Winter's End

by Rebecca James

  “Choose something to eat, Fin,” Grey said. “I know it’s disappointing they don’t have what you wanted, but you need to eat.”

  “I’ll have the beef,” Finny grumbled.

  “And what vegetable?”

  “Mixed,” he said sullenly.

  “Okay, good.”

  Ian looked up when someone approached with water.

  “Lake, hey.”

  “Hi, Uncle Ian,” Lake said.

  “Lake!” Forrest called out to his cousin. He reached for the young werewolf, almost causing Lake to spill the water.

  “Watch out, Forrest,” Lake said. “I’ll come see you in a little bit, okay? I have to fill more glasses.”

  Forrest grinned.

  After Lake walked away, Ian said, “He’s going to be good with his little brother when he arrives.”

  Gabriel agreed. Landon walked over to take their orders, and Forrest got excited again.

  Ian turned to Gabriel when the omega nudged him.

  “Look,” Gabriel said, and Ian turned to where his mate was gesturing with his head.

  Duncan and Canaan sat a couple of tables away, little Joey in Duncan’s lap. The scene was so incongruous with what Ian knew of Duncan, he stared for a long moment before Gabriel nudged him again.

  “You’re right,” Ian said, a smile overtaking his face. “I can’t believe it.”

  “Believe what?” Grey asked, taking the fork Forrest had picked up and replacing it with a spoon.

  “Look at Duncan over there. He looks like the epitome of a family alpha. I never thought I’d see the day.”

  Grey’s eyes followed where Ian was subtly indicating, although Ian doubted the couple would notice if Ian got up and pointed at them, they were so cocooned in their own world.

  “I’ve noticed he’s been calming down lately,” Grey agreed. “Canaan seems to be good for him somehow. And now that the baby’s here…well. They do look like a family.”

  “Canaan wants to keep the baby,” Gabriel said.

  “I expected that.”

  “Are you going to allow it? Even though he’s single?” Gabriel asked hopefully.

  “A single parent is better than no parent, and it appears they’ve already bonded. I suspect it’s the very thing Canaan needs to keep him occupied and out of trouble, although he hasn’t been up to his old tricks since he’s been seeing Duncan. My hope is that Duncan will realize he wants to be with them both and will mate Canaan.”

  Remembering how Duncan had once emphatically said he did not want a mate, Ian hoped so too.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Canaan

  Canaan was on cloud nine. The pack alpha had said yes, and the following week they would have the ceremony that officially would make Joey his child. He couldn’t stop smiling. When the kids in his class asked him what he was so happy about, and he explained to them he was going to be Joey’s father, they’d clapped and cheered, almost bringing Canaan to tears.

  What was going on with him? It was as though the entire world had changed. Duncan had already started it, and now Joey’s arrival had completed the metamorphosis. Now if Duncan would only decide he wanted more, Canaan thought he’d be the happiest werewolf in the world.

  But that was unlikely, he reminded himself. Canaan was lucky enough to have the alpha with him at all. Any day now, Duncan could get tired of Canaan and drop him. In fact, Canaan had been a little afraid that seeing him with Joey would make the alpha turn and run, but inexplicably, Duncan was still around. And he took part in taking care of Joey. They looked so cute together. Duncan, the big gruff alpha, and little baby Joey staring up at him with adoring eyes. It melted Canaan’s heart.

  Canaan sighed as he sat on the porch of the schoolhouse having his lunch. The kids had all gone home to eat. Canaan sometimes walked to his house or to the dining hall, but today he’d packed a sandwich. He looked past the craggy cliffs to the distant mountains capped with snow, thinking. He’d left Joey at the nursery that morning, and he missed the little sweetness.

  “Hey.”

  Canaan turned to see Duncan striding toward him.

  “Oh, hi. I didn’t notice you.”

  “You looked like you were deep in thought.”

  “I was.” Canaan held out his sandwich. “Want a bite?”

  Duncan shook his head. “No, thanks. I’ve eaten.” He sat down next to Canaan.

  “Where are you on your way to?” Canaan asked.

  Duncan looked discomfited a moment before saying, “I decided to take a walk. I’d been working in the barn with Bruce and Rick all morning and needed some air. Is Joey at the nursery?”

