Secret Daddy

by Liam Kingsley

  “You try getting bitten by one at the tender age of ten, and then talk to me about it.”

  “Hm. Fair point.” I remembered how horrible his wounds had been, and a shudder ran up my spine.

  “Anyway, what can I do for you?” he asked as he picked up a spray bottle and started misting blooms around the shop.

  “Flowers. But while I’m here, I could use some dating advice.”

  “Dating advice?” He raised his eyebrows, and I nodded. “From me? Gavin, the playboy of Timberwood Cove, coming to me for advice? You realize I haven’t been with anyone for years, right?”

  I chuckled and nodded. “I do. But as it turns out, we have more in common than I thought.”

  “Oh?” he asked as he spritzed a big leafy Monstera Deliciosa.

  “I just found out I also have a child from a drunken night at the Brewery…”

  Jason’s jaw dropped and he froze in place, mid-spritz. I laughed at his expression.

  “Tell me everything,” he insisted as he lowered the bottle.

  I filled him in on the basic details, and he let out a long, impressed whistle.

  “Ten years ago! Well, that’s a whole different scene to what I have with Kiefer and Stacia. You know Kiefer was already my best friend before we hooked up that one night and I got him pregnant. We’ve remained friends the whole time, so I’m not sure I can give you much advice,” he admitted.

  “You didn’t want to claim him?” I knew Kiefer was human, and because of him falling pregnant he was now one of the few who were aware of shifters in general and specifically who belonged to the Timberwood Cove pack.

  “No. We never should have hooked up, but he was in heat and… Well, you can guess the rest.”

  Oh, yeah, I definitely could guess the rest. I sighed. “How did Kiefer react when you told him you were a shifter?” I remembered there being a bit of a fuss when Jason told Greer, which was not too different from the way Jaxon acted when I told him about Kyle.

  “He was surprisingly okay with it. To be honest, I kind of think he’d suspected something was different about me and Jaxon, who Kiefer is also friends with.”

  “And he kept the secret about shifters?”

  Jason nodded. “Is that your biggest worry? That the secret will get out?”

  “Oh good god, no.” I laughed and shook my head. “My biggest worry is suddenly being a dad when I’ve spent my life being irresponsible and reckless. I don’t know how to do father…stuff.”

  “Well, from where I stand, you’ve always been smart, strong, honest, and capable. That’s a good combination for fatherhood.”

  I pursed my lips as I let that wisdom sink in. Maybe I did have what it took. Or at least, a little of it…

  “I’ll take the peonies,” I said.

  “Peonies? Are you kidding?” Kyle looked me over with suspicion as I stood on his doorstep, holding out the bouquet.

  “Wrong choice?” I grimaced, and he let out a loud laugh.

  “No! The right choice. They’re my favorite,” he said, admiring them with wide eyes. “How did you know?”

  As I passed him the bundle our hands grazed, and I felt a shot of excitement thumping in my heart. His eyes looked up and met mine.

  “I just looked for the flowers that reminded me of you,” I said softly.

  “You did, huh?” He grinned then motioned for me to come inside.

  I sat at his kitchen bench on a bar stool while he hurried to get a vase for the flowers. I couldn’t keep my eyes off him. His long torso looked so good in his black band t-shirt, and his small ass was perfectly framed in his tight black jeans. There was a rip in the denim across his upper thighs, and it gave me thoughts about ripping the rest of it off him with my teeth.

  Kyle leaned over me to place the vase of peonies on the kitchen counter, and his arm brushed across my shoulder. Before I knew it I’d reached out and I slid my hand over his hip. I cupped his ass and squeezed it firmly as I looked up at him. He let out a delicate moan, and then wrapped his arms around my neck and leaned down to press a soft kiss against my lips.

  “Mmm.” I relished the sensation of his mouth against mine. I took a deep breath, hunting for the scent of his slick, but didn’t find it.

  He pulled back and searched my face for a moment, and a look of worry shot across his eyes. It was as if he wondered why I hadn’t already dragged him off to bed.

  “You are gorgeous and incredibly sexy,” I told him, running my hand up his back. “But I didn’t come over for sex.”

