Felix

"Errit! Pop!"

Griffin's voice was soft enough that he never would have woken me up if he wasn't also jumping on the bed. He slipped and fell down, landing with his head on Everett and his feet on my stomach. There was a moment of startled silence before he started wailing.

"Ssh!" I reached for him and hugged him against my chest, turning his face against me in a desperate attempt to keep Griffin from waking up Everett. Everett was already stirring, so when Griffin wriggled in my arms and reached for Everett, I let him go.

Everett had his eyes squeezed shut like they were every morning when he was first waking up. He hugged Griffin with one arm while his other hand rubbed sleepily at his eyes and cheeks. He yawned widely and I smiled, feeling no small amount of satisfaction at just how thoroughly I had worn him out last night. We snuck back into our bed a little after midnight and Everett had gone out like a light.

"What time is it?" Everett asked. His voice was still rough and he cleared his throat, clearly annoyed, but I liked when he sounded sleepy like this. These quiet moments with my family were precious to me.

I picked up my phone from the bedside table and lit up the display. "A little after eight." In fact, I was shocked Griffin had let us sleep as late as he did. Maybe his breakdown yesterday had tired him out.

Everett nodded and relaxed back into the bed, curling his body around Griffin's small form and wrapping the blankets tighter around them. It was a beautiful image, and one I didn't get nearly enough time to admire. Everett's eyes snapped open after only a few seconds and he sat up, startling Griffin to tears.

"Molly's supposed to be here at eight thirty! Here, take him. I need to get dressed and get breakfast started." Everett thrust Griffin toward me and dashed to the closet. It wasn't a big deal if we didn't have breakfast on the table when Molly got here, but I knew Everett wouldn't listen to me if I told him that, so I let him go.

"Let's get you cleaned up and changed, huh?" I said to a bewildered Griffin, whose tears of surprise were already drying.

I walked Griffin into his room across the hall and got him changed out of his training underwear. They were saturated just like every other morning. I was just grateful he seemed to be mostly potty-trained during the daytime. Griffin picked out his own clothes, settling on a lime green shirt with a rocket ship on it and periwinkle shorts that clashed horribly. Everett would be upset when he saw the outfit, but I didn't care if Griffin's clothes matched and I couldn't say no to him when he looked so excited about the clothes he'd chosen. I did swap out Griffin's socks when he wasn't looking since I knew Everett would never stand for a mismatched pair of socks, even on a toddler.

"Your daddy is a little anal," I said to Griffin as I walked him down the hall, tickling his belly as we went. I loved to hear him laugh and this was a sure-fire way to accomplish that.

"I heard that!" Everett said wryly as I walked into the kitchen. "I know you're understating it, so thanks, but maybe don't use that word with him? I don't want people to get the wrong idea if he starts repeating it."

I laughed at his blush and kissed his pink cheek. "Sure."

Griffin liked to keep us in sight, so we had a plush rug set up in the corner of the kitchen with a couple of his toys and a stack of books. I set him down and headed to the stove. Everett had eggs scrambling but was too busy cutting fruit to tend them, so I took over the job. By the time Molly walked into the house fifteen minutes later, we had breakfast laid out on the table, waiting.

"I hope you don't mind I brought company," she said when she saw the spread. Patrick walked into the room behind her.

"Of course not! There's plenty of food," Everett said. He grabbed another plate from the cabinet and poured more juice while I hugged Molly and Patrick.

Patrick had met Griffin and Everett briefly at the end of one of his patrols, but this would be his first chance to have a proper conversation with Everett. I was a little sad it couldn't happen under better circumstances, and that the topics wouldn't be getting-to-know-you questions, but battle plans. I shook that off. There was nothing we could do to change the situation, so better to just accept it and move on.

Everett got Griffin settled into his high chair and filled a silicone plate for him, so I took Everett's plate and started loading it up. Molly and Patrick didn't waste any time filling their own plates and digging in.

"Thanks for feeding us," Molly said between bites.

"Our pleasure," Everett replied politely. He always fell back on formality and manners when he wasn't totally comfortable, though at this point I thought a lot of it was just habit. Still, it was easy to see the tension in his posture and in the stiffness of his movements.

"Do you mind if we start talking now?" I asked. "I understand if you'd rather wait until we're done eating."

