Surprised Daddy

by Liam Kingsley

  Linc

  By the end of January, we had spent almost every day together. Either taking strolls with Cole, or simply watching movies or some documentary Cole or Shawn was interested in. He was a natural with kids, and I loved that he was taking special interest in Cole.

  On one particularly walk, Cole had shifted back and forth in front of him, darting into the woods and then back out again as a wolf, turning back into a human to tell Shawn what he'd seen in the undergrowth. Shawn had sounded genuinely fascinated every time Cole relayed a detail about a dead bug or a cool tree root system he'd seen, and I loved him for it.

  When Shawn had to work awkward hours, I'd drive to the hospital and bring him lunch or a cappuccino on my way to a job. By the second week, I was even getting used to the hospital smell, and I almost liked the faint scent of it on his clothes. He went out of his way to visit me on site on his way home from work most days, and had actually spent half of one of his days off with me as I installed a kitchen. It felt like time was speeding up every time we were together, and then slowed down to an agonizing crawl whenever we were apart.

  The night before the full moon, I stopped at Nicole’s to help her prepare some food for the pack run, though I spent most of the time leaning on her kitchen bench and talking about Shawn while she chopped vegetables.

  “He seems hesitant,” I admitted. “But I think it’s because he’s been hurt in the past.”

  “That’s sad. What happened?”

  “He’s infertile, but that doesn’t bother me, I don’t need another kid.”

  “Would be nice though, huh? A cub with your fated mate?”

  “Sure,” I agreed, trying not to think about it. “But what I mean is, he’s been hurt in the past because he’s infertile. His last major relationship was with an alpha who blamed him when they couldn’t get pregnant.”

  “Hm.” She stopped chopping but kept looking at her knife. “I wonder if that’s something the claiming bite would fix…”

  “Let’s not go there. It would be cruel to Shawn to mention the possibility. And who knows if I’ll even get to claim him, especially if he feels too scared to commit?”

  “You just need to show him that you’re all-in. Just be consistent.” She shrugged and went back to chopping.

  “Well that’s something I can do,” I said, confidently.

  The next morning, Shawn had the day off and we spent it together in town, browsing the boutiques and eating at our favorite cafes. He was yawning over his iced chai frappe and finally admitted he was tired, so we wandered back to his house and fell into bed for a “nap” that ended up being two quick hand jobs and a long snuggle. We were laying together with sheets tangled around our legs as the sun began to set.

  “I have to get going soon or I'll be late for the full moon run,” I said just before I kissed him.

  He grumbled and pulled me into a tight hug, pushing his face against my neck. “Okay, I guess you better get going.”

  I chuckled as he gave no indication of letting me leave. I kissed the side of his face, and then squeezed him so hard he had to let me go so he could breathe. He laughed and ran a hand over my face.

  “I'll see you tomorrow?” I asked, taking his hand and kissing his palm.

  “I have work,” he said, sighing. “I finish at seven. Dinner?”

  “Yes,” I said, kissing his lips again before dragging myself out of the bed.

  “Are you, uh…” He waved his hand around like he was trying to find the words. “I mean, does anyone get hurt?”

  “On the run?” I raised my eyebrows at him as I grabbed my pants off the floor.

  “Yeah.” He sat up and pulled the sheets up to his chest.

  “No, my love.” I bent down and kissed his forehead. “It doesn't hurt.”

  “What doesn't hurt?” he asked, frowning.

  “Uh… shifting? From human form into wolf form. That's what you were asking about, right?”

  Shawn shook his head and looked at me with wide eyes. “No, I meant… Do you…hunt?”

  “Oh!” I let out a quick laugh. “You're asking if we hunt down poor defenseless animals?”

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m asking,” he said, pulling the sheet higher and looking genuinely worried.

  “Are you worried that we go crazy under the light of the moon and run into town and…bite unsuspecting nurses?” I pounced on top of Shawn and he let out a squeal as he tried to pull the sheet up over his face, but not before I got my mouth on his neck and gently bit down on the skin there. He squealed with laughter and kicked his legs, flailing and trying to kick me off. I pinned him down and pulled my face back to give him an innocent smile. He beamed at me and then quickly scowled.

