[--Nov. 1998--]

"Hey, Dakota, can you come here a minute please?" Regina asked, waving him towards the door to her and Slade's trailer.

Dakota raised a brow, glancing down the path, then back at her. "Sure." He shrugged, one hand holding onto the one good strap left on his backpack.

"Great, thank you so much. I'm kind of in a hurry," she said with her back to him.

As he stepped inside, and let his eyes adjust from the midday sun, he realized the place didn't look right. Things were all taken apart and boxed up. "What's going on?"

"I need a huge favor." Regina stooped down next to the battered playpen to pull Kaiden, his new nephew out. The three-month-old was a small, ball of black fluff, save for the white tuft of fur on his chest. "I need you to watch Kaiden for me," she said as she handed him off.

"I can't watch him. I--ouch! I have to go to class," Dakota said, hissing when needle-sharp teeth immediately went for his wrist. "Ow! Kaiden, stop." He tried to reposition the pup's weight in his arms to spare his skin.

"I know. I'll have Julie excuse you. It'll be fine," Regina assured, waving her hand dismissively as she picked up her purse and a few grocery bags of her own clothing.

It was an easy enough promise to make, since she assisted Julie with all of the homeschooled kids, like Dakota, as well as with the pup school when it was going on. "Slade's at the bar working, and I just won't have any other time to move my things, and I don't have anyone else to watch Kaiden. He's such a handful, you know," she added as she passed him to carry the bags to her car.

No...  He didn't know. He was only thirteen, and the youngest of his siblings, so... no. He had no clue what it was like to take care of a baby. "Why are you moving your things?" Dakota said, shifting the wriggling, and now whining Kaiden again in his arms. The high-pitched cries were incredibly loud for coming from such a small puppy.

On her way back inside, Regina stopped and looked down at Dakota. "Things just aren't really going to work out between your brother and me," she said with a sympathetic smile.

"You're breaking up?"

She cupped both of his freckled cheeks in her hands. "I knew you'd understand," she said, her smile widening. "You're such a sweet, helpful kid."

Dakota felt his face flushing, and he tried to keep his eyes on hers as he stepped away from her touch. Flattery aside, what about his brother? And their pup? Where was this coming from all of the sudden? Regina always seemed so happy with Slade and with being a part of the pack.

"Shhh, Kaiden," he tried to hush, rocking him slightly. It didn't work. He made his way towards the couch, stepping around more bags and boxes. Holding Kaiden in one arm, he shrugged off his backpack, and let it slump to the ground as he sat down.

Dakota tried petting Kaiden between the eyes with light strokes going up his forehead. Kaiden started to quiet, though it seemed to be more from being satisfied with gnawing and suckling on part of his hoodie's sleeve. "How long do you need me to watch him?" he wondered, once Regina was back inside from another trip to her car.

"Well, Slade should be getting back around five."

Five?! That was almost four hours... "Has Kaiden had lunch yet?"

Regina paused. "Oh! No, he hasn't. I forgot all about breakfast too," she said, with her hand on her forehead. "I've been really busy. That's probably why he's been so fussy."

"Yeah..." Dakota frowned. "...probably." He felt really bad for his nephew.

"Okay, right. Give me just a second, and I'll get him a bottle ready," she said, piling up a few more bags by the door before making her way to the small kitchen. "Good call on the food thing."

"Thanks..." Dakota mumbled.

"I knew you could handle this. You're a natural already. You'll make a great dad when you have your own kids."

Dakota shifted his weight on the couch to try to support Kaiden better while keeping him comfortable. "I don't wanna have kids," he said as he watched her prepare a bottle that was already littered with little teeth marks.

"Nonsense." Regina shook her head. "You're going to be way too handsome when you're older to not have a wife and kids."

She caught the tail end of Dakota's disgusted expression and laughed at him as she came over with the bottle.

It wasn't until sunset, after Slade had handed over the closing duties to his manager, that he returned home. His shoulders visibly deflated as he entered the trailer and spied Dakota on the couch with Kaiden asleep in his lap. The pup was snoozing quietly, his mouth wrapped around Dakota's finger and lightly chewing at it in his sleep.

Slade hung up his jacket and then joined them on the couch. "Suppose Regina's gone, huh?" He murmured as picked up Kaiden and settled his pup on his lap. The little black wolf barely seemed to notice as it readjusted and continued to sleep. Kaid had worn himself out. After nearly three hours of biting, chasing, and playing he'd crashed hard.

