Magnus

After the hearing, I sent Mel, Felix, and Everett a group text in the form of a single thumbs up. Explaining everything that happened during the proceedings was just too much for a text, so they could just wait until we got home. Of course, Mel would probably hear all about it from Jason, but hopefully she would keep her trap shut until I got back.

See, the Summit's verdict didn't sound exactly like a victory, and I wanted to make sure my family knew right from the start just how happy I was with their decision. Telling them in person meant they couldn't deny how excited I was by the way things worked out. Honestly, the Summit's decision was going to make my life a lot better, and it would be way easier to balance. I might even be able to get a bit back into teaching soon.

I could just picture Mel's expression when she learned all the details. She would be affronted on my behalf. She would rant against a panel of people who judged me without really knowing me – no matter if that was literally their job. She would try to badger Jason into contesting their decision, and none of us would get a moment's peace. Not unless I convinced her I was truly happy.

Lachlan understood. In fact, when I came out of the conference room and saw him waiting for me, he had hugged me hard and smiled along with me without asking any questions at all. He could feel my emotions since I dropped my mental walls once the hearing was over – I had needed to keep my head closed off during the session so I could really focus. The three of us – Jason, Lachlan, and I – left the Summit and headed for Jason's home, and it wasn't until after we had a quick takeout dinner, showered, and cozied into bed that Lachlan asked what their decision was. And when I explained, he kissed me sweetly and said he was happy for me. Such a simple response, and exactly the one I needed from him. There was no need to explain all the ways this was for the best – he just knew.

See, Jason put together a strong argument for how deeply I cared about my pack, how dedicated I was to making sure they were safe and happy, and how content they were with my leadership. That's the thing, though – my pack was content to have me as leader because they knew I tried my best and I wasn't botching anything too badly, but they weren't stupid. They knew I wasn't cut from the right cloth. It wasn't a bad thing; it was just part of who I was. I was a good mediator, a good listening ear. I could handle the defensive side of running a pack with a little help from my brother. When it came to the other stuff, the more administrative side... well, I was in over my head. I always had been.

Under my leadership, Tourmaline would be okay. We would be stable and people would overall be pretty content. We wouldn't progress, though. It was an old-fashioned pack, so a lot of our members – mostly the older ones – didn't mind that so much. The younger generation, though... they were chafing a bit. I didn't have any real ideas for how to fix it, either.

So yeah, Jason's arguments for me revolved around security and empathy. When Anita brought up that other side of an alpha's responsibilities, Jason couldn't do much to defend me other than showing evidence that that side of pack management was taken care of. He played it straight, though. The Summit knew it wasn't my doing. They knew that Roy was the one who carried the weight there, and Anita had corroborated Jason's report.

It didn't take long for the Summit counsel to deliberate. They didn't even call a recess – they just turned off their microphones while they quietly discussed everything they'd seen and heard. After a few minutes, they turned their microphones back on and settled back down with grave expressions, though the elderly woman at the end of the panel had a certain sparkle in her eyes when she looked at me.

One of them stood and delivered their verdict: I was not fit to lead a pack... at least, not alone.

Not a surprise, right? I had known this all along and had leaned heavily on people whose strengths complemented my weaknesses. Turns out, that played hard in my favor. The counsel acknowledged that, as a leader, I was level-headed and committed to serving the best interest of my pack. I wasn't too prideful to seek advice and help to offset my weaknesses. Hence their decision: Tourmaline would not have one alpha, but two. And after seeing all the evidence and reading through testimonies from my pack members, they already had my co-alpha all picked out. From the conference room, they called Roy and offered him the job. To his credit, he didn't accept until I assured him that I was happy with the Summit's decision.

So... it wasn't exactly a victory, but I actually liked this better than if the Summit had ruled completely in my favor. When we had a moment alone, Jason apologized for not being able to do more to argue my case and I just rolled my eyes at him. "You just don't want to face Mel," I accused. Jason laughed, but his pinched smile and nervous eyes told me I was right.

We made it back to pack lands a little after two in the afternoon the next day, and Roy scheduled a pack meeting at four to explain the Summit's decision, which left me some time for a family meeting first.

Everyone was already around the table when Jason, Lachlan, and I walked into the kitchen. Mel squealed and ran for Jason, while I took Lachlan's hand and pulled him further into the room. Felix got up and hugged me, but I had to lean down to hug Everett since he was sitting with Griffin in his lap.

"Did you win?" Griffin asked, surprising me.

Everett's arms around Griffin tightened. "Sorry," he said with a wince. "I tried to explain this to him a little, just in case. I wanted him to be prepared if..." His words trailed off as he struggled for a way to acknowledge the possibility of my defeat delicately.

Mel, still wrapped up in the massive arms of her mate, turned enough to glare at Everett. "You should have believed in Magnus more. Anyone who looks at the work he does here and thinks it's not enough is delusional."