  “I'm serious!” he hissed.

  “No, We don't bite anybody unless they want to be bitten.”

  “Why would anyone want to be bitten?” he asked, half trying to throw me off him.

  I didn't budge. Instead, I cleared my throat. “It's how we can turn humans into wolf shifters.”

  Shawn suddenly went still, looking at me as if I’d suddenly gone mad, even more so than when I’d told him I was a shifter. “What?”

  “There's a ritual that involves a bite,” I said, keeping my voice calm. “It generally only happens between mates, and it's kind of like a wedding… Shifters who have human mates can bite them to claim them, to bring them into the pack.” I swallowed nervously and watched Shawn's face for his reaction. He wasn't giving anything away, other than his shock. “Does that, uh…make sense?”

  “No, at least, not scientifically. Not anatomically. Is there a blood borne virus involved? What makes a wolf shifter able to contort their body like that with no permanent damage? Let alone a human being able to do that?”

  I chuckled and shook my head. “I wish I had answers for you. That stuff is way beyond me. I know the bite can also heal. Maybe we have stronger constitutions.”

  “What do you mean, heal?” Shawn asked, frowning at me.

  “It can heal human diseases and stuff. If a human is sick, when they become a shifter, things just…get better. I mean, I don't know how. Jaxon has a bunch of medical books in his library you could look at, though.”

  “Medical books about wolf shifters?” he asked, squeezing my hands.

  “You sound almost excited.”

  “I am! It's fascinating.” He licked his lips and then asked, “Does the bite hurt?”

  “I don't know for sure, but I'd guess it would… At least at first. I'll ask Bryce, if you like. Jaxon claimed him in the ritual I was talking about.”

  “Sure,” he said, nodding. He looked like he was suddenly stuck in his head, thinking about something.

  “Are you weirded out?” I asked, squeezing his hands.

  “No. Strangely, I’m not. So, Bryce was human…”

  “Yeah.” I waited a few moments to see if Shawn was alright. He glanced at me, and then let go of my hands and motioned toward the door with a light smile.

  “You’re going to be late. It's already dark. Get out of here. Go run around the woods like a wild beast.”

  I laughed, and then kissed him once more before I grabbed my jacket and headed home.

  The homestead was buzzing when I got there and the pack was already assembling beside the Wolf Lodge. Frankly, I was buzzing too. Introducing the idea of the claiming bite to Shawn had been easier than I'd expect, and I had to admit the idea made me feel downright excited. I was humming a sappy love song I'd heard on the local radio station as I bounded up to Jaxon where he was gathered with Gavin, Greer, and a group of other shifters.

  “Lincoln!” Greer took my hand and immediately pulled me into a tight hug.

  “Good to see you, Greer,” I said.

  He held me out at arm's length and beamed at me. “Jax tells me you've found yourself a lover.”

  “I didn't quite phrase it like that,” Jaxon insisted.

  “I think you said lover-boy,” Greer said, teasing.

  “Yeah, I'
ve found someone pretty special. My mate.”

  Greer slapped my shoulder and congratulated me. “Human, right?”

  I sighed and nodded, and then looked at Jaxon. “That's what I came to talk to Jax about, actually.”

  “It's time?” Jaxon asked quickly.

  “I think so.” I felt a little nervous being put on the spot. “Soon.”

  “Have you told him about the claiming bite?” Greer asked.

  I nodded. “He seemed a little freaked out, but only a little. More fascinated than anything else.”

  “And you? How are you feeling about it?” Jaxon asked.

  “I…love him,” I admitted. My heart fluttered as I said the words out loud, and I felt my wolf whimper in frustration that our mate wasn't by our side for this run.

  “But do you trust him?” Greer asked. I looked at him and found his face was set in concern. “And can you see yourself having a long life with him?”

  “Yes, of course!” I said, feeling my wolf defensively get its hackles up.

  “And a family?” Jaxon asked, looking right at me.

  “Is this about his infertility?” I could have kicked myself for having confided in Nicole, but next to Jaxon she had always been my trusted confidant. She must have been really concerned to have mentioned it to Jaxon. Unless she thought he already knew. Jaxon nodded and the group frowned with uncertainty.

