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Noah hated parties, and this was no different.

People streamed into the house, filling up every corner, every square inch of it, bringing with them broad smiles, crates of beer, presents, and cheer…until they saw him.

“Oh, Noah, mate. Didn’t see you there,” one man said as he swung through the front door. “Um…got anywhere I can put this slab of beer?”

“Sure, come through,” he said to the guy. What was his name? Chris? Casper?

“Charlie, boy! You ready…”

Three other men came strolling in, all of them stopping when they saw Noah. He looked them over speculatively, their pause indicating something, but there were no further clues forthcoming.

“Hey…Snowy.”

“Noah,” he corrected automatically.

“So what’re you doing here, mate?” one of them asked, his eyes narrowing slightly. “You sorting out the PA or something?”

“He’s the other prospective,” Charlie hissed, his embarrassed expression quickly spreading to the other men’s faces.

“Oh, well, um…have a beer, mate.” The man reached over and popped open the cardboard container, pulling several cans out. “Senny found a mate, and it’s time to celebrate. Who knows, might be you one day, Snow.”

The cold can was forced between his limp fingers, their words slamming into him like body blows.

They didn’t see it, didn’t want to see it.

They covered the cracks that were forming in the conversation with the opening of beer cans and slurping down of the contents, with back slapping—not his—and then filing outside.

“Chuck the rest in the esky, will ya, Snow?” one of the men said as the group walked out the back door. “Senny! Congratulations, mate!”

Who knows, might be you one day…

Don’t , his Tirian said with a terse growl, shutting down that thought spiral quickly. You need to run, tonight.

“Noooaaaah!”

He didn’t get to answer his beast, as Kade came running down the hallway and launched himself at Noah’s legs.

“Oof! What’s going on, bud?”

“Nana Veronica, who doesn’t want me to call her Nan because it makes her feel old, won’t let us play Star Wars in the yard. She told me and Mila off for messing with the ‘plantings.’ What’s a planting?”

Kids came streaming into the kitchen just as Kade’s words poured out. They were all dressed nicely in smart clothes, but their expressions were far from pleasant. There were a bunch of grumpy little faces eyeing him warily, as if expecting him to pull the same boring adult tricks.

“Special plants in the garden bed, I think. Why don’t you take everyone into your room to?—”

“That’s lame,” the older girl, Mila said, crossing her arms and frowning. “We want to play Sith vs Jedi. Fight a real battle!” Her eyes slid around to Kiralee, who looked equally as mulish. “And I’m going to play Skywalker.”

“Luke’s a boy! You can’t!” Kade said, hands going to his hips.

“Then I’ll be Leia. General Organa.” Noah watched the girl nod in satisfaction, but when she turned back to him, her expression was one of pleading. “Please, Noah. Can we go and play?”

Focus on her, them. He’d watched a lot of sci-fi and fantasy on his computer. The high-tech worlds of Star Wars and Star Trek had sat oddly with him, but their ideals were appealing. If he had a prime directive, that’s what it would be— focus on her, them.

“OK…” The kids started to cheer and jump around, but he held out his hand, waiting for quiet.

“I guess we can go out the front yard so that won’t disrupt things in the back.

But…” He paused when the noise levels rose again.

“But we can’t be too noisy. This is a special day for Sen and Flick. We can’t ruin it for them.”

“When’s your special day?” Kade asked, hanging off Noah’s leg. “Aidan got one, and Sen got one.”

Mila snorted. “Your mum has to ask him first.”

“Hasn’t she done that yet?” Kade asked Noah.

“No, mate.” He reached down cautiously and tousled the boy’s hair like he’d seen Aidan do at times. “All right, last one outside has to be the Emperor! Let’s go!”

There was a pleasure that came from seeing all the kids stream out the front door, spilling onto the lawn.

They were too loud, too boisterous, but he figured with the music pumping in the back yard and all the chatter, it’d be OK.

And it was worth it as they ran across the grass, instantly starting to pew pew at each other with their imaginary blasters, or zzt as they held pretend lightsaber fights.

Big kids helped little kids, clustering them around their legs and protecting them from enemy fire.

He settled down on the front step, just watching, a smile spreading across his face.

This is good. Food for your soul. You are a good caregiver, pack member , his Tirian said.

