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Then,grey fur started to erupt out all over her. Her body began to change shape as bones changed positions and her muscles morphed alongside them. Her tiny fists became paws, which dropped to the floor in front of her. Her nose pushed forward into a snout, and soon a fully shifted wolf pup sat in the middle of the circle. Her eyes were still squeezed shut, her head wobbling slightly from side to side in concentration, her ears flopping slightly. Alexis had started to bounce up and downexcitedly.

Christophe produced an ornatelyframed mirror and held it up in front ofJupiter.

"Open your eyes, sweetie,"Isaid.

She did,and let out a startled yelp when she caught her reflection in the mirror. She twisted her body, trying to get a look at herself, and ended up flopping on the floor. She immediately bounced up onto her paws and started to hop up and downexcitedly.

"Idid it!"she yelped, and looked surprised at the sound of her voice, which had grown throatier and shrill with thetransformation.

"You did it!"Alexis cried, jumping up anddown.

Then,one by one, the rest of us shifted into our wolf forms. I stepped forward first and touched my nose to Jupiter'shead.

"Welcome, sweetie,"I said. "I'm so proud ofyou."

Arthur went next,and Jupiter stared up at his huge wolf form. He touched his nose to her head. "See? Nothing toit."

Dimitrius followed him."It's a whole new world, kid," hesaid.

After him went Alexis,then Vander and Pell, who towered over everyone else in his bear form. Then Loch, Tresten, and Ian gave her their blessings, followed by Basch and Stella, and finally Christophe, Mason, and Kota. It touched me to see them do this for her. No, forus.They'd only known us for such a short time, and they were treating us like family. This was the kind of environment that Jupiter deserved. She deserved a big family full of people who cared for her, and for eachother.

Jupiter spentthe rest of the evening running around with Alexis and Kota, the three of them playing together in their wolf forms. Jupiter was still getting the hang of running with four legs, and she tripped and tumbled over herself often, but each time was helped up by her friends and kept on going with even more determination. She was so happy here. I'd never seen her look so at ease, so free of worry or timidity. She really was coming out of her den. I couldn't bear to think of making her go back to Elclaw, back to herfather.

That nightafter putting Jupiter to bed, I went to Arthur's room but found it empty. The house was too big to try and guess where he was, so I dialed the house staff on the room's landline and was told that he was in the third-floor study. I peeked inside, and found him sitting in front of the computer, the blue light of the monitor glimmering off his eyes, which were narrowed and focused. I came over to him and he straightened, surprised by my presence. He was watching wolf-cycle races—Gregor's runs. I touched his shoulder, and he rested his hand on top ofmine.

"Hi,"Isaid.

He lookedup at me and gave me a distracted smile. "Hey."

"Need to be alone?"

"No,no. It's time for a break." He closed the video and let out a longbreath.

"IknowI already said it, but thank you for today," I told him. "Thank you for what you did for Jupiter. You and yourfamily."

"Of course,"he said. "I'm glad your brother was able to join us,too."

Isaton the edge of the desk and took Arthur's hands in mine, raising them to my lips. "I loved seeing you with Jupiter today. She's really taken to you. I've never seen her sohappy."

"Really?"he said, smiling. He looked so pleased, it wasadorable.

"Yes,"I said. "She really cares about you. I can see she admires you already. I admire you too. You're doing so much more than you needto."

"Enough of that,"he said, scooting forward. He slid his arms around my waist and leaned forward, resting his chin onto my chest. "Not anotherword."

Istrokedmy fingers through his hair. "You'd make a great father, you know." Again, that surprised, pleased look. I chuckled. "Don't look so shocked. It's obvious, the way you are withJupiter."

"Honestly,that's about the last thing I'd expect to hear about myself. Arthur Luna, a good father." He laughed. "Then again, none of the Luna brothers were ever the fatherly type. But we rise to the occasion. We fight for the ones we love. And we make sure they're taken careof."

"You're amazing,"I told him. "All of youare."

Arthur stood,his hands gliding down from my waist, to the sides of my thighs, until they came to rest on my knees. He pushed them open and stepped between them, and then tilted my chin up with one finger and brought his lips to mine. "You'reamazing," he said. "I've never met anyone likeyou."

"Idon't knowwhat’s so amazing about me," Isaid.

"You hadthe strength to walk away," he said. "To do whatever it took to protect your daughter. You've always had that strength. You've always stood out, Perry. That's why I fell in love with you in the firstplace."

He kissed me again.Hounds of Hell, I loved him so much. It seemed like whenever I thought I couldn't love him any more, the feeling only grew stronger. It hurt, how much I loved him. I melted into his touch and his kiss. He gently lowered me back onto the desk, his hands squeezing my thighs. I grew hard for him, the light fabric of my trousers barely doing anything to conceal my arousal. I threw my arms around his neck, pulling him closer, wanting more. The kiss was magic. Air to starved lungs, water to a parched throat. It fed me. Our tongues explored each other's mouths, circling and teasing and touching. He pushed his crotch up against me, and I felt his bulge rub against mine through our trousers. I pushed my hand down between us and grabbed a handful of his hardness, begging him with my eyes to take me. He eased up, undoing his belt. I turned around, my stomach flat on the desk with my ass pushed out, ready for a punishment. I dropped my trousers to my ankles. Arthur caressed me, and I gasped in surprise as I felt the warm approach of his tongue on my balls, circling them from behind, moving up to greet my hole. I gripped the desk in an attempt to hold on as his tongue made steady motions around my entrance.It felt sogood.