  “C'mon, guys. I already have Cole, and he's a handful as it is. If we want more cubs down the road, we can always adopt.”

  The group, including Jaxon, shared a look of trepidation. It was in our nature to have children, and I suppose me saying I didn’t necessarily want any more went against the pack’s dynamics.

  My wolf urged me to keep talking. “I love Shawn no matter what, even if he can't give me children, and it's good for the pack to bring in new shifters, even if we don't end up having more cubs. This is good for me, and it's good for all of us.”

  Jaxon looked at Greer who shrugged and nodded as if to say I was making perfect sense. After all, Jaxon had taken a human mate, and Greer himself had adopted Jaxon from shifters outside the pack when he was a baby.

  “Do you want to make your intention official?” Jaxon asked, locking eyes with mine.

  A small lump grew in my throat, suddenly nervous about making the declaration to Jaxon. But my wolf nudged me, and I swallowed dryly before officially stating, “I'm ready to make my claim on my mate, when he agrees to it.”

  Jaxon grinned at me proudly and embraced me as I smiled so hard I could barely contain myself.

  “Congratulations, Linc,” Gavin said as Greer nodded at me approvingly. Jaxon squeezed me hard and I practically popped in his grip. Laughing, I wrestled myself away and shoved him. He beamed at me and slapped my arm.

  “We'll talk about the ceremony details soon, yeah?” he asked. Before I could give him an answer, he then turned to the pack and shouted, “Let's run!”

  He let out a howl that set off the pack, then shifted and bounded through the crowd toward the woods. I stood with the rest of the group and watched as the pack took off, close on Jaxon's tail.

  “What are you humming?” Gavin asked, a little oddly.

  “Um. God, sorry,” I groaned, not realizing I'd still had the song in my head. “Just a stupid love song I heard on the radio.”

  “I thought so,” he said quietly. “On the nightly love songs and dedications show? With the DJ with that voice?”

  “Uh… I guess?” I raised my eyebrows and cocked my head to the side as I nudged him playfully. “Do you regularly tune in to hear those sappy love songs?”

  “No!” he growled, and then immediately shifted and sprinted off into the night. I let out a short laugh and followed him, bounding across the lawn on two clumsy legs before I shifted, fell to the ground, and burst through the brush on four paws.

  The run gave me so much energy that I woke up before dawn. Cole had stayed at Nicole's, so the house was dead quiet. I switched on the radio and plodded around the cold, empty house with a cup of coffee. The same sappy love song came on and I fell onto the couch with a sigh, resting a hand on my heart and closing my eyes. I felt like I was on cloud nine.

  Just as I was wondering when I'd next get to speak to Shawn, I felt my phone buzz in my pocket. It was Shawn. He must have been taking an early break. I couldn't help but let out a happy laugh, and I was still smiling as I answered. “Hey, gorgeous. What's happening?”

  “Hey,” he said, sounding weak. My wolf's ears pricked up a strain in his voice and I sat upright, suddenly worried.

  “What's going on? Is everything alright?” I asked, quickly setting my coffee down on the table and standing up. I couldn't believe how hard my heart was racing.

  “Everything's fine,” he said, though his voice still sounded weary. “I'm just feeling really run down, and just… I don’t feel good. At all. I can't work, but I don't think I should drive home.”

  “I'm on my way,” I said, and immediately grabbed my keys and jacket.

  I pulled up to the hospital and saw Shawn, looking pale and queasy, walking out from the front doors. I quickly parked, and then grabbed a blanket from the back of the truck before racing over to wrap it around his shoulders.

  “Okay?” I asked, helping him over to the truck.

  “I'm okay. You're sweet for picking me up.”

  “Don't mention it,” I said as I opened the door. I helped him into the passenger seat before climbing back into the driver's side. My wolf started sniffing as soon I put my hand on Shawn's forehead. Neither of us could tell what was wrong, though. He felt warm, but I didn't think he had a fever.

  “Did you talk to any of the doctors?” I asked as he rested his head back against the seat and closed his eyes.

