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Noah’s phone woke him with a subtle buzz.

He blinked, turned, and looked at the sliver of the still dark sky he could see through the curtain before sliding out from under the blankets with what he hoped was ninja-like grace.

Aidan shifted, his brow creasing, his head turning back and forth for a moment while Noah froze to the spot, not wanting to move a muscle.

The first few times he’d tried this, he’d quivered with the effort of it, but his body was well trained now.

Aidan was always the most restless, more likely to be woken than any of the others by his movement.

Flick had brought him back from the jaws of death itself, but he wasn’t sure if she noticed the toll that had taken on him.

Noah did. He noticed everything. Proximity, tone, body language, what was said explicitly and implicitly, and all the contradictions within that. His brain worked constantly to supply him with masses of data about his… He swallowed, even saying it in his mind was hard to do.

Your pack. They are your pack , his Tirian said for him.

Yes, I know , came his short reply, Aidan’s breathing having evened out.

He inched out of the room, his footfalls absorbed by the thick carpet and then out he padded, into the rest of the house, closing the door with an almost inaudible click.

He paused, waiting to hear if anyone shifted inside, then tiptoed down to the bathroom.

He heard Kade’s whimper over the running sound of him taking a piss, his head whipping to one side. He finished what he needed to, slipping on a pair of shorts and then walking out into the hall.

“Uh…”

Noah loomed in the doorway, watching the small body toss and turn on his mammoth bed.

He frowned when he saw an arm thrown wild, the blankets shucked off.

He was moving forward before he could think about it, crawling onto the bed, coming closer, then falling back onto his heels when Kade stilled.

He moved the covers up slowly, waiting until the boy was quiet for some time before laying them back on top of him.

He felt something in his heart swell as he tucked the boy in, making sure no drafts got in to chill him.

Carefully, carefully he worked, not wanting to wake Kade.

He was hard to get back to sleep once he noticed Noah, often launching immediately into a conversation about the MCU or Star Wars .

Kade needs his sleep , Flick had said seriously the first time she’d found them together, chattering in the early morning.

“Zat you, Noah…?”

Kade’s eyes opened a slit, his voice fuzzy.

“Shh…” he replied.

Don’t engage with him. Don’t have conversations. Just get him back to sleep , Flick had said.

“After school, can we?—?”

“Shh…”

Noah was relieved when he saw the boy’s eyes close again, feeling a zing of pride each time he managed to get him back to sleep.

Kade knew he could come into the family bed at any point, but being independent was important to the boy.

He watched Kade drop deeper and deeper into sleep, hearing the whistle of his breath, watching the slow rise and fall of the blankets swaddled around him when it happened.

Noah sucked in a gasp when Kade shifted, burrowing down into the bed, curling up against the man’s thigh. Noah’s hand shook when it lifted automatically, the rush of feeling taking his breath away.

His mother had sat him down, trying to explain the parental bond when he moved into Flick’s place. She’d given him so, so many rules about what to do, when, and why. But she hadn’t described this.

Kade was so small, so fragile, something that upset Noah on a deeper level.

Letting him go into the kitchen to make himself some toast, with its possibilities of sticking that metal knife into an electrical appliance or cutting himself made Noah’s fists ball and his shoulders tense.

He’d kept it quiet, the worry, just positioning himself in view of the kitchen when Kade was in there, tracking him silently.

But he couldn’t let it go, what Ophelia had shown him when it looked like Flick was going to accept him into the pack.

His breath had frozen in his chest, turning from a vapour to something solid as he’d seen the harshly lit photographs Doc had taken, documenting every bruise and laceration around the boy’s throat.

He laid his hand down on Kade’s shoulder so, so softly, releasing his muscles in tiny increments until he was sure the boy would sleep through.

He focussed on the solid feel of the child, the way he curled himself around adults with such ease, expecting now that the people of Sanctuary would love him.

And he…they did. Noah frowned when he felt the prick of tears in his eyes.

He still hadn’t gotten used to this, about potentially being a father as well as a mate.

Kade…son… He tossed the words around in his mind.

Kade is our son , his Tirian agreed.

He forced himself to leave, let the boy sleep for a bit longer before school started, slipping from the bedroom and out into the house.

His mother always looked frazzled, with his questions, with the fact that women in Sanctuary had shown no interest in him.

This had turned to distaste when she’d come around unannounced, seeing some of his ‘toys’ lying around in his old room, all of it damning evidence in her mind against her son.

But was this how she felt? Did she watch a young Noah as he slept, like he watched Kade now, and felt her chest filling and filling, the tension expanding until it physically ached?

Noah wondered at that, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn away from the boy.

It hurt so much, being half in, half out with all of them, but that’s what petitioning was about.

Proving yourself, connecting with the pack.

Noah’s breath came out in a long shuddering sigh when he considered the likelihood of that happening.

Look after them , he thought. Organise the breakfast.