“Alright, honey,” I said. “You can come to work with me today.”
Once we got to the hospital, I set Alice up with her toys while I reviewed patient files. I’d taken to keeping my office door open, and every once in a while a nurse would pass by and remark on how cute my daughter was.
As I reviewed the files, I could see Alice playing with her ball out of the corner of my eye. The ball bounced, rolling out of the open office door, and Alice chased it out into the hallway.
Julian’s POV I’d just arrived at the hospital for a budget meeting. My mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Healer Amanda as I walked through the first floor.
My thoughts were interrupted as a ball rolled to my feet, followed by something bumping into my leg. I looked down to see a little she-wolf at my feet.
The girl picked up her ball and looked up at me, tilting her head back to see my face.
She had a pair of large, clear blue eyes, a doll-like small nose, and pink lips.
“Woah,” she said, “you’re as tall as a skyscraper!”
My heart immediately softened. Grief had tendered me toward children. After experiencing the impossible loss of two children, I couldn’t help but see each one as a tiny, living miracle.
I gently scooped her up off the ground, and the girl giggled.
“Now you’re as tall as me,” I said, my voice filled with an unfamiliar warmth. As soon as I’d picked her up, an inexplicable sense of closeness washed over me. I felt that the girl sensed the same closeness, and she climbed onto my shoulders.
“I feel so tall I could touch the ceiling!” the girl said, reaching her hand up towards the tiles.
I hopped a bit so her hand grazed the ceiling. To my delight, the girl giggled with her own joy.
“I’ve been here all day,” she said. “I haven’t had anyone to play with. Can you play ball with me?”
I checked my watch. I’d much rather stay here and play than go to my meeting, but alas, I wasn’t only a grown up, but an Alpha. I had fifteen minutes before the meeting started. That left me plenty of time to stop and play for a while.
I set the girl down, and we spent a while playing a game that involved passing the ball back and forth to each other.
I checked my watch again. This time, I really had to go.
“Where are your parents?” I asked. “Don’t wander off, so they can find you.”
“My mommy works here,” the girl said, her voice filled with pride. “I won’t get lost; I’m very smart!”
I smiled at her confidence, passing the ball back to her. I turned to a nurse who’d taken a seat on a bench in the hallway.
“Keep an eye on her, okay?” I asked. “Don’t let her get involved in any mishaps.”
The nurse nodded, taking my orders seriously and setting her sights on the child.
Reluctantly, I turned to go. Before I could walk away, I felt a tug on my sleeve, I looked down to see the child looking up at me, her eyes wide.
“I like you,” she said, the same confidence filling her voice. “Can you be my daddy?”
I chuckled. “You can’t just choose a daddy at random. That’s not how it works.”
The girl’s face fell, her lip sticking out in a pout. “Then can you be my pretend daddy? I don’t have one. We’re having an open house at my school and everyone else’s daddy will be there. They all bully me because I don’t have one.”
Thesitated. Typically, it would be strange if a random man turned up at school for a kindergartener who didn’t belong to him, but I was the Alpha, and that meant that I was afforded certain exceptions.
What good were those exceptions if I couldn’t use them to help adorable little wolves like this one?
I double checked my schedule to make sure I was available for the school’s open house on Monday. I was available at noon.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll do it. Which school do you go to?”
The girl shouted the school’s name at me, clapping her hands with glee.
I couldn’t help but think about Amber and our unborn child. If they’d survived, our kid would be about this little she-wolf’s age.
Amber’s POV
I rested on the couch, thinking about how I needed to get up and start making dinner, when the door knocked open.
This wasn’t unusual. My friend Roman walked in, smiling widely. His arms were piled with beefy, fresh steaks and luscious vegetables, the colors of their peels popping as though they’d been painted.
Roman strode straight past the couch and into the kitchen, where he set the food piled in arms down with ease. Alice ran over to him, shouting his name, and he picked her up and kissed her on the forehead.
I met Roman, the Alpha of Dawn Pack, last year at Dawn Pack Hospital. He’d needed treatment for wolf venom, and I’d taken on his case. He’d taken a liking to me immediately.
Since then, we’d been inseparable to a degree, as Roman insisted on becoming my healer’s assistant, helping me heal others. I began to trust him, and I allowed him to come over to the house and share the load. He would often care for Alice and help with the cooking, which took a lot off of my plate.
I felt very grateful towards him. He’d helped me arrange our arrival in Thorn Pack, finding me a house and helping me pack up Alice’s and my things. He’d help us arrange for our things to be moved, and when we’d arrived in Thorn Pack, he’d helped us unpack the same items and get settled in our new environment.
It was nice to have a friendly, familiar face with us during this transition.
However, that’s all I could see Roman as. A friend, not a lover.
There was nothing wrong with Roman. On paper he fit every trait one could want in a potential partner and step-father, as he was gentle, considerate, and truly loved my daughter as if she were his own flesh and blood.
Despite it all, I just wasn’t attracted to him.
Roman began to cook, and Alice joined me on the couch to watch her cartoons. I basked in the happy peacefulness.
“Mommy, I forgot to tell you,” Alice said. “I found my dad yesterday!”
My heart dropped into my stomach. What was Alice talking about? I calmed myself, realizing that she couldn’t know who her father really was.
“Where did you meet this “dad,” honey?” I asked.
“Yesterday, in the hallway at your hospital!” Alice replied. “He was so handsome and as tall as a skyscraper. He helped me touch the ceiling, he was so tall!”
I listened, wondering who the man had been who’d made such a big impression on my daughter.
“He even played ball with me, Mommy!” Alice exclaimed.
Tue 20 Aug I didn’t know what to do, or how to explain our situation to Alice. Although I tried to provide everything we needed, Alice wanted a father so badly.
The next morning, I drove Alice to school. She attended the best kindergarten in Thorn Pack’s capital city. I’d been able to get her in due to my Healer’s status and my connections. Having an Alpha as a close friend probably helped as well, even if he was from a different pack.
I wanted my daughter to have the best education possible. I wanted her to be able to do anything she wanted with her life, and I would do anything to provide that for her.
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