Everett

Even though Felix had been given the all-clear to go back to work by Paula, his alpha told him to take tomorrow off and to ease back into his work. Starting Wednesday, Felix would be back in the classroom. Next week on Monday, Felix would go back to his regular patrol schedule, too. I e-mailed Neil, my alpha, and got permission to take some extra time off over the next couple of days before Felix's return to work.

Felix and his siblings joked around over dinner that night, looking like they didn't have a care in the world. I tried to smile along with them and to keep the worry out of my expression, but I could tell from the anxious glances Magnus sent me, the irritation on Meleri's face, and the little wrinkle in Felix's brow that they weren't fooled.

After we were done eating, Felix started stacking plates and said, "Meleri, Magnus, why don't you guys go pick out a movie? Everett and I can handle clean-up in here."

They hurried out of the room comically fast, Magnus tripping over his feet a little and Meleri shoving him out of her way. "Come on, Magnus. I swear, you had better balance as a pup. Did you get knocked on your head too many times in training?"

"Aw, Mel, be nice for once in your life, would you?" Magnus groaned, massaging his calf.

Meleri heaved a dramatic sigh. "I guess you can pick the movie."

Magnus lit up and dashed for the living room again, stumbling but catching himself before he fell. Meleri cracked up and followed after him, leaving me alone with Felix.

I glanced at him, smiling a little when I saw that he was watching me. "You wanted to talk to me?" I asked. He had done a tidy job of arranging it so we would be alone and I was sure he had a reason.

A corner of his mouth lifted. "You're right. I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

I nodded – I'd been expecting this. "I'm fine, Felix. Just worried about you."

Felix's eyes lit up, making my breath catch. "Your feelings are showing, Everett," he said with a dazzling smile.

I fought the urge to press myself against him, to kiss those smiling lips. I didn't want to lead Felix on and I still hadn't figured out how we could get around all of the obstacles that stood in the way of us being together. Besides, I was still reeling at the fact that I had kissed Felix. On the lips. With my lips.

And it had been amazing.

I had to touch him, so I wove my fingers into his wavy hair, cupping his head in my hands. I stepped forward so I could really see him. There was a freckle under Felix's left eye that caught my attention and I had the strangest desire to kiss it.

It might have been too late to avoid leading Felix on. He took my embrace as an invitation, and who could blame him? Felix's arms wrapped around my waist, his fingers pushing just a little bit into the waistline of my pants. Aching awareness of every point of contact between us almost consumed me, and that was before his lips met mine.

I was helpless. I knew it was better that I pull away, but instead I opened my mouth and welcomed him in, stroking his tongue with my own while my fingers tugged gently at his hair. When my mind quieted and I just let my body feel, it was so easy to sink into Felix. I slid one hand down to the back of his head so I could press him even more firmly against myself. Felix changed the angle of the kiss, deepening it and drawing a moan out of me.

The sound I made shocked me out of the spell his nearness had put on my senses. I pulled back and stared up at him, taking in the slightly swollen lips and the mussed hair. Anyone walking in would know exactly what we had been up to. I smoothed his hair down while Felix smiled at me.

"You're blushing," he said softly.

I snapped my gaze to his and felt the heat in my cheeks intensify. Felix rested his forehead against mine and rubbed the tips of our noses together. It was strangely intimate and it made my heart flutter. I kissed him again, more gently this time.

Felix is the one who pulled away, though he kept his arms around me. "Now, do you want to talk about what was worrying you?"

I tried to take a step back, but his arms held firm. Had he planned this? Drop my guard by kissing me senseless, then press the issue when I couldn't get away? I tried to work up a proper mad, but his arms felt too good around me and I knew he wasn't trying to be malicious. Felix cared about my happiness, so he was trying to make it better. I couldn't fault him for that. "I told you – I'm worried about you."

"You don't need to worry about me, Everett. My job isn't that dangerous, really. I can go weeks or even months without a single altercation, and even when someone is trying to breach our borders, the fight is usually quick and easy for us."

