Page 1 of Out of Peril

Walker

Chapter 1

“Ben will be back soon, Shelbs. I really should go. I wouldn't want him to catch me here like this.”

“What? Don't go. Ben doesn't mind that you're here.”

“He might if he knew what I was really doing over here. Babe, hold still.”

She gave me a confused look just before I heard the growl coming from the front porch.

Ben burst through the door looking angry and ready to rip my throat out.

I smirked. “Never gets old. Look sweetie, Daddy's home. Just hold still a minute. I'm almost done,” I told my adorable goddaughter Mary Alice as she squealed and almost jumped up to greet her father. “Stay still,” I reminded her as I painted her last little piggy and blew on her toes to dry the polish faster as she giggled.

“That tickles, Walker.”

“What the hell is going on here?”

Shelby looked up and grinned. “Mary Alice and I are having a spa day.”

“Dad's home, Nathan. It's safe to come out,” Zachary yelled.

Nathan peeked his head into the room and sheepishly ran to his father.

“Dad, Walker says we owe it to our ladies to treat them like royalty. He made us paint Mom's toes and scrub her feet. It was so gross.”

“It's not gross,” I argued.

“I've got to side with Walker on this one, son. It's nice to pamper your mom and sister. Think of everything your mom does for us.”

“Not you too,” he complained.

“But what about Mary Alice? She's just a sister. She doesn't do anything for us,” Zachary argued.

“I didn't ask you to spoil your sister. That's my job,” I said, winking at her as she giggled.

“Look at my pretty toes, Daddy.”

“Wow, Walker, you're getting pretty good at that.”

I groaned. Payback was coming, and I knew he wasn't going to go easy on me. I'd purposely made it sound like I'd been up to something with his mate, and that wasn't the kind of thing Ben Shay was just going to walk away from and pretend never happened. If his kids weren't present, he would have already kicked my ass for it and we both knew it.

“Alright, princess, I think we're done here.”

She threw her small arms around my neck and kissed my cheek.

“Thanks, Walker. You did great this time.”

Then she rose and threw herself into her father's arms and squealed with delight.

I was proud to be the godfather of Ben and Shelby's children: Mary Alice, Nathan, and Zachary. I adored these kids, but I would never compare to their father or their mother.

That's the way it was supposed to be, but it always left me with this hole in my chest that I couldn't seem to fill no matter what I did.

“Well, I'm going to head home now. You guys behave for your parents.”

Shelby rose and hugged me. She was my best friend in the world. It was strange sometimes to remember she was Ben's mate and the mother of three young pups.

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