Unraveling Midnight Read Free

the little one was a male, even though Scott and everyone else had smelled right off the pup was female. Tiffany had never warmed up to the little girl, though Scott had never understood why. She was beautiful, bright and even as a newborn she’d been incredibly engaging. Maybe because Jessie was everything Tiffany wasn’t, the older female had felt threatened.
    “What’s the matter, baby?” he asked, watching as she rubbed her eyes. She was wearing one of his old T-shirts. She had a drawer full of pajamas, but at bedtime, especially after she had baths, she always raided his dresser. It was a scent thing he’d noticed with all the kids, and he’d accepted that he spent more on T-shirts than necessary.
    “Are we going to go knitting together?” She climbed on his lap.
    He fought his wince. The day with the boys had jarred his already-damaged back. The fight with the rogue werewolf Tiffany had aligned herself with had left him in bad shape. He’d had to seek help from a human doctor and he’d been told he was lucky to have use of his legs. They’d reinforced the bones in his back to prevent further injury but the bolts sometimes made him ache.
    “Sorry, Daddy. I hope I didn’t hurt you.” Jessie was so astute, so in tune with the people around her. Scott sometimes worried she felt too deeply. He didn’t want to ever think of his daughter being hurt by others who didn’t respect her feelings.
    “Nope, I’m aching a little bit, but you know the best medicine for that is time with my Jessie.” He wouldn’t be a father again, wouldn’t hold a newborn of his own flesh again, so moments like this, when Jessie was soft and cuddly, were ones he cherished.
    “And a hot bath would help too,” Jessie said, all practicality. “Do you think we’ll be able to knit, Dad? I really liked Lucy and I want to make you socks.”
    “She gave me her class schedule and said she’d teach us. I looked it up on the internet and you might be a little young, but we can sure try it. If the knitting doesn’t quite work, I read about a few other yarn crafts Lucy will probably be able to help with.”
    “You won’t mind being the only daddy there?” she asked timidly and he remembered the girls’ group they’d attended earlier in the summer. He’d been the only dad and the moms had been vicious. Between cutting down the other families, they’d been trying to get in his pants. Jessie had asked to stop going to the program before he’d insisted, but she’d been missing their quieter times together while the boys were at sports.
    “I won’t mind, honey,” he promised.
    “I really liked Lucy.”
    “About that, Jess, you know you can’t go up to strangers like you did today. I know she’s human and smelled okay, but we need to be more careful.”
    Jessie sighed. “She didn’t just smell okay, Daddy.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “She smelled perfect,” Jessie said, so wistful it made Scott’s heart ache.
    “Perfect?”
    “You know.” She rubbed her nose to his neck like pups did to get scents back as well as a sign of affection. “None of the ugly smells were on her.”
    Ugly smells to Jessie were anything aggressive. After so long with her mother, she’d come to recognize anger and aggression as things to dread and hide from. He watched his temper carefully around his daughter so as not to invoke bad memories. It wasn’t always possible, but even the boys did their best to not actively get angry around Jessie.
    She wasn’t timid or fearful, at least she wasn’t now, and all of them wanted her to grow more comfortable and confident. Anger and aggression were parts of their lives, but they weren’t things Jessie needed constant reminders of.
    “Didn’t you notice, Daddy? She smelled like yarn and sunshine.”
    As he thought about it, he realized the pretty yarn shop lady had smelled good. She’d been cute too, but he’d been too distracted by the kids to really appreciate her features and scent. He had