23. Vincent can't read

"What's in the forest?"

After coming back from his meeting with Thornwood, Ethan had sent a request to Alpha Supreme, and then buried himself in a few new contracts of the construction company.

He was currently sipping his third cup of coffee of this morning in his office, enjoying a moment of peace.

Angelina had barged in his office to disrupt that.

"Trees," He said, and went back to reviewing a contract "Didn't you see for yourself?"

She was quiet for a moment, Ethan took a relaxed sip of his coffee.

"There's a magic seal over the whole place, isn't there?"

Ethan choked on his coffee, almost coughing over the papers on his desk.

"Tenth hell," He punched his chest a few times "Why would that be?"

What he actually wanted to ask was how she came to that conclusion.

"It was just a question," She said coolly

Ethan sighed and stood from his chair, still clutching his coffee cup.

"Angelina, Angelina, Angelina," He shook his head as he approached her "I haven't slept in the last three days, and I am painfully busy. Why don't you play detective somewhere you don't accidently kill me?"

He shooed her out of his office. Angelina seemed to get over her surprise at his behavior by the time she was over the threshold. She stopped, and looked at him over her shoulder.

"Coffee wouldn't help with your sleep deprivation," She said

"I never said I wanted to sleep." Ethan told her "There's work to do."

"You're going to die."

"I am, aren't I?" He sighed "I honestly don't have time for it."

He managed to close the door. By this time, sleep deprivation had actually started to take a toll on him.

Ethan looked at his near-gone coffee ruefully. It'd be a shame to survive everything to die of sleep deprivation.

There was only one thing to do about it.

"I need more coffee."

…

"No, you don't! You need to sleep!"

Victoria had cornered him before he could get to the kitchen. A particular ambassador standing smugly behind her.

"I can't believe this!" Ethan gave her an accusing look "You told on me!"

"I did no such thing," Angelina lied to his face "Victoria was just asking about where you were. I only told her the situation."

"Thank you for that," Victoria told her "No one here has any concern for their health, I swear."

"But, Tory, I'm fine." Ethan gave her his best smile

"Ethan, you could win a contest for the worst eyebags in the fifty meter radius." Victoria sighed

He frowned a little. It wasn't that bad, and the only thing his genes had ever really blessed him with was not getting eyebags easily.

With his lawyer senses tingling, Ethan could see he wasn't going to win this argument.

"Alright," Ethan sighed, too tired to think of a way to win right now "I get it. I'll go and sleep for a few hours."

"Good," Victoria took the empty cup from him with a smile "When you wake up, we can all go to the new café you wanted to try."

Ethan had to put a little effort into remembering which one she was talking about.

"Oh, that!" He remembered the new place near his university "I went there already. The donuts were nice and…"

He trailed off when he realized that wasn't the better answer. Victoria gave him a deadpanned look of disappointment.

"But of course, we could all go together." Ethan finished off

"I can't believe you're the best candidate for the match-making event." Victoria shook her head

"I know." Angelina nodded "He's a dork."

"Isn't he?" The healer looked at the ambassador, relieved, as the two shared a bonding moment "I don't get how girls miss that part."

"It's probably because he acts so groomed and smart upfront." Angelina said thoughtfully "But in his natural habitat, Ethan is basically just an overworked, coffee addict."

Victoria snorted "And he's awkward."

Ethan cleared his throat, slightly offended "I'm still here, you know."

"Exactly. Get going already," Victoria nudged him towards the staircase "You're unlikely to run the pack on coffee induced productivity."

Doubtful. Ethan could bet at least a week would go well before he messed up anything important.

Regardless, he carried himself to his room. The door closed, and Ethan didn't bother with the lights. He sat down at the edge of his bed.

Anxiety crept up his spine, making it hard to stay still.

Ignoring every urge to flee, Ethan shucked off his shoes, tugging off his tie he dropped his head on the pillows.

'I can sleep', Ethan told himself, setting an alarm. 'It's only two hours.'

Taking a deep, practiced breath, he closed his eyes, only now realizing how heavy they felt. Maybe he was so tired that dreams would leave him alone.

Besides, there was no way he could stay awake any longer without coffee.

'There's instant coffee in the closet.' The thought made his eyes snap open.

Ethan groaned, putting a pillow over his face. This wasn't the first time he was avoiding sleep, but that was exactly why he was so adamant to do so.

He knew just how bad this could get.

