12. Chapter Twelve

Striding into the sheriff’s office after my talk with Jamie, I had a cup of coffee from The Sweet Spot in one hand and the file folder Jamie had given me on Wyatt tucked under my arm. Coffee in the afternoon probably wasn’t my best life decision, but I had earned it. And I needed the caffeine pick-me-up before I headed back to the hospital for the night.

Finn had said Wyatt shouldn’t have the baby in his room tonight so he could get some rest, and while I didn’t disagree with the doctor, Wyatt’s crestfallen expression hadn’t escaped my notice. No one had said I couldn’t camp out in Wyatt’s room and take care of the baby for the night. It seemed important for Wyatt to at least have her close, even if I was doing the diapers and feedings. Alphas stayed with their omegas all the time in the birthing rooms.

I was sure Wyatt was going to pitch a fit about my presence, but I didn’t care.

I had barely made it through the glass and wood door of the building before I heard the unmistakable sounds of clapping. Jen, our receptionist/dispatcher/admin/kept-the-office-running person stood at her desk, clapping loudly and grinning broadly. Likewise, my three deputies that were currently in the office were doing the same.

Mike Randall, a deputy of ten years who had run against me when the previous sheriff had finally retired, clapped me on my shoulder. I had thought it might be awkward for him, working under me when he had lost, but he had calmly told me he hadn’t really wanted the job and was thankful when someone else had tossed their hat in the ring. His rotund belly stretched the buttons of his shirt, while his blue eyes twinkled. “My omega is due in a month. Can I save on the hospital bills and just call you, Becks?”

“Fuck you,” I grinned widely at him good naturedly, before catching myself and schooling my face back into my usual ‘fuck around and find out’ countenance. Dammit.

“Holy shit, the boss has dimples!” Steve Long, our youngest deputy, pointed out to the room, sounding stunned by this development.

“Forget the dimples,” Jen chuckled, “I’m disappointed he’s wearing a shirt. I don’t know what’s getting talked about more, Becks delivering a baby on the side of the road or his abs. I wanted to judge for myself if they lived up to all the hype buzzing around town.”

Rolling my eyes at them all, I continued towards my office, calling over my shoulder cheekily, “Oh, they live up to the hype, believe me.”

“Damn shifters and their muscles,” Mike muttered, and I saw him poking at his very human stomach before I shut my office door on all their laughing faces.

Sighing, I sank gratefully into my comfortable chair, taking a much-needed sip of my cinnamon latte. I had always lived on black coffee, but then I discovered The Sweet Spot and my world had been changed. The bakery/coffee shop was owned by Jamie’s brother-in-law, Quinn. It had taken one whiff of the cinnamon cup of heaven to make me a convert for life. Now black coffee just seemed so blah.

Running a hand over my stubbled jaw that could do with a trim, I flipped open the file Jamie had put together on Wyatt and started reading.

Well…Goddess, I’m not sure what I had expected to find but it wasn’t even close to what I was seeing.

My little sub was a certified genius. He graduated high school at age eleven, and college at age fourteen. And not just any college, but fucking M.I.T. He held more degrees than I had wall space for. Electrical Engineer, Computer Science, Physics. He’d then gone to Harvard, and I felt a touch of pride since that was my alma mater. While I’d gotten my law degree, Wyatt had gotten degrees in Philosophy, Psychology, and surprisingly, Early Child Development. The list of degrees was long enough to make my head spin.

He had served on several top-secret military defense programs, taught as a professor of what was considered the hardest class on the campus, Math 55–a class I had scraped by passing by the skin of my teeth–and had his hand in developing several apps that had ended up making him a shit ton of money.

One of which was the kink app, Taboo, that we had hooked up on. He was listed as a designer, but Jamie had dug deeper and found out he was a silent partner of the app. Like the info on the top-secret projects, I wasn’t surprised Jamie had found that piece of information out.

