Aria didn't say anything at first, which made me nervous, until I saw her body start to change and warp back to the little girl I was used to having.
She opened her eyes and looked at her hands. “I did it!”
“You did! You’re a natural. It took me two days to shift back after the first time.”
My eyes widened. “Two days?”
“Yes. It can be hard to switch back when you’ve never done it. I remember my mother using that analogy to finally help me shift back.”
“Well, I’m glad she didn’t take two days.” I would have had a heart attack.
“Let’s get her inside,” Leo said, standing from our spot in the grass and holding his hand out to me. “She’s probably going to need a nap after that.”
I agreed and let them lead us inside.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
JASPER
Ilooked over the paperwork again, sure I was mistaken.
Aria Maloy - Shifter - Alpha Gene
It was so improbable. Not only were Alphas so few and far between, but I had never heard of an alpha being born from a human and shifter pairing. It did seem to be correct, though.
And it meant we'd need to be a bit more vigilant about her. An alpha without a pack would draw unwanted attention from other packs who want to claim her. I needed to let them know, but I didn’t want to scare Harper any more than I needed to.
I left the clinic soon after and headed home. When I pulled up, Harper's car was in the drive. I was glad they were already there so I could deliver the news to everyone at once.
It was oddly quiet inside for having a four-year-old in the house. I found them in the living room, Harper lying on Hawthorne, Leo on her.
“Hey, Hun,” Leo said, looking away from the TV. “Wanna come watch HGTV with us?”
“HGTV?” I asked skeptically. Sure enough, there were a bunch of people knocking down walls on the screen. “Why?”
“Harper likes it,” he said. “And it’s fun when she points out what's fake.”
“There’s no way that last house would have sold for $400,000,” she said. “Especially in that area. I would say $250,000 max.”
I laughed. “Where’s the munchkin?”
“She’s taking a nap,” Harper said. “She shifted today and was very tired afterward.”
I paused. “She shifted. How did it go?”
“Well,” Hawthorne said, “she’s a natural. She shifted back easily too, better than I’ve ever seen.”
“That’s good. I got the results back today, and it was as we suspected, she is a shifter.”
“No denying it after today,” Leo said.
“No,” I agreed. “But there was something else.”
Harper's smile dropped as she sat up. “What is it?”
“Aria also carries what we call the alpha gene. It’s nothing bad,” I quickly clarified. “It means that she’s like Hawthorne. She’s more in touch with her wolf side than others, and she’ll be more dominant.”
They all look confused. “So she’s meant to lead?” Harper asked.
