It worked out better for everyone that way.
Twenty minutes later, when Badger returned to the kitchen, Dewi had two steaks ready for him.
“You going to make me beg for it?” she snarked as he perched on one of the barstools at the counter and began eating.
He glanced at her. “Did Ken get those testers sent in?”
“Yeah. He said he dropped them in the pick-up box like you said and when he tracked them this morning, they were already picked up and in the system.”
Badger nodded. “Good. I sent Corrine’s, Davis’, and Imani’s from up there. Now I have to wait for DNA tests to come back to know for certain. It looks like Hamish Lewis is Imani’s birth father.”
Dewi blinked. “You mean HamishLewis? As in brother to Faegan mega-asshole-we’re-gonna-rip-his-head-off Lewis?”
Badger nodded. “One and the same.”
Dewi needed a minute to absorb that. “What?”
He eyed her. “Ye heard me. She told me herself. Got it on video.”
“Are yousure?”
“I speak English, lass. She said it. Plus, I saw it in her memories.”
“Are you sure she didn’t make it up accidentally based on your Prime powers influencing her?”
“She volunteered his name. Well, his first name. I hadn’t said it to her yet. But she volunteered that and that she felt certain he was Imani’s father.”
Dewi slumped against the opposite counter. “Holy shit. But… How could he walk away from a mate?”
“He didn’t. I don’t think they had a mate bond. They met when she was on a trip visiting cousins right before her wedding. Last fling for her. She left to return home the next morning and never saw him again. She didn’t tell him her real name or where she was from, and he was a stranger passin’ through town anyway. She dinnae realize at first she was bringin’ an extra present home wi’ her. Imani was born nine months to the day her parents were married, and Corrine said Imani looked just like her sisters when they were born, so not a single person batted an eye.”
“And they all thought Caleb was her father. Holy shit, if Imani’s father is an Alpha corgi shifter, and Lu’ana has a Prime Alpha wolf in her background, it completely explains why Bebe can shift. And it explains the mate bonds Imani and her kids all had.”
He slowly nodded. “And why Bebe’s a corgi shifter. Two generations back. Just like I said.”
“Do you think Hamish raped Imani’s mom?”
He shook his head. “No. She had fond memories of that interlude.”
Dewi considered the options. “We have no idea if he’s still alive or where he is if he is, do we?”
“Not the slightest. It’ll be my next task, once I have DNA confirmation.”
“I mean, if she’s saying it—”
“I want to make sure it’shim. Ken took Tamsin’s DNA, too. That’ll confirm if they’re related and it’s really Hamish Lewis. One step at a time.”
“Is this why you want to wait to tell Lu’ana and Reggie?”
Badger nodded. “Because if the DNA test comes back confirming it, it changes everything. Besides, there’s another issue at play.”
“I hate when you drag shit out, Badger.”
He grinned. “I know. That’s why I do it sometimes, sweetheart. To teach ye patience.”
“You suck.” She leaned over the counter. “I should have spiked your steak with a laxative.”
He cackled. “At my age, I’d welcome it, thank ye kindly.”