What had surprised me was that Wyatt hadn’t used his power and authority on the app to find out my true identity and track me down. For a second or two, my overactive, skeptical, see-the-worst-in-people mind toyed with the idea that he had tracked me down. That his being in Sweet Alps was his way of inserting himself into my life.

But just as quickly as the thought formed, I knew that wasn’t the case at all. Wyatt had been just as surprised to see me this morning as I was to see him. He hadn’t been faking his shock and he hadn’t been faking the fact that he truly didn’t know my name. Years of experience and training had taught me that.

No, I had deleted my profile and Wyatt hadn’t bothered, or felt the need, to dig around for my contact information. That fact should have made me feel happier than it did. Instead, I felt a small ache in the middle of my chest, and maybe a touch of…sadness? Goddess, I needed to figure my feelings the fuck out.

Instead of dealing with my feelings, I went back to reading.

For the last two years, Wyatt had been in New York, teaching psychology at Columbia University while also dabbling in different scientific projects. The lists of papers and college level textbooks he had authored, or co-authored, was almost as long as his list of degrees.

And he was only twenty-fucking-four years old. Fuck, I considered myself a fairly intelligent person, but I hadn’t accomplished a tenth of what Wyatt had and I was twice his age.

“But when did you stop to have any fun, Wyatt?” I asked out loud, taking another sip of my coffee. He’d been in academia his entire life. He’d been twelve years old and in college. Living in the dorms. Away from his parents, with kids much older than him. Most of them considered legal adults. “And who the fuck was taking care of you?”

Fucking hell, anything could have happened to him. What the fuck had his parents been thinking? I knew better than most just how ugly and depraved people in the world could be. I had seen it up close and personal and had spent years–along with Jamie–hunting down the worst of the worst and trying to stop them. By any means possible.

Leaning back in my chair, I stretched, popping my back. Jamie’s oldest son, Matty, was a genius, too. Jamie and his husband, Sebastian–Bash–had been struggling with what the best course would be for Matty, moving forward academically. No one liked the idea of him being in high school at such a young age. As Bash had pointed out, he wasn’t sure Matty was emotionally prepared for all the crap high school could throw at a kid.

Had Wyatt been prepared for high school? He was still a child, no matter the size of his I.Q. And entering college at the young age Wyatt had. The thought of him being pushed into a dorm room, away from his family, surrounded by kids much older than him, doing adult type things, didn’t sit well with me. Unexpected protectiveness for him welled up inside me, clogging my throat with the fierceness of it.

Matty was wicked, scary smart, but emotionally was he ready to be away from his family, living in a college dorm? The answer had always been a resounding no with Jamie and Bash. They’d been considering online college classes, with Matty arguing that he wanted to be somewhat normal and have real school experience, with friends and sports.

Wyatt could be a wealth of information and insights for Jamie and Bash, and maybe even help find a proper tutor that could keep up with Matty’s brain. Since Jamie had put this file together, I knew he had all this information, but I made a mental note to bring the subject up to him in the future.

Getting past all the academics, I moved to his personal information. Giraffe shifter. Only child of Jane and Robert Cooper. They were a wealthy family, who on paper appeared to keep a tight rein over their son. Jane had acted as Wyatt’s manager from a young age, fielding offers for his time and putting a price tag on her son’s intellect. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that either. It left me with an ick factor. Robert seemed to stay in the background and out of his alpha wifes way.

Months ago, Wyatt had started negotiations with Miss Rose when she had decided to sell her daycare business. Once the sale had gone through, he had finished up the current project he’d been working on, finished out the spring semester at Columbia, and resigned from his teaching position. He had bought a house here in town, closing just a couple of weeks ago, and for all intents and purposes, appeared to be planning to make a life for himself here in Sweet Alps.

Looking at the date he had first met with Miss Rose about purchasing the daycare, and the sale documents that had been drawn up, I inhaled sharply. It was just a couple of days after our meeting in the hotel room had taken place. About how much time it would take to drive from Dallas to Sweet Alps. It seemed Wyatt had already been on his way to Sweet Alps when we had both ended up in Dallas at the same time, using the app.