"Usually," I scoffed. "Felix, it only takes things going badly one time. One bad fight, and you might be damaged beyond repair. You could lose a limb, an eye... your life. I wish you took that more seriously."

"I take it very seriously. Everett, this is my calling. It's what I was meant to do, I know it. I love my job. I love knowing that I make a difference in the pack, that my work makes everyone safer. And I'm really good at it. Don't take that away from me."

Felix's eyes were pleading on mine and I froze. Don't take it away from him, he said. Did that mean I could make him stop this? "Felix... if I asked you to find a safer job, what would you do?"

He squeezed his eyes shut and I was stunned at the amount of pain in his face. I brushed my fingers over his cheeks and his brow, hoping to smooth his expression, but he didn't move. Finally, Felix said, "I would find a safer job. If it's really too much for you to handle, I don't want to put you through that. But please, Everett, don't ask me for that. I've been on this path since I was a child. I always wanted to be a protector. There's never been anything I wanted in my life except this job, my family, and my mate."

And now I was threatening to take two of those three things away from him. Guilt flooded me and I hugged Felix tightly. "I won't ask," I promised. "I'll find a way to accept the danger."

What was I saying? Didn't this whole conversation imply a permanence in his life I had never committed to? But whether or not we started a relationship, whether or not we found a way to make things work and live together, I was going to worry about his safety for the rest of my life.

Felix clutched me against him, breathing hard. "Thank you. I understand how this must be for you."

How did I end up with someone so absurdly understanding? I hadn't even agreed to stay with him, and he was willing to change his life to make me happy. "I know I've said this before, Felix, but it needs repeated: you deserve a better mate."

Felix pressed a kiss to my temple. "I don't agree with you, but it doesn't matter. Mating isn't about deserving, it's about so much more than that. Compatibility, balance, attraction, affection... completion. You're all of that for me. You fill the gaps in my life and in myself perfectly, I already feel it. I could never desire anyone other than you for my mate."

Felix's words overwhelmed me, crashing against the defenses I had built against him and breaking them down even further. I kissed him feverishly, gripping at his hips and tugging him against me. Felix went a step further, gripping the undersides of my thighs and pulling me up so that I had no choice but to wrap my legs around his waist and cling to him. I shivered as I felt him flex and move against me, as my groin pressed against his stomach and his pressed against my butt. I should have panicked at that, and yes, a part of me was absolutely freaking out... Still, the kiss didn't break until Felix pulled away to kiss down my neck, nipping and sucking as he went until I was squirming in his arms.

"Felix," I whispered hoarsely.

"Say my name again," he said, and went to work on the other side of my neck. I moaned his name as he sucked especially hard on my neck and I shuddered. I was painfully hard and could feel that he was just as aroused underneath me. It didn't scare me – it felt right. Felix jerked his hips upward, pressing himself against me and making me shiver in anticipation.

A shriek sounded behind us, breaking the spell. How could I have forgotten we weren't alone here? I heard footsteps retreating as Mel called, "Sorry!" and Felix sighed.

"We just gave her and eyeful," he said, and gently set me back on my feet. I kept my hands on his shoulders to steady myself until I was sure I wouldn't wobble, unsuccessfully fighting off a blush.

Felix, on the other hand, was completely unabashed. "We should probably get back in there," he said. I didn't trust myself to string together a coherent response, so I nodded and let him lead me into the living room.

Meleri and Magnus were sprawled out on Felix's couches, leaving only a loveseat open for us to sit on. They definitely did it on purpose so Felix and I would have to sit close together, though I thought from the way Meleri was smirking at us that she realized their manipulation wasn't necessary.

Meleri opened her mouth but before she could get a word out, Felix said, "Can it, Mel."

"Yeah, can it!" Magnus chimed in cheerfully.

I couldn't help laughing with him. Felix sat down on the loveseat so that he was further from the television, angled toward it. I sat down next to him and Felix pulled me over so we were pressed together. I quickly found myself lounging with my back against his stomach, my head on his shoulder, and his arms around my middle while our legs entwined. The feeling of being so close to him was distracting, so I was glad when Magnus started the movie that it was something I had seen before.

