Everett

I was still on a phone call with Harry when Felix got home. I hadn't meant to leave Harry alone for so much of the afternoon, but sealing my bond with Felix had been more important than providing him with support. It was selfish of me, but if I had kept putting it off, I might have lost my nerve, and who knows how long it would have taken me to find my bravery again?

Harry summarized every single meeting he had attended throughout the day and each of his decisions. I could hear in his voice that he was reading from a list and I wondered whether he had written down such meticulous notes for himself or just so he could read them back to me later.

I was sitting at the little dining room table, which was perfect for the space but not for working. I didn't want to use the office until I moved my own desk into it, since Felix's desk was an absolute mess. I was afraid to touch anything lest it never be seen again. At least if Felix couldn't find anything in that jumble it wouldn't be because of my interference. Felix sat down in the chair next to mine and scooted it over so he could look at my laptop screen, which had a budgetary spreadsheet up. He quickly realized it wasn't interesting and shifted his gaze to me, distracting me from whatever Harry had to say.

"Sorry, I'll wrap this up as quickly as I can," I sent through our bond. It made Felix jump in surprise, and I let out a laugh before I could stop it.

"Is everything okay over there?" Harry asked.

"Sorry, yes, everything's fine. What were you saying?" I responded. Felix's fingers traced a path up my arm, raising goosebumps in their wake. I shot him a reproving look, but Felix only smirked and did it again.

Harry was telling me about rumors of the original CEO of CyberBoardz coming back to the company, which could help the stock recover some of its value. It wouldn't jump back to its original value right away or possibly ever since people would feel more cautious about investing in it, but it would help. Harry hadn't bothered selling off the shares Leon had purchased while I was away since they were worth so little and there was still a small hope of them recovering.

"Hold them for now," I said, falling back into my usual role with Harry. Then I realized I was too used to being the leader in this relationship and needed to learn to step back so Harry could fully take the reins. "Unless you had a different idea?" I added hastily.

"No, I think it's worth waiting, at least for now."

"Was there anything else you wanted to discuss tonight?" I asked, pleading silently for him to say no.

"No, there's nothing that can't wait until tomorrow. I just wanted to catch you up."

"Thanks, Harry. I'll check back in tomorrow."

We hung up and I turned to my mate. He looked exhausted, I realized. Or... was that disappointment? "What's wrong?" I asked, my heart racing with nerves.

He sighed and pressed a quick kiss to my lips. His stubble scraped at my skin, which was startling. When would the adjustment period be over? When would it finally feel natural to be with him? I had hoped that once we slept together, everything would fall into place. It had definitely helped and I was glad we'd done it, but apparently sex was not a magical solution.

These were worries for later. I focused on Felix, who was grimacing. "It looks like I'm going to be working longer hours for a while."

Disappointment filled me, but I didn't want to add onto Felix's pain. "Oh. Why?" There. That was a neutral enough response, right?

Felix recapped his meeting for me and my frown matched his by the end. "I heard the forest fires going on right now are really bad," I told him.

Felix winced. "I haven't been keeping up with the news, but Spencer thought this would last for at least a couple of weeks. We're preparing to host them for a month, but hopefully they can return home sooner."

"Hopefully." I stood and stretched. My laptop was just about done shutting down and I was ready for bed. It would be an early night, but it sounded like Felix was going to have a busy day ahead of him and I wanted him to be as alert as possible until we were sure the refugees were peaceful. "Do you mind if we go to bed?" I asked. "I mean, you don't have to come with me, but I'm tired."

Felix smiled. "Bed sounds good."

His eyes traced over my whole body and I wondered whether he was expecting a repeat of this afternoon's performance. I wasn't up for that and really didn't want to have to tell him no.

We brushed our teeth side-by-side and I felt oddly shy about changing into my pajamas in front of him. Felix watched me with a lust-filled expression as I stripped to my boxers. Lust shifted to affection when I put on blue plaid pants and a matching button-down shirt. Felix had also stripped down but he climbed into bed wearing just a tight pair of boxer briefs that left nothing to the imagination.

I knew I hadn't imagined the pants he wore during the only other night we'd spent together. Which was his normal? It was impossible to guess. Either way, it was odd to climb into bed next to him, knowing that he was wearing almost nothing underneath the blankets. I set my phone on the nightstand on my side of the bed with its charging cord plugged in and slid into the blankets, too.