"Yeah," Dakota said. He watched the sleeping pup for one more second as if he was scared Kaid might wake up fully charged at any minute, before getting up and going to the fridge. He pulled out a can of beer and a juice box before heading back to the couch. "Did you know she was gonna do this?" he asked as he sat back down and held out the beer for his brother.

Slade took it with a small smile. The twinkle in his eyes matched the way the light reflected off the silver nose ring, hanging just above his red beard. "Yeah," he rasped softly as he took the beer, focusing on it intently as he popped the tab and cleared his throat. "Yeah, I did."

Dakota's frown depended, his brows betraying his frustration. "Why'd you let her? Why didn't you say anything?" He stabbed the flimsy straw into his juice box.

"We talked about it. I thought she might at least wait until I got home, but... eh..." Slade took a healthy drink from the can before shifting Kaiden a little. "I'm sorry you got pulled into this. Thanks for watching Kaid. He wasn't too much, was he?"

"She shouldn't be walking all over you like that," Dakota grumbled. "She doesn't have rank. She's not even a real member of the pack." The redheaded teen angrily slurped half the box of apple juice in one go. "She's not even a wolf..." He took a deep breath before finally answering his brother's question. "He bit the shit outta me and I missed class, but... no. He wasn't that bad." Dakota reached over to gently scratch the top of Kaiden's head.

"Heh, I remember you being the same way." Slade said as he smiled down at his pup. "Ya know, there's a saying that if yah love something, you let it go. If it's meant to be, it'll come back to ya, or something."

"Hn..." Dakota finished his juice box, his expression softening. "I should probably go. I told mom I'd be home as soon as you got back." He got up and grabbed his backpack, slinging it over his shoulder. "Who's gonna take care of Kaid tomorrow?"

"I'll find someone. Maybe Byron's daughter won't mind babysitting," Slade supposed.

"I can do it," Dakota said in a sincere tone. "Riley's always telling dad I need more responsibilities, anyway," he added with a roll of his eyes.

"I'd appreciate that," Slade said as he slid a ring off his finger and set it on the coffee table.

Wolves didn't really do wedding bands, but Regina had refused to let Slade mark her in traditional wolf-fashion, so they'd settled for rings. He figured that this was why. Humans used rings because they could always be removed.

"Welp! Come on, I'll take ya home," Slade offered before he got too far into his thoughts and beer. He stood, handing off Kaiden to Dakota for a minute. "Hah, not a peep. I think he likes ya." After putting on his leather jacket and leaving the first few buttons undone, Slade settled the tiny pup inside and led Dakota out to his red truck.

Before he took Dakota home, he stopped off at the gas station. It was the nearest place to the pack's ranch to pick up things, unless they made the hour-long drive all the way into town. While Slade shopped for some bare necessities and another case of beer, he told Dakota to pick out whatever he wanted as payment for watching Kaiden all afternoon.

Dakota cruised between the low shelves, finding a bag of chips and some candy bars. When they pulled up to their parent's house, he looked over at his brother. "Hey, don't drink too much tonight," he said, reaching over and patting Slade's wide shoulder. "Everything'll be fine."

Slade laughed. "Thanks. I'll be fine, Kiddo," he assured. Slade waited until Dakota was on the porch before he left.

Inside, Riley was the first to notice Dakota's return. He was as good as a doorbell as he announced, "Dakota's home!" through the entire house, and was already tailing his little brother. "What's in the bag?" he wondered, but he had already snatched it away from the younger pup's grasp and was nosing through it. As the dominant pup, anything Dakota had was just as well his.

"None of your business!" Dakota snapped, making an attempt to snatch his treats back as he shoved against his brother. "Riley, they're mine! Give it back!"

Riley's arm caught Dakota and forced him backwards against a wall in the front hall, pinning his younger brother by the neck. It wasn't about the snacks. Riley couldn't have cared less. It was about putting his little brother in his place. "You weren't gonna share, so why should I?" Riley asked.

"No roughhousing inside!" Irene called from the living room, and Riley let up on Dakota with a smug grin.

Dakota shot a quick glare up at his brother before pulling away and retreating upstairs with his head low. Of course, he wasn't going to share. He'd had a long, crappy day, and Slade had bought those snacks for him. He just wanted to fucking enjoy them, but it'd been stupid to bring them inside... Dakota slammed his bedroom door for good measure, eventually falling asleep angry, and with an empty, aching stomach.