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As much as I wanted her to stay, I knew that Jenny would worry if she woke up and her mom wasn’t there. The last thing we needed was to complicate matters further by having to explain why the dad she’d just met was sharing a bed with her mom.

So, after a few minutes of holding each other and recovering from our endeavors, Christa had gone back to her room and I had fallen asleep. I slept better than I had in weeks.

What had happened between Christa and me had gone far beyond sex for me. I felt such a physical and emotional relief, I hardly felt like the same person anymore. For the first time in a long time, I felt hope rekindle inside me, and I started to believe that I might still be worth caring about.

I rolled over in bed, remembering the sensations of Christa’s body beneath mine and the way her lips had tasted. My body began to react to the memory, and I felt myself becoming excited at the idea of sleeping with her again. But at the same time, I was worried. Our tryst hadn’t exactly been something either of us had planned, and it couldn’t have come at a more confusing time. As much as I wanted to believe that Christa had been interested in me and that she might want to be with me, the truth had to be far simpler than that.

When she came to my room last night, it wasn’t out of desire. She had heard me making noise in my sleep and come to check on me. That was all. It was me who had turned the night into something sexual. In all honesty, if I hadn’t been upset, I doubted she ever would have kissed me again, let alone allowed me to touch her like I had.

I had been a pity fuck.

The thought of Christa feeling sorry for me was painful, and I knew that seeing her after last night would be awkward. But there was nothing for it.

I exhaled forcefully to release the nervousness from my system and headed for the kitchen, hoping I was the first one awake. If I could just get a little caffeine in my system, I would be much more prepared to face whatever mood she was in when she woke up.

The kitchen was empty, so I quietly made a pot of my favorite brew and sat down on a stool at the counter to scroll through my phone while I woke up. It wasn’t my usual routine. Most mornings, I would sit in silence and mentally prepare for whatever tasks I had planned for the day. But right now, I needed the distraction.

“Good morning,” Jenny said sleepily as she padded down the hallway, rubbing her eyes.

“Morning, Jenny-bug,” I replied.

She smiled at the nickname, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I hadn’t even thought about it before it came out.

Progress, I thought.

“You hungry?” I asked, pouring a bowl of her favorite cereal and setting it in front of the stool beside me.

She hopped up next to me and rested her head briefly on my arm. Her eyes closed, and a sleepy smile crossed her lips. My heartstrings tugged at the sight, and I was reminded of every moment I had missed with her. I bent down to rest my head on the top of hers, breathing in the scent of her messy blond hair.

“Thanks,” she said quietly.

“Of course,” I responded, lifting my head from hers as she grabbed her spoon and scooped up her first bite. “You need anything else?”

“Nope,” she said through a mouthful of cereal.

I chuckled, seeing that she had gotten at least one character trait from me.

“Your mom still sleeping?” I asked.

“In the shower,” Jenny answered, taking another bite.

“Is there anything you wanted to do today?”

“Yeah! Can we go to the forest again?” she asked, eyes brightening at the thought. “No tree climbing today, though. I just want to go out and listen to the birds. It’s hard to hear them in town.”

“We can definitely do that,” I promised.

“Do what?” Christa asked.

I hadn’t heard her come out of their bedroom, and I gave a start at her sudden appearance. Heat flooded my face as I looked at her, suddenly embarrassed to be in her presence.

“Colson said we can go to the forest today!” Jenny told her excitedly.

“Oh,” Christa said. “Um, yeah, we can do that.”

“I only meant if that’s okay with you,” I said awkwardly. “We should have asked your mom first, Jenny.”

“That’s fine with me,” Christa assured Jenny.

The room filled with silence as Christa and I stared at each other awkwardly, both unsure of how to proceed. She shifted from one foot to the other as I cleared my throat and went to take a sip of my coffee, but it was empty.

“Did you, um, want a cup?” I asked, heading toward the coffee maker to refill my cup.

“I can get it,” Christa said.

She reached up to grab a mug from the cabinet just as I bent forward to grab the coffee pot, and the door collided with my forehead with a loud bang. I sucked in a breath through my teeth and scrunched up my face as she began apologizing profusely.

“Oh my goddess, I’m so sorry!”

“It’s okay, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“No, it was my fault.”

“Really, I’m fine.”

Christa looked at me, completely flustered by our interaction, while I held my forehead and assessed the damage. It didn’t appear to be bleeding, and thanks to my wolf abilities, I knew any bruising would heal quickly.

We both poured ourselves coffee—slowly, this time, to avoid any injuries—and turned around to find Jenny looking at us with her mouth askew and one eyebrow raised.

“What?” we said in unison.

“You two are acting really weird,” Jenny said as she returned to her cereal.

My cheeks grew hot with embarrassment as I glanced sideways at Christa, who had done the same. As soon as we made eye contact, we both shifted our glances away and went to sit down on either side of Jenny.

It’s going to be a long, awkward day, Orin sighed.

When we were all ready for the day, we headed out to the forest, taking the familiar path through the neighborhood and toward the trees that bordered the town. Being together in nature had become something of a ritual for us, and I felt myself growing more at ease with each step.

“Come on!” Jenny shouted, bounding ahead of us. “You two are so slow!”

Christa and I picked up our pace, and soon the three of us were running through the forest’s undergrowth. Jenny laughed at the chase, thinking we couldn’t catch up to her.

“Slow pokes! Slow pokes!” she teased.

We kicked up into a true run and allowed our long legs to carry us closer to our daughter. She turned around to see where we were and, seeing that the gap between us had closed, tried to run faster. I reached out my hand to tag her shoulder, but instead of meeting the fabric of her shirt, I brushed up against the fur of the whitest wolf I had seen.

“Woah!” I exclaimed, screeching to a halt.

“Jenny! Stop! Stop and look!” Christa shouted in excitement.

The wolf paused and turned around, staring at us with deep brown eyes. Christa and I looked from Jenny to each other and back to Jenny. In unison, we shifted, transforming into our wolves. The eyes of Jenny’s white wolf widened, and I could tell that she was realizing what had just occurred.

Her first shift! Orin exclaimed.

I’m so proud of her, I inwardly beamed. I can’t believe how quickly she did it, too. There wasn’t even time for me to register that it was happening beforehand.

She’s powerful, Orin agreed.

The three of us circled each other, allowing our wolves to get acquainted—or reacquainted, in the case of Orin and Cassia—for a few minutes. Then Christa and I transformed back and began talking Jenny through the process.

“Since your shift happened so fast, you probably didn’t have time to register the feelings that went with it,” Christa explained, sitting in front of the white wolf. “It’s similar to letting go or going outward. To go back to human form, you have to do the opposite.”

The wolf cocked its head to the side in a look of confusion.

“You need to focus inward,” I told her. “Think of all the things that make you, you. Focus on those things, and channel yourself into your human form.”

“It can help if you close your eyes,” Christa added.

The brown eyes closed, and within a minute, our daughter stood in front of us once more.

“Great job, baby!” Christa cried, rushing to hug her.

“I did it, Mom! I finally did it! Colson, did you see? That was so cool!”

Jenny’s enthusiasm was contagious, and both Christa and I joined in her celebration.