. Melanie had only partially listened as the nurse babbled on about the scandal.
“Son of a bitch.” Bryce whirled and paced. “Why, though? Why pretend? He had to know it wouldn’t fly.”
“Don’t ask me.” She shrugged. “But anyhow, with him discredited, that means we don’t need to continue with this charade.” It meant the brief fantasy was over. It hurt more than expected.
“What if it weren’t a charade? What if we made it real?”
For a moment, she allowed herself to imagine it, falling for this man, marrying him. Her, a nobody with no family, no money. Impossible. “We both know you don’t want to get tied down. Now you don’t have to. You can go back to being a happy bachelor, and I’ll leave.”
“To go where?”
“Anywhere but here.” She wrinkled her nose at the room she’d grown to hate.
“I won’t let you leave.” He grabbed her. “We made a deal.”
Why did he insist? “Let me go.” She struggled in his grip, holding on to the hot tears, tears over a man she couldn’t have.
“I don’t want to let you go,” he growled. “Not now, not ever.”
“You heard the girl!” a voice boomed. “Unhand her!”
The interruption meant they both gaped at the big man standing in the doorway, his eyes blazing.
“Who the fuck are you?” snapped Bryce, releasing her to face the stranger.
“Kieran, her father.”
And he might have said more, but that was when she decided to kiss the floor.
Chapter 17
For a moment, Bryce and this stranger stared at Melanie, and then they jostled to see who would pick her up off the floor.
Hand slapping ensued along with some growling. “Get your filthy hooves off my daughter.”
His daughter? Could it be?
Much as Bryce wanted to call the man a liar, there was no mistaking the smell. Feline. Familiar feline, as in another lynx. What were the chances?
Bryce leaned back on his haunches as the man scooped Melanie into his arms and stared down at her, his features soft with love, but also marked by pain.
“Why are you here?” Bryce asked. Why now, after all this time?
“I’m here by accident. I was coming after my nephew. He’s doing something stupid, again. The boy is rash. Doesn’t always think. I’m here to bring him back. Except I got distracted by a scent. Her scent.” His gaze turned soft as he stared at Melanie. “The spitting image of her mother—”
“I don’t think that’s a compliment,” Bryce interjected. “You might not know this, but her mother wasn’t exactly kind toward her.”
“Maizie.” The other man growled the name. “A pity I can’t kill her twice. Stealing my child.”
“So, you knew about Melanie?”
“Is that her name?” Kieran appeared startled. “We’d planned to call her Tanya. Only Maizie kidnapped her before we’d even signed the certificate.”
“Hold on.” Bryce shook his head. “Are you saying—”
“That Maizie wasn’t her mother.” The man’s lip curled. “No. She was a psychotic mistake. I was drunk; we had sex. Once.” Spoken quite firmly. “I told her afterwards it didn’t mean anything, but the woman stalked me. Harassed me even after I met and impregnated my true mate, Jasmin. Maizie couldn’t handle it. She stole our precious daughter.”
“Stole?” The word erupted from Melanie. “Do you mean to tell me Maizie—”
Kieran’s gaze shot to his daughter. “That woman was no relation to you. She was a kidnapper. A sadist. She stole the most precious thing Jasmin and I had.”
“My real mother is…” The soft words came from Melanie, who lay in her father’s arms, looking vulnerable, her expression soft with hopefulness.
A sadness flitted through the man’s eyes. “No, sweetheart. Unfortunately, your mother passed. The shock of losing you was just too much. She left this world about a year after you were abducted.”
A sound escaped her.
Kieran hugged her tight. “I’m sorry, darling. You have no idea how much it pains me to hurt you.”
The tautness of her body showed her hesitation, and her voice emerged in a hushed whisper. “You’re my father?”
Eyes, the same as Melanie’s, glistened with moisture. “I’m your daddy, sweetheart, and I promise, from now on, you’ll never have to go through life without me by your side.”
But…Bryce wanted to be the one Melanie relied on, her face on the pillow beside him. He cleared his throat. Time to insert himself into the situation. “What an interesting turn of events.”
Direct yellow eyes set beneath thick gray brows perused him. Judged. Bryce might have come up wanting.
Kieran snarled, “Who the heck are you? And why the hell are you still here?” The man only needed a T-shirt that read: “Have daughter, will kill.”
The rule of thumb when meeting another alpha, stand up or bow down.
Bryce didn’t ever give in. His shoulders squared. He held out a hand. “Bryce Elanroux.”
The rapier gaze didn’t waver, and there was no handshaking. “Kieran Graysmoke,” replied Melanie’s father. “And I’m going to tell you, as a courtesy, to keep your filthy hooves off my girl. Or else.” The last part spoken in a lower octave.
Bryce sighed. “What is it with people using that threat? What are you going to do? Attack me? Seems rather extreme. And I will have you know I’m never dirty. Kendrick would be appalled if we left the house less than perfectly groomed.” Butlers had to maintain a certain standing among their peers. Letting their employers look less than perfect and they’d somehow failed the brotherhood. “And anything Melanie and I do will be consensual and none of your business.”
