Everett

My life fell into a routine.

I worked in the daycare while supporting Harry as much as I could. In fact, I spent several hours over the course of the next week sitting in a corner of the daycare room with Griffin on my lap and my laptop in front of me, working while he fidgeted with a toy or watched a show on my phone.

Felix was home with irregularity, but we always managed to spend some time together. My mother had dinner at my home every night, which I was grateful for. Seeing her and Felix together set off a warmth in my chest, and when Felix wasn't home for dinner, it was nice not to be alone.

I did have to go to Delta on Tuesday. I received a text partway through the day from my mother asking me to video chat her when I had a chance. When I did, she focused her camera on a red-faced Griffin who had clearly been crying.

"See?" my mom said. "There's Everett. He's going to be here tomorrow, okay?" To me, she added, "Tell him you'll be back tomorrow, Ev."

A knot of emotion built up in my throat, making it difficult to speak. Was he upset because of my absence? It wasn't good for him to be feeling that way, I tried to tell myself. He was going to go back to Neruda when the forest fires were contained and he shouldn't be missing me when he was there. But I felt so much for that little boy and knowing that he honestly cared about me had me melting inside against all reason. "Griffin, hey. Don't cry. I'll see you tomorrow," I assured him.

Griffin looked at me and said, "Errit."

I was getting better at puzzling out what he meant when he spoke, which was definitely less than a boy his age usually would. Still, it was my mother who caught his meaning. "Yes, Griffin, that's Everett."

He was saying my name.

The warmth in my chest bloomed into an affection I couldn't contain. "You be good for Anya, okay? No more crying?"

A fat tear rolled down his adorable toddler cheek and he pouted. "Errit come."

"I'll be back tomorrow," I told him. He probably didn't have much of a concept of what "tomorrow" was, but it was the best I could do.

"How about we have a snack, huh?" My mom asked.

Griffin looked at her and said, "Cookies?"

My mom's face appeared on my screen and she said, "I'm hanging up before he remembers he was talking to you. Love you, dear."

"Love you, Mom."

After my screen went dark, I stared at it for a long moment. I was still trying to come to terms with the warmth Griffin had sparked in me. I still had another two meetings this afternoon, but I badly wanted to get in my car and rush back to Lakota. If I hurried, I could see him a little before his packmates came to pick him up. Besides, I would be getting home later than Felix today, which rubbed me wrong. He was home so little that it felt like a huge wasted opportunity to miss any of it.

There were only twenty minutes left of my lunch break, so I hurried down to the dining hall. No use worrying about things I couldn't change.

--

On Friday, two women from Neruda joined us in the daycare. Molly had finally given them clearance to join us. Their names were Penny and Jessamine, and they mostly spent their time fielding the Neruda children. It was a relief to have them here since there had been more Lakota children arriving at the daycare each morning.

I was on my laptop in the corner when they arrived. Griffin was strapped into a stroller that could seat three kids. His eyes searched the room and found me, and he shouted, "Errit!"

Jessamine and Penny exchanged glances that were loaded with meaning. It seemed like they were having a silent argument.

"Alright, you get the others," Penny said. She approached Griffin and started unbuckling his fastenings. He squirmed when she grew near and started yelling when she put her arms around his waist to lift him up.

I had already been approaching and reached out to take him from her. "I've got him," I said.

"Oh, no, he doesn't like being held," she told me, eying him with a furrowed brow like he was some kind of problem. Something about her hold set off alarms in my mind and I reached out and snatched up Griffin.

"It's okay," I told her. "Griffin and I are friends."

Griffin latched onto me and looked down at her with wide eyes. Penny's eyes were just as wide as she stared back. "I'm Everett," I said.

"Penny," she said softly, still staring. I knew her name already since Molly had sent all of the daycare workers from Lakota pictures and the names of the two Neruda people who would be joining us. She didn't want to risk the wrong person showing up with us being none the wiser.

"Nice to meet you."

"Story, Errit?" Griffin asked.

"Sure, bud. What book do you want to read?"

Penny put a hand on my shoulder and stopped me from walking away. "He asks about you at night," she said. "Errit. We never knew what it meant."

My chest warmed, but I pushed it back. This was not a good thing, I reminded myself. Griffin and I shouldn't be so attached to each other, not when he had parents and a pack to go back to. This was an opportunity, though, and one I couldn't pass up. Griffin's attachment issues came from somewhere. Something in his life was not as it should be for a two-year-old. Maybe Penny knew what it was. "Can I ask you something?" I said.

Penny smiled a little and said, "Of course."

"I want to know about Griffin's home life. You mentioned that he doesn't like to be held. Did something happen to him?"

Her smile dropped and she looked down at Griffin with the first hint of sympathy I had seen from her. Before, she looked at him like he was a chore. "Yeah. Griffin's parents weren't mates. His father signed his custody away before Griffin was born and his mother left him alone for hours at a time. Her neighbors called in our enforcers to get Griffin when he wouldn't stop crying. He was in our custody pending investigation of her when she left the pack. She signed away her rights to him in exchange for dropped charges."

Griffin squealed and squirmed in my arms. I realized I was holding him too tightly in a futile effort to protect him from the horrors of his past. I pressed a kiss to his head and looked back to Penny. "When was that?"

Penny squinted in thought. "Four months ago? He's been in foster care ever since, but no one wants to adopt a kid who won't let them hold him. He gets shuffled around every couple of weeks. I think it's making the problem worse."