  “Oh?” He sounded genuinely surprised and a little relieved. “What did you…”

  “I was hoping we could talk about Brock.”

  Kyle bit his bottom lip and nodded. He pulled up a bar stool and scooted it close to me.

  “He seems really happy to be talking with you on the game,” he said. “And, I mean, it’s been one day but he seems to be calmer since he met you. That sounds weird, but I think something’s changed for him.”

  “Have you told him that I’m—”

  ‘“No,” he said quickly, shaking his head. I nodded in understanding.

  “We can work up to that,” I said.

  “Yeah,” he murmured, but he looked down at the counter and I could tell he was having some doubts.

  “Listen, I missed so much. I want to know what happened. What was your pregnancy like?”

  “Horrid,” he replied, and then let out a short laugh that made me smile. “The morning sickness was pretty bad, and kind of strange. I was only a little nauseous, but mostly dizzy. I had to keep lying down. My sister Britt was a godsend, of course. She took great care of me.”

  “I’ll have to thank her,” I said, and shocked myself by how much sadness came through in my voice.

  “She’d love to meet you,” he said. “Her girlfriend, Kennedy will too. She loves your game.”

  “It is a good game.”

  Kyle laughed nervously. “That’s what they say. I don’t know anything about video games. To be honest, I feel it’s a bridge Brock and I can’t cross.”

  “Really? I could teach you some things,” I offered.

  “Me?” Kyle raised his eyebrows skeptically. “Who doesn’t know one end of a controller to the other?”

  “Well, at least you know what a controller is,” I said with a laugh.

  Kyle laughed too and he visibly relaxed. “Oh, hang on, let me go get something,” he said, hurrying off into the living room. I spun around on the stool and watched him go. My wolf whimpered as he left, and I sniffed at the air again, trying to catch a scent that just wasn’t there. I wondered what had happened; he smelled so different from yesterday.

  When he came back carrying a stack of photo albums, my heart soared.

  “Here we go,” he said as he dumped the photo albums on the kitchen counter. The weight of them made the bench shake, and water sloshed in the vase of peonies. I pulled my stool closer in a hurry to open the first album.

  The first page was a huge photo of Brock as a baby, his button nose and bright blue eyes were a spitting image of mine, while his chubby cheeks and pink lips looked exactly like Kyle’s.

  “Wow.”

  “Cute, right?”

  “Adorable,” I whispered. Protective energy rumbled in my chest, and I felt my wolf go on high alert. It was ridiculous, it was just a picture of a kid I didn’t even know. But still, I recognized him as my kin, my cub… I should have been there for him, to guide him, protect him.

  I let out a pained sigh as Kyle flicked through the photos. With each page, Brock grew bigger. More of his personality started showing. At first he looked like a shy, unsure kid, but by the time he hit seven or eight, his muscles started filling out, and he suddenly got taller. He had my wide shoulders with Kyle’s long torso, and an air of mischief started showing on his face.

  “Is he about eight years old here?” I asked, pointing to a picture where he had a deep furrow on his forehead, looking almost pained.

  “Yeah, that’s right,”
Kyle said.

  “Is that when he became more…aggressive?”

  Kyle nodded, pulling back and looking at me.

  “I should have been there,” I said softly.

  “You couldn’t have,” he said with a shrug.

  “I know but… I know what it’s like… I grew up without an alpha father,” I told him. I felt tears pricking my eyes and bit back the urge to break down. “You’re far, far better than my omega father was. But even if he’d been the best omega dad I could have had, there were things I still needed an alpha’s help with. Especially at Brock’s age. Especially as a shifter. His wolf is getting stronger and it takes more to control him.”

  Kyle’s own tears had started to well up, and I watched as his bottom lip quivered.

  “I don’t know how to do those things for him,” he whispered.

  “I want to help you. I want to help Brock,” I said, my voice breaking. “I’m so sorry I missed so much of his life. I want to be there for every moment from now on. I don’t want to miss anything more.”

