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As soon as he’d gone in, I knelt on the top step and hugged Nyx. She was worried about the energy, and Hades seemed more cautious, too.

“It’s gonna be okay,” I told them. And myself.

Taking a deep breath, I got to my feet and went inside.

Bodhi was pacing agitatedly along the length of the living room. Mike and Jenn were sitting on the couch, with her under his arm as they cuddled. It felt odd seeing them so still, not doing anything in the middle of the day.

“So what’s the sitrep?” I asked, sitting in the armchair Russ tended to prefer.

“They took Shiloh. For a few days,” Bodhi ground out the words.

Jenn grimaced. “The woman from DHS, Michelle Weaver, will come get his stuff. I don’t know where they’ll put him in the meantime, but she said there’s going to be a hearing in seventy-two hours.”

“Okay…,” I said in an exhale. “Is there anything we can do?”

“Not a goddamn thing,” Bodhi snapped, his tone sharp with jagged edges. “They just get to pull him from the only solid home he’s known because that bitch—”

“Bodhi Michael,” Jenn’s tired, quiet tone was enough to cut him off mid-rant, and I was grateful.

Mike cleared his throat. “We have a call scheduled with our lawyer to find out our options."

“I’ll go pack his bag,” Jenn said firmly, then pushed herself to her feet and left the room.

I watched Bodhi and the way he moved like a caged animal.

Mike got up, too. “I’ll make more coffee.”

“Bode, can you stop pacing? You’re giving me a headache.”

“No, I fucking can’t,” he spat the words at me, eyes flinty.

I swallowed hard, straightened my back, and with a racing heartbeat, calmly said, “Don’t ever speak to me like that again.”

Something clicked in him, then. It was as if I’d flipped a switch, and he just stopped walking and deflated.

“Boys? Coffee?” Mike called from the kitchen.

I didn’t need any more, but I’d also lived alongside a Finn for the last decade, and those people put coffee away like nobody’s business. That meant that I got up and went into the kitchen for a refill like Pavlov had rung a bell.

By the time Jenn was back with a bag for Shiloh, she looked like she’d cried again. I gave her a sideways hug while passing, and then her phone rang just as Mike handed her a mug of coffee.

They gathered around the table and I quickly asked, “The woman, Weaver? She’s coming soon?”

“Yeah,” Bodhi said. “Why?”

“Let me take the laptop and go have my coffee on the porch with the dogs. I’ll open the gate for her.”

“Good thinking. Thank you,” Mike said approvingly while Jenn answered the call.

I grabbed the laptop and slipped out just as Jenn said, “Let me put you on speaker.”

The dogs glanced at me, and I gave them a smile. The situation was shitty, but it couldn’t be helped right now. Mike and Jenn were doing as much as they could, as were the lawyer and social worker. Bodhi was upset because he couldn’t do anything, and I understood.

I just didn’t appreciate him taking anything out on me. I hoped he’d gotten it out of his system now, but I also knew him. Bodhi didn’t get angry often and he sure didn’t show it until he was unable not to. The fact that he was spinning this hard meant that he was furious.

I understood, of course I did. Shiloh was one of his people. His family.

Choosing the chair in the corner of the porch instead of closer to the steps, I sighed as I sat down. Nyx came over and flopped down on top of my feet. I put the laptop on the little table next to my elbow. Feeling grumpy, I placed my mug there too, and then pulled my beanie off to mess with my hair.