Page 137 of His Forsaken Alpha

“Broderick and Harris. Broderick was three years younger than the twins and Harris was three years younger than Broderick, I believe. So, they’re all between forty-five and fifty-one now. Autumn was ten years younger than me. He was the baby.”

“And he had the same cancer as Jamie,” Wilder said. “That’s sad. And his alpha followed.” He shook his head. “I was initially against Jamie’s wild plan for Rohan and Gray—but maybe this proves how right he was for doing it. Rohan might not be with us today had he not.”

“And those babies,” Wynter murmured. “I couldn’t believe he really wanted that either, considering his health. I wassureRohan and/or Gray had pushed him into the decision.” He cast a glance at Cavanaugh. “Yet I know all too well the extremes an omega will go to in order to protect their mate.” He looked back at Wilder. “He loved Rohan more than he loved himself and gave his alpha a family to fill the gap left behind.”

“I understand the bond and need to protect now that I have Avery,” Wilder murmured. “I… I’ddiefor him. It would be an easy choice to make. The thought of him not living in this world could bring me to my knees.” He glanced at Cavanaugh and back to Wynter. “I get you doing whatever you could to protect yours. If all you knew of your papa was violence…of courseyou assumed your alpha was in danger and do whatever you thought would save him.”

Wynter nodded.

Emory made a cry, arching his back in Wilder’s arms, his face red. Wilder cringed and sighed. “Oh, lovely. I hate diaper duty.”

“I’ll make you a deal,” Wynter said. “You help Cavanaugh clean up and I’ll handle diaper duty.”

“Deal,”Wilder said, jumping up to hand the infant over.

Wynter almost wished he hadn’t when he got a whiff.“Oh, boy.”

“The diaper bag’s in the den,” Wilder said with a grin. He cleared Wynter’s plate and silverware. “Have fun.”

18

Standing at the sink, Cav handed a plate to Wilder, who dried and laid it on the rack. The surreal moment wasn’t lost on Cav, either. Somehow, the quiet domesticity of simply washing the dishes side-by-side withhis sonhad an odd ring of intimacy to it. Families everywhere did it every single night, but they’d had that taken away from them, and so it felt almost precious to get the unexpected opportunity. He wondered if Wilder might be thinking along the same lines. He cast a glance over at the young man’s familiar face, his chest rising with pride—but there was a hint of a frown there. He would’ve given all the money sitting in his bank account to know what was going on in Wilder’s mind.

A matter of days before, neither of them had known one another. Still didn’t, in truth. He had so much to learn and had already been left so far behind. Hopefully they’d get that chance.

“I never imagined the CEO of some big corporation would wash dishes like someplebeian.”

Wilder snickered, placing the dried casserole dish onto the rack. “Myveryfrugal and budget-conscious mate won’t let me hiremore than our housekeeper—and he’d have my hide if I ran the dishwasher for a couple of plates and a casserole dish.”

“Good to know he runs a tight ship,” Cav said, grinning at his son.

“That’s what you get when you mate an accountant. And not just any accountant, but a forensic accountant who has the patience and focus to search for every last penny,” Wilder murmured.

Cav smiled to himself. He liked Avery, and the pair seemed to fit. The fact Wilder would get to spend his life with his fated mate and not suffer what his parents had was all the better.

“Must be quite a change from how you grew up.”

“True. We had more servants than family in our house,” Wilder said. “But then, some of them almost felt like family. I spent more time with our manny than I did my parents.”

Cav narrowed his eyes.“And you were the golden child?”

“Papa…” Wilder sighed. “I’d always been so harsh on him, but looking back, I’m suddenly seeing things a little differently. There were times when he could barely get out of bed for days on end. Others, I would find him sitting in the dark, staring out a window. I’d speak to him, and it was as if he never even heard me. Dad would eventually blow up when he had those spells—as they were called around the house. He called Papa lazy and worthless, and I suppose I hadn’t looked any deeper. I was suffering my own feelings of abandonment and couldn’t see past that pain. He was likely depressed and struggling with his mental health—and we just let him suffer.”

“You were a kid,” Cav murmured, his chest tight at the thought of Wynter existing like that. Not living. Existing.

He’d have done anything to be there for Wynter. Cav would’ve found him the help he needed, instead of allowing him to suffer for so long. He gripped the edge of the counter to control his rage. He’d always hated Warden for the things he’d known about. As the list grew, he wished he’d had the chance to face the alpha and shove a fist through the man’s face. “How were you supposed to know that? Warden should’ve gotten him help.”

“It seems my father should’ve done a lot of things. It pisses me off that I didn’t see it when it was right in front of my face.”

“Again…you were a kid.”

“I’m not now,” Wilder murmured, tossing the kitchen towel over one shoulder. “I should’ve seen it. Though, things did seem to improve as Papa got older. Honestly, I can’t recall the last time he had one of his spells—but then I moved to my own place eight, nine years ago. Maybe I just didn’t see it after that.”

After turning off the water and drying the edge of the sink, Cav swung around and leaned back against the counter, his breath once again robbed. Across the wide expanse of the kitchen, he spied Wynter cuddling their grandson seated in the corner table where they’d eaten, oblivious to their conversation. Wynter smiled down at the babe, seemingly lost in the quiet moment. Cav reached up to massage an ache forming in the middle of his chest.

“Ah… you okay, Cav?”

Cav whipped his head to the side, still caressing his chest. “Yeah fine. Why?”

---