  Canaan nodded, licking crumbs from his lips. Duncan’s eyes followed the movement, and without thinking, Canaan leaned forward and kissed the alpha gently on the lips. He’d never done anything like that before. It didn’t mesh with their pattern of almost violent intimacy, but now it seemed right. Canaan waited to see what Duncan would do.

  When the alpha moved in and kissed him back, longer but just as gently, Canaan drew in a surprised breath and smiled against Duncan’s lips. When he pulled back, Canaan was shocked to see a blush on the alpha’s cheeks.

  Duncan cleared his throat and stood. “Well, I see some of the children running back this way. I’ll go.” He took a few steps and then turned around. “Why don’t I pick Joey up from the nursery and you meet us at my house? I have some sausage I want to make. We could have dinner together.”

  A smile stretching Canaan’s face. “Okay. See you then.” He watched Duncan stride away, an odd feeling fluttering in his chest.

  ****

  The rest of the school day flew by. Canaan stopped at his house to take a quick shower and change before heading to Duncan’s. He hoped whoever was at the nursery had remembered to send the stroller he’d dug out of the storage house with Duncan and Joey. And Joey’s blanket, although Canaan doubted Joey would allow anyone to forget that. He loved the blanket and often slept with the corner in his mouth.

  It had started to snow while Canaan had been cleaning up, and it drifted from the sky in big flakes that landed in Canaan’s hair as he walked, cold air gripping at Canaan’s lungs with every breath. A bright moon hung over the compound, nearly full. Canaan couldn’t wait to run under it in his wolf form again. Running with Duncan felt amazing in a way he never would have imagined. It felt like the alpha owned him, and Canaan relished it.

  He passed the partially frozen lake, water still with an occasional plop of a fish disturbing its surface, and started up the hill to Duncan’s house. A light shown in the window, and a serene feeling stole over Canaan when saw Duncan’s shadow move past. The feeling increased when the delicious smell of sausage cooking greeted him as he opened the door and stepped inside.

  Canaan bit his lip to stop the laugh bubbling up when he saw Duncan moving about the kitchen with Joey tied to his chest by an apron. Joey’s fist was in his mouth and his dark head was pressed to Duncan as though listening to the alpha’s heartbeat. Two bright eyes latched onto Canaan, and Joey let out a squeal.

  Duncan turned, and the look on his face when he saw Canaan made the beta’s heart flip over.

  “Something smells wonderful,” Canaan somehow managed to say, caught in the glow of Duncan’s gaze.

  “I had some lentils, so I cooked them and added the sausage. Are you hungry?”

  Canaan nodded. He approached, smiling at Joey.

  “And did you have a nice time at the nursery today?”

  Joey’s face split into a grin, and he kicked his legs.

  “Who’s got you?” Canaan asked.

  When Joey took his hand from his drooling mouth and said clearly, “Dada!” Duncan stilled like he’d been frozen shot, and Canaan’s mouth fell open. His eyes met Duncan’s and he wasn’t sure what he saw there.

  “Well,” Canaan finally said, “I think that was his first word.” He took the spoon from Duncan’s hand and stirred the beans on the stove. He heard Duncan clear his throat behin
d him followed by the alpha’s footsteps walking out of the room. Canaan wondered if what had happened had freaked him out. Turning down the heat on the stove, he walked into the living room where Duncan sat on the couch, hands behind his back trying to untie the apron.

  “Here, let me.” Canaan pulled the ties, loosening the material’s hold on Joey, who squealed and bounced on Duncan’s lap. Canaan wasn’t sure what to say. Had the baby calling Duncan Dada slapped the alpha in the face with the fact that they’d virtually been playing house together since Joey had arrived? Did it make him want to run as far away as possible?

  Heart in his throat, Canaan waited for the alpha to speak, telling himself not to let the tears come until after he was out the door with Joey and on his way home.

  “He’s very smart,” Duncan said, and Canaan’s eyes snapped from the baby to the alpha’s face.

  “Yeah?”

  “Obviously,” Duncan huffed. “Here, you take him while I wash my hands and wipe the drool off my sweater.”

  “He’s teething,” Canaan said softly, lifting Joey from Duncan’s lap. “That’s why he’s drooling.”

  Duncan left for the bathroom, and Canaan sat stunned, Joey plucking at his shirt and babbling. Duncan was okay with it. What did that mean?

