Shifting Boundaries

Chapter Twenty-Four

Felix

I was supposed to be running patrol for another hour, but Elspeth let her trainees go early and took over for me out of the goodness of her heart.

Or maybe it was because she knew it was the only way I would stop whining about how badly I wanted to go see Everett working in the daycare.

Either way, I was grateful. The Neruda pack had been here for three weeks now and this was the first time I was able to get away for long enough to visit Everett at work. It was the price I paid for not working the night shift and for aligning my time off with his as much as possible. Sue me for wanting to spend time with him.

I changed back into a human and scrambled into my clothes, then jogged to the car. There wouldn't be much time left on Everett's shift when I arrived, but that was okay. I would take what I could get.

When I arrived at the daycare, I crept around the building, careful to stay downwind of the entrance. The guards outside smirked at me and looked amused. They were full-time members of the defense team and couldn't help knowing that Everett was my mate and that he was inside. It didn't take much brainpower to connect the dots.

Mila held the door open for me and I ducked into the room, immediately looking around for my mate. I caught Anya's eye and she smiled brightly at me, pointing toward a back room. I mouthed thank you and quickly wove my way through the sea of children and daycare workers, knowing I was working on borrowed time. Everett would smell me any moment and my chance to catch him off-guard would disappear.

One door in the back was mostly shut and I could hear Everett's voice coming from behind it. "We never agreed to this!" he was saying.

I listened hard for a response – who was he talking to? – but I heard no one else.

Everett spoke again. "Look, I'm helping out here because I want to and because you guys need it. I never asked to be paid, and certainly not this amount of money. Keep it. Consider it a donation."

I raised my brows. He had to be talking to Molly, who absolutely would not let a person work for three weeks without paying him, especially not my mate.

I nudged the door open and froze. Everett was on the phone, just as I expected, but he wasn't alone. There was a toddler resting on his hip, and Everett jiggled him lightly as he paced the room. The toddler was gripping Everett's shirt and had his head leaning against his chest. When the boy caught sight of me, he froze, wide-eyed.

Everett's nostrils flared and he spun to see me. "Talk some sense into Molly. She's your friend."

I held my hands up, not taking the phone he offered. "No one can talk sense into Molly," I said loudly enough for her to hear me. "I've been trying all my life and I've gotten nowhere."

Everett rolled his eyes and put the phone back up to his ear. "We can talk about this later. I should see what Felix wants." He paused, then said, "Will do. Bye."

"So, you have something against money?" I asked.

Everett rolled his eyes. "I don't want to take advantage of the pack, and I really don't need it. Also, Molly says hi."

I snorted. "They don't want to take advantage of you, either. This is a good thing." I stepped closer and didn't miss the way the child's grip on Everett tightened or the way he buried his face against Everett in an attempt to hide.

"This is Griffin?" I asked softly. Whenever Everett talked about work, Griffin came up.

"Yes." He looked down at Griffin and put on a bright smile. "Griffin, I want you to meet my friend. This is Felix."