Reckless Regrets
Chapter 12

Kade

“Wait. Are you serious? You would do that?” I asked.

“What the hell is wrong with you? No! First of all, I retired from that s**t, and second I never took jobs against women. I was joking,” Tyson yelled.

My hope was quickly dashed. It was nice while it lasted.

“You’re an a*****e, man. Why offer to kill her when you know how desperate I am?”

“To lighten the mood. You’re talking about running away and taking my little cousin with you. Obviously, you’ve lost your f*****g mind, and we needed something to deflect from the idiotic ideas floating around in your head,” he replied.

I wanted to be pissed, but he was right—him and Matt. Running away was not the way to do it. I didn’t want to make Morgan suffer at Canyon Woods or some undisclosed location away from our friends and family.

“Kade, go to bed and get some rest. We can talk about this later on, but no good idea has ever come from five exhausted men brainstorming in the middle of the night. Whatever happens, you’re going to face it head-on; you’ve never been a runner, and I won’t let you start now,” Xander said.

“How am I supposed to rest when we get the results back today? My whole world could be about to change; I couldn’t fall asleep if I tried.”

“So, what do you expect to achieve here? We’ve done everything we could. Now you just have to wait,” Alexi stated.

“Fine, go to bed. Go snuggle up with your mates and sleep peacefully. But just remember that I might not be able to do that s**t anymore after tonight!”

The guys all just looked at me, then one by one left me in the kitchen alone.

***

I didn’t get any sleep, and it showed with how easily I got my a*s handed to me at training. I was frustrated, exhausted, and on edge. And now it was time. I was pacing back and forth in Xander’s office, waiting for the email from the lab to come through.

We were promised that we would get it at 3:00 PM, and it was 3:07. I was losing my mind.

“Check your spam. Or refresh the page maybe,” I advised for the tenth time.

“I know how Gmail works, Kade; f**k off.”

I went back to pacing, and when I heard the computer ping signaling an incoming email, I rushed to Xander’s side and waited as impatiently as I could.

“Click it, what are you waiting for?!” I yelled.

“First, don’t yell at me. You’re my best friend, but I will kick your a*s without a second thought. Second, are you sure you don’t want anyone else here when you read this?”

It was just him and me just like I’d asked.

“No, just us. I don’t know how I’ll handle it if it’s bad news, so I want to keep this contained for now.”

Xander nodded, then opened the email. I scanned the body but didn’t see anything resembling results.

“What the f**k? Where is the test? What is this s**t?”

He sighed, then scrolled to the bottom of the page and clicked on the attachment. I couldn’t look. I turned away and faced the large open window while he read over the document.

“99.9% positive. You’re the father, man.”

The wind was sucked out of my lungs, and my knees went weak, making me crumple to the ground. I couldn’t believe it. I was so sure; I was positive. I know I used protection that night, didn’t I? What was happening?

“Alpha Thorne is copied, so I’m sure he is reading the results now as well,” Xander crouched down next to me and said.

“I can’t do this, Xan. Please don’t make me do this.”

“Kade, stand up. Come on; you’re stronger than this. We both know it.”

“But I’m not. I’m not strong enough to walk away from Morgan; it will break both of us.”

Xander grabbed my arm and helped me to stand to my feet. “Get it together, act like a Beta and a man; do you understand me!?” He commanded.

“Yes, Alpha.”

“Good. Now clean your face and come with me.”

I grabbed a tissue from his desk and wiped away the tears that I wasn’t ashamed to have shed, then followed him out of his office.

He had a stack of papers in his hands, but I didn’t know what they were, and he didn’t seem like he was going to tell me, so we walked in silence, eventually ending up at the pack hospital. We walked to the end of the hall, where we found Dr. Bennett in her office, looking over patient files.

“Hey Doc, you got a spare minute for us?” Xander asked as he took a seat.

“Of course, Alpha. What can I do for you?”

He passed her the papers. “I’m guessing you understand all of that?” he said, referring to the blotches of color on the page.

“I do. DNA sequencing.”

“Good. Check your email if you would, I sent you a copy that I figured would be clearer and easier for you to analyze.”

She turned to her computer and opened the email then began scanning the attachment.

“Can you tell me if the results are correct; that it’s a 99.9% certainty that he’s the father?” Xander asked.

She nodded her head and looked over the screen for what seemed like ages and began scribbling notes on a nearby pad. Finally, she looked over and frowned.

“They have found the child’s father.”

“So, what exactly are you telling us?” Xander asked.

“Basically, Alpha, this test was not altered or doctored in any way. The results are accurate, and these two contributors did, in fact, parent the child,” Dr. Bennett explained to us.