"Thanks for telling me what happened to him," I said. I let Penny get back to helping Jessamine unload the rest of the Neruda children and took Griffin back to my work corner, where I was just as clingy as he was for the rest of the morning.

--

I was finishing up some work on the couch when Felix got home. "I didn't have a chance to make dinner yet," I told him, and turned around.

His shirt was coated in blood and he looked pale. Felix braced himself against the wall and squeezed his eyes shut. His movements were heavy, lacking their usual precision. He looked dizzy. Was it from the blood loss? Or had he hit his head again?

I threw my laptop to the other side of the couch and dashed to him, reaching out but afraid to actually touch the shirt that was still glistening wetly. "What happened? Are you okay?"

I could have slapped myself for asking that. Of course he wasn't okay. He was bleeding. I started to feel faint and realized I wasn't breathing. Suddenly, Felix was the one comforting me. He gripped at my shoulders and said, "Hey, look at me. I'm fine. The wound is almost healed now. It won't even leave a scar."

How could he possibly be so casual about something like this? "What happened?" I asked hoarsely.

"I was in a training session this afternoon. Leo got a good swipe in. It's fine."

But it wasn't fine. I pulled myself away from Felix and grabbed his arm, tugging him down the hall to the bathroom, where there was better lighting. "Take off your shirt," I said.

"Everett, I promise I'm okay. Why don't you let me get cleaned up and have a shower? By the time I'm done, the wound will be completely gone."

I knew what he was doing. He didn't want me to see whatever had spilled his blood across his shirt, so he was stalling to give it more time to heal. There was so much blood – too much for the casual way he was handling the situation. How often did injuries like this happen? "Show me," I said.

"Everett-"

"Show me," I repeated. I wasn't messing around.

Felix sighed and slowly lifted up his shirt. I gasped when I saw the thick, jagged red line that carved its way across his chest. Blood was smeared across Felix's skin, though it was mostly dried now. I stared at his chest in horror, every paranoid fear I'd ever had while Felix was out working rushing back through my mind.

"Hey, look at me. Look at my eyes," Felix insisted, ducking so his face was in my field of vision. "I am okay. This is part of training and I was never in any real danger. I still won the match, Everett. You don't have to worry about me."

But I did have to worry, especially since Felix seemed determined not to worry about himself. Still, as I looked into my mate's dark eyes, which were fixed on mine with a look of such sincerity and warmth that I melted, I felt my heartrate returning to normal. His very presence was enough to calm me down now that the initial shock was over. I flung myself against him in a tight hug, not caring about the blood that was definitely soaking into my shirt. I clutched Felix to me and trembled against him, fighting off the horrifying thought of what my life would be like without him in it.

"I need you to take care of yourself," I told him.

"I know," Felix whispered in my ear. "I'll be more careful."

"You'd better."

I pulled away and stepped out of my clothes. Felix needed a shower and I was in no state to leave his side right now, so I would shower, too. I got the water set to the temperature he liked – it was hotter than my preference, but my need to take care of him was driving me to provide anything that would give him comfort.

Once we were in the shower, I carefully washed away the blood from Felix's chest and from his waist, where some had run down. He kept his hands braced on my shoulders, and his fingers tightened on me the lower I got on his body.

By now, the redness of the wound had faded away enough that it almost completely blended into his skin, which was flushed from the hot water running down it. I was on my knees washing Felix's legs when I looked forward and realized what position I was in.

I was directly in front of my mate's very erect cock.

I flicked my eyes up at Felix, who was looking down at me with smoldering eyes. He had always taken the lead, physically. I had always been grateful he was so willing to put himself out there and show me the ropes, but here was an opportunity I wasn't going to waste.

I tentatively grabbed Felix and held him while I ran my tongue across his enflamed head. A trail of precum strung between him and my tongue when I pulled away, and I laughed a little. Felix was holding himself perfectly still, which I knew from experience to be very difficult. Just how good was his self-control?

I leaned back in and went right for the kill – I wrapped my lips around him and took him into my mouth, sucking as I went to completely engulf him in warmth. I knew from experience just how good this felt – the memory of Felix's mouth on me like this was enough to make me painfully hard.

Felix put his hands on my hair and he massaged my scalp while he groaned as I pulled away and back, occasionally bringing him entirely out of my mouth so I could lick him or suck at his head.

"Everett," Felix said. "It's too good. I can't..."

"Let go, Felix," I said when my mouth was free again. "I want you to."

That, it seemed, was all he needed. Felix gripped at me and held me in place while his hips gently rocked him in and out of me. I reached up and massaged his ballsack, and when I pulled gently on it, Felix erupted. His hips jerked as he pumped his seed down my throat. I wasn't totally prepared for it and almost choked, but I managed to swallow him down. When he was finished, Felix sagged back against the shower tiles, his eyes shut and an expression of pure bliss on his face.

"That was amazing," he said, and opened his eyes in time to see me wiping off my lips. Felix smirked, obviously enjoying the sight. "Thank you."

"Don't think this is going to happen every time you come home hurt," I warned. No way did I want to set up that association in Felix's mind.

Felix snorted and pulled me up so I was standing in front of him. "My turn," he said, and knelt down in front of me. I shut my eyes in anticipation. I was so turned on by witnessing the pleasure I brought to Felix that I didn't last long after his lips wrapped around me.