  Shawn nodded. “They said it was probably a bug that's going around. Stay warm, stay hydrated, lots of rest—you know, the usual.”

  “The usual, huh?” I turned on the engine and cranked up the heat. “Can I take you back to the homestead with me?”

  “Hm? Is there some shifter cure for a stomach bug that modern medicine doesn't know about?” he asked, a little smirk edging on the side of his lips.

  I chuckled. “There probably is, actually, but I just want to get you home so I can keep you warm, hydrated, and resting.”

  “I don't want to get Cole sick,” he murmured.

  “First of all, he's got wolf blood, he can fight off the worst infections. Second of all, he's at Nicole’s and he’ll be at school until this afternoon. Plus, I can keep you quarantined.”

  Shawn smiled a little, and then made a queasy face and let out a pained groan. “Alright. Take care of me. I feel rotten.”

  We stopped at Pampered Paws Doggie Daycare to pick up LuLu on our way.

  “The owner is quite the character,” Shawn said in warning before I reluctantly left him in the car with the motor running and the heat blasting.

  As soon as I bounded into the shop, I found out he was right. The first thing I saw was a chubby red-headed man in an out of season, bright pink outfit. I don't mean fashionably out of season, I mean, he looked like he was dressed for the height of summer—short-sleeves, shorts and a visor. I blinked to clear my vision and found his smile was just as bright as the color of his outfit.

  “Well, hello!” he said, his gaze flitting up and down my body.

  “Hello,” I replied. “I'm here to get LuLu, for Shawn.”

  “For Shawn, hm?” He squinted at me. “Shawn didn't say anything about a handsome alpha stopping by today to pick up his pride and joy.”

  “It's an unplanned pick-up. He's unwell,” I explained, craning my neck to look past him to the back of the shop where I could hear dogs playing.

  “Oh, poor darling!” the man said. “But I'm afraid I can't just let LuLu leave with a complete stranger.” He glanced up and down my body again, and then scowled.

  “I… I'm not a stranger.”

  The man kept scowling.

  “Shawn and I are, uh, t
ogether. I’m Linc?” I said in question instead of a statement. This man was kind of intimidating to be honest.

  “Oh! Lincoln! Well why didn't you say so,” he said in a kind of purr. “I've heard so much about you. I'm Trevor. LuLu's favorite uncle. Welcome to my doggy daycare.”

  As we shook hands, I thought I caught a hint of knowing in his eyes, like he was detecting something secret about me. The guy was definitely a human, but I remembered Shawn telling me Trevor had mentioned shifters, and I wondered if he actually knew. Before I had decided to subtly question him, Trevor broke eye contact and peered over my shoulder toward the truck parked out the front of the shop.

  “Is that our darling Shawn?”

  I turned to follow his gaze and spotted Shawn looking downright miserable in the passenger seat.

  “Oh gods!” Trevor exclaimed. “He looks ghastly! What's wrong with the poor thing?”

  “Just a bug,” I said.

  “Mmhmmm…” Trevor looked me over suspiciously. “Well, you wait right here. I'll go get that corgi cutie for you.”

  I did as I was told and waited while he walked to the back of the shop. I heard a cacophony of excited dog barks as he opened the door to the daycare area, followed by him shushing everyone.

  “Alright, where's that little LuLu? There she is! There she is! Come here, sweetie. Your dad's beau is here to pick you up.”

  I couldn't help but smile a little at the affection in his voice. The door reopened and LuLu trotted out on a long sparkly leash, wearing a bow-tie the same shade as Trevor's shirt. I looked from her, to him, and then back to her again.

  “Listen,” he said quietly. “Between you and me, she's been a little anxious these last few days. Some dogs like to play dress-up—it gives them permission to be a different dog for the day. The bow-tie gives LuLu a business-bitch attitude. No anxiety.”

  I raised my eyebrows and looked at LuLu. I had to admit, she did look confident…

  “Any idea why she's been anxious?” I asked, kneeling down and giving her a pat hello. LuLu licked my hand, and then turned around so I would rub her rump.

  “Beats me. She's not usually such a nervous nelly… Maybe something different happening at home, hm?”