  By the time Duncan returned, Canaan had pulled himself together and put Joey in the highchair Duncan had had made for the baby when he couldn’t find another one in the storage house. Another sign of acceptance. A thrill scrambled up Canaan’s spine, hope rising in his chest. As he stirred the lentil soup, glancing up at Duncan as he came in wearing a navy shirt that made his skin glow warmly in the dim light of the kerosene lamps, he imagined what it would be like to have Duncan approach and kiss him on the cheek before crossing to Joey to play with the baby.

  That didn’t happen, but Duncan did smile slightly at Canaan as he sat at the table beside the baby. Canaan brought him a bowl of soup along with a generous portion of bread. He almost fainted when he spotted the set of children’s dishes in the cabinet. Taking one down with a shaking hand, Canaan spread lentils and tiny pieces of sausage on it and blew on them to cool them before setting the plate in front of the baby.

  Taking the chair on the other side of Joey, Canaan handed the baby a teaspoon, which Joey eagerly grabbed and waved in the air.

  Carefully, Canaan guided the baby’s hand to the plate to scoop up some food, feeling Duncan’s gaze on them.

  “Is he old enough to feed himself?” Duncan asked.

  “That’s what I’m finding out.”

  When the spoon got close to Joey’s mouth, the boy opened it, then gummed the bite with an odd look on his face.

  “Like it? Want more?” Canaan asked.

  “Mo!” Joey said, letting Canaan guide his hand again. Duncan began eating, and after Joey dropped the spoon and began feeding himself by hand, Canaan gave up and took up his own spoon.

  “This is good,” he said after a couple of bites. “You’re a good cook.”

  “Lots of practice,” Duncan said. “I’ve had to feed myself a long time. I’ve never been one to like to eat with a crowd, so I avoid the dining hall.”

  But you go with me, Canaan thought with pleasure, the bubbling feeling that had set up in his gut when he’d spotted the dishes intensifying.

  “I’ve always been a bit of a loner myself, although when I was mated to Stone, I had Henry, Gaston, Justin, and the kids.” Had he imagined Duncan tensing up at the mention of Stone? “And Stone himself, of course.”

  “Tell me about him,” Duncan surprised Canaan by saying.

  Canaan wrinkled his nose. “He was awful. I shouldn’t have mated with him, but…I don’t know. I just did. And when the others came along, they made it better.”

  “Did he hurt you?” Duncan asked, voice a low rumble.

  “No. But he did Justin. And there was nothing Henry, Gaston, or I could do about it.” He shuddered. “I hate myself for that. I should have gone to River. I don’t know, I just never realized it was an option.”

  Duncan grunted, which might have meant anything, but Canaan thought this time it meant “I’m sorry you had to go through that.” Canaan realized he was learning to speak to Duncan, which made him smile.

  When they’d finished dinner, Duncan suggested Joey have a bath. The boy was smeared with lentils, but Canaan had made sure Joey had gotten a good amount into his mouth too.

  As Canaan bathed Joey in the tub, the boy splashed him so much Canaan had to take off his shirt. Soon his pants came off, too, and finally, as he tried to keep a grip on the wet, wriggling child, he decided he might as well take a bath with the baby. When Duncan walked in some time later, Joey was sitting on Canaan’s chest, rubbing the soapy wash cloth over the beta’s neck as Canaan had recently done to him.

  Duncan’s laugh filled the bathroom, and when Canaan looked up at the rare sound, Joey took the cup Canaan had been using to wash the boy’s hair and dumped it over Canaan’s head. Duncan laughed harder before pickup up a towel from the counter and plucking the boy from the tub.

  “Glad we amuse you,” Canaan said as he wiped water from his eyes and unstopped the tub. By the time he was dry, Duncan had Joey diapered. The job wasn’t expert, but it would do. Canaan didn’t want to discourage the alpha in any way when he was making such an effort with the baby.

  Canaan had a few items of clothing he’d started keeping at Duncan’s, and when he couldn’t find them, he called out to the alpha to ask where they were.

  “Second dresser drawer,” Duncan said, preoccupied with playing with Joey.

  Canaan nearly lost it then. Duncan had made a drawer for his clothes. He pulled on sweat pants and a T-shirt with shaking hands.