  My wolf started whining, and I felt a deep, heavy regret sitting like a stone in the pit of my stomach. Kyle ran his hands over my back, no doubt to comfort me. I appreciated it, but in reality I wasn’t the one who’d had to worry and stress over the last ten years, who’d had to raise a child on his own. Because of my omega dad I knew exactly how hard that was. What Kyle needed now, what Brock needed now, was for me to start taking charge along with a huge dose of responsibility, and I suddenly had a great idea.

  “There’s a kids baseball game on Saturday afternoon run by our pack leader. Would you bring Brock? Some of our kids play on the team, and Brock could meet them, and then you could come home with me to see where I live.”

  Kyle hesitated. I held eye contact with him and silently urged him not to look away.

  “Alright,” he said. “Saturday.”

  I internally gave a shout of joy, but obviously didn’t cover it very well because Kyle smiled. “I’ll come by to pick you up after lunch,” I said, smiling myself now.

  We spent the next few hours going through the rest of the photo albums. Kyle continuously touching me, letting his fingers linger on the back of my neck while he caught me up on all the major events in Brock’s life. A broken leg from climbing a tree, an award he won for doing an incredible painting of fish at the aquarium, and every Christmas with Kyle and his sister Britt, exhibiting elaborate decorations and Brock with a massive smile on his face. By the time we finished, it was almost time for Kyle to pick up Brock from school.

  We left together, and as we stood in the driveway I placed a soft kiss on Kyle’s lips. “Saturday,” I said as reminder even though I know Kyle hadn’t forgotten.

  “We’ll be here,” he promised.

  The week dragged on and I kicked myself for making plans that were so far away. I kept in touch with Brock through the game chat and was able to enforce an earlier bedtime for him by signing off after dinner. As much as I wanted to keep leading him through the mazes and showing him ways to combat the bad guys, I knew it was more important for him to get sleep. Especially if I wanted Kyle to see I was a good influence.

  On Saturday morning, I headed over to Nicole’s to help Cole get ready for his big game. I found him in the backyard doing catching practice with Liam. Nicole, Jaxon and Bryce were also there with Lori, sitting on the porch in their Timberwood Cubs letter jackets. Paco was dashing between the players, trying his best to snatch the ball out of midair.

  “You should recruit that dog,” I told Jaxon as I bounced up the stairs.

  “He’s a good runner, but not so good on the bat,” he said with a warm smile, then he shouted at Cole. “Wider grip on that mitt, Cole!”

  “Yes, sir!” Cole said with an unusual respect for authority. He was obsessed with baseball, and it helped that his coach, Jaxon, had been a world-famous pitcher for the Timberwood Wolves major league team.

  “I’m going over to pick up Kyle and Brock after lunch,” I said. “They’re coming to the game.”

  “Yes!” Nicole clapped and smiled at me happily. “I can’t wait to meet them.”

  Jaxon raised his eyebrows, and I was quick to explain, “This is me ‘going slow’.”

  Bryce choked back a laugh and Jaxon slapped me on the back. “Good for you, buddy. I’m looking forward to meeting them. So, how is everything going between you and Kyle?”

  I chuckled. “We…reconnected.”

  Nicole and Bryce choked back another laugh, and I shot them a cheeky grin while Jaxon cleared his throat to remain as professional as possible.

  “He seems a little hesitant, though,” I said.

  “As he should be. He has his boy to worry about. Stay consistent. Show him you have what it takes to be a good father,” Jaxon said, then he let out a whistle and applauded a good catch by Liam.

  “Do I have what it takes?” I asked quietly.

  Jaxon nodded. “Of course you do. You’re an alpha. Cole, hit him with a spin on the next few! Liam, go outfield for this.”

  I might be an alpha, but a father? I wasn’t so sure.

  I arrived at Kyle’s just after lunch, dressed in dark blue jeans and my Timberwood Cubs jacket and cap. I proceeded to the side door and knocked a happy tune on the frame until an athletic woman answered.

  “Oh hi—”

  “Hey! You must be Gavin,” she said as a big toothy smile broke across her face and she urged me inside. “Come in, come in.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled, took off my cap, and entered the kitchen where bags and camping equipment was strewn across the counters.