It still smelled like Fate had her hands in all of this though, damn her.

Why had I thought Fate would just let me walk away from my mate, and it would be that easy? Jamie was right. The Goddess might say you could walk away, but could you really? Maybe for a time, sometimes even years, but eventually She got her way, and true fated mates always found their way back to each other. And if they didn’t, She would give them a strong nudge until they did. From what I had seen of the friends I knew with fated mates, a baby seemed to be the quickest way She accomplished this.

Rubbing at the weird ache in my chest that flared again, I wondered what this overwhelming protective feeling I had for Wyatt was. And not just Wyatt. Julianna. I had held babies before, of course. Hell, the Sinclairs were reproducing at an alarming rate and it seemed like every time I blinked there was a new one. Babies and toddlers were always about, at any holiday or dinner they had that I was invited to.

But nothing, absolutely nothing, had ever felt the way holding Julianna in my arms had felt. Looking down into her red, wrinkly face for the first time had my heart stuttering.

She was mine, and the ferocious need to protect her had overwhelmed my senses.

Mate, my wolf huffed in what could only be annoyance. Protect.

Choosing to ignore him, I drained the last of my latte and tossed the cup in the trash. I wasn’t happy about how things had been left between Wyatt and I at the hospital. That weird ache I had in my chest spasmed again and I pushed my hand against the spot, like that was going to make it stop. I felt on edge, like something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

Picking up my phone, I shot off a text to Jamie.

Me:I think I’m having a heart attack.

Jamie:*eye roll emoji* Drama much? You’re not having a heart attack. Probably that double cheeseburger you inhaled at lunch.

Jamie was guessing that that had been what I’d eaten today, but it was my usual lunch four out of five days. Even at my age, my wolf and I still had a super-fast metabolism. It wasn’t like I didn’t work it off. I stayed in excellent shape and I knew it. And apparently, since I’d stripped my shirt off to take care of the afterbirth–something I could have happily lived the rest of my life without seeing–my abs were now the talk of the town. I was mortified by that thought and gleefully proud at the same time.

Me:I could be dying and you don’t even care.

Jamie:If you were actually dying, I would care a tiny bit. But you’re not. It’s most likely due to your fated mate being so close, and all those feelings that come along with that.

Me:What kinds of feelings?

Jamie:Like you need to protect them. See to their comfort. Feed them, make sure they have all they need. Think aftercare to the Nth degree. Factor in the pup you didn’t even know about and I imagine you’re in ultra-possessive/protective mode.

I twirled a pencil while I thought about what Jamie said. Was he correct? Was whatever I was feeling in direct correlation to Wyatt’s nearness?

Jamie:I know you don’t want to hear this, but I would bet that a small bond started the first time you two did the bow-chicka-bow-wow. Wyatt basically dropping in your lap–with your pup–has strengthened it. Set it into overdrive.

Fuck, I didn’t know enough about fated mates to know if that’s what was happening. Had we started a bond that night?

Me: I don’t know what to do. Every time I get near Wyatt, I get all growly and overbearing. I just start taking charge and giving orders, and acting like Wyatt is mine. I act like an alphahole. I hear myself, but I can’t seem to stop it. He is NOT a fan.

That was hard to admit, even to my best friend. I always, always knew what to do in any situation. And I never considered myself one of those alphahole’s wanting everything his way, but even I knew I was stepping over lines with Wyatt. Lines I would never dream of crossing with anyone else. But Wyatt was different, somehow. Though I hadn’t missed the hurt on his face either, earlier. And I didn’t blame him. He had every right to feel whatever he was feeling. He wasn’t the only one dealing with confusing emotions right now.

Mate. Mine. Pup. Ours. My wolf supplied, unhelpful as usual.

Jamie:*laughing emoji* Becks, buddy, pal. I hate to break this to you, but you are always growly. Maybe not possessive, but you growl, glower, glare–I could probably think of some more G words if I tried really hard.

