Secret Daddy

by Liam Kingsley

  I grunted and fell silent.

  “I bet Brock is loving the extra time with you, though,” she said kindly as she gazed out the window.

  “I think he is. Man, I’d love for him to win,” I said as I looked over her shoulder and watched as Brock and Cole rolled over and over and over, each trying to pin the other.

  “Winning isn’t everything,” she said in a cautious tone.

  “It is when you’re being bullied at school and have low self-esteem.”

  “Bullied? You never told me that?”

  “Well, Brock seems to have it under control right now, but that’s not to say someone else won’t pick on him. He’s a really sensitive kid who could do with proving to others he won’t allow himself to be pushed around anymore.”

  “And you think winning will do that?”

  “It certainly won’t hurt.”

  She was silent for a moment, and then said, “You can practice here if you want. Give Kyle some peace. Just don’t rope Cole into the contest, I don’t want him getting worked up about it.”

  So, we practiced in Nic’s living room from then on. Kyle seemed to be in a much better mood every time we got home, having had the house to himself. And Brock said the runs we took on the way to and from Nic’s helped to clear his head and kept him focused in the game.

  On Wednesday, after dinner, Brock put his dishes in the sink and then faced Kyle.

  “Can we please use the games room, I need to practice.”

  “I think it’s better if we don’t practice tonight, Brocky,” I said. “It would be better to distract yourself with something else instead, so your nervous system has a chance to relax before the big game.”

  “Distract myself? With what?”

  “Oh, maybe homework,” Kyle said.

  “Good idea,” I agreed.

  “Um…” Brock looked at us like we were crazy, a habit he’d definitely picked up from Cole.

  “Homework. Now,” I said. As Brock stomped up the stairs, Kyle took my hand and gave it a firm squeeze.

  “Very good parenting.”

  “Thanks,” I said with a grin, but I couldn’t help but feel he was being a little patronizing.

  I brushed off the thought, and after Brock and I dropped Kyle off at work we then headed straight to the games store where the contest was being held. As we entered the doors, I had a potent flashback to the gaming convention when I’d first met Brock and reconnected with Kyle… I wrapped an arm around my son and gave him a squeeze. Who would have thought I would have my son, my mate, and a baby on the way, all because of a nerdfest?

  I thought back to who I’d been then and how much more of a dad I was now. I might not have any real idea what I was doing, but I’d come a long way since then.

  My phone buzzed, and I opened the screen to see a text.

  Good luck! X Nic & Cole

  I showed Brock, and he grinned. “I don’t need luck, though. I’ve got you.”

  I laughed and clapped him on the back, then steered him toward the registration table.

  “Welcome to the Regional Championship, Brock. And hello, Gavin!” The young registration clerk stood and held out her hand.

  “Erm, hello.” I tried to place where I knew her from. I didn’t recognize her at all. Did I know her?

  “Longtime fan,” she explained as I shook her hand. I heard a gruff grunt coming from behind us and I turned to find a family standing nearby. The dad was watching our interaction, his arms across his chest and a dark frown on his face. Before I had a chance to ask him what his problem was, Brock tugged on my sleeve and pointed to the lanyard the clerk was offering me.

  “VIP access, for competitors and family. It means you get access to the snacks. Nothing very special. But the lanyards make you look important.”

  “Cool,” Brock whispered as he looked at the holographic sticker on his lanyard.

  “Thanks,” I hurried Brock to the area where the snacks were laid out before any other fans spotted me.

  After we’d loaded up on sugar we took our seats in the crowd to watch the heats. Soon enough, it was Brock’s turn. He stood up, but I noticed he was shaking like a leaf.

  “Brock, you are a gaming machine. You have been training for this your whole life. And besides—you have gaming success in your blood.”

  Brock laughed and stopped shaking. “Okay. Okay I’ve got this. It’s in my blood!”

  Of course he absolutely blitzed his competition. I stood up and cheered as he accepted his entry token for the semi-finals.

  “Calm down, it’s just the first heat,” someone in the crowd groaned, but I wasn’t going to let them kill my buzz. My son had just won his first contest!