Melanie bit her lip, fighting a smile.
Kieran sputtered. “There will be no business with my daughter. I know all about your family and their womanizing ways. My brother-in-law told me everything.”
“Excuse me?” A puzzled note entered the query. “Who is your brother-in-law, and what does he know?” Had Bryce missed an important fact?
“My brother-in-law, Jack Lupin, and you’ve met his son, Rory.”
“The imposter,” Bryce sneered. “Didn’t you hear? His plan failed.”
“Did you call him an imposter?” Kieran snorted. “Rory won’t fail because that boy is more an heir than you are. He’s Theo Elanroux’s by-blow. That big-racked bastard seduced Lupin’s mate and impregnated her.”
The news slapped him. He recoiled. “Impossible. You lie.”
A wry smile pulled the man’s lips. “I was just as skeptical when I found out. But it’s true. Rory Lupin is Theo’s son.” Making him Bryce’s uncle. “Rory is your cousin by marriage, darling,” he told Melanie.
Melanie appeared excited by the discovery; meanwhile, Bryce was still reeling. He had to refute this garbage. “For Rory to be my cousin means my grandfather would have cheated on my nana.” Which was something he didn’t even want to contemplate. “He loved her.”
“He did, and he also loved other women. Rory’s mother wasn’t the first. He was a rake in his day. Rory is living evidence.”
“So, wh
y is this only coming out now?” Why wait almost thirty years?
“Jack didn’t want people to know, a pride thing, especially since Rory is the only child he and his wife ever had.”
“What changed?”
Kieran shrugged. “Rory found out.”
“Found and pretended to be Trixie’s kid? Why?”
“He wanted to meet his biological father and felt this would be a better way of gauging his worth.”
A twisted logic. “Who raised him?” Curiosity made Bryce ask.
“His mother and my brother-in-law. They live on the West Coast. Jack pretended for years the boy was his. Until his doctor ran some routine tests and the blood work gave away the fact Rory couldn’t be his. Things were never the same between Rory and his father after that.”
“Did my grandfather know about him?” Had he compounded the crime of his infidelity by abandoning his son?
“Theo never knew. Would have kept on not knowing if Rory hadn’t decided it was time to come meet the man.”
“And go after my inheritance.”
Kieran’s gaze narrowed. “Is it really yours? Rory is his son, and Theo is dying. Who do you think the courts will choose to inherit?”
“The DNA test will show he’s not related.” A lie was easier to believe.
“The lab has finished their checking. It took longer because they redid the test several times. Go ahead, give them a call.”
The room spun, and when Bryce’s phone buzzed, a peek showed a text from the lab, and the first line in the preview box said three damning words: Paternity is confirmed.
He walked out, not the same moose who’d gone in.
Bryce left Melanie, who’d gone from nothing to everything.
I have nothing to offer her.
Nothing but myself.
He wasn’t sure if that was enough.
Chapter 18
It didn’t take a genius to see the news hit Bryce hard. Not only was Rory related to him, but he was the actual son of his grandfather. A twist no one expected.
So many revelations, all at once, important ones.
Unable to handle some of it, Bryce walked out without a word.
A step forward. A jerking halt. She stared after him, wanting to run after Bryce to console him, but how could she leave the father she’d just found? She cast a glance at the man she’d only just found. His expression a mirror golden gaze.
He had answers for her. Could she really run away to help Bryce? What could she give Bryce? They’d only come together as part of a deal to save his heritage. If it weren’t for the proposition, they would have never spent any time together.
He doesn’t need me. A thought that hurt.
She turned away from the empty doorway and faked a bright smile for her father. “Tell me everything. Tell me about my family.”
Over coffee at a shop down the street, they talked, and talked.
She got to see pictures of her mother, stored on her father’s phone. Bittersweet, especially given the uncanny resemblance. That’s my smile. My head tilt. She also got to hear stories of the life she could have had growing up. The cabin in the mountains where her parents lived. The extended family she’d meet. More lynx like her, because she’d inherited the gene from her dad. But apparently she should expect to meet some wolves too, because her mother used to be a shifter as well.
“So, you’re all shifters?” she asked.
“Most of us. There are a few cubs that never truly change, but carry the gene. We try to keep close tabs on all the family in case they’re late bloomers or their kids inherit. Nothing worse than coming of age not knowing what you are.”
“It was scary the first time,” Melanie admitted.
“I’ll bet it was.” The big callused hands covered her own. “But don’t worry. You won’t ever have to be alone again. Once we go home, I’ll teach you everything you need to know.”
“Go? With you?” She blinked. In all the commotion of meeting her father, she’d not really grasped what his arrival might mean.
“You didn’t want to stay, did you?” He didn’t need to remind her of the shabby apartment for her to understand what he meant.
Why would she stay in that place of hatred? She owed nothing to the woman who’d stolen her. She wanted to forget. But leaving meant ditching Bryce. She’d made a promise to him, a promise she’d shirked by letting him leave.
