Alpha Boss, Baby Daddy - Chapter 11: Chapter 11

Kingston
When I heard Cora’s sharp intake of breath and the crack in her voice as she asked, “Is Riley hurt?” something twisted in my chest.
The feeling in me was instinctive, too forceful to ignore. I had to help.
The Beta driving us—a younger wolf whose name I didn’t know—chuckled lightly as he sped down the highway.
“Boys need to fight in order to grow,” he said with a grin, his golden eyes flashing in the rearview mirror.
I turned my gaze on him, quiet but heavy. Pointed. Immediately, the Beta winced and turned his attention back to the road.
Cora, sitting beside me, clutched her phone in both hands.
“The doctor said Riley can’t get injured,” she said quietly, almost to herself. “Not seriously. Not too much blood… He said Riley will just keep bleeding on and on if he does.”
My frown deepened.
“Drive faster,” I ordered, my voice a low rumble.
The Beta’s glanced at me again, this time cautiously. “Of course, sir.”
We sped through the city, and I dug my nails into the leather seats to resist the urge to tell the Beta to drive even faster.
Corea stared out the window, biting her lip. I could feel the tension in her, every fiber of it. It stirred something strange inside me—something old, instinctive.
I had no reason to care. No obligation. Riley wasn’t mine.
But the idea of someone hurting that boy…
I forced the thought down.
When we arrived at the kindergarten, I stepped out with Cora and she didn’t argue when I followed her inside.
The head teacher met us at the gate, looking flustered. “We’re so sorry. There was a… situation. Several students pushed Riley first. They were calling him names.”
“Names?” Cora asked, voice low.
The teacher swallowed hard. “They said… he’s a bastard. Because—well—his father isn’t…”
She didn’t finish. She didn’t have to.
I could already feel the cold burn inside of me.
“They pushed him?” Cora asked, voice trembling.
“Yes. Riley defended himself. Five against one, and he still came out on top.” The teacher looked bewildered, like she wasn’t sure if she should be impressed or horrified.
She motioned us forward hastily, and we followed.
Inside the classroom, chaos buzzed. Five little werewolf boys nursed scratches and bruises, whimpering while their parents surrounded the teacher, yelling in chorus.
A tall woman with steel-gray hair pointed at Cora as we stepped in. “That boy shouldn’t be here! His mother’s human!”
“Humans don’t belong in werewolf schools—”
The moment I walked in behind Cora, silence fell like a stone.
The scent of an Alpha—my scent—rolled through the room. I watched as all of their noses twitched as they took it in.
Even without shifting, even without a word, they all felt it. The air thickened with the weight of my scent. The weight of my presence.
Parents glanced at each other. Then, almost in unison, they nudged their children forward.
One boy muttered, “Sorry, Riley.”
Another followed. “We didn’t mean it…”
“Sorry.”
Cora’s eyes widened slightly, just a flicker of surprise. I watched her tuck it away quickly, the way she always tried to hide her emotions. But I noticed.
She knelt beside Riley, who sat cross-legged in the corner with his arms folded tightly. His cheeks were red, scraped, but his expression was steady. Fortunately, he wasn’t bleeding too badly.
Cora reached out and brushed a lock of hair from his forehead. “You did good, sweetheart,” she said softly. “You stood up for yourself. I’m proud of you.”
He looked up at her. “They called you bad words.”
Cora smiled. Her expression was tired, sad, and loving all at once. “That says more about them than it does about us.”
She squeezed his hand.
“But remember what I always say?” she asked gently. “Your strength and talent are meant to protect the weak. Not to hurt them. You know that, right?”
Riley nodded.
The warmth between them was… unsettling.
No.
It was comforting.
The kind of comforting I hadn’t felt in years. Maybe ever. It reminded me of something I couldn’t name.
A pack? A family.
Before I could stop myself, I walked toward them and crouched at Riley’s eye level. He looked at me curiously.
I cleared my throat, awkwardly. “You know, you could’ve just pretended I was your dad,” I said. “It would’ve shut them up.”
Riley blinked. “But you’re not.”
“No.”
“Then it’d be lying.”
I stared at him, unsure of how to respond. His honesty was simple and firm. Unshakable.
It did something to me I wasn’t prepared for.
I stood up again, brushing invisible lint off my sleeve, trying to deflect attention as I gathered myself.
Cora smiled at her son, then looked back at me. “Thanks for coming. For helping. You didn’t have to do that.”
I gave a nod, short and curt. I didn’t trust myself to speak.
The entire encounter wouldn’t leave my mind, even hours later.
When I returned to the maor that night, I found Billy crying in his room, pieces of my werewolf hero badge scattered across the carpet.
I stopped midstride, eyes agape as I took it in. That badge had been priceless to me.
His little fingers couldn’t piece it back together. He looked up when I entered, his face red and damp.
“She said my dad doesn’t save people anymore,” Billy hiccupped. “That you’re just mean.”
“Who said that?” But I already knew the answer.
He ignored the question. “She said it’s fine because you wouldn’t care but I wanted it for myself! Put it back together!”
I crouched, picking up the largest piece of the badge.
I didn’t respond. Not yet. I couldn’t lose my temper around a child.
Instead, I thought of Riley to bring on a wave of calm. I thought of how he stood up to five boys without fear. Of how he told the truth, even when it would’ve been easier to lie. I thought of how Cora had raised him—firmly, kindly, lovingly.
Billy stared at me with big, tear-glossed eyes, waiting for me to fix his mess.
Disappointment twisted inside me. Not at Billy—but at myself. At Daisy. At everything we’d done wrong, every mistake that had led us here.
I left Billy and walked out to the balcony, phone in hand.
I didn’t hesitate.
I called Cora.
It rang once. Twice.
“Hello?”
My grip tightened.
“I was calling to ask… if you could recommend a tutor,” I said stiffly. “For my son. Academic and… behavioral maybe?”
I wasn’t sure why my words were coming out in such a stutter. Why had I called her anyway?
Because she was the only one I trusted to do this right.
There was a pause on her end.
“Oh. Yeah. Of course. I’ll send you a list.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I really appreciate—”
“Cora!” a deep male voice called to her on the other end.
My entire body tensed up.
Whoever it was he sounded suave. He was probably the same kind of man she called last time. One of those… escorts.
I could practically see him there, lounging in her living room, calling to her so casually.
I couldn’t take the image that voice had painted in my head. It made me want to claw at the walls, to eat the world raw.
I hung up.
My reflection in the glass door stared back at me—cool, unreadable, like always.
But inside?
A storm.
Something about the warmth of her with Riley… something about the honesty of that boy… and then this.
Why did it matter?
Why did she matter?
I didn’t have an answer.
But I had a growing suspicion I wouldn’t be able to stay indifferent much longer.