  “I guess we should head home,” he said reluctantly. He didn’t want to leave the warmth of the house and the wonderful, domestic feel of the evening.

  “Stay here,” Duncan said, lifting Joey in the air and buzzing him around like an airplane while the baby belly laughed.

  Canaan hid his smile as he nodded. “Okay.”

  He got another surprise when he saw the alpha had set up a crib in the spare room. The bubbling feeling inside him rose to the top, and when Duncan sat in the chair and fed Joey his bottle of milk, Canaan had to leave the room for a moment to gather his wits.

  He spent that time putting away leftovers from dinner, cleaning the high chair, table, and counters, and washing the dishes. He startled when arms came around him, a warm presence covering his back.

  “What are you doing to me?” Duncan whispered huskily in Canaan’s ear, and the bubbles in Canaan’s chest overflowed in the form of tears. Turning around, he buried his face in the alpha’s broad chest and cried.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Duncan

  Duncan held Canaan while the beta sobbed into his shirt, clutching at the alpha like Duncan was the only thing supporting him. He’d never seen Canaan cry like this before. The man was incredibly proud and strong, and as Duncan comforted him, something in the alpha’s chest dislodged and fell away. Ice, maybe, he thought with bemusement. He’d gone a long time without feeling much of anything except annoyance,and tonight his heart had expanded out of its cage, and it hadn’t even hurt. On the contrary, releasing whatever had been holding him back had felt wonderful. He’d rocked Joey with his bottle, the baby playing with the alpha’s beard as he fell asleep, and when Duncan had lain the boy in his crib and gone looking for Canaan, he’d found the beta doing the dishes wearing Duncan’s apron. Such simple things in Duncan’s house had made it feel like a home, and he’d been glad he’d given into the whim of having a highchair, crib, and children’s dishes made for Joey. A sense of ownership and protectiveness had overwhelmed him.

  He pulled his lover closer, rubbing the beta’s back as his tears abated. Pressing a kiss to Canaan’s head, Duncan guided him out of the kitchen, down the hall to his bedroom. Canaan’s face was red and blotchy, and his eyes swollen from crying. He wouldn’t meet Duncan’s gaze as the alpha undress
ed him and nudged him into bed, but Duncan felt Canaan watching him as he took off his own clothes and crawled in beside Canaan.

  They lay on their sides, facing one another.

  “Feel better?” Duncan finally asked.

  Canaan snorted a choked laugh. “I guess.”

  Duncan reached for Canaan’s hand. “It felt good to let it out. A release, right? Like one of my spankings.”

  Canaan’s green eyes met his then. “Yeah.” He smiled crookedly, and Duncan couldn’t help himself—he kissed Canaan, softly at first, a brush of the lips, and then deeper, commanding. Guiding Canaan onto his back, Duncan covered the beta with his body, loving the way the beta’s hands trembled as they ran from Duncan’s hips up the sides of his back to his shoulders. They didn’t speak anymore, only kissed, and when Canaan opened his legs, Duncan slid home, rocking his hips in slow, smooth strokes that ignited a fire within him.

  This felt different from the other times they’d had sex, and behind the pleasure, Duncan struggled to understand it until all thought slipped away and he gave himself over to their love-making.

  Lying with Canaan resting against his chest some time later, Duncan replayed the thought. Love-making. That was what it had been. Sex between them had always been passionate, but this had been…more. The emotions that had built up that night had entered the bedroom with them and made everything slower, deeper, more meaningful. He withheld a sigh, realizing that, against his better judgment and all his proclamations of the past, he’d gone and fallen for someone. And that meant he wanted to claim him completely. Would Canaan want that too? Or was the beta still just having fun with him the way they’d started out? Had Duncan only imagined the times he’d thought the beta wanted more?

  He ran his hand over Canaan’s smooth back, down the dip of his waist and over his buttocks. Canaan sighed in his sleep and nuzzled under Duncan’s arm, face tucked into the alpha’s armpit where Duncan’s alpha scent was strong. Duncan suppressed a growl at the protective feelings welling up inside him. Turning his head on the pillow, he looked at Canaan, the sharp edges of his jawline and nose, the long lashes on his flushed cheeks, the swell of his lips, and knew he would do anything to keep Canaan safe. And Joey, too.