“It’s not bad enough for that, not yet,” Costin assured him.

Costin knew that Decebel would place Titus’ protection as his highest priority. As one of the youngest pack members, the boy would need to be kept safe, even from his own father if necessary. And the time might come when Decebel would have to remove Titus from Costin’s care, at least until Sally returned.

“I apologize for not knocking. I wasn’t sure what I’d find in here and my wolf was already on edge. But you are my Beta and such a position is not without honor in the pack. I would not have placed you in that position if I didn’t trust you. And I trust you to know how to control your own wolf. But more importantly, I trust you to tell me if he becomes too much for you to handle.”

Despite his reassuring words, the exchange troubled Decebel deeply. If Costin’s wolf was reacting to the Alpha out of instinct, and that instinct was telling Costin to challenge Decebel instead of submitting, then the darkness was spreading, fast.

“Please, Alpha, just give me a few more days.”

Decebel could see the sincerity in his Beta’s eyes. The wolf was telling him no, but the man wanted to show some compassion. “Costin, you are still very young. You found your mate much quicker than most of us. I lived over a century before I found my Jennifer. Perhaps, no wolf was closer than I to the darkness before I found her. I’ve wrestled with it, Costin. Day after day, year after year, I fought off the darkness. I know what it’s like. But you…you don’t know how lucky you were to find your Sally at such a young age. You haven’t spent the lifetimes fighting it like most of us have. Now it seems like centuries of darkness are falling on you all at once. They say that having a treasure and losing it is much worse than never having one at all. Can you really control your wolf, Beta?”

Costin breathed heavily as he looked down at Titus. The boy was quietly examining the pieces of the puzzle before putting them in their respective places. “Promise me something, Alpha. If the time comes…promise me you’ll—” Costin’s words choked in his throat. “Promise me that you and Jen will—”

“You know that we would,” Decebel responded. “The boy is pack. We would care for him just as we do for Thia.”

Titus looked up from where he sat on the floor and stared into the Alpha’s eyes without blinking. “You growl an awful lot,” he said pointedly.

Decebel nodded his head. “I do growl a lot, but sometimes people just need to be growled at.”

Titus’ head tilted slowly to the side and his eyes narrowed on Decebel. It was a good thing he was a pup or Decebel’s wolf would be dishing out more than a growl.

“What if growling doesn’t work?” Titus asked.

“Well, it usually works,” said Decebel. The large Alpha crouched down so that he was eye level with the boy. “But if it doesn’t work…you know what wolves do after they growl don’t you?”

Titus’ eyes went wide.

“They bite,” Decebel said jumping at the boy and grabbing him, tickling him under his arms and in his ribs. Titus squealed in delight for a moment, then become suddenly serious.

“Are you going to bite my daddy?” the boy asked.

“You love your daddy, don’t you, Titus?”

The small child nodded his head slowly.

“Well I do too. You see Titus, here in this house, we are more than just mommies and daddies, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors. We are something called a pack. And every member of the pack is very special. The pack looks out for each other and cares for each other. Your father is part of the pack, and now you are part of the pack too.

“But all packs have a leader. And the leader’s job is to protect his pack at all costs. And guess who’s the leader of our pack?”

Titus pointed at Decebel’s chest slowly, clearly digesting the Alpha’s words.

“That’s right. That means that I’m going to protect you and your father, no matter what. And I’m also going to do everything I can to find your mother. Does that sound good?”

The little boy thought about it and then nodded his head. “Okay. I guess I understand that Daddy needed to be growled at, but it’s only because my mommy is gone. So if you get her back, no more growling… and no biting!”

“You got it,” Decebel said with a nod and small smile, standing up again.

Decebel turned to go but stopped when he heard Titus again.

“Alpha,” he called.

Decebel turned to face him once more.

“Maybe, if you have to growl at Daddy again, maybe you should growl at me instead.”

Decebel looked over to Costin who was staring at his little boy, his eyes wet with unshed tears. “Why would I need to growl at you instead?” He asked.

“Because Daddy is broken and I don’t think your growls could fix him. But you can growl at me.” Titus was completely serious and believed every word coming out of his own mouth. The boy was smart, that was certain. But the boy’s intuitiveness, very much like a wolf, interested Decebel even more. That’s not something you learn, it’s just a part of who and what you are, the Alpha thought.

“Take good care of him,” Decebel told Titus.

The little boy nodded and straightened his shoulders, proud he’d been given a task.

“Yes, Alpha,” he repeated the words his dad has spoken a few minutes ago.

He gave Costin one more pointed look and then turned, leaving the same way he came, only this time he didn’t wonder what he was dealing with—he knew. If they didn’t find Sally soon, Costin would not be able to fight the darkness. He would become fully feral.

Costin looked down at the crushed puzzle pieces he’d been holding. That’s just about what he felt like, crushed. He looked across the puzzle at Titus who had gone back to searching for the correct placement of the pieces as if he hadn’t just offered to take Costin’s punishment for him.

“Titus,” Costin waited until he looked up.

“Yes, Daddy,” he answered and then looked up at him.

“I’m sorry,” Costin’s voice broke and he paused, wrestling with so many emotions. “I’m sorry that all this has happened and just after you got here too. I’m sorry your mommy isn’t here and I can’t seem to fix it. I’m sorry that you feel you should take my punishment for me.” Titus had become blurry because of the tears flooding Costin’s eyes. His heart wasn’t just broken for his mate; it was also broken for the child they’d been given.