Watch Me (Shift MC #2)

Prologue

Clark “Fin” Finley

Six Months Ago…

Getting mauled by a bear should come with a warning: not recommended over the age of forty. Though if there was a right age, I didn’t want to hear about it. At forty-eight, I knew I was getting too old to be leading battles against bigger shifters, but I didn’t have a choice.

When the bears from across the lake came for one of our omegas, David King, my best friend from childhood and rightful Alpha of the King pack, should have led the charge.

It should have been David who protected his son in the fight.

Instead, it was me and a young beta wolf, and I was the one injured.

He also should have been there to see Fowler come home and find his mate, to take his place as Alpha.

But I’d lost David long before he died.

Laying in my bed and staring at the old, white, popcorn ceiling above me while I healed gave me a lot of time to contemplate mistakes in my life. I still wasn’t sure loving David had been one of them.

My best friend found his mate in high school, and Amy was perfect for David. They complimented each other so well in their marriage, and they made me want to be a parent.

Bringing Rowan into my life solo, when he was six and I was still single at twenty-seven, wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t know a social worker who happened to be a shifter.

When Valerie introduced me to my son, he asked if I was like Superman because of my first name, Clark.

I told him I was. My tall stature and dark hair had probably helped the image in his mind.

I promised myself I’d be there for him like his parents and foster families hadn’t.

Rowan still called me Superman instead of Dad most of the time, but I didn’t mind. I had someone who I could love unconditionally and he loved me right back. He became my ride or die, and everything else could wait.

By the time Rowan graduated high school and went off to marine mechanic school, making me an empty-nester, David was lost to his grief and the bottle.

I regretted not being there for him more, but between fatherhood and running both the pack and the club when he couldn’t, our friendship fell to the wayside.

Plus there was Motorvated, the motorcycle shop we started together.

He rarely stayed sober enough to work more than a couple hours, so I had to pick up the slack.

In truth, I resented my friend for neglecting his pack and family. I was there for his children when he wasn’t. David didn’t even show up to his son’s high school graduation, having rejected him for being trans.

My bitterness festered until a few years ago when David was diagnosed with liver disease and he finally apologized for all the harm he’d caused while wasting his life away.

We’d reconciled, and David thanked me for all the help I’d given to the pack.

I felt like my greatest accomplishment was getting David to understand his own child in the end.

Fowler got the letter too late to say goodbye, but he’d come home. I didn’t have to be the Alpha in charge anymore. For all I knew, Fowler would take over the shop and pack immediately.

Where did that leave me?

My entire life had been spent chasing David King around, then being a single father and taking care of the pack. My son was almost twenty-seven himself. He didn’t need me anymore.

Everything I thought I knew, everything I worked for decades to build, felt like it was crumbling around me.

What was my purpose?

Groaning at my existential dramatics, I covered my face, rubbing at the stubble there. It had been a day since I was injured, and mostly healed while shifted, but I felt a twinge in my ribs at the motion.

“Quit moving around,” the masculine voice I thought I’d dreamed commanded.

Fuck. He’s still here.

“You’re still here?” I mumbled, removing my hands from the blankets and opening one eye to find the shirtless and smirking friend of my son standing beside my bed.

Enrique Bravo Jr, or Ricky to his friends, was sexy and he knew it. And in no world should I have been thinking about him in that way.

He was shorter than my six-three frame by a head, but that didn’t stop him from radiating strength and confidence.

He’d honed his body through intense workouts for mixed martial arts fighting, and his Cuban heritage had his skin a golden tan under a dozen random tattoos.

He was clearly going commando under his loose basketball shorts, with a distinct bulge just below the low hem where he showed off an impressive V, bisected by a dark happy trail.

In short, Ricky was temptation personified for my repressed bisexual ass, but off-limits for a multitude of reasons.

“Where else would I be, old man?” Ricky asked, sitting on the edge of the bed

Growling and narrowing my eyes, I was reminded of the main reason. I was twenty years older than him, and had been friends with his father.

“You called me Alpha before I got injured,” I pointed out, annoyed by his teasing.

Grinning wider, Ricky ran a finger down my bare arm, making the hairs stand on end. “I can call you Alpha again, if you want?”

Darting my eyes to the ceiling and gritting my teeth, I was glad I had multiple layers of fabric between my twitching cock and his gaze. Rick didn’t need to know what calling me that title did to me. He stopped touching me and I met his eyes again.

“Rowan dropped off some food. Are you hungry?” Ricky asked as if I couldn’t get up and feed myself. The reminder that he was friends with my son, and I had watched him grow up, was just the thing to temper my erection.

Letting out a sigh, I replied, “That was nice of him. He didn’t want to say hi?”

“Told him you were asleep.”

“Why’d you do that?”

Frowning, I tried to sit up but Ricky pushed me back with surprising strength. He was a beta wolf, but he worked out more than most humans, so I should have expected it. He had helped me out of the woods after the fight with the bears.