  “I did it! You were right!” Brock was all smiles as he came back to sit beside me. “I wish Dad was here to see it.”

  “I’ll record the next one,” I promised, feeling a bit stupid for having forgotten to take photos of the first heat.

  “Yeah but only if I win.”

  “Uh, when you win.”

  “But I might not.”

  “Or you might. Positive thinking.”

  He nodded, and of course, he did win. I caught the winning fighting sequence on my phone and sent the video straight to Kyle.

  AMAZING! Good luck for the final!!! - Dad

  Brock just beamed and bounced happily in his seat, and we watched the other semi-final between two amazing gamers.

  “This is taking so long because they’re so good,” Brock whispered to me as the game stretched out.

  “They’re pretty good, but you can see their weak spots, right?”

  “Yeah, the guy with the canon doesn’t check his blind spots, and the guy with the tennis racket is slow with his aim,” Brock replied.

  “Impressive,” I told him, genuinely amazed at how much he’d picked up.

  As the heat ended, Brock started shaking again.

  “It’s in your blood,” I said to remind him.

  “I was born for this,” he said as he nodded.

  I cheered as he made his way up to the stage. The crowd erupted into applause as the two finalists took their places in front of their personal screens. “Go Brock!”

  “Go Dennis!” a loud voice bellowed from the back of the crowd. I turned and clocked it as the same guy who had grunted at me at the registration table earlier. We all took our seats, and I set up my phone to record it. The game began. Brock took some heavy hits at first, and I bit down on my lip to stop myself from panicking. He could come back from that. I’d done worse to him in training and he’d always bounced back.

  Sure enough, he sprung a surprise attack on his competitor that almost completely demolished him—but not quite. Dennis quickly recovered and started in on a new attack, but Brock had something else up his sleeve. Bam! He hit Dennis with another surprise attack.

  “Yes, Brock!” I watched as his character did a happy dance. The crowd cheered and yelled for him to finish the game, but he dragged it out a little, maybe to give Dennis more of a chance.

  Dennis half-recovered by the time Brock’s character was back to full health and running circles around him, collecting points and earning extra bonuses. Dennis mounted a frantic retaliation against Brock’s character, but it was too emotional and not well thought out at all. Brock saw it coming a mile away. He dodged the attack and landed the finishing blow.

  “Whoooo!” I leapt to my feet to cheer as the game ended. Huge letters appeared on Brock’s screen spelling WINNER! Brock jumped up and grinned at the crowd as the judge raised his hand in victory.

  A rumbling boo came from the back of the crowd and I spun around to face the same guy again.

  “Hey, c’mon! He’s a kid. It was a fair win.”

  “Fair? Yeah right!”

  I turned back and did my best to ignore him as I applauded for Brock. He was still grinning and looked so excited. My heart swelled and I felt my wolf spinning in circles with happiness for my cub. I clambered across seats into the aisle when Brock bounde
d down the stairs of the stage and raced over to me. I embraced him in a huge hug then gave him high fives until our hands hurt.

  “Can we have the winner on stage?”

  Brock gave me one last high five and raced back to stage to collect his trophy and his prize.

  “Cheat!” the guy in the back called.

  “Hey!” I turned around to glare at him. “Shut up, man. That’s my kid.”

  “No shit that’s your kid. How’d he get so good at the game before the game was even released? Got some insider contacts?”

  I glanced at Brock on stage with the trophy and the game in his hands—and a frown across his brow.

  “Shut the fuck up or I’ll shut you up,” I growled just loudly enough for the guy to hear me. He shot me a filthy look, but he did shut up.

  Though Brock’s excitement was a little tempered by the rude reception from the back of the crowd, he was hugging the trophy close to his chest and had a huge smile on his face as we headed out of the convention center. We got all of three steps before the jerk from the crowd blocked our path.

  “Okay, cheater, give the prize back,” he said to Brock.

  “Shut up and back off,” I said, trying to hold back my temper.

