Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45021 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Her transition probably wasn’t any longer than average, but she’d spent the first several hours fairly lucid and then sped through the last hour, her fever rapidly rising.
Until the end, she’d been mostly accommodating and non-combative. He couldn’t blame her for the tears and arguing about damn near everything for the last thirty minutes. He would never hold her responsible for her fevered confusion or even mention it again. She probably wouldn’t remember.
She’d endured countless bottles and diapers because she’d burned through them all so fast. She’d been very accepting of the numerous times he’d taken her temperature, too.
What Hayes knew for certain was that his girl had a very sweet disposition. She was deeply submissive and would probably be well-behaved most of the time.
He couldn’t begin to imagine what her odd ability to smell things in the distance meant or how it would affect her place among the Alpha Protectors, but he was grateful her power seemed rather innocuous. So far.
She squirmed in his arms. “I need to get down, Daddy,” she whined.
She was currently naked, wrapped in a towel. He’d been wiping her down with a cool washcloth, trying to ease the burning fever. If she wanted down, she was probably ready to shift.
“Okay, Little one.” He lowered her to the kitchen floor, removing the towel. Keeping his hands on her so she wouldn’t fall, he squatted down to meet her gaze. “You’re ready, Rylee. You’ve got this. Easy peasy. You’re going to take a step back, close your eyes, and imagine your wolf coming to the surface. Let her out, okay?”
She nodded and shoved against him. She knew better than he did that the time was now.
He hated releasing her, gritting his teeth in the hope she didn’t trip over her feet in her delirious state. Luckily she seemed balanced as she took several steps back, braced herself, and closed her eyes.
He watched with pride as she inhaled deeply and let the shimmer of her shift take over. A few seconds later, she stood before him on all fours, her glorious wolf a dark blond that matched her hair. Her eyes were the same piercing blue. It was normal for a wolf’s hair and eyes to match their human side, but she still took his breath away.
Hayes smiled at his beautiful mate. “You did it,” he praised.
She looked around the room and then down at herself before taking a tentative step forward with one paw and then another. If he wasn’t mistaken, she was grinning.
She was certainly pleased with herself, judging by the way she started prancing around the kitchen. She even tipped her head back and howled, shocking herself.
Hayes laughed. “Well, your voice works.” He remained squatted in the same spot, not wanting to move and startle her. He held out a hand, and she came to him to nuzzle his fingers. He reached up to pet behind her ear, enjoying the way she playfully growled.
After a minute, she turned toward the back door, trotted that direction, and nosed at the handle.
Hayes stood slowly. “I don’t think it’s a good idea to go outside right now, Little one. It’s late, and we don’t know how your power might be affected in your wolf form. Let’s go out tomorrow in the daylight.”
She shook her snout back and forth, tipped her head down, and narrowed her gaze at him. It was about as fierce as she was capable of, and he wanted to laugh, but he needed to be stern with her. Neither her wolf nor her human would be permitted to challenge him. Not because he was an ogre who intended to boss her around with no rhyme or reason but because he wanted her to be safe.
He joined her by the door, reached under her snout, and tipped her head back. “Listen to Daddy, Little one. You do not make the rules. I do. Are we clear?”
She lowered her gaze submissively.
“Good girl. Now, I assume you realize it would be reckless of you to bound off into the night, right?”
She nodded vigorously.
“Are you curious about what you can scent?”
Another nod.
“Okay. You may step out onto the deck for a few minutes. That’s it. If you set even one paw off that deck, I will spank your bottom so hard you’ll never wish to disobey me again. Are we clear?”
Another quick nod.
Hayes hoped to heaven he wasn’t making a mistake in this decision. He didn’t think his mate would blatantly disobey him. It wasn’t in her nature. If he suspected she might, he wouldn’t let her outside. She’d given him no reason to doubt her word, though. Or her nodding as the case may be.
As soon as he opened the door, Rylee took a step backward. If her wolf could gasp, she did. She stared at the deck for several seconds before taking tentative steps outside.