Collin was shocked at how well the pack received Nicole and himself. They all seemed to genuinely want to help him tend to her needs however big or small they may be.

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Dr. Bobbie Morgan hadn't been married long when her husband died in a traffic accident. She had done her best to move on with her life and a big part of it was getting her own practice in Kennewick.

She entered the exam room and saw Collin holding Nicole in his lap. Samuel had told her that Collin regularly went hungry before he joined the pack to make sure Nicole had enough to eat. She had to admire him for that, for doing what had to be done for his daughter. Though she could tell he had suffered for his commitment.

"Hi I'm Bobbie Morgan," she offered him a handshake and he accepted.

"Dr. Cornick didn't give me a lot to go on, any family history you know of from her mom's side?" Bobbie asked sitting at the computer.

"I think her mother had a family history of cancer. I'm not sure." Collin sighed.

"Are you separated from her mom?" Bobbie asked.

"You could say that, we were separated when her mother..."

Bobbie's mouth formed an O as it dawned on her that Nicole's mother was likely dead. She didn't press for a cause of death as she didn't think it was something he wanted to discuss with her. She knew Collin was a werewolf; her grandfather was a werewolf in Aspen Creek so she knew werewolves and she figured his alpha needed to know that he was bottling things that might compromise his control over his wolf.

In the end she found nothing wrong with Nicole and gave her the needed shots along with the nasal mist version of the seasonal flu shot.

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Adam was shocked that evening when he got a message from Bobbie that he might want to look into how Collin's wife died. She didn't think he killed her but she thought there was something about it that bothered him.

Before Adam could go to him with his concerns though; Collin went to speak with Mercy about the issues he had been facing. He felt like he needed to talk to someone and she seemed as good an option as anyone.

"Mercy I... I need to talk with you about something I don't normally talk about." He said sitting next to her in the kitchen.

"What is it?" She prompted.

"Nicole's mom and... and how she died." He sighed.

Mercy made some real hot chocolate and sat with him.

"My wife was so happy at first after Nicole was born, she had always wanted to be a mom, but after she was injured in an accident everything changed. She became addicted to the pain killers and started pushing Nicole away like nothing, not even her own daughter mattered more than the pills. I... I had to do something I couldn't convince her she had a problem and it was becoming unsafe to leave Nicole with her for any length of time. It was as a last resort that I packed myself and Nicole up and moved out..."

Mercy didn't press him to say more.

He took a sip of cocoa before deciding to continue.

"It was the day after Nicole's third birthday that I got the call that Nicole's mother had overdosed on OxyContin and died. Coroner placed time of death around 7 pm the evening before." He paused trying to keep the emotions at bay "I wonder if she did it on purpose because she couldn't be there for Nicole's birthday, if I hadn't taken Nicole would her mom still be here."

Mercy was stunned; she had no idea that Collin had seen so much.

"You did what you had to for Nicole, that wasn't the type of environment she needed and you knew that." Adam said from the kitchen door having heard the whole conversation from the next room. "Nothing that happened after that is your fault, you were trying to protect your child, keeping her in with her mom was exposing her to things she didn't need to be around."

"They could never tell if it was an accident or suicide and... And that's what bothers me." Collin admitted looking into his cocoa as if it held all the answers. "Thus I'm here, I considered going to Aspen Creek but... What kind of life would we have there?"

"I grew up there; it was a good place, safe..." Mercy said.

"With this job I think I'll give this area a chance." Collin smiled but the smile never quite reached his eyes which saddened Mercy. "I do need to put some names up at the school in case I can't pick up Nicole. I spoke to Warren he said I could add him but I need one more."

"Add me..." Mercy said giving his wrist a squeeze.

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Kyle wasn't sure about going to pack breakfast but Warren insisted that he go. Kyle was very curious about the young family that had joined the pack; it was a single father and his daughter. Their story had sounded like something he wanted to know about. He knew that single parents had a hard time and to learn that drug addiction had been a factor in the separation had made it that much worse for everyone involved.

They arrived and Kyle's eyes were instantly drawn to a little girl with blonde curls sitting at the kitchen counter with a werewolf who still looked as if he could afford to gain a few pounds. She was nothing short of adorable and Kyle had to stop himself from running over and scooping her up like a teddy bear as he was sure her werewolf father wouldn't appreciate that.

"Kyle this is Collin and Nicole." Warren introduced.

Collin greeted Kyle politely, Nicole gave a cute smile but she was too preoccupied with a mouthful of French toast to speak.

Collin watched Kyle warily for a moment then calmed when he realized his daughter was safe and if she wasn't the other wolves would be on edge as well. Kyle was as human as Nicole was and it seemed he was taken by the adorable cherubic face; as so many before him ended up.

He took a seat next to Collin with his cup of coffee to wait until his food was ready.

"It's nice to meet you, Warren told me a little about you already, I just want to let you know that if you or your daughter need anything feel free to let either of us know and we'll be more than happy to help." Kyle said a genuine smile on his features.

"Thanks, this… joining this pack has been overwhelming to say the least." Collin admitted.

"I know how you feel." Tommy agreed as he took the seat next to Nicole.

Collin had learned Thomas, "Tommy" to his friends, was a teacher at the local high school. His field of study had been paleontology and in which he had a doctorate. He had been turned against his will about a year earlier and had been cut off from friends and family by the false rumor that they had to maintain that he had perished. Word was going around the pack that they were going to break silence soon and let his friends and family know he was still alive.

Collin had a bad feeling this wasn't going to go well for Tommy and he prayed that those that loved him could forgive him for the lies he was forced to tell. He saw that Tommy was a good man from the way he treated the pack and more so by the way he handled Nicole. He was one of the wolves that didn't mind watching her or doing activities such as coloring with her when she asked him to. She also took a liking to him which had Collin concerned that it would break her heart if/when Tommy decided to leave the Tri-Cities to move back to California.

"Daddy…" Nicole didn't look at him. This made Collin concerned as to what was running through the young girl's mind. He knew she had yet to really learn how to filter what came out of her mouth so he was worried what might come out in this question.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" he asked.

"Am I going to get to have a birthday party this year?" she asked her eyes never leaving her plate.

To Be Continued…