'Get a grip', he told himself, closing his eyes again. 'Just think about work, so you'll dream about it too.'

He recalled the report Jake had made him, the contents of the request he sent Alpha Supreme, the contract he was thinking of sending Thornwood.

Unbidden, his mind went back to his conversation with Angelina and Victoria just now. 'All of us', Victoria said, did that entail their ambassador as well? He couldn't imagine how that would go.

'I'm not paying for coffee this time,' he thought oddly

Consciousness slipped through his fingers.

…

Ethan woke up to the familiar darkness of his room.

He turned to a side, staring sleepily at the ceiling.

He'd been blessed with dreamless sleep, but it hadn't been as restful as he'd expected.

Ethan fumbled around for his phone, and turned it on.

He sat upright in an instant.

He'd been asleep for the last five hours.

Unbelievable. Why hadn't anyone woken him up?

With a sigh, Ethan got up. His untimely sleep had left his mind foggy, and his body in an odd limbo between rested and tired. He doubted he could focus on work right now.

He changed into a well-fitting, thick sweater and old jeans. Oddly enough, Ethan didn't feel like going for coffee this evening.

He quietly left his room and made his way down the stairs. In the lounge, he heard Victoria's familiar laughter.

He peeked in to see her showing Tyler something on her phone. The beta looking a little confused, but she definitely had his full attention.

Ethan smiled a little as he turned to leave through the kitchen door.

Winter was approaching already upon them, but he welcomed the chill that went through him as he stepped outside.

Ethan started his slow trek to the forest, near the training compounds, he could hear Vincent shouting.

"You call those push-ups? Give me 500 more!"

"Yessir!"

Ethan would take all his work over that sort of training any day. Vincent was a little too passionate when it came to training. The sun was about to go down in a while, and he doubted they were nearly done.

People nodded and saluted at him as he passed. Ethan returned each greeting with a smile and nod. He was the one who'd brought them here, the one who'd gotten the pack moving when they had no finances, no place in the Lycan world.

Even so, they had put their faith in a strip of a boy five years ago. All of them had his respect for that.

The forest greeted him with a gust of cold wind. Ethan walked on aimlessly, knowing it'll take him where he needed to go.

In a few minutes, he stepped on the other side.

The inner quarters.

Despite the weather, he could hear kids playing in the park he'd stepped into. A couple of families were out, careless ease filled the air.

Ethan made sure to walk near the edge, almost still in the shadows of the forest trees.

Though he loved to talk to everyone who recognized him, he didn't want any attention at the moment. He'd tried his best to come to the inner quarters as often as possible, but there was only so much time he could spend here.

The young Alpha was only grateful they'd built the medical compound just near the forest, so anytime he had to get to Victoria, it wouldn't take long.

He looked up at the brightly lit building, that had more than fifty healers working in it currently. Beyond the vast gardens of the medical compound, he could make out a speck of the building he was headed for right now.

Ethan nearly jogged to the children's home, and it still took him ten minutes to reach the doors.

The door opened to reveal a familiar face to him.

"Ethan!" Rosa's eyes widened, then she enveloped him in a warm hug "It's been so long!"

She'd been incharge of the children's house from the moment it'd been made. Five years ago, when they'd moved here, his whole pack had been scared, uncertain and wary even of each other. All the children orphaned in the 'incident' had been Ethan's biggest concern. He had no idea who to entrust them to.

Rosa had lost her own son in the incident, but she and her mate had cared for each one of those children as if they were their own. Ethan could trust them with his life.

"Sorry," He had to lean down a bit to let the woman hug him properly "College has been sucking the life out of me."

"You do look terrible," She frowned as she pulled away "Haven't you been taking care of yourself?"

He put a hand on his chest, dramatically hurt "You wound me. I thought the one woman who would always find me handsome were you, Rosa."

"You are adorable, darling," She patted his shoulder "But when I see you without your hair brushed, I know you're tired. Have you even had lunch?"

She could see right through him.

"I could use some cookies right now." Ethan admitted as he walked inside, closing the door behind

"I hope you can do with cake and tea," Rosa said, leading him down the hall "The kids and I did some baking after they came back from school."

His stomach growled in response, making the older woman chuckle.

"All the kids are in the reading room." She told him "How about you wait there while I get Marcus to bring up the snacks?"

She left for the kitchen, where Marcus was no doubt busy doing some new cooking experiment.