He clung to that idea, holding it close to his chest as the kids spilled out further across the yard.

“Not near the road or the driveway!” he shouted when they started to get a bit boisterous.

Their heads jerked up, and he earned himself a quick nod from the kids before play resumed.

People walked up to the house, smiling or calling out to the kids as they passed, though those smiles often faded when they saw Noah.

He didn’t pay too much attention to them.

He kept track of the way the ‘battle’ was playing out, making sure there were still smiles on the kids’ faces, that things weren’t going too far.

In some ways, this kind of play was the best in that there was no actual contact.

He jumped a little when some of the younger kids came to sit beside him, obviously a bit tired by all the running around.

His eyes lingered on them for a moment, studying those small bodies.

Flick could have another child, he thought. You might…

Something inside him clenched down tight at the thought of a baby, small, fragile, smelling of her, being brought into the house. To hold… To care for… His heart started racing in an ungainly gallop, rocketing around in his chest, his pulse lurching along with it.

“Are you looking after the kids?”

His head jerked up to see several women standing before him.

He knew them, one worked with the alpha, the other at the family mess.

He just stared at them blankly, finding it hard to wrench his mind away from the mental image he’d created.

The expectant looks, that’s what had him coming back online, that and the wary one of the other woman.

“Um…yeah. They’re playing Star Wars at the moment and I thought?—”

“Malcolm, Tessa, stay here for Mummy. You can play with these kids.”

The two children shuffled forward, eyes wide, watching the other kids run around with some trepidation. The youngest, the little girl, reached for her mother’s hand, but she pulled it away.

“You’ll be fine,” she said, but there was no reassurance in her voice, just blatant need. “Sit with the kids here and watch if you don’t want to play.”

He wanted to say something then, the words rushing up. The looks on the kids’ faces pricking at him in a way that made it hard to understand why their mother remained unmoved. All three of them stood there, antsy with discomfort as the mother began to pull away.

Say something , his beast urged. You don’t want this.

I can’t! It’s not my place.

The women are due respect, not blind obedience.

“I’ll just be inside if you need me,” she said in a tone that said the opposite. “Play, have fun! It’ll be much more interesting than going out the back.”

With that said, the mother and her friend turned to go, the kids’ eyes following as they went towards the side gate.

“You sure about leaving the kids with him?” the other woman said. “It’s kinda weird, a man sitting there watching children.”

“They’ll be fine. The alpha would never allow anyone who hurt kids to stay.”

He took a deep breath when they left, shuffling over to put a bigger space between him and the children now, something that had them looking at him curiously.

Be the adult. Look after the kids.

“So it’s Malcolm and Tessa, right?” They nodded quietly.

“Well, the kids are playing Sith vs Jedi. Have you seen Star Wars ?” Malcolm nodded, but Tessa was less certain.

Her little hand went to hold her brother’s.

“So basically, the kids run around and pretend to shoot each other with blasters going pew pew !” Both kids jumped a little at that, but Malcolm’s face transformed into a smile.

“Like this?”

He repeated Noah’s gesture more or less, and the man threw himself back onto the deck, groaning through an exaggerated death scene. When he curled back up, the boy was well and truly grinning, as were the other kids.

“Kade!” he called out. It took a sec for the boy to register, caught up in a battle to the death against Kiralee’s minions as he was, but his head popped up and he loped over when Noah gestured. “This is Malcolm. He’d like to play as well as…”

He looked at the boy, who’s smile had faltered a little.

“Be a Jedi,” Kade said. “I am!”

Noah watched as Kade extended a hand towards Malcolm, marvelling at his ability to just put himself out there. The other boy looked relieved, his smile widening, and then he grabbed it, Kade dragging him into the action.

A rush the size of which Noah would never have anticipated flushed through him as he watched the kids go off and play.

He’d remembered being that awkward, shy kid, or not.

Talking on and on about whatever was obsessing him right at that minute, not realising everyone was edging away, giving him weird looks, until it was too late.

To be able to facilitate something… To make Malcolm feel more comfortable…

It took him a moment to get his head around that rush, his focus now turning on the little kids.

“So what about you guys?” he said. “What would you like to play?”

“Um…” There was a chorus of uncertainty from the littles.

“What about tip chasey?” he suggested, thinking that was probably simple enough for the younger kids.

Their eyes brightened at that.