“Because you were. And I know you,” Ricky told me, and I had the distinct impression he meant more than as a packmate. “You would have wanted to get up and show Rowan you were fine, and that won’t help you heal.”

Damn. Maybe he did know me. I would keep that to myself, though.

“You don’t know I’d do anything,” I argued, the scent of Ricky filling my lungs since he was still leaning over me with his hands on my shoulders.

The trip home after the fight was a blur, and then I’d been sleeping, so I hadn’t noticed it as much, but I couldn’t escape while he had me pinned to the bed. Ricky’s scent was smooth tobacco, with a sharp tang of bright citrus and heady spices.

Like the best kind of cigar, I shouldn’t inhale. I could almost taste him though, and rolled it around my tongue like I would an expensive whiskey.

Opening my eyes, I saw Ricky had gotten closer, his breath hot on my face as his eyes filled with lust. “Want a taste, Alpha?”

Yes!

My wolf had been dormant while I rested, but he was on board with what Ricky was offering. If I let my wolf have his way, Ricky would already be under me.

It didn’t change the years and web of relationships between us, though. “I—I can’t.”

Ricky tilted his head like a confused pup but didn’t lean away, “Can’t, or don’t want to? Because there’s a big difference between the two.”

Closing my eyes again, I didn’t stop him when he moved a hand from my shoulder to my chest, his rough fingers caressing my nipple to a peak. Biting back a moan, I tried again. “I shouldn’t.”

“Still not hearing a no, or I don’t want you,” Ricky pointed out, running his nose along mine as his hand delved under the comforter and along my stomach. “When I expected to hear you say: I’m straight.”

“I’m…” I let my voice trail off. I’d never outright claimed to be straight. Hell, I had hookup apps hidden on my phone for when I needed to scratch an itch in Napa or Santa Rosa. But I’d also never said my truth out loud. “Not straight,” came out of me before I registered what I was saying.

A weight I hadn’t known I was carrying lifted off my shoulders. I’d dated women, and enjoyed all bodies, but I gravitated more towards men. And now someone besides me knew a little bit about what I’d hidden for the first time.

Ricky stilled his hand an inch from my cock and I groaned. Brows high on his forehead, I could see I’d shocked the brat. Before, he had no clue his flirtations were anything more than an annoyance to me. I’d just given him ammunition. Now he knew that I wasn’t unaffected.

Ricky hovered his hand over my crotch and a shiver ran through me. His eyes met mine and I nodded, not even sure what I was agreeing to. “How about I have a taste and you lay back and enjoy, Alpha?”

“A taste?” I bit my lip as Ricky threw the blankets back and revealed my cock.

It bounced to attention and Ricky wasted no time bending to take me in his mouth.

“Holy shi-!” I hadn’t had a blowjob in a while, with my alpha cock and knot throwing some people off.

I usually only got head in a dark room after multiple drinks.

So it had been at least a year. Shit, no.

Maybe two or three years? When his lips met my hidden knot, I arched off the bed and felt it in my ribs.

“Fuck,” I shouted, a mixture of pleasure and pain shooting through me.

But Ricky was also right about my healing.

We shouldn't be doing this.

“Hold still or I’ll tie you to this bed,” he warned, and a shiver ran through me.

He was my son’s age and I was doing what he said. I’d always topped my partners, but the image of being at his mercy while he got me off or used me for his pleasure had me right on the edge. He licked at my tip and I had to grab onto the sheets to keep from taking over and fucking his face.

Ricky’s brown eyes met mine, the black pupils blown wide. “You taste good, Alpha.”

The words were at the tip of my tongue to tell him to stop. That this was wrong. But it felt too good.

Taking me to the back of his throat over and over again, Ricky gripped my thick base where a knot would pop and fondled my balls with the other hand. “I’m close,” I choked out, wanting to warn him before I blew.

Instead of pulling off, he took me deeper, his throat contracting around my head and sending me over the edge.

I shot my load hard and deep before he pulled back enough so I could finish on his tongue.

He gulped me down and it was the most erotic sight I’d ever seen when he licked his lips as if relishing me flavor.

Ricky moaned and his hips jerked, a wet spot appearing on the gray shorts telling me he’d come hands free from blowing me. Fuck, that was a heady feeling, and a spurt of cum dribbled down my still hard length to rest on his hand where he squeezed my knot.

“Did you just–?” I asked, and Ricky let me go. Standing from the bed, he turned away, but I saw the blush creeping down his neck. His embarrassment brought post-nut clarity back to my brain. “We probably shouldn’t have done this.”

“Sure,” Ricky scoffed. “Forget it ever happened, Fin.”

His use of my pack nickname instead of Alpha let me know we were back to packmates and nothing more. “Okay. It’s forgotten.”

At my promise, Ricky walked out of the room, slamming the door on his way out. I heard the TV turn on, so I knew he wasn’t done with his babysitting duty.

Well, one more mistake to add to my list of regrets.