  “Or what? You’ll use your fame to get me chucked out?”

  “I’ll do worse than that,” I muttered under my breath as the guy looked me over. I noticed that Brock’s opponent, Dennis, was standing off to the side, trying not to watch the altercation. He must have been this guy’s son.

  “Give that prize back. You shouldn’t have been allowed into the contest in the first place. You were obviously groomed by this nerd,” the heckler said to Brock.

  “Do not talk to my son.” I narrowed my eyes, unable to believe this guy’s accusations.

  “It’s okay, I don’t mind giving it back.” Brock started to hand the guy the trophy before I shook my head.

  “Absolutely not. You won that fair and square, and you know it. Don’t let bullies win.”

  “Bully! You’re calling me a bully after your son cheated and humiliated my son up there?” The guy took a threatening step forward, but I grabbed Brock’s arm and urged him toward the front door.

  “C’mon, Brock. We have to get home.” Once outside I made a beeline for the parking lot while keeping an eye on the ignoramus who was still spitting bullshit lies at us, but we were stopped by a group of young girls and guys, all about Brock’s age.

  “Hey, wait. Can I get your autograph?” one of them asked as she held out a copy of the game and a sharpie.

  “Me?” Brock asked, turning a bright red.

  “Yeah…” The girl laughed nervously.

  “Sure, I guess.” Brock laughed too and scribbled on the case of her game.

  “Me too, please,” the next person said, smiling sweetly at him.

  “Um yeah, okay.” Brock did another autograph that looked nothing like the first one. The spoils of fame… I let him chat while I kept an eye out for Dennis’s dad.

  Once the small group were satisfied, we continued to the car.

  “I’m so proud of you,” I said as I gave his shoulder a squeeze.

  “Thanks.” He looked at his trophy. “I could have landed a few more moves or ended it sooner maybe…”

  “I noticed. You could have. I’m proud you made it fun for your opponent, though. And I’m proud you’re so good at this.”

  He laughed. “I am really good, huh? Thanks for sticking up for me. I didn’t really want to give the trophy back.”

  I was reaching for my keys when the same gruff voice from earlier came from behind us.

  “Oh, here’s the cheater and his rich wolfy daddy!”

  I twisted and caught a flash of bright amber in his eyes. His son was nowhere to be seen, and neither was anyone else. It was just us and him. My wolf was on high alert and it started to bare its teeth. I quickly unlocked the car door and nudged Brock to get in. He didn’t move.

  Suddenly, the guy’s neck began to pulse and scales sprang up through his skin. He opened his mouth and let out a warning roar. My wolf howled, and I only just resisted the urge to shift and lunge at him. He was a fucking dragon shifter!

  “Brock! Get in the car now!” I insisted, shoving him back.

  “Filthy cheating dogs! Your pack’s days are numbered!” Claws sprung from the man’s fingers, and before I could react, a ball of fire shot out of his mouth and roared right toward me. I barely dodged it, and it landed beside my car, smoldering on the asphalt.

  “Fuck! Brock! Get in the fucking car! Now!”

  Brock was already running. I heard the door open then shut. I let out a deep, guttural growl as a warning to the dragon shifter, then quickly ran after Brock.

  “I will end you. I will end your whole filthy stinking dog pack!” the dragon shifter shouted as I sprinted around the car to the driver’s side where Brock had thrown open the door for me. A bigger ball of fire burst through the air and just missed me as I ducked into the car. The smell of singed hair followed me as I slammed the door and turned on the motor.

  Brock was whimpering and growling, squirming in his seat.

  “Hold back your wolf,” I demanded as I put a hand on his chest and pushed him back against the seat. I turned on the car and hit the accelerator. A bright orange light flashed, and a splattering of fire rained across the hood. I raced as fast as I could, burning rubber and screeching out of the parking lot. More fire rained down on the trunk, and I had to fish-tail along Pack Lane to shake it off.

  “Call Jaxon and get him on speaker phone,” I told Brock as I found my phone and chucked it into his lap.

  I looked over and found him shaking like a leaf.

