Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

N oah hadn’t slept a wink.

As he went to make himself a bleary-eyed coffee, his wonderful memories of last night with Harper were marred by one big problem.

Dina.

He was not going to let this whole issue with Dina ruin what he had with Harper. Now he knew Harper returned his feelings, he had to sort it out once and for all.

He cursed himself for not doing so the moment he got home from his trip. But the need to find Harper and put things right between them, and then this amazing twenty-four hour whirlwind… even now, his cock perked up at the memory of their beautiful make-out session. The craziness and the speed of it—well, it had knocked the whole Dina baby issue out of the picture, hadn’t it?

But now he needed to fix it.

Grimly, he drank his steaming coffee and stared out at the steel grey sky. It would probably snow again soon, and this time he was going out prepared for the worst.

Half an hour later, jacketed up and wearing an equally thick scarf, Noah hopped off the deck of his boat and made his way toward East Motham.

The building he arrived at looked like a reform school. It was red brick, with grim metal wire fencing around the perimeter. One wall of the building was covered in a mural that was supposed to make it look more upbeat. There was no barbed wire—it wasn’t a prison after all—but it had barracks-like quarters and a quadrangle at the front with a basketball post. To the side of that were some straggly raised garden beds.

Despite him paying good coin for Wyatt to be here, it wasn’t the best-looking place. But still, it was better than prison.

When he walked into reception, there were more brightly painted walls and a Christmas tree in one corner. At the desk, an efficient-looking middle-aged orc with her hair in the traditional braided style looked up at him enquiringly.

“I’m here to see Wyatt Shortwater.”

“It’s not actually visiting hours.”

“It’s urgent. I’m his brother.”

The orc smiled pleasantly enough. “Guess we can make an exception—we try not to be too rigid around rules. He’ll probably still be in the canteen having breakfast.” She stood up and pointed. “That way and round to the left. Just follow the smell of eggs and bacon.”

Noah thanked her and followed his nose.

Wyatt was sitting with a group of other guys in the canteen. He’d lost weight, Noah noticed. He looked fitter, and his hair was shorter. In the two months since he’d been gone, his baby brother’s appearance had definitely improved.

Wyatt was handsome, there was no denying it, the kind of baby-faced good looks that had always gotten him plenty of dates—including Harper, of course—until he started drinking too much and whacked on pounds of blubber. That was an issue for selkies, unless they kept physically active and minded what they put in their mouths.

Noah advanced and saw his brother laughing and chatting with the other species at his table, and a twist of memory came back to him, of the two of them when he was twelve and Wyatt eight. They were playing together on the rocks past Motham Bay, diving and laughing as they caught fish with their bare hands.

And then he recalled how later, when Dad left, Wyatt had stopped laughing. And how trying to keep his teenage brother away from drugs and alcohol and too much partying… well, yeah, he’d failed, hadn’t he? It had all been too much along with having to get a job to keep his mom afloat.

He’d not had enough time to keep Wyatt out of trouble as well.

Wyatt looked up suddenly. Seeing Noah, his face spread into the same lopsided grin as his brother’s, a Shortwater trait.

“Hey big bro, what are you doing here?”

He scraped back his chair and, to Noah’s surprise, strode over and gave him a hearty slap on the back.

Noah got over his surprise enough to return it.

“We need to talk.”

Wyatt looked at him and huffed a sigh. “Yeah, I guess we do.”

“Can we go somewhere quieter?”

“Sure, the therapy rooms will be free this time of morning.”

After excusing himself from the assembled monsters, Wyatt ambled out of the canteen and down the corridor, past reception and along another long corridor with doors leading off it. Noah followed.

“Art room in there.” He pointed as they passed. “Woodwork in there. And that’s the gym. I work out every day before breakfast, and most evenings.”

“I can tell, you’re looking a lot fitter.”

“Yeah, I’m feeling… good.”

They entered one of the therapy rooms, and Wyatt closed the door and flung himself into an easy chair. On the wall was a big poster with an orc standing atop a rocky outcrop, flexing his biceps. The words, “Be the Best Version of Yourself” were printed across the top.

Noah took a deep breath. “The night before I went to sea, Dina came and told me she was pregnant. Told me it’s yours.”

Wyatt looked at his fists in his lap. “Yeah, right.”

“Said she didn’t know what to do. Made me promise not to tell anyone until she’d worked out whether to keep the baby, and make a go of it with you. I just got back yesterday, and I need to know, what’s going on mate?”

Wyatt looked up and beamed. “We’ve decided to tie the knot.”

Noah blinked—he hadn’t expected to hear that.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, we love each other, mate. Real deal.”

“So that night I found you together, that wasn’t just a casual fling?”

Wyatt shook his head. “No, it started before that. And hasn’t stopped since.”