Felix pressed a kiss to my temple and whispered, "Thank you for today."

I nuzzled my cheek against his neck. "No, thank you." His arms tightened around me and I couldn't stop a stupid grin from spreading.

I was drifting in the lovely space between waking and sleeping, basking in the warmth of being in my mate's arms and enjoying finally having put my worries down for a while when my phone rang.

I ignored it, but when it rang again immediately after, I checked the caller ID.

"It's my alpha," I whispered to Felix. "I have to take this."

I hurried down the hall to my bedroom and answered the phone.

"Everett, I'm sorry to do this to you, but I need you to come back," Neil said. I had always really appreciated the grasp Neil had on his pack members. He knew I didn't like small talk and preferred to get directly to the point, and he respected that.

I wished that, just this once, he had eased me into this.

"What happened?" I asked, forcing down the panic I felt at having to leave Felix so soon.

"We had Leon take over management of your portfolio while you were gone," Neil said, and my stomach sank even though if I'd given half a thought to who would take over for me, of course it would be him. Though my assistant was much closer to my work and would have been perfectly capable of handling things, Neil didn't know that. Besides, Leon had the next highest position in our financial department after me.

My main job within the pack was managing our biggest investment portfolio, one that had grown enough that we had many investors from outside of the Delta pack, too, who thought we were just a finance corporation. Leon was another financial analyst who followed the high risk, high reward school of thought and jumped into risky endeavors with both feet. He had a knack for picking winners, but I still never let him anywhere near my portfolio. We stood to lose too much if he chased after the wrong investment, as he inevitably would. His method took too much luck to be a sustainable long-term strategy.

"What did he do?" And why had he made any big changes to my portfolio in the single business day I'd been out?

"Have you heard of CyberBoardz?"

I groaned. "Tell me he didn't," I begged.

"Hang on, I've got the details here. Harry said to tell you that Leon sold off the call options you had on silver – and several other things – and invested all the money in CyberBoardz. The whole portfolio is collapsing."

"I needed those silver calls," I said. I already had enough of the portfolio focused on weather-sensitive crops and services. CyberBoardz was a new snowboard company that had pulled in millions in donations on the promise they could deliver hovercraft snowboards within five years – also a very weather-sensitive investment, and a stupidly risky one, at that.

"I'm dealing with Leon, but I need you to sort this out. Our investors are panicking and requesting meetings with us, and I don't have the background or their trust to calm them down," Neil said. "I know I gave you two weeks away, but please come back."

It was a request, not an order. Even so, I couldn't deny him. The portfolio I managed felt almost like a member of my family. I had created it, had taken care of it for years. I had even spent hours with it late at night, nurturing it so it could grow into the money-generating marvel it was today.

Or, the money-generating marvel it had been before Leon got his hands on it. I wasn't surprised he had wrecked it, but I would have expected it to take longer than a single business day.

"I'll drive home in the morning," I assured Neil.

"Thank you." I could hear the gratitude in his voice. Normally that would have pleased a primal part of myself that was proud to provide such value to my alpha, but all I felt was sadness.

Neil hung up, saving us from having to deal with messy goodbyes. I looked up CyberBoardz stock and saw that it had dropped seventy percent today. This afternoon, the CEO of the start-up stepped down, leaving his business partner in charge. The business partner had no engineering experience or any experience running a company – he was only involved because of his deep pockets and his friendship with the true mastermind of the company, the man who had left. No wonder people were rushing to sell the stock at a huge loss. Without that CEO, CyberBoardz was just a relatively new snowboard company in a saturated market.

I shook my head and pulled out my laptop. I needed to do some research and make a game plan for when the stock market opened in the morning. I'd have to leave early so I could get back to Delta in time.

Tears blurred the screen and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to fight them back. I snapped the laptop closed, accepting that I wasn't going to be getting any work done until I worked through the grief that crashed through me. I didn't want to leave Felix, but I would, and I didn't know when I would be able to come back.