I resisted the urge to throw myself in their direction and stood, approaching them slowly. “Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Aria is okay,” Jasper assured me. “We did some tests, but I’m fairly sure she’s getting ready to shift.”
Harper looked shaken but not distressed, which was good. I nodded to Jasper and squatted down until I was at her height.
She looked at me without fear, which made me feel better. “It’s nice to meet you, Aria. I’m Hawthorne.”
She looked to her mother for guidance. I looked to Harper too, and she gave a reassuring smile that made me release a deep breath. “Hi, Hawthorne,” she said, stumbling a bit over the syllables.
The overwhelming need to protect them both washed over me like a tsunami.
Her eyes widened. “Your eyes changed color,” she said.
She was right. My wolf was at the forefront. Though being with Harper made me feel more connected to my wolf, it seemed to mean he was more eager to come forward.
I looked up to find Harper was watching me cautiously, but made no move to pull her away. That level of trust was something I knew I needed to keep.
I stood up and faced Harper, who looked unsure. “I know you probably want to take her home, but I think we should discuss options.”
“Options?” she asked.
“Yes,” Jasper jumped in. “Learning to shift is very important for young ones. She should be around other shifters to teach her how to do it responsibly. If not, it can become uncontrollable as she grows older. Ideally, she would stay with them.”
Harper took a shaky breath out. “I-I don’t know any shifters I could stay with. I don’t know the first thing about any of this.”
“You know at least three,” I said easily. “I know we haven’t been seeing each other for long, but maybe you can stay with us until this is all sorted out.”
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“Positive.”
“Okay. We’ll go home tonight and get our stuff, and we’ll be over tomorrow after work.” I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to insist they come over right now, but I didn’t want to push too hard. After this sudden disconnect I was feeling with my wolf, I needed time to straighten it out.
We all went outside and she helped Aria into her car. When she pulled away and shut the door I was there.
“Are you okay?” I asked, rubbing her cheek with my palm. She leaned into the touch.
“I’m good,” she breathed. “I’m glad she’s okay, even though I’m not sure what we’re going to do about this.”
“I am too.” I shifted on my feet. “I think we should talk about…everything.”
She nodded. “Probably.”
I leaned in and kissed her, unable to stop it. She was so sweet and soft, she made me want to protect her from anything that could hurt her.
I pulled away too soon. I could feel my wolf back at the forefront.
“What’s that about?” she asked, gesturing to my eyes.
I kissed her forehead. “A wolf thing,” I said. “We can talk about it tomorrow.”
She seemed like she wanted to argue, but nodded, satisfied with the promise.
Leo was there next, giving her a hug and kiss goodbye with a promise of ready breakfast tomorrow. Then came Jasper, promising everything would be okay.
I opened the car door and helped her in.
“See you tomorrow,” I said as I knocked the top of the car and retreated.
