Collin finished his shift the next day and was surprised to see Warren enter the stop and rob he worked for along with someone he wasn't familiar with.

"Gunnery Sergeant Collin Phelps, my name is Nicholas Carter I work for the Kennewick Police Department." the other man said "Before you say anything I know that you wish to keep as safe as you can for your daughter's sake and I can understand that, I'm asking you to be a trainer for our SWAT sharpshooters."

Collin looked at Warren then Nicholas.

"What responsibilities will that job contain?" Collin asked curious about what he would be asked to do.

"You will be in charge of teaching men and women the art of sharpshooting for SWAT, you won't be in the field at any time; you will get full medical, optical and dental insurance for you and your young daughter." Nicholas smiled "You will be making somewhere in the neighborhood of double what you currently make."

Collin had to seriously think about the offer, he looked Nicholas over and saw his badge on his chest. He smelled as most cops did of gunpowder and other things cops came into contact with on a daily basis. He didn't know if this man had the authority to give him this position but the truth was double his current salary sounded amazing.

"This is a big decision, here is my card, Sargent, let me know when you decide." Nicholas said, nodded to Warren, then left.

Collin turned to Warren.

"What was that about?"

"Adam made some calls and learned that the SWAT sniper school was in need of experienced instructors and recommended you. They got ahold of your service record and found you would be the perfect candidate." Warren explained; he understood that Collin needed this better job but was suspicious because it seemed to come out of the blue.

"That… that sounds like a better job than what I've got here and I'm not talking about the huge paycheck, which sounds amazing it means I can feed my daughter, put a roof over her head… give her everything she needs… I mean I still need help; babysitters… I can't imagine not being in the pack anymore. I forgot how good it felt to have a pack surrounding me. That job sounds a lot safer than here where we could be robbed at any moment."

"I know how you feel, I went quite a while as a lone wolf, then Adam let me in and… and I can't imagine going lone again." Warren confided. "Do you need a ride to pick up Nicole from school?"

"Yes, I do, but Adam has the booster seat." Collin replied

"My partner is a divorce lawyer who keeps supplies for anything his clients might need… including at least 2 booster seats, one for a boy one for a girl, which I've got in my truck." Warren replied.

"That helps a lot." Collin smiled as he and Warren walked to Warren's vehicle and got in.

Collin noticed that the tag that was in Adam's car was now in Warren's truck.

"Oh yeah, I got that from the boss before I came here, Kyle put the seat in before I left otherwise I would have gotten hers from Adam." Warren turned he truck on and they started out of the parking lot.

"Kyle wants to meet her." Warren said casually as they drove towards the school. Adam had pulled some strings so that Nicole didn't have to change schools until the end of the school year.

"I'm always a little concerned about her meeting new werewolves." Collin sighed.

"Kyle is as human as she is." Warren replied "and you're going to have to get over that since she'll be meeting a lot of new wolves in the pack."

"They're different, that's pack… my pack, I trust my pack with her, they are my family and if you can't trust family who can you trust." Collin replied.

"Very good question" Warren replied looking out over the highway, it wouldn't take long to get to Nicole from school and get back to Adam's house where Collin and Nicole were living currently. He knew the pack had Nicole and Collin's rooms prepared for them, Collin had no idea what his daughter's furniture looked like, and was unaware that the pack members had bought her more toys and clothes.

Collin got out of the truck and walked up to get Nicole who ran up and hugged him around the neck when he squatted down to grab her.

"Daddy!" she said happily.

"How did you like school today?" she asked

Nicole laughed and told him that she had fun and launched into a whole story about a game she played with one of her friends as he walked with her to Warren's truck.

Warren caught the tail end of her story and couldn't help laugh as he listened to her. Nicole had brought a whole new life and energy to the pack but then again children often did that.

They arrived at the house and Mercy met them at the door to show them the new rooms. She opened the door to Nicole's new bedroom and Collin gasped in surprise.

"Is this mine?" Nicole asked innocently.

"Yes... yes princess, this is yours." Collin assured her.

It took a few minutes for Collin to take everything in. There was a white four poster bed in the center of the room with pink sheets and pink and white curtains all around the bed giving it a royal feel. The dresser matched the bed and there was a toy box filled with toys.

Collin fell to his knees at the edge of his daughter's bed, his eyes filled with tears.

"Don't be sad, daddy." Nicole said not understanding that people cried for other reasons than being sad.

"Daddy isn't sad, princess, he's happy." Collin said hugging Nicole in his arms "You've got such a wonderful room in a safe home."

"Mercy, I can't thank you and Adam enough for what you've done for us." Colin said to Mercy.

"It's no problem Collin, that's what family does, also got her some warm clothes for winter." Mercy added

"Thank you, I was worried about how I was going to provide that for her." Collin told Mercy as he watched Nicole go through the box of toy and pull out a teddy bear.

He smiled at her as she sat the bear beside her and began to play with outer toys that she had pulled out of the box.

"I... I don't have any words to say about this, I... thank you, Mercy"

"You're welcome, Collin, you're very welcome." Mercy replied as they left the room to let Nicole play and explore her new bedroom.

She showed him the room next door which held a modern style black bedroom set.

"You... you didn't have to do this for me, I was fine with the set that was in here." Collin protested.

"Collin, you need something to call your own and this is our gift to you." Mercy explained.

"Thank you so much, I don't know how to repay you but I will find a way to do just that."

"You don't need to do that." Mercy countered.

"I know, but I want to." Collin replied

To Be Continued...