Ethan turned to the stairs that led to the reading room, which was usually referred to as the prison, since that's where the kids did their homework.

He knocked, and a moment later, opened the door. Two dozen little heads snapped in his direction.

"I hope I did not interrupt homework," Ethan smiled, letting himself in

Only to be tackled by overexcited pups, each with their own customary greeting.

"Alpha, we missed you!"

"We knew you would come soon!"

"Read us a story!"

And after that brilliant idea, everyone had the same demand. Read us a story.

Ethan laughed as he picked Gwyn up, the gremlin who'd suggested it.

"I'm trying to escape books, you monsters," He said, and ruffled up her hair

"Is that a no?" Dylan looked up at him

"Rosa already bribed me with cake," Ethan said with a theatric sigh "I'm not in the position to say no."

Squeals of delight and then hands tugging at him to lead him to the couch where Rosa or Marcus usually sat to tell stories.

While the debate about selecting the book continued, Marcus slipped inside. He gave Ethan a dimpled smile.

"Delivery for the crazy guy in the demon's cave," He was carried two abnormally big trays in his hands, with a serving of cake for everyone

"That'd be me," Ethan helped he set down the dishes on a free table

"I hope the kids don't trouble you too much, Alpha." Marcus said, just loud enough for the kids to give him their attention

"We don't trouble him!" Antony climbed up on a nearby chair, putting his hands on Ethan's shoulders, almost hanging off them "Ethan doesn't mind us."

He turned his big brown eyes to meet Ethan's "Do you?"

"Not at all," Ethan picked him up and put him on the arm of the couch "All of you made me realize I'm perfect to be a lawyer."

"Hey," He pouted, while his friends giggled

A book was propped in his hand and everyone was finally settled down.

"Everyone ready?" Ethan asked as he opened it

"Ready!"

And so the story began.

…

When Rosa and Marcs came in again, Ethan was sprawled in his seat, children swarmed around him, some on his shoulders, some on his legs and most gathered around him on the couch.

It was their fifth story of the day.

"Why if it isn't over beloved nanny," Vincent crooned as he entered behind them

Gwyn gasped "Vincent, you can't say that!"

"Its fine," Ethan patted her head "Vincent is just jealous."

"Yeah," Jason nodded from Ethan's side "Vincent can't read."

Ethan snickered, and Rosa disguised her laugh as a cough. Marcus didn't even try to hold back a booming laugh.

"I can read, you little rogue." Vincent strode across the room to pick Jason up and hang him over his shoulder "As much as I'd like to throw down with the kids, I need to borrow your ass for a moment."

Rosa gave Vincent a look for his lack of professional vocabulary. He mouthed a sorry as he put Jason down again.

A round of wails and protests went up, but Vincent wasn't a face Ethan often saw here. He raised his brows at the gamma as he stood up, carefully putting down all the kids clinging to him.

"Come on, I'll explain." Vincent nodded to the door

"Vincent, you're stealing our Alpha." Iris crossed her arms and pouted at him

"Sure am," Vincent stood over the kids with his best villainous smile "And the only way to get him back is if you guys train real hard and win in an epic battle against me."

"Don't worry, Ethan," Gwyn patted Ethan's arm "We'll save you."

"By learning how to read, and scare Vincent with facts!" Jason grinned

"I'll be waiting," Vincent called back as they left the room

"How did you know I was here?" Ethan asked him

"Rosa called us to come pick our baby up."

"I'm going to push you off the stairs."

"When you didn't answer your phone, we knew you'd be here." Vincent told him "You only come here without your phone."

"We?" Ethan asked as Vincent led him to the living room

He found the answer to that question when he saw Victoria, standing outside the lounge, brows furrowed. She walked over to the base of the stairs when she saw them.

"I got a call from the medical compound to pick up Kevin's medical reports," Victoria cut straight to the chase "We have a problem."

Ethan tipped his head to a side, waiting. If he had some sort of health issue, they had the resources to get him treated. Victoria could be a little sensitive when it came to children's health.

"He's from an Alpha bloodline."

Ethan blinked, almost sure he'd heard her wrong.

Victoria's serious expression didn't flicker. Even Vincent remained entirely somber.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Ethan asked her

"Unfortunately," She crossed her arms, as though closing herself off from that knowledge

Ethan let out a breath. If he was born from a fling or unexpectedly, it would explain why he was looking for shelter.

