Beaufort Creek Shifters (10 book series)
Daddy’s Innocent Mate Chapter 17

Elias

I hadn't slept on the couch for a week since Geraldine.

It was fitting for the occasion to see my ex hanging out over the television. If I squinted at the portrait just right, I could see her smug smirk, that familiar sign of her silently conveying her rightness.

She was probably laughing at me from the other side right now. I had royally messed things up with Francine and I was trying not to swim in a pool of regret while also trying to get comfortable with sleeping on the couch. During my rolling fit, Archie had wandered out of his room and was standing in the shadows by the television.

I nearly jumped out of my skin. "Bud, you can't do that. You look creepy."

"Are you mad at Mommy?"

"No, I just " I stared at him quietly for a moment. "Did you just call Francine your mom?"

He shrank deeper into the shadows. I stretched my arm out, waiting patiently for him to join me on the couch. When we were snug in the cushions, he sighed into my side. "Yeah, I did. She said it's okay with her."

"Did she?" Betrayal surfaced. Remorse came with it. "Did she say anything about me?"

"She said she was upset because you two disagreed about something."

I took a slow breath. "Yeah, I lied to her about some things. I have to apologize about it later."

"Why later?"

"She's probably trying to sleep right now."

He hummed curiously. "Is she mad about the skydiving?"

"Yes, she's mad about that."

"Then why did you do it?"

My kid was too sharp and too intuitive to take a lie. It was best to be straight with him, so he didn't get upset like Fran. "I love adventure stuff. I want to keep doing it."

"But it makes us worry about you."

I frowned. "You get worried?"

"All the time, Dad."

"I'm sorry, kiddo. I don't mean to make you worry. I'm trying to figure out what I can do that isn't too dangerous but still makes me feel alive."

He tapped his chin. "What about rock climbing?"

"I could probably stick to that."

"Can I do rock climbing too?"

I chuckled. "We could definitely do some indoor rock climbing. Maybe Francine can come with us too."

"I want her to do lots of stuff with us."

An alarm rang in the other room. Soon, Fran would be sidling out of bed looking like a million bucks while I hadn't slept a wink. Archie would need to go to school with her. The day was just beginning.

Yet I didn't know what to do. I had apologized to my son and patched things up easily with him. Couldn't I do that with Fran once she was awake?

But as soon as Fran appeared, I lost my ability to think straight. She distracted me all over again, making me lunge for the coffee machine like it was the blood keeping me alive. The moment I had enough coffee in my system, I raced out of the house, taking a brisk stroll toward Troy's home which wasn't too far away.

I kicked myself. Since when had I ever been concerned about what a woman thinks? It wasn't like Fran couldn't recover and find somewhere else to go. She had threatened to leave, and then she didn't leave. What made her stay? Did she pity me?

"My friend, why are you thinking so hard this early in the morning?" Troy teased, wandering into the living room. He was fully dressed and ready for the day. I was barely out of my sweats. "Let me guess. There's trouble in your home?"

Wendell appeared before I could say anything. Had he spent the night over here? A strained silence hung in the air as he wandered past and headed for the kitchen. Guilt crowded my chest and forced me to bow toward my knees. Damn it, now I had to apologize to him too. I'd told him things were fine with Fran. And I only did that because I knew he would have tried to stop me if I'd told him I was lying to my mate.

I tried to shake off the fact that I was referring to Francine as my mate again when my alpha touched my shoulder. Just a simple gesture of kindness helped quell the warring emotions inside me.

"Elias, you've always been stubborn," he joked lightly. "I know you're having trouble finding the middle ground. What can I do to help?"

I sighed. "I don't know. I don't think anyone could help me."

Troy gave me a sympathetic frown. "That's not true."

"It might be," Wendell piped up from the kitchen. "If he's lying, then it might be true."

Irritation slammed into my back. "You could be helpful, you know."

"I don't know much about mating, remember?"

The animosity of that retort told me he had a lot more going on in his brain than what I had done. Was something else bothering him? That would explain a lot of things.

Yet when I was preparing another response, Troy squeezed my shoulder. He smiled warmly and gestured toward the porch. "The sun always rises the next day, doesn't it?" "Yeah," I replied. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"It's a reliable cycle. We emulate those cycles more often than we think." His grin grew. "Which means we're subject to repeating situations from the past without even realizing it."

I hung my head. "I don't see where this is going."

"You used to lie to Geraldine all the time. You kept things from her because you were afraid of ruining your relationship. And while you attempted to avoid disaster, you begged it to do just what it would do."

The air left my lungs. My alpha was right. I had destroyed my relationship with Geraldine by doing the exact same things I was doing with Francine now. It was like I was helpless to repeat it.

Troy's smile eased but never disappeared. "If you lay everything out on the table with Francine, you can avoid turmoil. Just be honest with her, Elias. Even if that means telling her that you're not sure how you feel."

Wendell brought three mugs of coffee into the room. He set them on the table and sank into the chair across from us, averting his gaze from me.

I lifted my mug. "Thank you for the coffee."

Wendell grunted. That was the best I was going to get from him right now, wasn't it?

Troy patted my shoulder, lifted his coffee, and bowed his head. "I must check on my mate. I'll be back in a flash."

He wasn't going to be back. He was setting us up. I'd known Troy long enough to realize when he was doing something sneaky. While it wasn't nefarious, it still made me angry, and it felt like he was pushing me to do something I didn't want to do yet. Regardless, it was important. Wendell was owed an explanation and an apology. Our friendship depended on it.

"Wendy, listen," I started, but his glare made me clamp my mouth shut.

I turned away.

"No, you listen," he growled. "You made me complicit in your injuries. You turned me into a liar without even letting me choose. That's f****d."

Closing my eyes didn't help. I could still see his glowing eyes and feel the agitation pouring out of him like maple from a trunk.

He huffed with irritation. "I know you're sorry. I can feel it. But I'd much prefer you apologize to your mate and make it up to her."

I dared to look at him. "Do you mean that?"

"Yes," he whispered as he sat back. Some of the anger faded from his aura. "You only ever get one mate, Elias. Don't fuck this up. Don't drive her away." A faraway look spread over his features. "You might never get the chance again."

This wasn't the first time I'd seen that expression on his face. He spoke now as though from experience. Had he met his match and royally screwed it up like me?

"Wendy, what happened?" I asked as I leaned forward. "Can you tell me why you're in such a mood?"

"This isn't about me. It's about you." He stood abruptly with his mug and headed for the porch. "I suggest you go and sort this out before there's nothing left to sort."

The porch door slid into place. A giggle echoed from the back room.

That was my cue to leave. I took the mug with me, trudging back toward my house where I hoped Fran and Archie had left early. I needed more time to think about what to do. With Fran, I knew an apology wouldn't be enough. My apologies were empty at this point. If I was going to prove my worth, I had to do something big, something that would knock her right out of the park.

A smile crossed my lips when I reached my house. There was one thing I could do to show her my dedication. And it all started with that wad of cash I had stashed in my closet.