How much space was I supposed to leave between us? We were mated now, so I thought maybe we were supposed to be kind of close... but I had rarely shared a bed with anyone else before. Other than that one night with Felix when we were both grieving the separation to come, the only other people I had slept beside were my mother and Gavin. Gavin and I had always left a ton of room between us, only sharing the bed because he was too plastered to walk to his own apartment and my couch was too short for either of us to sleep on.

Felix literally pulled me out of my overthinking as he tugged me over toward his side of the bed until we were filling each other's hollows and his head was tucked on my shoulder, his arm was draped across my torso, and his leg was hooked over mine.

"Make yourself comfortable, why don't you?" I said, laughing a little.

"Okay," Felix answered, smiling happily and nuzzling at my neck. It sent tingles shooting through my whole body and I knew he was rubbing himself against his mark on my neck, where his scent would be most concentrated. Felix inhaled deeply and sighed. "I don't think I've ever been as happy as I am in this moment."

Affection burst in my chest and made it hard to speak. I squeezed him tightly against me and kissed his hair, the only part of him I could reach without jostling him. "Me neither," I realized. Felix made me feel secure and warm in a way nothing and no one else ever had. There had been a Felix-shaped hole in my life until today.

My mind drifted while Felix traced patterns over my stomach, making me shiver. How had my mother lived without my father all these years? I had always thought of her as soft. Sure, she could be strict when I was growing up if I did something wrong, but I was a well-behaved child and my mother and I were friends more often than not. She worked with children for a living and could decorate and cook like something out of a magazine. She had a circle of friends who did things like knitting and bingo when they hung out together. If she wasn't looking sad or lost – which happened whenever she wasn't focused on something – she was smiling and sweet. But my mother, she was strong. If something happened to Felix, I knew I could get on with my life... but I didn't think I could have such a full life as my mother did. He would take too much of me with him when he went.

I didn't realize Felix had stopped tracing his patterns until he said, "What's wrong?"

I shook my head, feeling stupidly choked up. "You need to be really careful, okay? From now on. I don't want you risking yourself. You don't need to be a hero. You just need to come home." My eyes were watering and I had to sniffle really badly, but I didn't want him to realize how distraught I was. This was our first night together as a committed couple. I didn't want to ruin it by getting maudlin.

"Hey, calm down," Felix said. He pushed against my hold and I realized I was clutching him against myself with all my strength. I let him go and he immediately sat up and tugged me into his arms. I let myself be held, pressing my ear against his chest and letting the sound of his heartbeat soothe me.

"Sorry," I whispered against his chest. "I know I'm being stupid."

Felix huffed a laugh. "You could never be stupid, Everett. In fact, I'm pretty sure you're the smartest person I've ever met. And I want you to come to me when you're feeling upset. This is part of being your mate, and I'm honored you're trusting me with your feelings."

I never believed in perfection before, but Felix came awfully close. "Sorry," I said again. "I think it will get easier with time, but your job scares me, Felix."

He was quiet for a long moment, just stroking up and down my back. Finally, he said, "If it's too much for you, I'll find another job. You know that."

"No," I protested immediately. I had seen how lit up he got this afternoon when he came home from work and told me about the break-through he had with one of his students. I couldn't take that away from him. "I'll adjust. I just wish we had gotten to settle in before this refugee situation came up."

"It'll be okay. We're being careful. There will be a lot more back-up out there while the refugees are here. If anything happens – and that's a huge if – I'll have more support than usual."

That did make me feel a little better, until I remembered that there was a reason so many more werewolves would be patrolling our territory. The refugees could turn against us, or we could be attacked by another pack who took advantage of the situation. So I let Felix hold me a little longer before we settled into bed. He fell asleep long before I did, but that was okay. I was content just to lay with him.

--

The next morning, I had to restrain myself from flitting around Felix, trying to make sure he had everything he needed.

I was turning into my mother. The thought horrified me.

"Do you need a packed lunch?" I asked. It was my third overbearing question of the morning, but Felix didn't look annoyed. In fact, he smiled affectionately and pressed a smacking kiss to my lips before answering.

"No, I'm all set. You don't need to worry about me, Everett. I'm going to run patrols and I'll likely be helping get the refugees set up at their campsite later, but I will be safe. You can always mind-link me if you get too worried, okay?"