Everett leaned away from Mel and looked to Felix for help. Felix sighed and braced his hands on Everett's shoulders, but kept his gaze directed on me. "What did they decide?"

I was glad Felix wasn't prolonging the argument. Better to move on and get this part over with. I knew my family would be supportive, but I was worried about their initial reactions. In fact, I was having a hard time getting the words out, and I looked at Lachlan for help. He kissed me on the cheek and turned to my family.

"You all know that Magnus is an incredible alpha in a lot of ways," he began with a little smile on his face. I couldn't help grabbing his hand and squeezing it in thanks, and he winked at me before continuing. "There are a couple parts of the job he's been a little... resistant to, though. The legislative side. The Summit came up with a great solution to that – the pack will have two alphas. Roy will keep doing what he's been doing, but with more authority, and Magnus won't have to worry so much about that side of the job anymore."

I sagged against the counter behind us in relief. That was such a good way of explaining it – presenting the Summit's verdict as a solution rather than as a problem. That's what it was, after all. I looked over to Felix to see how he was taking the news and caught his eyes sweeping over my face. Whatever he saw there pleased him, because he smiled widely and said, "That's great!"

Everett nodded, looking totally at ease. That left just one person, and I wished I had looked to Mel first. I was too anxious to look at her now. Lachlan squeezed my hand and I was relieved to have an excuse to look elsewhere. He was still smiling, totally relaxed, and he nodded toward Mel. Reassured, I finally looked toward my sister.

Mel's head was tilted inquisitively and she nodded slowly. "You're happy with this?" she asked.

"Very," I assured her.

Mel smiled just a bit and shrugged. "Okay, then. I'm glad this is over with. Does this mean I can skip the pack meeting tonight? I mean, is there anything else you and Roy were going to talk about?"

"You should be there to support your brother," Felix chided. He sounded so much like our dad that I snickered, and Mel did the same.

"But Daaaaaad," she whined exaggeratedly. "I just wanted some time to catch up with Jason. He can only stay until Tuesday." I didn't miss the way Jason's arms tightened around Mel and my heart panged sympathetically. Why couldn't just one of us have a boring, simple mating? Then again, geographical issues were fairly common in our world. Jason's situation was just a little worse since he had to travel so much for work.

"If it helps, the meeting will only take maybe half an hour. It really depends on how many questions people ask. After that, we're going to do a big pack dinner but there's no reason you can't sneak away instead."

Mel rolled her eyes but didn't argue, so I considered the matter closed.

--

The meeting went surprisingly well. There was some awkwardness when Roy and I explained how we would lead the pack together, but after one of the warriors pointed out that this wouldn't change much, people started to relax.

Since I wasn't able to give a lot of warning to prepare a big party, we had dinner in the big dining hall off the kitchen. Since we didn't usually all eat at once, it was crowded and some of us ended up leaning against walls or standing around full tables, but something about that was kind of nice. Our gatherings usually felt like I always thought a family reunion might – people catching up with friends and acquaintances who weren't part of their normal routine, or enjoying the ritual or grilling or cornhole or bonfires. Using the same atmosphere and the same kind of dinner as an average night just made it feel like a busy family home. It was more intimate than usual and just what I needed after such a long weekend.

Though we had no privacy and plenty of pack members stopped by to chat with us, my family was all tucked away at a corner table together – something else I think I really needed to help life feel normal again. Though Everett's mother, Anya, didn't always make an appearance at our family dinners, it was nice to have her here, too. We were jammed in, with mates pressed against each other to make space and with Griffin laying down next to our table on his belly, flipping through a book while he ate macaroni and cheese. The kid had always liked being a little separate from the crowd and frequently preferred reading to conversation, so he was perfectly happy down there and it saved us the trouble of hunting down a chair for him.

During another lull between visitors to our table, I caught Felix and Everett exchanging a look. It was somewhere between nervous and excited, and I glanced at Mel to see if she had noticed it, too. She nodded once and we both fixed our attention on our brother.

When Felix caught us staring at him with lifted brows, he smiled crookedly and shook his head a little. "Something wrong?" he asked.

"You tell us," Mel said.

Felix wrapped an arm around Everett and they exchanged another look. This time I thought they were talking over their mate bond, since both of their expressions shifted several times before they turned back to us. When they did, Everett's eyes were tear-filled and Felix's were bright with excitement.

"We have news to share," Everett said, glancing up at Felix with adorable uncertainty.

Felix smiled fondly at him and said, "We're going to have a daughter."

I jolted upright, knocking my wrist into Lachlan's potatoes. He shot me a mock glare that was too amused to feel punishing, then nodded toward Felix and Everett, reminding me to focus. As if I needed reminding!

"We're going to have a niece?!" I asked.