Walking onto Wyatt’s boat and finding Wyatt balls deep inside Dina was something Noah had preferred not to think about. He’d hoped maybe it would just go away. That it was a one-off. Because really, Wyatt was trouble, and so was Dina. And together… Gods, he’d barely dared imagine.

“I’m besotted with her, I really am,” Wyatt said, then looked suddenly sheepish. “You know my fucked-up bank robbery attempt?”

“Yeah.”

“I wanted to get some money to help Dina out. She’s planning to open her own beauty salon, and I wanted to, you know… give her a head start.”

“Fuck, Wyatt, have you got rocks in your head?” Noah palmed his forehead.

Wyatt gave a rueful smirk. “I think it was more a tank full of grog in my belly, to be honest. Therapy’s helping me to see that. Drinking’s out from now on.”

“Really?” Gods, Noah sure hoped so.

“I’ve joined AA. I don’t want to end up like Dad. And I need to step up now that I’m going to be a father myself.”

“Yes, you do. You really do, Wyatt,” Noah said. “Have you told Mom?”

“I was waiting for you to come home.”

Noah shook his head. “I’m not playing the go-between anymore. You need to speak to her yourself.”

Wyatt bit his lip, but instead of arcing up, he nodded and said quietly, “Yeah, you’re right. You think Mom will be okay with it?”

“She’ll be over the moon to be a grandma,” Noah reassured him. “And how is Dina and the pregnancy going?”

Wyatt’s face spread into a grin. “It’s all going great. She comes in to see me every day. And bub’s kicking. It’s magic mate, feeling that little foot sticking out of her tummy. I reckon I felt his tail the other day.”

“His?”

‘It’s a boy. We decided to find out.” Wyatt was looking so chuffed, Noah couldn’t help feeling happy for him, despite all the hurdles ahead.

Wyatt continued. “Another four months here, and they’ve got a job lined up when I leave, working on the docks in one of the big warehouses. If I play my cards right, I could be a supervisor in a few years. I’ll be selling my boat, too. Can’t bring up bub on a boat.”

“I could help you repair it, get it ready for sale. It’ll probably fetch good coin with a bit of work done.”

Wyatt’s face brightened. “Would you?”

“Sure.” Noah grinned. “Remember when we were kids, and we painted that old rowing boat and took it down the river?”

That started them reminiscing about the good times. There had been plenty, Noah realized, when he cast his mind back.

They chatted for a while, and Wyatt showed him the cradle he’d been making in the woodwork room, then Noah made to leave. But in the yard, he hesitated. It was time to fess up to his own piece of news.

He held his breath. Wyatt had taken a while to get over Harper, but hopefully now… if he truly had feelings for Dina.

“I need to tell you mate, I’m thinking of asking Harper out.”

Wyatt cocked his head. “Well, that’s no surprise, you two have been eye-fucking each other for years.”

“Eye-fucking?”

“Yeah, you know, you’d fuck each other with your eyes all the time. Man, it made me so mad when I was with Harper—I always knew she really wanted you, not me. And then after we split, I guess I got in the way a bit, didn’t I, with all my shenanigans.”

“Yep. I guess.”

“I was dead jealous. Not only because Harper’s a great girl, but… ah fuck, I’ve always been jealous of you, Noah. You’re cleverer and brighter and an all-round better person.”

“Ah, bullshit, that’s not true.” Hell, Wyatt could read, for starters.

“Anyway, whatever. You’ve got my blessing. I know I’m with the right woman now. Me and Dina just get each other. We were soul mates the whole time, and we couldn’t even see what was right in front of us. Funny how things end up.”

His heart suddenly lighter, Noah put his arms round his brother’s shoulders and gave him a big slap on the back.

“I’ll see you on Christmas Day, then,” Wyatt said. “We get a whole day leave pass.”

Noah nodded. “Great, we’ll have Christmas lunch on my boat. Bring Dina.”

Wyatt’s face lit up. “That’ll be legit fantastic. I’ll call Mom and tell her today.”

“Cool, mate. And you know I support you with this, right?”

The two selkies gripped hands and looked steadily into each other’s eyes.

“And Noah, good luck with Harper. She’s the perfect woman for you.”

“I know.”

As Noah left, he realized that in their own ways, both he and Wyatt had gotten it wrong. Noah had always been the good selkie, Wyatt the bad selkie.

They needed to redress the balance. Not that Noah would ever be able to behave badly. He had too much of a conscience.

Except…

He recalled what a bad selkie he’d been last night with Harper. The wicked dirty words he’d gritted out as she came apart spectacularly for his mouth, his thrusting fingers.

Noah grinned, adjusting his pants, which were suddenly getting hellish tight.

Yeah, he’d been a bad selkie last night.

And he intended to be again. Very soon.