Everett

After Felix left, I called my mom, who was working in the daycare today. "Everett, are you safe?" she asked as soon as she picked up.

"I'm fine. Griffin and I are in a saferoom in our cabin. Felix is out looking for the invaders. Are you safe?"

"We're all fine, dear. There's a fully-stocked saferoom in the daycare and we have our own guards here in case the daycare is targeted." I remembered Felix mentioning once that the daycare was a frequent target for attacks, so hearing that my mom was in a saferoom didn't make me feel as good as it could have.

"How many guards are there?" I asked.

"Four. We have our normal two guards and another two came after the sirens started blaring. We'll be okay, dear. Don't worry about me."

But I was worried. I was worried about my mom, about my mate, about myself, and my son. I was worried about Meleri and Magnus, though I was sure they could hold their own in a fight. I was worried about Spencer and Molly, who would definitely be targets if the invaders could get anywhere near them. I worried about Paula, who had worked so hard to help Felix heal when he was in his coma.

The sirens were muffled in this room, which I was certain had some soundproofing, so Griffin finally stopped clutching at his ears and was starting to calm down. It gave me a little more room to think, which wasn't a good thing – my thoughts were full of fear. What if someone broke into the house and found us? I wasn't a fighter. I couldn't protect us.

Griffin stood and pressed his palms to my cheeks. "Errit, read a story," he said.

I looked over at the stack of things Felix had brought for us and found a couple of books. I held them out to Griffin and said, "Which one do you want to read?"

Griffin took one from my hand and opened it up. He started pointing to the pictures of animals and telling me what they were called. It didn't take much attention on my part, which was good since I was tapped into Felix's mind. He had all of his barriers completely down, so if I really focused, I could hear his thoughts.

Felix had just reached Spencer's office, which was empty. He ran out of the building, heading for the training grounds. It was a frequent meet-up in situations like this. Griffin said, "Cow," and I didn't even check to see whether he was pointing to the right animal. Instead, I followed along as Felix made it to the training grounds, where he found Elspeth. This was my first time seeing her, though Felix had brought her name up several times.

"Where were you?" she asked him.

"I had to get Everett and Griffin settled," he said. "What's the situation?"

Elspeth started jogging into the woods and Felix kept pace next to her. "Three wolves attacked our eastern border. Jeff and Mila were on duty and took them out, no problem. At the same time, Alexa and Bryant fielded off four wolves in the south. They took out three, but the fourth got away. He ran out of our territory and we're on lockdown until we're sure there won't be more attacks. This feels organized, but they had to know that seven wolves wouldn't be enough to get through us. Something isn't adding up."

I was so relieved, I lost my focus on Felix and his thoughts faded from my mind. Spencer was just being cautious right now with the lockdown. No one was in our territory and no one in Lakota had gotten hurt.

"Errit!" Griffin shouted.

"Woah, no need to yell. What's wrong?" I asked.

"Read book," Griffin demanded.

"Okay," I agreed, and looked down at where his hand was resting on a picture of a pig.

"Pig," Griffin said, looking at me expectantly.

"You're right, that's a pig," I agreed. Griffin smiled. He loved hearing that he was right – something that I really hoped didn't carry over into his adolescence. For now, it was adorable.

I tapped back into Felix's mind. He was still okay, running the perimeter with Elspeth. Griffin pointed out a goat and I nodded and smiled at him.

This carried on for hours. Griffin and I read through both of the books Felix had brought for him several times while I kept track of Felix. The sirens were mostly turned off, though they still sent up a warning beep every few minutes. It was a lot better than the constant blaring, but the beeps were jarring. The room Griffin and I were shut in was barely big enough for me to stretch out my legs all the way and reach my arms out to the sides. I had to change Griffin's training pants and didn't have a sink to wash my hands in afterward, which added to the unpleasantness of the evening. Still, I didn't have much to complain about. Felix was still safe and no one had seen an enemy wolf since the sirens went off.

I finally received a text alert on my phone. "Emergency lockdown has ended. We are now in a state of high alert. Do not go out alone." The same message would have gone out to every pack member.

At the same time, Felix said, "You can leave the closet now. Stay inside the house."

"Are you on your way home?" I asked while I slid open the door and inhaled deeply. The air had been getting pretty stale in the saferoom. I didn't realize how bad it was until fresh air hit my nose.

"Soon. We're having a meeting. I should be back in an hour or two."

I felt him withdraw mentally from the conversation and sighed. At least we could leave the closet. "Let's make some dinner, huh?" I said to Griffin.

"Chicken nuggets!" he said, reaching up for me to carry him. Griffin insisted on being carried around all the time. At some point, Felix and I would have to get him comfortable with walking around on his own, but not yet. He was still settling in with us.