"Does he know?" He asked

"Likely," Victoria nodded "That would explain why he doesn't want to tell us anything about himself."

"What do we do now?" Vincent asked "Toss him?"

"Vincent!" Victoria hissed angrily "He's just a child!"

"I'm all about sentimental thinking, Tory, but having an Alpha kid here is no joke." Vincent said, serious for once "We won't be able to conceal his bloodline for long. And whatever he's been through, it's in his blood to want to lead. He could pose some serious problems later."

Ethan was only half listening to what his Gamma was saying. His head was far off, the inkling of an idea forming at the back of his head.

"We're keeping him." He said, catching the twins' attention

"Of course," Vincent face-palmed himself, Victoria let out a relieved breath

"We'll try to get information about his origins in time," Ethan said "I'll see what I can do about his place in his actual pack."

"Who are obviously trying to eliminate him," Vincent said sassily "What happens if they don't want him?"

"Leave the technicalities of the matter to me." Ethan told him, then turned to Victoria "Where's he now?"

"Well, I managed to convince him that he has to live here. He's in the waiting room, I introduced him to Rosa and Marcus too." Victoria said "He's a little angry that we aren't turning him in an assassin though."

Ethan had expected as much. He walked over to the waiting room, neither of his inner circle members followed. He found the kid sitting rigidly in a chair.

Kevin stood when Ethan entered.

"Hello, Kevin," Ethan greeted him calmly "I'm told you've decided to stay."

He nodded, then jutted his chin out "When does my training start? I want to learn how to be fight so I can be useful."

For a moment, Ethan could almost hear the conversations he'd had with his father. He smiled at the irony.

He'd said the exact opposite of this.

"All in due time," Ethan walked over so they stood face to face "You'll have to attend school too. If you manage to get daily work done quick, I'll arrange for you to be put in the class with the kids that aspire to be warriors."

Kevin stared at him hard for a moment.

"I don't want to join a children's class. I want to learn how to fight for real."

Ethan considered his words. He would've loved to talk to Kevin like he was a child, but he knew that would have the opposite effect. He needed to show the kid he was taking him seriously.

"Very well." Ethan said "If you show potential in that class, I'll have someone teach you separately."

Kevin nodded, steel in his gaze. Ethan wondered if he'd made a mistake by telling the kid to stand out.

"Do you have any questions?" Ethan asked

Kevin thought for a few moments "Not right now."

Ethan couldn't stop himself from patting him on the head. Kevin flinched when Ethan's hand made contact, eyes widening when the Alpha ruffled his hair lightly.

"Get along with the others." Ethan told him gently "They are all survivors, like you."

He waved at Kevin one last time before he stepped out of the waiting room. Rosa was waiting outside.

"I know you'll take good care of him," Ethan said to her "But he may be a little difficult to deal with at first."

She smiled softly "He's just a little scared."

With that, she walked inside, probably to take Kevin to his new rooms.

As the three inner circle members left the children's home, Victoria nudged Ethan.

"You did good." She gave him a proud smile

Ethan wished he could take that credit. Nonetheless, he smiled back at her.

"Let's hope it stays that way."

"I guess," Vincent crossed his fingers behind his head with a sigh "At least he wouldn't become a rogue Alpha and be a pain in the ass. Can you imagine how annoying that would be?"

Unexpectedly, Ethan barked out a laugh.

He didn't know where things were going to be in a few weeks, nor did he know how his many plans were about to turn out.

But he could count on his family to stay through all of it.

He draped each of his arms around Vincent and Victoria, grinning.

"I bet he'd come after you first. Since you'd have kicked him out of here." Ethan said to Vincent

"I'm not beneath kicking a kid's ass you know." Vincent smirked "Victoria would totally betray us though, turning to his side."

"Of course," Tory said in a duh tone "And I'd convince Tyler too. Then he'd beat your stupid ass into the ground."

"That's cheating!" Vincent pointed a finger at her "Tyler is like our ultimate weapon! You can't just steal him 'cuz he's your boyfriend!"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Victoria's face flushed

"What is he then? Your lackey?"

"Vincent has a point," Ethan chimed in "You guys were being all cute in the lounge earlier. And you're always holding hands at events."

"For moon's sake," Victoria said, exasperated "I'm going to kill you two if you say that in front of him!"

"Oh yeah? Is that a challenge?" Vincent gave her a devilish grin

They bickered all the way back home.