"Yes," Felix confirmed. Mel yelped in excitement and started pushing her chair back, but I was way ahead of her. We both ran around the table and knocked into each other, but it only set us back for a split second before we flung our arms in a tangled mess around Everett and Felix.

"Thank you, thank you!" Mel said excitedly. "Finally, another girl in the family!"

I paused and realized we did have a male to female ratio that was way off-balance. "This is going to be amazing!" I said. Felix shoved me back a little and I admitted I might be a little too loud right now to be so close to his ear.

"When is she coming?" Mel asked, pulling away, too.

"Sit down and we'll tell you all about it," Felix said.

I rolled my eyes but hurried back to my seat, eager to hear more. I sat on the edge, poised and ready to run back for more hugs as soon as it wouldn't get in the way of their explanations. Mel did the same, and we eyed each other sidelong – sizing up the competition. No way was I letting her beat me to them this time.

"Calm down!" Felix said, sounding a little exasperated.

I just shook my head in bafflement – how could he possibly expect anyone to be calm when we learned our family was growing? Lachlan hooked an arm across my stomach and nudged me back in my seat, rolling his eyes as soon as I looked his way. "You're like a child, yourself," he said with a soft smile.

"Duh, that's why he's so excited Felix and Everett are having another kid," Mel said.

I looked to Anya, measuring her reaction. The woman absolutely loved kids and she was way too calm for someone just hearing this news. "They told you first!" I gasped.

Anya put her hands up to ward off confrontation and looked to Felix for help. "Enough!" Felix said. "Both of you sit down and listen."

Oops. There was that dad tone again. I twined my fingers with Lachlan's and sat back in my chair, holding still through a massive effort of will while I waited for more.

"Griffin's birth mother contacted her old pack last week and started asking questions about Griffin. She asked to see some pictures of him, so we sent a few – it's only natural she would be curious and there's no harm in it. Even if she decided she wanted him back, it would never work."

"What does that bitch have to do with anything?" Mel asked.

"Meleri!" Everett hissed. He pointed urgently down at Griffin and she winced.

"Sorry!"

Felix rolled his eyes and Everett patted his shoulder before picking up the story, himself. "It sounds like she's been trying to get her life together. She has a lot of regrets about the past, and she said she knows she wasn't cut out to be a mother. She was happy to see Griffin looking so happy, though." Everett took a deep breath and continued, "Turns out she had another baby a couple of weeks ago. She wants her daughter to grow up in a real family, and she liked the idea of her being with Griffin."

I stared at him, completely flabbergasted. So... a woman basically reached out and just offered them her kid? I glanced at Lachlan to see what he thought of all this, but his face was impossible to read except for a slight tightening around his eyes. This had to hurt him, I realized. Griffin had been abandoned by this woman, and now she was essentially doing the same to her daughter – though in a more responsible, less neglectful way. After what Lachlan went through with his own mother...

Felix spoke again before I could continue further down that line of thought. "We know this is a bad precedent to set – the last thing we need is this woman thinking she can indiscriminately have kids and pass them off to be cared for. But we couldn't say no. We always wanted a bigger family, and this way Griffin and his sister can grow up together."

"Of course you're doing the right thing!" Mel said.

Everett smiled a little and said, "Thanks, Mel."

"So when do we get to meet her?" I asked eagerly.

Felix smiled a little, and I knew from the way he was looking at me that he was thinking about my impatience again. It was something he used to scold me for a lot when I was younger, but I thought I mostly had it under control now – except in special cases like this one. "Marla – that's her name – is already in the custody of the Neruda pack. We were waiting to pick her up until things settled down here."

And just like that, my excitement deflated. It was my fault they'd had to wait to pick up their daughter, and my fault that poor little baby was apart from her new family. Lachlan squeezed my hand when I opened my mouth to apologize. "They don't want to hear your apologies," he said over our link. "This is a happy time and none of that was your fault."

Rationally, I knew he had a point. I still had to bite my lip to keep my apologies in, and I knew I'd need to talk to Felix to make the guilt go away. Not now, though; Lachlan was right about that. I'd catch Felix and Everett alone later sometime.

"We're both taking off the next few days from work so we can drive out and get her. We might spend a couple of nights in Neruda, depending on whether she needs some time to adjust to us."

"She'll be fine," Anya said. Her tone told me she'd already tried telling Everett this many times and that he wasn't listening to her.

"I'm just saying, we have some time built in if we need it. If we can come home right away, so much the better," Everett said. He had a stubborn set to his jaw and I had to smile. Everett had this way of being either really rigid or really flexible, depending on the situation. This was something he wasn't going to budge on.

Felix nodded supportively, but I could tell he agreed with his mother-in-law. Since it seemed like the time for explanations was over, I got out of my chair and pulled Lachlan up with me. I had way too much energy right now to sit around talking. I needed to move.

"Let's go for a run," I suggested.

Lachlan's eyes brightened and he nodded eagerly. "Let's go!"