"How about chicken nuggets and broccoli?" I said.

"With ketchup!"

I shuddered, but if the kid wanted to put ketchup on his broccoli – which he would – I wouldn't stop him. At least he was eating his greens without complaint. "Yeah, with ketchup."

I got Griffin's dinner ready first, then got to work on mine and Felix's. I decided to make a soup since I wasn't sure when Felix would be home and soup could simmer on the stovetop for hours without suffering too badly. Griffin watched videos on my phone while I cooked, laying on a blanket on the kitchen floor. He didn't like to be alone, so he refused to watch TV in the living room while I was cooking. It was sad, given the reason he didn't like being left alone, but I liked that I didn't have to worry about him getting into trouble.

I was chopping carrots when the front door banged open. I jumped so badly that the knife went flying out of my hands. I dove in front of Griffin, but the knife clattered harmlessly to the floor a couple feet away from us.

Mel and Magnus rushed into the kitchen and I lost my temper. "Could you please give me some warning next time? Or at least open the door like normal people?"

Magnus' eyes found the knife on the floor and he winced. "Sorry, we didn't mean to scare you."

Meleri didn't apologize. Instead, she crossed the room and hugged me tightly. I was so surprised that my anger evaporated. "We were so worried about you two! We came as soon as we could."

I hugged her back and pressed my nose against her shoulder, drawing in her scent. Ever since I sealed my bond with Felix, she and Magnus both registered as family to me and her scent was comforting. It was also a huge relief not to be the sole adult anymore. If a fight came to my door now, Meleri and Magnus would help me protect Griffin.

Magnus threw himself into the hug too.

"Sorry I snapped at you," I said, inhaling his scent now.

"Don't apologize. This had to be scary."

We separated and I smiled at him. It was impossible to stay upset with Magnus around. "It was, a bit. Felix is okay, though. He'll be home soon after they have a meeting."

"What do you know?" Mel asked.

The timer went off on Griffin's food, so I put him in his high chair and got him set up. While he ate, I told them what I had picked up from Felix's thoughts and they both looked relieved. "Has this kind of thing happened before?" I asked.

Meleri shrugged. "Not quite like this, but the sirens go off a few times per year. The last time was when Felix got hurt. No one made it through the border then either, but we always err on the side of caution."

I took a moment to absorb this. I wasn't sure whether it made me feel better (this was routine and the pack knew how to handle it) or worse (it was a regular occurrence). "When's the last time someone in the pack was killed?" I asked.

Meleri and Magnus exchanged looks. "A few years ago. One of the defenders on patrol had his throat ripped out."

"Mel!" Magnus protested.

"What? He asked and he deserves an honest answer. People get hurt sometimes, Everett. I'm not going to lie about it."

Magnus stepped in front of her and looked at me with pleading eyes. "It's not that bad. I can't even remember the last casualty before Archie."

I looked at Meleri, who nodded. Not that I thought Magnus would lie to me, but I could definitely see him skewing the truth to protect my feelings.

Griffin finished eating and started banging on the sides of his high chair, trying to get out. He only ate some of his food, but I hadn't expected him to clear his plate after all the snacks I gave him while we were in the saferoom. "I've got you, buddy," I said and went to pick him up. Magnus and Mel pushed me aside as they made a dash for him. They stood on either side of him, arms extended with wide smiles on their faces that honestly looked kind of creepy.

"Come on, don't you want to hang out with your Uncle Magnus?" Magnus cooed.

"No way! Aunt Mel is way more fun!" Mel said, wiggling her fingers in his direction. Griffin looked between them before reaching for Magnus, who let out a loud whoop before scooping Griffin up into his arms and hugging him. Griffin squirmed, so Magnus quickly adjusted his grip and held Griffin up over his head, running through the house while making airplane noises. Griffin spread his arms out and laughed in delight. He loved pretending to be an airplane. In fact, I thought this game might be the reason Magnus kept winning out over Meleri.

"Better luck next time," I said to Meleri.

She scoffed. "Magnus won a battle. I'm going to win the war." She ran off down the hall after Magnus and Griffin and I leaned back against the counter, truly glad they were here. I needed a minute alone, a minute to process what had happened today.

As soon as I gave my fear an inch of leeway, I slid down to sit on the floor, holding my face in shaking hands. Felix had never been in any danger today, but he so easily could have been. If this hadn't been his day off, he would have been on patrol. He could have been on one of the teams that got attacked. I knew he was good at his job, but everyone slipped up sometimes, no matter how good they were. I wouldn't have met Felix if he were infallible.

The shaking overtook my entire body and a single thought dominated my mind: I couldn't lose him.