I shook my head. "No way. What if you're in the middle of a fight and I distract you?"

Felix didn't answer, which I took as a victory.

"I need to get going. You sure you'll be okay?" he asked.

I snorted. I would spend the day holed up in our cozy, wonderful cabin, working on spreadsheets and trying to make my former assistant feel like he had authority. I would be just fine.

Though...

"Hey, is there anything I can do to help?" I asked. I didn't like that this was the first time it occurred to me to offer a helping hand.

Felix shook his head. "I know you have a lot to do for Delta still. We'll take care of everything."

Honestly, I was starting to think that the best thing I could do for Harry would be to back off and force him to handle things on his own. I'd provide whatever support I could in the background, but he couldn't feel like I was still watching over his shoulder if this power shift was going to work. "Seriously, you'd be surprised how much I can get done using my phone. What can I do to help?"

Felix studied me and must have seen that I was being serious. "Let me program Molly's number into your phone. If anything needs done, she would know about it. I'm sure she'd appreciate your offer."

I passed him my phone and he typed her number into a new contact page by memory. Who knew phone numbers by heart these days? Even I only knew my mom's number, and numbers were a huge part of my life.

Felix handed my phone back and said, "I forwarded you the e-mail with my schedule for the next month. I expect it will change, but this is all we have to go on for now. I'm working today until six, but I should get an hour off sometime in the afternoon and I'll try to stop by."

"I might not be here," I said. "Not if Molly needs me."

"I'll text you, then. If you do leave, could you let me know?"

I nodded and walked Felix to the door. "Be safe," I said.

"You too. I'll see you later." He kissed me and was gone before I had too much of a chance to focus on the worry that was quickly threatening to swallow me.

Felix was going to give me an anxiety disorder. I had always been prone to anxious thoughts, but he set them off with a degree of panic and urgency I had rarely experienced before.

Needing to take my mind off my mate's job, I called Molly. I really didn't think she would answer – no one liked to pick up calls from unknown numbers these days – but she did.

"You've reached Molly Brannigan," she said cheerily.

"Molly? This is Everett Ibarra, Felix's mate." I cleared my throat and wondered whether I was being too formal.

I didn't have to wonder for long.

Molly snorted and said, "Everett, I know who you are. What can I do for you?"

"Actually, I was wondering whether I can do anything for you. Felix told me about the refugees and I thought you might need some extra hands."

"Hmm. We've got almost everything taken care of except staffing for the daycare. We're about to have more than a dozen extra kids and I haven't had a chance to find extra staffers yet. Any chance you're good with children?"

I smiled. I really was going to be just like my mother, wasn't I? "Actually, my mother is a child caretaker and I spent my teenage years helping her. I'd be happy to help watch the kids."

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that. For some reason, everyone I've called about this has been squeamish. I mean, it's going to be pretty chaotic in there, but... Wait, forget I said that. I don't want to scare you off."

I couldn't help laughing. I really liked Molly. Hopefully Felix had such good taste in all his friends. "Want me to call my mom? I bet she would come down and help us out if I asked her to. She was going to make the trip tomorrow, anyway." Delta would have an easy time covering for her, and Mom would be eager to meet Felix sooner. Besides, I wasn't ashamed to admit that I was a grown man who was missing his mother. I didn't usually see her more than a couple of times per week, but knowing she was so far was hard.

"Are you sure she wouldn't mind?" Molly asked.

"Molly, she'll be so excited. I'll be sure to introduce you to her, then you'll understand."

"Well, if you're sure she wouldn't mind... and this is her regular job in Delta... Yes, that would be fantastic. I'll let the guards know to expect her. She'll need to come see me at the office to get a temporary ID issued, then I'll show her to the daycare."

"I'll call her right after I hang up. How do I get to the day care and when do you want me there?"

I heard typing in the background. Molly spoke again only after the typing faded. "Come by the office at ten. I'll have someone show you the way. I expect I'll be too busy to take you myself, but I don't want you getting lost in these woods."

"Thanks, Molly. See you at ten."

"Send me a text when you know when we should expect your mother," she said.

"Sure thing. Bye."

We hung up and I stared at the phone in my hand, feeling excited. Then I realized I had just promised to invite my mother to visit indefinitely without consulting Felix at all. He had said she was welcome any time. I really hoped that was true.