For a moment, Bryce and this stranger stared at Melanie, and then they jostled to see who would pick her up off the floor.

Hand slapping ensued along with some growling. “Get your filthy hooves off my daughter.”

His daughter? Could it be?

Much as Bryce wanted to call the man a liar, there was no mistaking the smell. Feline. Familiar feline, as in another lynx. What were the chances?

Bryce leaned back on his haunches as the man scooped Melanie into his arms and stared down at her, his features soft with love, but also marked by pain.

“Why are you here?” Bryce asked. Why now, after all this time?

“I’m here by accident. I was coming after my nephew. He’s doing something stupid, again. The boy is rash. Doesn’t always think. I’m here to bring him back. Except I got distracted by a scent. Her scent.” His gaze turned soft as he stared at Melanie. “The spitting image of her mother—”

“I don’t think that’s a compliment,” Bryce interjected. “You might not know this, but her mother wasn’t exactly kind toward her.”

“Maizie.” The other man growled the name. “A pity I can’t kill her twice. Stealing my child.”

“So, you knew about Melanie?”

“Is that her name?” Kieran appeared startled. “We’d planned to call her Tanya. Only Maizie kidnapped her before we’d even signed the certificate.”

“Hold on.” Bryce shook his head. “Are you saying—”

“That Maizie wasn’t her mother.” The man’s lip curled. “No. She was a psychotic mistake. I was drunk; we had sex. Once.” Spoken quite firmly. “I told her afterwards it didn’t mean anything, but the woman stalked me. Harassed me even after I met and impregnated my true mate, Jasmin. Maizie couldn’t handle it. She stole our precious daughter.”

“Stole?” The word erupted from Melanie. “Do you mean to tell me Maizie—”

Kieran’s gaze shot to his daughter. “That woman was no relation to you. She was a kidnapper. A sadist. She stole the most precious thing Jasmin and I had.”

“My real mother is…” The soft words came from Melanie, who lay in her father’s arms, looking vulnerable, her expression soft with hopefulness.

A sadness flitted through the man’s eyes. “No, sweetheart. Unfortunately, your mother passed. The shock of losing you was just too much. She left this world about a year after you were abducted.”

A sound escaped her.

Kieran hugged her tight. “I’m sorry, darling. You have no idea how much it pains me to hurt you.”

The tautness of her body showed her hesitation, and her voice emerged in a hushed whisper. “You’re my father?”

Eyes, the same as Melanie’s, glistened with moisture. “I’m your daddy, sweetheart, and I promise, from now on, you’ll never have to go through life without me by your side.”

But…Bryce wanted to be the one Melanie relied on, her face on the pillow beside him. He cleared his throat. Time to insert himself into the situation. “What an interesting turn of events.”

Direct yellow eyes set beneath thick gray brows perused him. Judged. Bryce might have come up wanting.

Kieran snarled, “Who the heck are you? And why the hell are you still here?” The man only needed a T-shirt that read: “Have daughter, will kill.”

The rule of thumb when meeting another alpha, stand up or bow down.

Bryce didn’t ever give in. His shoulders squared. He held out a hand. “Bryce Elanroux.”

The rapier gaze didn’t waver, and there was no handshaking. “Kieran Graysmoke,” replied Melanie’s father. “And I’m going to tell you, as a courtesy, to keep your filthy hooves off my girl. Or else.” The last part spoken in a lower octave.

Bryce sighed. “What is it with people using that threat? What are you going to do? Attack me? Seems rather extreme. And I will have you know I’m never dirty. Kendrick would be appalled if we left the house less than perfectly groomed.” Butlers had to maintain a certain standing among their peers. Letting their employers look less than perfect and they’d somehow failed the brotherhood. “And anything Melanie and I do will be consensual and none of your business.”

Melanie bit her lip, fighting a smile.

Kieran sputtered. “There will be no business with my daughter. I know all about your family and their womanizing ways. My brother-in-law told me everything.”

“Excuse me?” A puzzled note entered the query. “Who is your brother-in-law, and what does he know?” Had Bryce missed an important fact?

“My brother-in-law, Jack Lupin, and you’ve met his son, Rory.”

“The imposter,” Bryce sneered. “Didn’t you hear? His plan failed.”

“Did you call him an imposter?” Kieran snorted. “Rory won’t fail because that boy is more an heir than you are. He’s Theo Elanroux’s by-blow. That big-racked bastard seduced Lupin’s mate and impregnated her.”

The news slapped him. He recoiled. “Impossible. You lie.”

A wry smile pulled the man’s lips. “I was just as skeptical when I found out. But it’s true. Rory Lupin is Theo’s son.” Making him Bryce’s uncle. “Rory is your cousin by marriage, darling,” he told Melanie.

Melanie appeared excited by the discovery; meanwhile, Bryce was still reeling. He had to refute this garbage. “For Rory to be my cousin means my grandfather would have cheated on my nana.” Which was something he didn’t even want to contemplate. “He loved her.”

“He did, and he also loved other women. Rory’s mother wasn’t the first. He was a rake in his day. Rory is living evidence.”

“So, why is this only coming out now?” Why wait almost thirty years?

“Jack didn’t want people to know, a pride thing, especially since Rory is the only child he and his wife ever had.”

“What changed?”

Kieran shrugged. “Rory found out.”

“Found and pretended to be Trixie’s kid? Why?”

“He wanted to meet his biological father and felt this would be a better way of gauging his worth.”

A twisted logic. “Who raised him?” Curiosity made Bryce ask.

“His mother and my brother-in-law. They live on the West Coast. Jack pretended for years the boy was his. Until his doctor ran some routine tests and the blood work gave away the fact Rory couldn’t be his. Things were never the same between Rory and his father after that.”

“Did my grandfather know about him?” Had he compounded the crime of his infidelity by abandoning his son?

“Theo never knew. Would have kept on not knowing if Rory hadn’t decided it was time to come meet the man.”

“And go after my inheritance.”

Kieran’s gaze narrowed. “Is it really yours? Rory is his son, and Theo is dying. Who do you think the courts will choose to inherit?”

“The DNA test will show he’s not related.” A lie was easier to believe.

“The lab has finished their checking. It took longer because they redid the test several times. Go ahead, give them a call.”

The room spun, and when Bryce’s phone buzzed, a peek showed a text from the lab, and the first line in the preview box said three damning words: Paternity is confirmed.

He walked out, not the same moose who’d gone in.

Bryce left Melanie, who’d gone from nothing to everything.

I have nothing to offer her.

Nothing but myself.

He wasn’t sure if that was enough.