29 Growing Up*

                                    

                                          
"Alright, Bella, it's your turn to read tonight." I tell my six year old pup as I sit on the edge of her bed.
"One fish, two fish, R-e-d fish, B-lue fish." She reads, sounding out the colors like a champ.
"Great job, princess. Keep going!" I encourage her.
"B-la-ck fish, blue fish, O-ld fish, N-e-w fish. Poppa, look at the baby fish!" She squeals excitedly. I smile down at her and nod.
"Are you gonna make the poor girl read her own bedtime story?" My beautiful mate asks as she enters the room.
"You want to read, or do you want Daddy to take over?" I ask, and my little girl jumps on me curling upon my lap and hands me the book. "Alright, alright!" I laugh and reopen the book.
"This one has a little star. This one has a little car. Say! What a lot of fish there are." I continue.
"Momma's turn!" Bella interrupts as I turn the page. Chelsey laughs and has me scoot onto the bed so she can join us.
"Yes. Some are red. And some are blue. Some are old. And some are new. Some are sad. And some are glad. And some are very, very bad. Why are they sad and glad and bad? I do not know. Go ask your Dad." Chelsey reads.
"Poppa, why did the red fish push the yellow fish? That's not nice." Bella asks me.
"Well, baby, not everyone is nice. You just need to make sure you are, and if you see someone who means, pray for them that they will see they are wrong... And always stick up for people who are being treated badly. You can't control other people, but you can do what's right even when others don't." I try to explain. She nods and yawns. "How about we tuck you in, princess? You look like you're ready for bed."
"No! Keep going! I'll stay up, I promise." I chuckle and turn the page. 
We only get through a few more pages. Once I say, "Where do they come from? I can't say. But I bet they have come a long, long way." Chelsey nudges me to let me know that Bella is out. I slide out of the bed and tuck her in. Placing a kiss on her little forehead, I turn off the light and head for my office. I still have a bit of work to do, but I will always put my pup to bed.
As I'm going over my papers for a business proposal, I get a call. Who would call this late at night?
"Brayden Sanders." I answer.
"Hello, Bray." A female voice I know all to well responds.
"Lilly! It's been a while! How's Ari? The boys? Clay?" I begin to ramble questions.
"Actually, this is about Clayton. We need your skills, Bray. I know you don't like to be away from your family for more than a day or two, but this is important... we found Alic." She says, and my jaw drops.
"He's alive?" I ask.
"Yup, and in trouble. He's been in foster care, and now his screwed up foster father is trying to get him arrested. We need your help." She says. He's alive! 
"Of course, Lilly. I'll get Clay his boy back." I tell her and hang up before she can respond.
"Meet me outside." I link my Beta, Eric.
"Where are you going?" Chelsey asks as I run past her.
"Alaric is alive. I'm going to help. Call Lilly." I say as I leave.
"Beta Clay's boy is alive, and they need our help. We still got a place in the city?" I ask. I haven't gone on long trips in a few years.
"Yeah. Let's go!" He responds without question.
We drive at less than legal speeds to get there. It's a miracle he's even alive. Clay must be so happy.
°•°•°•°•°•°
I sent my Beta to the apartment and headed for the police department. They all know me, so it shouldn't be too hard to get in on it.
"Hey, Cap." I call out to the police captain as I go straight for his desk.
"If it isn't everyone's favorite, know it all! How's it going, Jack!" When it's just the two of us, this man insists on calling me Jack. He says that I'm a jack of all trades.
"I'm alright. I heard you are goin' after a foster kid. That you're arresting him?" I cut straight to the point.
"Some boy attacked his foster family, so yes, we are arresting him. I want the boy in custody." He responds then laughs. "I should have guessed you'd show up. Can't just visit, but if some orphan kid gets in trouble, you swoop in like Superman."
"Just let me tag along. I'll bring the boy in. I just don't want him hurt." I say.
"You're taking two officers, and you are arresting him. He's dangerous, Jack. I hear he took a chunk out of his father's arm." The Captain tells me.
"I'll look into that, too. Don't worry, I won't be any trouble." With that said, I head out with a couple goons following in the car behind me.
[The rest of Alaric's story is told in Orphan wolf.]
I had to stay a few days in Midnight Moon territory. In the end, the boy was safely returned to his father. Now, all I want to do is go home to my pup and mate.
"Poppa!" Bella yells, running up to me as soon as I step out of the car.
"Hello, little one." I smile at her as I pick her up.
"You were gone for a bajillion hours! You didn't even say goodbye!" She complains.
"I had to help a little boy get home. He had been away for five years, and I had to help him." I explain, and she nods.
"Fine, but next time, say bye!" She orders. "Is he okay?"
"He's back home safe with his daddy." I tell her.
"Come on, momma says it's lunchtime." She wiggles, so I'll put her down, grabs my hand, and pulls me inside.
"Hello, beautiful." I give Chelsey a kiss as she sets out our plates.
"About time you got home!" She says, kissing me back. "I missed you."
"I'll make it up to you, promise." I tell her, and she just gives me a 'ummhumm.' I wrap my arms around her and whisper in her ear. "Tonight, mate, I'll make it up to you." I kiss her neck, loving how I can still make her blush.
"Can't wait." She says, and we sit down for lunch.
We barely even start our meal when an alarm sounds.
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Author time!
okay, so I'm curious about which characters resonate with my readers. We all have our favorites, so tell me yours!
Brayden 
Alpha Aaron
Beta Carson
Chelsey
Bella
Other?
let me know!