Patrick shoved another bite into his mouth and spoke around it. "Now's fine."

I glanced at Everett and saw him looking studiously away from Patrick's puffy cheeks and the bits of egg I could see poking out of his mouth. He was a barbaric eater. Patrick jolted and glared at Molly, who had definitely just kicked him under the table, based on his reaction and the glare she was giving him. He raised a brow in confusion and Molly rolled her eyes, throwing her hands up in surrender.

"I tried," she said, looking at Everett.

He smiled tightly at her, clearly still nervous, though I could see a spark of amusement in his eyes. "Thank you. Felix tells me you have a plan?"

Molly glanced at Griffin thoughtfully. "Yes. We've been researching the Tourmaline pack, digging up any information we could on them. They're very traditional – by which I mean to say that they live in the middle of the woods with a minimal paper trail and an archaic pack system – so it wasn't easy to get information. We did manage to find a couple of people who recently left Tourmaline and they let us ask them a few questions."

Molly paused to take another bite, so Patrick jumped in. "They left because of Marcus. The pack was always archaic, as Molly put it, but they were civilized enough. He's trying to revert them back to a more primal state and a lot of the pack isn't happy about it. You have to fight for your rank, even if the position you want has nothing to do with fighting. You aren't allowed to tap out of a battle. In order for a fight to end, someone has to be unconscious. If someone dies in the fighting ring, the winner of the match is celebrated instead of punished." Patrick hesitated. "Is it okay to be talking about this in front of the kid?"

I looked down at Griffin, surprised. I hadn't even thought about whether this was an appropriate conversation for him to hear.

Everett leaned down so he was on eye level with Griffin and said, "Hey, Griff, do you think you could play in your room for a little bit while Papa Felix and I talk with Molly and Patrick?"

"No," Griffin said, pouting.

"Please?" Everett pressed.

"No," Griffin insisted.

I grimaced. "Looks like he stays."

"You guys are push-overs," Patrick commented.

I could see Everett from the corner of my eye, and he was obviously offended. "There's a story here you don't know, Patrick," I jumped in before Everett could say anything. I had no idea how he dealt with verbal conflict, but I did know just how upset he got whenever someone questioned his capability and his decision-making, which was to say: incredibly upset. Better to diffuse this situation as quickly as possible.

Patrick didn't apologize, but he didn't push the issue, either. Molly cleared her throat after a moment of awkward silence. "Our plan is to help the pack dethrone Marcus. The ex-pack members we interviewed put us in contact with someone who's still in the pack, the former alpha's nephew. He's been laying low since he didn't want Marcus to think he was a threat, but enough people in the pack back the nephew that we have a real chance of getting him in power and getting Marcus exiled."

"It's too risky," Everett said, surprising me. He saw my confusion and explained, "Taking away Marcus' power doesn't mean he'll stop coming after us. It might actually make him more determined. We might spark a vendetta."

I looked to Molly, who had surely considered this possibility. Her eyes were glinting and she bared her teeth in a simulacrum of a smile, though it was too predatory to ever be confused with one. "Challenges for authority follow pack rules. The current rules allow for killing. Niles – that's the nephew – knows he can't let Marcus live if he takes power. Marcus wouldn't go away quietly. The only way to end this for all of us is for Marcus to die."

"So Niles is going to challenge him?" I asked. "When?"

Molly and Patrick exchanged glances. "He's actually coming here first. We want you to work with him. At least give him a couple of days of training and gauge his skill level. We don't want him trying this if he's not ready, since we really only get one shot at this. Marcus will change the rules if someone gets close to killing him."

I looked to Everett, who slowly nodded, then back to Molly and Patrick. "Okay, I'll train him. When does he arrive?"

Molly smiled brightly, a true smile now. "This afternoon. We're moving as quickly as we can here. He can't be away for long without people growing suspicious, so I'm really hoping you'll tell us he's a fighting genius."

"If he were, he would have challenged Marcus before now, don't you think?" Patrick asked derisively. Molly glared at Patrick, but he had a point. Everett took my hand under the table and I squeezed reassuringly.

"We'll see," Molly said.

"Gareth is coming this afternoon," Everett reminded me.

"I'll meet him when I get back," I said. Neither of us dared suggest we delay this training session with Niles. If it could lead to us getting our lives back and securing Griffin's safety, we'd both do anything we could to keep things moving.

