Olivia concentrated as she carefully removed one rock, keeping her finger on that spot. She lifted the brush with the blue paint and went into her head to draw the flower. It didn’t really matter if it was good or not. What mattered was that she hadn’t had this much fun in forever. She hoped her Daddy wouldmaybe get her some crayons and paints and give her the freedom to be creative. She knew he would. He would do anything for her.
“It must be such a relief to find out your wolf can see,” Suzette said, schooling her voice.
Olivia nodded. “It was the happiest moment of my life. Well, second happiest. The happiest one happened a few hours before that,” she whispered. She knew Elias was sitting on the other side of the deck slightly out of hearing range because Suzette had strongarmed him into giving them some “girl privacy.”
Both girls stifled a giggle. “Of course,” Jezebel agreed.
Olivia drew in a breath. “I don’t mind if you ask me questions. I’m not sad or anything. You won’t hurt my feelings. Sometimes kids at school were not nice to me. They used to tease me about my glasses, or because my hair was crooked, or my clothes were not straight, or whatever they could think of, but my mother told me they were just jealous because I had a mark and they didn’t, so I stopped letting them bother me.”
“We would never make fun of you,” Jezebel said.
“I know.” Olivia smiled. “And that’s why you can ask me things.”
“Do you spend a lot of time in wolf form now?” Suzette asked.
“Yes. Alot. Daddy doesn’t like it much, but I can read when I’m in my wolf form. Plus, I can see him. It’s too bad I can either see him or talk to him but not both at the same time. He gets lonely when I spend too much time in my wolf form.”
“Yeah, I guess that would happen, but it would be tempting,” Suzette agreed.
Olivia had questions, too. Or at this point perhaps they were more like observations. “When I first arrived at Damon’s house, I was shocked to find out he wanted me to submit in such an odd way. I thought he was babying me and being overprotective because of my visual impairment. He kept assuring me that every Alpha Daddy coddles their Little girl and enforces suchridiculous safety rules. I wasn’t sure I believed him until I got here today. I’m so relieved to find out it’s true.”
“Yep,” Suzette said, “Brock is extremely strict. That’s why I was in timeout when you got here.”
Olivia smiled. “It may sound weird, but I was so incredibly pleased to see you in time out. Not because I wanted you to get in trouble but because it meant my Daddy had not lied to me. It calmed me immediately.”
“I’m glad my red bottom helped you feel at home,” Suzette joked, giggling.
“I’m going to use purple next,” Olivia said more to herself as she set her fingers around the purple paint jar and lined her brush up with it. She had swished the brush in a cup of water after the blue. She could only hope she washed most of it off, but it didn’t really matter. She was no Picasso.
The girls worked in silence for several minutes. In between flowers, Olivia took a sip of juice and ate another animal cracker. She loved those because they were one bite each, and she didn’t have to worry about crumbs.
When she finished her painting, she blew on it to help it start drying. “How’d I do?”
“It’s really good. I think you’re going to surprise yourself,” Jezebel said.
“I want to see it. Do you think Elias will be mad if I shift?” Olivia asked.
“I don’t see why he would be,” Suzette said. “No one said we aren’t permitted to shift while the Daddies are gone.”
Olivia lifted her feet to swing over the side of the picnic bench so she wouldn’t bump into the table and make a giant mess while she shifted. “Is there enough space behind me?” She hadn’t gotten a good look at the outside of the house earlier.
“Four feet before there are two steps down to the grass,” Suzette said.
Olivia took two steps back, closed her eyes, and let the shift take over.
Chapter Seventeen
“Hey,” Elias called out as soon as she landed on all fours.
“It’s okay,” Jezebel said, “she just wants to see her picture.”
Olivia glanced at Elias who was on his feet now. His brows were furrowed, but he didn’t approach them.
Olivia turned her attention to her picture. She was stunned by how well she’d done. It looked really good for her first painting in over a decade. She was definitely going to talk Daddy into getting her some paints and crayons.
A breeze wafted over her fur. It felt nice, but then she inhaled and realized a scent carried with it in the air. She spun around so fast she almost tripped over her front paws.
Something was out there. It was watching them. She hadn’t noticed in human form, but now that she was in her wolf form, she was certain. She scanned the area, inhaling deeply.