  “Brock! Call Jaxon right now!” He snapped out of it, and quickly dialed the pack leader’s number.

  By the time we got through the homestead gates, Jaxon had called an emergency pack meeting at Wolf Lodge. We pulled up to find a group of shifters waiting for us. Nic raced forward and opened Brock’s door then wrapped a blanket around his shoulders and pulled him into a big hug.

  I got out and nodded to Jaxon who came to check on me.

  “I’m alright.” I ran a hand through my singed hair.

  “No signs of an attack on the homestead, but we’ve posted scouts and made it clear we’re on the lookout. If he was coming here, we might have scared him off.”

  I nodded, relieved. My wolf started to settle down, and bloodlust stopped pumping through my veins. I turned to find Brock still in Nic’s arms, looking pale and completely freaked out.

  “That was scary, huh? We’re okay though. We’re home, and we’re okay.”

  “I want Dad,” he whispered.

  “He’ll be at work for a few more hours,” I told him as I ran a hand over his forehead. “But maybe we can call him?”

  He nodded quickly, but his eyes remained wide in fear. He still had my phone so Nicole took him off to a quiet place to talk with Kyle while I gave Jaxon a more thorough report of what had happened.

  “You did the right thing,” he said.

  “Maybe not. I should have let Brock give the damn trophy to the other kid. I shouldn’t have insisted Brock stand up to bullies. Look what happened because I told that guy to back off. Brock looks traumatized. Fuck.”

  “Kids bounce back,” Jaxon said. “And you had no idea the guy was a dragon shifter. You were defending your son’s honor, and then you defended his life. You stayed in control, that’s the most important thing. That’s how you kept him safe.”

  I wasn’t so sure. I’d made mistakes tonight, and because of them Brock had been a target of a dragon shifter. Of all the creatures on this planet, why did my son have to end up in their sights. Wasn’t it enough they took my father?

  Brock tugged at my arm and held up my cellphone. “Dad wants to talk to you,” he said in a small voice.

  “Thanks, Brocky,” I said, taking the phone and walking a small distance from the crowd.

  “Hey babe, I—”

 
; “Are you fucking kidding me? You put my kid in serious danger and you start the conversation with ‘hey babe!’”

  My heart started racing. “Kyle, we’re safe, it’s okay—”

  “No it’s not okay. Come and get me from work. Right now.”

  14

  Kyle

  I stood outside the studio with my arms crossed, scouring the traffic for Gavin’s car. The night air was cool, but I was hot with rage.

  Dragons? Seriously? Why the hell hadn’t Gavin told me about dragon? What was he trying to hide? I should have known getting involved with a wolf shifter would bring more problems than it was worth. Why did I trust him? Why did I think this could work?

  As soon as I spotted Gavin’s car, my wolf started clawing at my chest. I inhaled and held back the urge to rush into an altercation. I’m glad I did because as soon as Gavin parked, Brock flew out of the car and came running straight into my arms. I held him tightly and closed my eyes as he burst into tears and his body shook in my embrace.

  When I opened my eyes I saw Gavin walking closer to us with his eyes down, refusing to meet my gaze. His sheepishness just made me angrier.

  “I want to go home,” Brock said between sobs. “I want to go home to Aunty Britney’s and Kennedy’s. The dragon said he’d-he’d-he’d attack the homestead.”

  “Shh, it’s okay.” I kissed the top of his head. “We can stay with Britt and Kennedy, it’s okay. That’s a good idea.”

  Gavin looked visibly hurt, but just shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the ground.

  “I’m never going to play video games every again, I promise!” Brock buried his face in my protruding stomach and continued to cry. I shot a look at Gavin. Still no reaction.

  “Are you happy now?” I asked, almost spitting the words out. I immediately regretted it, but it did shake him out of his silence. He grimaced and looked at me.

  “No, I’m not. Kyle, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I need to tell you what happened—”

  No. I didn’t want to hear his excuses, and I didn’t want to fight around Brock. I held up a hand. “Take us to Britt’s where we can feel safe.”