How utterly selfish of me. The man was hurting, and she’d let him run off.
“I want to come. I do, but I have to take care of some things here first.”
“This is about that womanizer, isn’t it?” Her father’s expression darkened. “Stay away from that bull. You heard what his grandfather did.”
But Bryce wasn’t Theo. People should be judged on their merits, not their bloodline. “He needs my help.”
“His idea of help probably involves seduction.” She didn’t reply, but her expression must have indicated something. “Like grandfather, like grandson. He’s a user. A rake.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Stubborn like your mother.” Spoken gruffly yet fondly. “If you’re going to stay here, then I guess we’d better find something more suitable than where you are right now.” His lip curled.
“We?” she asked.
“Yes, we, sweetheart. You didn’t really think after finding you I’d leave, did you?” He shook his head and smiled. “I meant what I said. I’m here to stay, and the moment that suave moose hurts you, let me know. I’ll take care of him.” Her father’s fist slammed into his palm.
“Thank you…Daddy.”
They might have both cried a bit after that. Good tears, the kind that meant something broken was healing.
It didn’t take long to pack her belongings. They’d mostly stayed in her bag from college, no room in the closet or dresser for her. The entire time, her father watched, lips pressed tight, angry, and she could guess why.
How it must hurt to see how she’d lived.
When she was done collecting her things, she didn’t pause to say a dramatic goodbye to the hellhole she’d stayed in for the past few months. Melanie was going to look forward from now on.
Not back.
And her new attitude about life meant she was ready to take some new steps. To boldly go where she’d never gone before. The resolve meant she had to track down a moose.
Alone. Because her daddy wouldn’t want to see what she planned to do next.
Chapter 19
The bottle of maple whiskey did little to dull his emotions. It was over.
Bryce had been dealt blow after blow in one day. First finding out Rory was the closet male heir. There was no doubt in his mind what his grandfather would do. It was what any man would do, discovering he had a direct descendent.
There goes my career, my life’s work. The fact that he was young enough to start over didn’t manage to pummel its way past his moroseness. Maybe later it would, but for now, he would damned well wallow.
Because he’d lost.
And then to add insult to injury, Melanie had found her true family. A father that wanted to take her away.
She made a deal with me. A deal when she was desperate and vulnerable. She had no need of it now. No need of me. Hell, the deal wasn’t even on the table anymore. There was no legacy left for him even if he did marry and pop out a kid.
He had nothing. Nothing to offer Melanie.
Knock. Knock. He swiveled in his chair to glare at the door. No one should have been around, the place shut down until the cleaners got through with it. No one here but him and his personal demons. Knock. Through the frosted glass, he could see a shadow.
“Who is it?” he snapped. “Go away.”
“No.” Her soft voice hit him before the scent of her did. She stepped into his office, beautiful and frail, yet with an inner strength that awed. She’d gone through so much and remained strong. She’d gone from the lowest place in her life to the highest, and he was happy for her—even if
it put her out of reach.
“I guess you came to tell me you’re leaving,” he said, taking another sip of the sweet whiskey liquor.
“Actually, I am here to tell you I’m not going anywhere until the deal is done. I made a promise, and I intend to keep it.”
At her declaration, he snorted. “Kind of pointless now, going on. Rory’s the true heir. A secret maple son returned to the fold.”
“I’m sure your grandfather won’t leave you out in the cold.”
“Maybe not, but this”—he waved his hand around—“isn’t truly mine. It belongs to my uncle. And his future children.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Is that it, then? You’re just going to give up?”
“Not giving up, conceding defeat. Maybe I won’t be the next maple syrup baron, but I’m sure there’s something out there for me. What about you? When do you leave with your father?” His heart shriveled as he waited for her reply.
“I already told you I’m not leaving. I have unfinished business.”
He wanted to throw the glass as frustration welled inside. “The deal is off. Don’t stay on my account. I certainly don’t plan to.”
“This isn’t about the deal. This is about me and what I want.”
The way she said it, the way she drew near, her gaze steady on him, almost hungry.
Hope fluttered in his breast. “What do you want?” The words emerged low and gruff.
“I want you to finish what you started in the woods.”
“But you’re a—”
“If you say the word virgin, I will hurt you. Don’t you get it? I don’t want to be a virgin anymore.”
“So, you just want to get rid of it, and want to use me to do it?” While not much of a romantic, even Bryce had standards.
“You idiot. Don’t you see? I thought I waited this long because I was afraid. That’s only partly true. Do you know the real reason I waited, Bryce?”
He shook his head, unable to speak. Surely he wasn’t afraid to hope?
“I was waiting for the right man.” In case he retained any doubts, she made it clear. “I was waiting for you.” The statement hit him a second before her shirt did. The fabric, still warm from her skin, slid down and revealed her standing tall and proud, bra cupping her breasts, skirt hanging off her hips. Moist lips beckoned, and she looked wanton with her hair tumbling over her bare shoulders, the silky strands tickling her breasts.