Secret Daddy
Timberwood Cove: Book 3
Liam Kingsley
Contents
1. Gavin
2. Kyle
3. Gavin
4. Kyle
5. Gavin
6. Kyle
7. Gavin
8. Kyle
9. Gavin
10. Kyle
11. Gavin
12. Kyle
13. Gavin
14. Kyle
15. Gavin
16. Kyle
17. Gavin
18. Kyle
19. Gavin
20. Kyle
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Secret Daddy
1
Gavin
I looked at my reflection in the mirror with disbelief. When had I gotten so old? I had crinkles beside my eyes, a deep furrow in my forehead, and a patch of gray hairs near my temple, all of which said I was definitely past my prime and my playboy days were limited. Actually, my playboy days had been and gone, and it was really time to find a mate and settle the hell down.
I grumbled and took a step back, examining the whole package as I slicked my hair back. My reflection wasn’t bad. I still had the broad shoulders from my high school linebacker days. Sure, I wasn’t as trim as I used to be from too many nights programming and playing video games when I should have been at the gym, but I still looked good in a suit. If only I could get the damn tie on straight…
“Damn, Gav. You are looking sharp,” my sister Nicole said as she burst into the bedroom behind me.
I glanced at her in the mirror and raised my eyebrows in skepticism before I turned my attention back to the tie.
“Did you see this?” she asked, holding up an envelope.
“Hm?” I didn’t really pay attention as I continued struggling to tighten the knot.
“You need help with that?” Nicole put down the mail and came up behind me. She peered around my shoulders and stretched up on her toes to reach around my neck and straighten the tie. After a quick shake of her head she undid the knot and slipped it off my neck. I released a frustrated sigh as she rethreaded it through my collar, aligned the ends, and started to redo the knot.
“Thirty-three years old today, and he still hasn’t learned how to do a perfect Windsor knot,” she said as a cheeky grin spread across her face. “Big over little, take him through the hole, then loop-de-loop…”
I slapped her hands away. “Thanks so much, sis. I’ve been doing my own tie for over a decade, I’ll have you know.”
“Oh, sure.” She patronizingly smoothed her hands over the shoulders of my suit jacket.
“It’s just not second nature, yet,” I mumbled.
“Maybe because you didn’t do it as a kid, huh?” she asked as she sat down heavily on the bed. “Remember that skate wear you used to be into? All oversized and baggy and shit. Definitely no ties.”
“I would have dressed better, if I’d had anyone to teach me how to do techniques like tying a tie,” I grumbled.
“What? Daddy didn’t teach you?” She looked up at me with her eyebrows raised.
“Did you ever see him wearing a tie? You ever see him in anything other than golf shirts and cargos?” I asked, then hissed as the collar bunched up too tightly and I had to start over again. “He said dressing smartly was alpha stuff. You know. Like, uh, everything else I needed help with.”
I glanced at her in the mirror, but quickly looked away when I saw the pity on her face. That was not what I wanted to see on my birthday.
“He did his best as a single omega dad, Gav,” she said in a quiet voice.
A growl grumbled up from my stomach. Nic was younger than me, and I figured that’s why she saw our childhood in a kinder light than I had. I looked back at her and found her attention on the envelope in her hand. She ripped it open.
“Hey, is that for me?” I asked as I glanced over my shoulder and reached for a different tie from my nightstand.
“Yeah yeah.” She waved me off, like privacy wasn’t important.
I held up the silk ties to my face.
“Gav, you never told me about this!” she suddenly exclaimed.
“About what?” I asked absently as I judged the navy and the Persian blues, comparing the colors to see which one would make my eyes pop more.
Nicole started bouncing on the bed like an excited cub. “The gaming convention! Why didn’t you tell me?”
I groaned as I suddenly remembered the invitation I got months ago. What Nicole held now must be a reminder to the convention being held next weekend.
