Page 29 of His Forsaken Alpha

Cav smiled grimly. “It’s clear you really don’t want me here, Wilder.” It was still surreal calling the man his name, even if it was one he used rarely. “I don’t want to cause resentment or anger. Or—any more than you might already feel.”

Wilder sighed, craning his neck before speaking. “I’m not angry at you. I’m angry to be inthis situation. To think my papa lied to me my entire life doesn’t sit well. If I’ve made you feel it’s your fault, I’m sorry. I know you’re in the same position I am. Hurt and confused.”

“I’ve just learned that I probably lost thirty years of being a father. So yeah, hurt and confused is the bare minimum of what I feel right now. I really haven’t had time to take stock.” Cav held Wilder’s gaze, wanting the man to know just how he felt without the words. “You are… what…” He quickly did the mental math. “About thirty-three? Thirty-four?”

“Thirty-three. Birthday’s around the corner.”

Cav nodded and sighed. “Yeah… the timing’s right, too.”

Wilder’s shoulder sagged. “To be honest, in some ways, this is almost a relief.”

Cav’s gaze whipped up. “Oh?”

“I’ve always sensed I was different than my brothers. They both favored our father, and while I assumed I looked like Papa, I could never find pieces of myself in him, either. I think somewhere deep down, I almost sensed something like this was behind it. I mean, I couldn’t know, but… I always felt like I didn’t quite belong in my own family.” Wilder took a step back and leaned against the railing to the staircase. Tears shone in his eyes. “Ididn’tbelong, did I?”

“Warden Jaymes, in all respects,wasyour father. He raised you.” Cav’s chest ached to say those words, but he sensed Wilder needed to hear them, no matter the pain they caused him. “Hewasyour father. My appearance here doesn’t takeanythingaway from that man and what he gave you.”

Wilder’s gaze searched his. “I don’t know that I could say the same if I were in your shoes. The thought of Avery taking our child away and another alpha raising him?” He shivered. “I’d lose my mind.”

“Difference is… I didn’t know,” Cav said. “I had no idea what had been taken from me. There’s no way I would’ve allowed you not to know the truth because I’d have been right here.”

“Why weren’t you here for him?”

There was no question whohimwas that Wilder referred to. “For a time, I thought him… gone.Gonegone.” Cav sucked in a breath, his lungs heavy remembering that time. He couldn’t even say the word in conjunction with his omega anymore.“Then when I found him again, he said it hadn’t been real. That he didn’t love me and demanded I go.”

He’d known it was a lie then, so why had he walked away?

“And you just did?”

“There’s a reason I don’t drink much anymore,” Cav murmured. “I fell into a bottle for a long, long time after I lost him. By the time I found my way out, so much time had passed that…” He sighed. “I wasn’t sure I had the strength left to fight again. And I knew if I lost, I might lose myself, too. For good.”

Wilder met his gaze, silent. His jaw tightened, and he turned to focus on the wall across him. When he turned back to Cav, he forced a smile. “Why don’t you grab your suitcase, and I can show you to your room?”

Cav hesitated, unsure if he should. But he saw something in Wilder’s eyes that spoke to an ache within. He’d already lost enough time with his son. Why lose a second more? He nodded. “I’ll be right back.”

As soon as he’d grabbed his overnight bag and closed the trunk, a limo roared into the semicircular driveway. An omega stepped out of the rear and eyed him oddly. Cav thought he remembered the man had been at the funeral when he’d approached Wynter but wasn’t completely sure—he’d only had eyes for his own omega. The man glanced down at his bag before marching up to the still open front door.

“Lake! Auggie! Come on, let’s go!” the omega said—clearly the aforementioned Uncle Gray.

Before Cav could follow, an alpha appeared from the backseat, glaring, and marched past, following the omega inside. Cavtrailed the pair, growing even more uncomfortable. The two stood in the foyer with Wilder, watching Cav’s every move once he entered the house.

“Rohan, Gray—this is—Wilder Cavanaugh. An old friend of Wynter’s,” Wilder murmured.

“Wilder?”Rohan asked, eyes widening as he stared at Cav.

“Cav or Cavanaugh,” he said, offering a hand. “That’s what my friends call me.”

Rohan shook it, frowning.

“Rohan’s my best friend,” Wilder continued. “His omega, Gray, is Avery’s uncle.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Cav said, offering his hand to Gray.

“Likewise,” Gray murmured lowly, taking Cav’s hand.“Wilder Senior.”

Cav pulled his hand from Gray’s and frowned at the man. He didn’t understand the antagonism or what he’d done to deserve it.

“Is it a good idea to invite a strange alpha to stay here with your omega having just given birth and a tiny newborn in the house?” Gray asked Wilder.

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