"If this doesn't work out, what's the back-up plan?"

Molly grimaced. "We're still working on that. Try to make plan A work, okay?"

Patrick and Molly didn't stay much longer after that. Patrick went outside to take over as our guard while Molly went back to the office, where I knew she would be busier even than she usually was while she searched for a plan B and kept our pack afloat. She could come across as a bubbly, carefree person, but she was Spencer's protégé through and through, and she was an organizational and strategic genius. I was excited to see what she could accomplish once she took over as our alpha.

Everett and I cleaned up the kitchen while Griffin played on his mat. When we were done, Griffin was laying on his stomach with a book in front of him, pointing at the pictures as he liked to do while he talked to himself.

"He doesn't seem to be paying us much attention," I said to Everett over our mind link.

He glanced at Griffin and nodded cautiously. "Where are you going with this?"

"He needs to get used to being alone, Ev. Let's just step into the next room. We'll stay right outside the doorway so he'll find us immediately if he comes looking."

Everett's eyes didn't move from Griffin and I really thought he would say no, but instead he nodded his head slowly and took my hand. We silently crept out of the kitchen and settled ourselves just out of Griffin's line of vision.

I traced patterns over Everett's palm while he stared toward the kitchen, looking worried. I hated seeing him so upset, but I was worried too. This might have been my idea, but Griffin's episode last night had scared me. I had just been starting to let my guard drop with him – to think that he might overcome his struggles without much intervention from us – and he dragged me right back to reality.

It only took a couple of minutes for Griffin to realize we were gone. "Errit!" he shouted. I heard the sound of tiny footsteps and soon he was barreling into my mate. "You left."

"I didn't go far," Everett said gently.

Griffin stepped away and looked between us. "We watch TV?"

I was too shocked to answer him. I really thought Griffin was going to put up more of a fight. Everett, thankfully, still had control of his mental faculties and said, "Sure. What do you want to watch?"

He and Griffin settled on the couch and I took the opportunity to check my e-mail. Unsurprisingly, I had a new one from Molly with Niles' picture and some basic information about him – he was twenty-five, had worked as an engineer since graduating with his master's just last spring, and was single. His cousin, June, was supposed to have been the next leader of Tourmaline, but she had died in the same uprising that killed her father. In fact, Niles' only surviving family was an aunt who had transferred out of Tourmaline over a decade ago to be with her mate. Niles' parents and older brother had been killed in the uprising, too.

Molly had written her own interpretation of events: that anyone considered a threat to Marcus had been put down. It was a sound theory, especially since that's how these kinds of take-overs tended to go. Niles, as an engineer who brought good money into the pack and who had no fighting training – at least according to this profile – wouldn't have been considered a threat. Marcus probably kept him around for the cash flow. He was a computer engineer, and Molly had noted that the starting salary tended to be over $70,000 per year. He was probably making more than that by now.

After reading through the profile a couple of times, just to make sure I absorbed any pertinent information, I sat down with Everett and Griffin, who were watching Rugrats.

"How are you going to train Niles?" Everett asked over the link.

I frowned. How was I supposed to train him? I was determined not to leave Everett and Griffin. I couldn't be completely certain they were safe if I wasn't with them, but no way was I letting a stranger from Tourmaline into our home. I didn't want him meeting my family or seeing first-hand what our security was like. He was probably exactly as he appeared to be: a man looking to take his pack back from a usurper. I couldn't totally dismiss the possibility that he was here as a spy for Marcus, though. Molly thought money was the reason Niles had been left alive when the rest of his family was killed, but maybe the truth was more sinister. Maybe Niles was alive because he was working with Marcus, or had made some kind of deal with him.

Everett nudged me with his shoulder and shot me a questioning look. I took another couple of seconds to plan before answering him. "Patrick or Elspeth will guard you both from inside the house while another guard stands watch outside. I'll train him out in the yard so I won't be far if anything happens." I could have Molly escort him to and from our training sessions and I would pretend I was commuting to our training site, too. He didn't need to know my family was only a stone's throw away.

Everett nodded his agreement to the only part of the plan I gave him and settled down in his seat, leaning against me while his arm was draped around Griffin. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, appreciating the moment. True happiness would be knowing we had countless more mornings just like this one ahead of us.