“Because I’m not sure I want to go.” I went with the Persian and threaded it through my collar. Maybe the silkier material would make it easier to tie.
“What?” She slapped my ass with the envelope. “Why not?”
“I hate those things,” I said. “Had to do a bunch of them when RuneMaze was first released, and it was hell. A bunch of weirdos and nerds.”
“Uh, says the nerdy weirdo game developer.” She slapped my ass again. “You have to go! You already accepted.”
“Yeah, but I was thinking of cancelling.”
“And upset all your fans. That’s not like you.”
I sighed. As much as I didn’t want to admit she was right, she was. I didn’t want to let down the organizers or those who wanted autographed pictures, but I disliked being the center of attention. I don’t know what made me accept in the first place. Maybe because it was here in Timberwood Cove?
“I’ll think about it,” I said as an appeasement as I struggled with the loop-de-loop move.
“Well, I’m sure Cole would love to go.” I knew Nic and her manipulative ways, and I threw her a look that told her I didn’t like the idea of her using my nephew as inducement.
“God, you’re such a party pooper,” she muttered as she stood up, leaving the reminder crumpled on the bed. “But, at least you look good.”
“I look the same way as I remember Dad did,” I said with a grimace. “Old.”
Nicole choked on her laugh, and then smiled sadly at me. “At least you remember what he looked like.”
I nodded, but felt my guts cramping up. It was a lie. I couldn’t remember what our alpha father had really looked like. He’d died in a fire before I was old enough to make real memories. The patched-together idea of him in my mind was based on photos I’d found hidden in the attic, stowed away by our omega daddy in an effort to put aside painful memories of our father from the house. All I had of Dad was these vague ideas of who he was—a strong man, in a suit, with a bright smile. While my memories were of how it felt to hear his voice and what it was like to feel his hand in mine. Other than that, the rest was stitched together into some kind of fictional hologram.
“Okay,” Nicole said, drumming her palms on my shoulders and bringing me back to reality. “I’m not here to reminisce with you, I’m here to get you to the party on time. Can we just lose the tie? It’s still crooked.”
“You think I’d look okay without it?” I raised my eyebrows.
“Yes, honey. You look good in anything. C’mon, let’s find you a birthday date.”
We walked through the brisk October night to the Wolf Lodge where my party was being held by our closest packmates. Nicole kept up with my fast pace, even though I could hear her breathlessness as she prattled on. “I just think you should go to the gaming convention. Cole would love it if you went.”
“I’m definitely not going,” I told her again.
“You might meet someone there,” she said as we passed through a small thicket of trees. An ache started in my chest, and my wolf pricked its ears up, just like it did any time I was reminded that I still hadn’t found someone to share my
life with.
“Yes, I’m sure I’ll meet someone. A weirdo nerd… Or another one-night stand.”
Nicole laughed. “Woah, hang on, do I detect a hint of exhaustion in your voice? You’re finally tired of casual sex? Done with being the most notorious lothario of Timberwood Cove? Or have you just run out of eligible omegas in our little town?”
“God, you’re so annoying!” I shoved her playfully as we ambled through the trees and onto the grounds of the Wolf Lodge. The lodge itself was lit up with party lights, and music blasted out of the doors.
“C’mon, we’re obviously late.” She grabbed my hand and dragged me forward.
As soon as we stepped into the crowded Lodge, I spotted Linc—Nicole’s ex and the father of her nine-year-old son, Cole—standing by the dessert table. Cole was rifling through candy jars and filling up a paper bag with chewy candies when his dad nudged him and pointed to us. Cole spun around and waved happily at us.
“Do not say anything to him about the convention,” I warned Nic.
“Alright, alright,” she said, holding up her hands in surrender. “I’ll wait until you’ve decided to go.”
I shot her daggers before Cole rushed over and threw his arms around my waist. “Hey Uncle Gavin! Happy birthday!”