My heart dropped upon hearing her words. I was positive that someone had to have f****d with the test, but even our own doctor confirmed the results.

“Well, Kade, I guess that’s it. We have to move forward with the plan. I’ll let the team know, and we’ll start the excommunication process immediately,” Xander somberly stated.

“I wouldn’t do that yet, Alpha.”

We turned back to the doctor, who was again staring at her computer screen, which just looked like a blur of numbers and colors to me.

“Why not?” I asked.

“I’d bet my career on this: you’re not that child’s father.”

“Now, I’m confused; you just said that I was.”

“No, I said that the results were not doctored and that the male DNA contributor is the father.”

She stopped talking and smiled at the two of us. Smiles, we didn’t return; we had no idea what was happening.

“Ugh! Why aren’t there more nerds in this pack? It’s not your DNA; the paternal contributor is not you; it’s impossible.”

“How do you know that?” Xander urged.

My heart was racing. Finally, this was about to come to an end.

“I won’t go into too much detail, but this DNA sample is from a low ranking wolf, not necessarily an Omega, but there is no way a Beta would have a DNA profile with such weak wolf traits. And, if the mother is an alpha, as noted here, the child would have much higher levels of testosterone, which, as you know, is the most important androgen in men when it comes to strength. An alpha and beta did not produce this child.”

“Thank God, I told you, Xan!” I pulled out my phone and was about to call Alpha Thorne to tell him to go f**k himself when Xander snatched it from me.

“What the hell? Give me my phone; he needs to know what’s going on so I can be done with this shit.”

“Not yet.”

Looking at his face, he looked pissed and contemplative at the same time. Whatever was going through his head, I wanted in on it.

“Dr. Bennett, run another test. I don’t want anyone other than you handling it and when the results come in, bring them directly to me. Understand?”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“How long will it take?”

“I can rush them and have the results in two weeks.”

“Good. Kade, walk with me,” he said before he turned and walked out of the room.

We headed down the hall, and as soon as we were out of earshot from everyone, he finally spoke. “You don’t want to be Canyon Woods Alpha, but I don’t mind,” he said.

I immediately stopped walking; clearly, I wasn’t hearing him right. “What are you talking about?”

He spun around, and his eyes had gone black; he was livid.

“The f*****g law. Canyon Woods came at us under the guise of wolf law and broke it. It was their clinic that completed the paternity test, and I wanted to believe they had some honesty and integrity, but we see how that worked out. Someone in that pack blatantly broke the law, and now they are going to pay.”

“By you becoming their alpha? What about Blue Moon? I don’t understand.”

“We need to replace out who switched up the test. If they were ranked, then they are f****d. If a ranked member of a pack interferes in an active Class A investigation in any way, the pack then becomes subject to an Involuntary Takeover.”

“Takeover? Like you could assume possession of the entire pack; the land, the members, and all their assets?” I asked.

“Exactly. Thorne would put up a fight, any self-respecting Alpha would, but there is no way they would win.”

“But how would you be alpha to two packs?”

“I can’t, and I won’t. I would name a new alpha or absorb them into Blue Moon. That’s the way to go, and we’d officially be the largest wolf pack in the country. It looks like your f*****g around might just pay off after all.”

“And I’m guessing this means that I have to go along with some plan?”

I was internally praying that he would say no, but the smile that spread across his face said otherwise.

“Someone in Canyons Woods thinks they’ve gotten away with this s**t. Feels that they’ve fooled us and stolen my Beta? Hell no, no one f***s with my pack. So, you’ll go to Oregon, and you’ll play along. Make them think that you believe the lie. With you on the inside, it should be easy to replace out who switched the DNA samples. If you need help, we’ll send help. You just make sure that no one suspects what we’re doing.”

“s**t, Xander! Marisol is going to be all over me; you know I can’t stand that b***h!” I complained.

“Oh, come on, is that any way to talk about your future Luna?” he said with a laugh.

We made our way up to his office and called the rest of the team to meet us. When everyone arrived, Xander filled them in and went over the plan.

“Just in case anyone was wondering, nobody outside this room is to know what is happening. We cannot risk it getting back to Canyon Woods before we have the evidence we need.”

“Wait. So, you want me to let Morgan think that I’m still leaving? Seriously?” I complained.

“Yes. I know it’s hard to do, but we have to. I trust our women implicitly; however, you never know who may be listening when others talk. Besides, it would look strange if your mate weren’t upset about you leaving home, wouldn’t it?”

I hated the idea, but I trusted Xander’s judgment. Besides, if any of the ladies got upset, we could just say it was his idea; perfect. Xander walked over to his desk and reached in the drawer, pulling out his dagger.

“Alright, Kade, you ready to be kicked out of the club? Let’s get this excommunication over with