  “Such a pleasure to meet you,” she said as she raced around the other side of the kitchen then started going through cabinets looking for something. “Kyle’s just getting changed, I think. He’s not feeling great. But we’re just about to leave, we’re late and—”

  “Kennedy! Do you have those little plastic containers we need for the snack thing?”

  The question came from another woman shouting from the living room.

  “Looking now, babe!” Kennedy called back. “We have company!”

  I heard a flutter of feet on the carpeted floor before a woman, who looked so much like Kyle that I almost did a double-take, rushed into the kitchen. She had dark brown, curly hair pulled back in a loose bun, and I spotted crystals, flowers, and thread in parts of her hair. She was wearing long, flowing fabrics with intricate hippie patterns, and a beautiful smile exploded on her face when she saw me.

  “Are you Gavin?” she asked with a cheeky wink.

  “I am,” I replied with a short chuckle.

  “I’m Britt, Kyle’s sister.” She held out her hand, and as I shook it bangles jangled on her wrist.

  “A pleasure to meet you both,” I said and gave her a genuine smile. I liked filling in the blanks in what I knew about Kyle and Brock’s lives. I knew Britt and Kennedy had been there for Brock when he’d shown his wolf side, and they’d supported him. That was good enough for me.

  “Got ’em!” Kennedy said, and she started shoving the plastic containers into an overstuffed hiking bag.

  “It was a pleasure to put such a handsome face to the name, but we have to run,” Britt said warmly.

  “Don’t let me keep you.”

  “We wouldn’t.” Kennedy hoisted her hiking bag onto her back, and then picked up most of the equipment in her hands.

  “Bye, Kyle. Gavin’s here,” Britt shouted toward the hallway off the living room, then she turned back to me and gave me a quick hug. “He’ll be out in no time. Bye.” Then she and Kennedy headed down the porch steps and out of view, and then the door slammed shut behind them.

  I waited in the suddenly quiet kitchen and took in the peacefulness of the house. I really felt at home here, and I wondered if it was because Kyle it was imbued with Kyle’s scent, and that of my son’s.

  I spun around when I heard Kyle padding across the living room. He was wearing an oversized sweater and tight sweats, and he smell
ed like lemon and cinnamon. A little different from his usual scent, but it still desperately made me want to bundle him up in my arms.

  “Hey,” he said softly.

  “Hi,” I said with a big smile. “You, uh…ready?”

  “I’m really unwell,” he said, and I could hear the weakness in his voice. My heart dropped.

  “Do you need a doctor?” I asked quickly.

  “No it’s fine, I think it’s a stomach flu. I just can’t do baseball today.”

  “What about Brock? Is he okay?”

  Kyle looked up toward the stairs, and then nodded.

  “Do you want some company? I could stay.”

  He shook his head, and I started to feel worried I was losing my chance with him and Brock. Kyle definitely looked ill, but was he using that as an excuse to fob me off?

  “Brock is okay though, right?”

  “He seems fine for now, he’s just upstairs playing one of those games you gave him,” Kyle said as he leaned heavily on the doorframe to the kitchen. “Britt and Kennedy are away for the weekend so it’s just the two of us.”

  “I’ll take him off your hands for a few hours, then,” I said. “We can go to the game and you can get some rest.” Kyle looked at me like I was crazy, but I held my ground. “The whole pack will be there. There’ll be kids his age, probably from his school who he’ll recognize.”

  “They go to the local school?”

  “Yes, so I’m sure Brock will be fine. He won’t feel out of place.”

  When Kyle still didn’t look convinced I decided to force the issue. It was either that or let him push me away. “Go get him,” I said firmly. “I can handle it.”

  He looked me over and seemed to be considering it for an eternity, and then he gave a small nod just when I heard Brock barreling down the stairs.

  “Gavin!” he said, racing over to me. He threw his arms around my waist and I gave him a big bear hug.

  “Hey, Brocky,” Kyle said softly. “I’m too sick to go—”

  “Dad,” Brock whined.

  “It’s not my fault I’m sick, Brock, and you should have some consideration for that, but I was going to ask if you want to go without me?”