“Hey, kiddo!” I laughed and hoisted him up into a fireman’s carry. He squealed and kicked, then started feeding me candy as we walked over to Linc.
“Hey, man.” He smiled and give me an awkward hug around Cole’s body. “Happy birthday.”
“Thanks bro,” I said through a mouthful of chewy candy, which set Cole off into a fit of giggles. I hauled him down and set him back on his feet.
“How’re Samuel and Shawn?” I asked Linc.
“Both of them are good, just way too tired for the party.” His smile brightened as he spoke about his new baby son and his mate. I don’t think I’d ever seen a man so happy. Nicole came up and he quickly brought her in for a deep hug. Their relationship had ended shortly after Cole was born, but it was great how they’d managed to go from being lovers to being best friends. Linc then decided to remain single to bring up Cole, knowing how important it was for Cole to be around his alpha father, and I’d admired him for it, but then he’d met Shawn, his fated mate, and now Linc had Samuel, and I was barely able to hold back my jealousy.
Attracting potential mates wasn’t a problem for me. My problem was finding the right one. I actually wanted what Jaxon, our pack leader, and Linc had. I wanted to find a mate, my fated mate, and have kids and settle down. Both of the other alphas had made commitment and fatherhood look effortless, so it shouldn’t be that hard, should it? But what omega would want to settle down with me when I had no idea how to be a father?
I socialized with the pack, downed glass after glass of whiskey, got on stage and sang Bruce Springsteen karaoke with Nic, and got into a playful tussle with Jaxon. By the end of the night, Cole was running around wild with his best friend Liam and the other kids in the pack. I watched as Linc called Cole over, who obediently came running into a hug before the two of them started to play a hand clapping game, coordinating their hands perfectly.
“How does he do that?” I asked Nic, my words slurring a little at the end.
“What? The hand clapping game? It looks more complicated than it is. I can teach you, if you want.”
“No, not the stupid game. The fatherhood stuff,” I explained, leaning against her and watching as Linc and Cole took off and raced toward the Lodge kitchen.
“If you remember he wasn’t always so good at it,” Nic said with a friendly nudge. “But he’s turned out alright.”
“He had a good dad to show him how to do it, though, right?”
“This is really eating you tonight, huh?” Nic looked up at me, her eyes filled with concern.
“Yeah, I guess. Whatever. Who cares? Family isn’t for everyone.”
“You wish I’d invited Daddy?”
“Hell no! You think he’d even realize it was my birthday?”
“Good point,” she said with a laugh. “Remember when he forgot Christmas?”
“Who could forget.” I knocked back the last of my drink. Our omega dad had shut down after our alpha father had died, and Daddy had become an absent and distant parent—to say the least. I was about to slip into a stupor of self-pity about it when the lights suddenly went out. My wolf kicked up in my chest, alert for danger. My breath stopped.
“What the fuck?” I whispered.
I heard a thud. Light streamed out from the open kitchen door, followed by a roaring blaze. I gasped and instinctively grabbed Nic’s arm, ready to get the fuck out of there when I realized what it actually was—not a raging inferno after all, but the thirty-three candles on my birthday cake.
Linc carried the cake while Cole and his friends burst into a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. I felt Jaxon put his hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to find him beaming down at me, singing along softly. His father, our old pack leader, Greer, sang in a deep baritone and gave me a huge smile as Linc put the cake on the table in front of me.
“Woah!” I forced a laugh as I took in the grandeur of all of those candles. “This fire’s so fierce it’s going to singe off my eyebrows.”
“Make a wish! Make a wish!” Cole said, bouncing on his feet. Everyone was lit by the orange glow.
Jaxon gave me a wink and said under his breath, “Wish for someone handsome for the night…”
I closed my eyes and made a drunken wish; not for someone for the night, but for the rest of my life.
