The Professor's Second Chance Mate

Chapter 26a

“You can cook?” I was sitting at Kelton’s breakfast bar watching him work. Watching his body move as he worked, more precisely. My mouth drying up at the sight.

Thank you, Selena, Goddess of the moon, for this spectacular gift. I am forever in your debt.

“You’re surprised? You wound me, darling.” He fake clutched his heart. Yet the broad smile of Kelton’s face and the teasing wink he shot me, told me that he was not offended. Instinctively, I bit my lower lip to contain my own giddy grin. Would I ever not blush ridiculously in front of this man? Hot damn, he was handsome!

I can’t believe this is Alpha Gileson. The Alpha Gileson, a reputation for swift, brutal justice. Never would I have expected to meet him, let alone be mated to him. Nor did I expect him to be so perfect.

And sinfully hot.

And all mine.

“How did you have time to learn to cook? As an alpha and a single father I would have thought… I mean, my dad never cooks. Nor does my mom actually. We have staff for that.” I adopted a snotty sounding voice for that last sentence, much to my lover's amusement.

“When the twins were little, after a long day of pack business, I’d go home to them. We didn’t always have a lot of time together and I was usually tired and stressed, though I tried to hide that from them. I always did my best to make sure I built in time for them and their pudgy, happy little smiles always gave me an energy boost. From day one, I insisted on dinners together at least three times a week. We had to eat with the pack too on some nights but I felt like we needed that normal family dinner thing with just us sometimes too. I needed them to know I was there for them. Anyway, as a young alpha I did not know the first thing about cooking.”

Resting my chin in my hands I listened with rapt attention while he worked and shared his story with me. Eying his muscles with unbidden hunger as they bunched and stretched with each movement.

“Moira came to stay with me for a while when the twins' mother died. She told me to microwave eggs to boil them. I did. The damn things exploded. Which she thought was hilarious. At first I was furious with her. I was at my absolute wits end trying to hold everything together and retain my sanity. It seemed impossible. I had to be there for the whole pack, to protect them, to help them, despite being a grieving single father to rambunctious twin terrors.

“Really, I should have known better than to trust a vampire’s cooking advice. She rarely eats real food. What the heck does she know about cooking? Eventually, after yelling, and whining, and sobbing for a bit, I found myself laughing with her. The kind of belly deep ridiculous laughing that makes your abdominals hurt.

“That was the first time I’d laughed since Darla got pregnant. I was only seventeen. She was nineteen. And one stupid night of alcohol-fueled fooling around changed my entire life. She got pregnant and I was angry, at Darla and mostly at myself. I planned to wait for my mate and the whole pack knew that. I wanted my true Luna beside me when I took over from my parents. I felt like that one night, one mistake, one moment had ruined my life. I’d never get my mate. I’d never be the Alpha I wanted to be. I’d never love Darla like she wanted me to. I even worried that I wouldn’t love the child we conceived, that I’d hold him or her accountable for my stupidity. I didn’t need to worry about that, the second I first felt my baby kick I knew I’d love him or her more than life itself. Imagine my surprise when the ultrasound showed two of them. I damn near had a heart attack.

“You know how the Grinch said his heart grew three sizes? That’s exactly how I felt that day, like my heart expanded to make room for all the love I needed to give them. Not just my babies but Darla too. It may have been an unplanned pregnancy that forced us together but I realized it wasn’t her fault. Accidents happen. I also never again thought of the pregnancy as a mistake. I tried my best to put aside my own feelings and think about it from her perspective too. She loved me, so she said, but she didn’t want babies that young. She wanted to travel and had dreamed of being a wildlife photographer. I had to remind myself it wasn’t just me who’s future had suddenly changed, hers had too. I was always going to be the Alpha and serve my pack, I was always going to have kids but didn’t plan on it with anyone but my mate, nor did I think I’d be a child myself when I had them. So if anything, Darla’s dreams were crushed more than mine. So people argued that she’d trapped me, but I don’t think she did. She hadn’t seen herself tied to a mate or a pack or to children, especially not then. Neither of us, even before we heard the heartbeats and saw their strange little shapes in the ultrasound monitor, had any intention of having an abortion. Though I did tell her that if she wanted she could leave them with me and still pursue her dreams. She wasn’t happy with that suggestion, but I thought she deserved the choice.

“It was weird at first. We weren’t close before we got pregnant. The whole situation was awkward. We were together for the children and for duty and responsibilities, not for love. But I did my best to do what I could for her and to respect her. We’d both agreed to commit to each other and I was going to be the best father and mate I could. We built a friendship and we worked well together but I think if we’d stayed together we both would have always felt like something, somewhere, was missing. Anyway, not long after the twins were born we were attacked. You know what happened then.”

I vaguely knew. I knew the basic facts. I’d heard stories. Those stories were the basis for that reputation. I also noted that he said “we got pregnant,” not “she.” I appreciated the distinction. It takes two to tango and all that. That said a lot about his character.

“After I lost my parents and Darla, I was even more determined to be everything I could be for my kids. They lost their mother and their grandparents, suddenly I felt like Atlas with the weight of the whole world on my shoulders. The kids, the pack, my grief, the guilt that Darla didn’t get a real mate before she died or the life she wanted, the sadness that my kids would miss out the best grandparents in the world, hope that I had the chance to meet my fated mate, more guilt, plus my crushing need for vengeance… all while trying to be strong for everyone else.

“So when that damned egg exploded, it felt like something inside me exploded too. I was angry, then overwhelmed. I slumped on the floor and sobbed to Moira. I honestly wasn’t sure I could do it. How could I manage all of that alone? I was only eighteen. I thought I had years to figure it all out.

“Moira told me I could do anything and flicked an egg shell at me. I started laughing. A pack member took the twins to feed them that night while Moira and I talked. Though, I never again took cooking advice from my sister, the other things she said that day really helped. I didn’t get to see her often, but she always said the most interesting things in the most unexpected ways. She knew you were my mate the second she walked in on us in the classroom the first day we met.

My mind went back to that day and I imagined all the things she saw on my glass face that day: arousal, fear, jealousy when she walked in, annoyance at his dismissal.