Me:Please don’t.

Jamie:Look, you spent years in a job where you gave the orders and people just did what you said. And you expected them to obey you, no questions asked. You’re a Dom, like twenty-four seven, even when you aren’t in a scene with a partner. It’s just who you are. You don’t even realize you’re doing it half the time. And when you do try to intimidate people, you’re really fucking good at it. It’s just part of your charming personality.

Me:So how do I fix this? How do I make these feelings stop?

I watched those three little dots appear, then disappear, which wasn’t like Jamie at all. We were always honest with each other, and just said it like it was. He was the one person on earth I trusted would always tell me the truth, even if it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. No doubt, this would be no different.

Jamie:Do what an alpha does best with their mate and pup. Take care of them. See to their needs. Wyatt is in the hospital, probably with no clothes, nothing to even get the baby home in. Does he even have his phone? Where the fuck is his car? These are all things you could be helping with. While not looking like an overbearing dick doing it. Little things go a long way, trust me.

Fuck, I hadn’t thought of any of these things, which was so unlike me. My whole world felt off-kilter. Jamie was right. What the fuck was I even doing sitting in my office? I had an omega and pup at the hospital. That was where I needed to be. Even if Wyatt didn’t want me there.

Me:Why the fuck didn’t I think of any of this?

Jamie:You’ve had a day. And that’s why you have me. The bestest friend ever. I think it goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. If you need anything, all you have to do is send up the bat signal.

Me: Thanks, Jamie. I’m going to head to the hospital. After I swing by Wyatt’s and grab him some things he might need.

Jamie: Maybe pick him up a decent dinner while you’re at it. The hospital food isn’t great. Bash refused to touch it when we had Ronen. Unless Wyatt’s on some restrictive diet, which I doubt, it’s fine to bring food to him.

My mind whirling with plans, I stepped back into the main bullpen of the office.

“Jen, can you get me the info on what happened to Wyatt’s car?”

Without glancing up from her screen, she informed me, “Stan said to tell you it’s safe on the shoulder, locked up tight. They didn’t see a need to tow it and y’all having to deal with that. He also said to tell you that Miss Rose and Gigi took Wyatt’s keys, wallet, and phone before he locked it up. Said to tell you before you pitch a fit about those two ladies taking his stuff, and I’m quoting, ‘Those two scare me more than the devil himself, and if they want that guy’s keys and stuff, I’m not stopping them. Becks gets paid to deal with that kind of shit, so he can deal with it.’”

At that last part, she stopped typing, and turned her smiling gaze to me. No doubt waiting to see if I had any kind of rebuttal to Stan’s message. I did not, as I agreed with him about the two senior citizens in question.

“I’ll be at the hospital the rest of the day and tonight. I’ll be available if you absolutely need me, but try not to.” I was speaking to the room at large, and had all their attention.

Jen shook her head, “You’ll be on paternity leave for the next two weeks at least. I’ve already taken you off the schedule. Mike will fill in as acting sheriff, and no one–” she turned her sharp gaze to each of the men in the room, “–no one will bother you. You have a new pup to take care of. Congratulations, and get that fine butt of yours out of here. I don’t want to see it for a couple of weeks.”

Steve snorted and Mike bit his lip, trying to hold back his laughter.

“How did you–”

Jen cocked her head, “How did I know you have a new pup? Please. That news is making the rounds faster than those abs of yours. You’d better bring her by here and show her off.” She pointed a finger at me in warning, “Sooner rather than later.”

Wyatt would probably have something to say about when and how often I saw Julianna, but I didn’t bring that up. There was no need to go into our complicated history. Or lack of it. No one needed to know the true nature of our relationship. No doubt the gossip mill was already twittering about me having a secret omega and pup. Instead, I gave Jen a two fingered salute, ignored her teasing about my butt, and thanked my team profusely, before heading over to Wyatt’s new home address.

Taking Jamie’s advice, I figured a change of clothes and some food might go a long way in thawing the ice between Wyatt and me.