The candles were out. The room was dark. I heard cheering and a round of “Hip Hip Hooray,” but it all sounded muted. I could only hear my own breath and the pulse of my blood rushing through my veins. I felt like I’d just cast a spell on myself. Or maybe I’d just had one too many whiskeys…
Suddenly, Jaxon tightened his grip on my shoulder. I tensed. My breath stopped. And I jumped out of my seat as the pack leader let out a soul-shaking howl.
The lights came back on and the pack began shifting into their wolf forms all around me. Jaxon let go of my shoulder and transformed into his big, buff wolf. I looked from the cake to Nicole and back again.
“We’ll eat it after the run. Let’s work up an appetite,” she said.
Cole was jumping around in his young wolf form, prancing back and forth in front of his friend. The doors were thrown open and the pack started to pour out of the Lodge into the yard, sprinting across the lawn and into the woods.
I followed. As soon as I shifted into my wolf, my senses were sharper and much less affected by the alcohol I’d guzzled down. My footing was still a little clumsy, but I barely noticed as I bounded across the yard. The cool ground felt soothing under my paws, and I stopped at the edge of the woods to scratch at a tree, loving the feeling of my claws ripping through bark.
I was sniffing at the marking I’d made when I felt a nip at my flank. I spun around and found a handsome, young omega wolf with a sharp snout and long legs bouncing backward. He tilted his head to the side and blinked with long, thick lashes. I sized him up while he dashed back and forward, urging me to play. He wasn’t anyone I recognized, and I supposed he may have been invited to run with the pack if he wasn’t from around here. It wasn’t unheard of, allowing other wolves to run with us, especially on full moon runs. Our pack, though traditional in a lot of ways, certainly wasn’t unwelcoming.
The young wolf landed another nip, and I felt my attraction starting to grow. He was very cute. Though it was hard to tell the ages of shifters in our wolf forms, I guessed he couldn’t have been over twenty-five. He sure had plenty of energy…
He was absolutely my type, and as I was in my wolf it meant I was working on pure instinct. The next time he lunged for my flank I nipped back, landing a sharp tooth against his neck. He let out a playful yelp, then bounded off down the path before pausing and looking back over his shoulder at me. I sniffed at the air, caught a hint of a light fruity scent, and then bounded afte
r him. I liked him. I liked how he smelled.
He took off like a shot, but I pushed hard into my muscles and soon caught up. We ran together under the full moon, and with every synchronized lunge over fallen logs and dense clumps of brambles, I felt more attracted to him. I caught his scent again as he ran ahead, and I inhaled it as deeply as I could.
We broke through the dense forest into a moonlit clearing. The younger wolf stopped to lap at a pool of water, and I looked up at the glittering moon overhead. It wasn’t the first time I’d run with a stranger like this. But it was the first time I felt like my heart just wasn’t in it. I heard a change in the rustle of autumn leaves and looked over to find him shifted into his human form—a lanky, gorgeous young man with a shock of red hair, perfect cheekbones, and gorgeous hands.
I’d been through this dance with so many men, so many times before. On cue, he was unbuttoning his shirt and revealing his washboard abs. I was meant to shift into my human form, walk toward him, take his hands in mine and plant a hot kiss on his mouth. Or else I’d dodge his attempts at a kiss and direct his attention much further south until he was sucking my cock. Either way, it felt as rehearsed and as dull as I could imagine. Maybe turning thirty-three had really done a number on my libido. Maybe I was just ready for a new dance with different steps.
The guy bit his lip. I could tell he was nervous. Or impatient. I huffed out a breath, and then slowly back away, dipping my head in apology before I turned and sprinted back into the trees to run with my pack brothers.
After a few hours of running, howling and yapping, a few more whiskeys at the Lodge and an outrageous amount of birthday cake, I stumbled home—alone. I lived as close to the Lodge as you could get, but the trek across the manicured grounds and through the small thicket of trees into my yard felt like it took an eternity. I fell into my living room through the doorway, and then barely made it to my bedroom.
Secret Daddy Page 1