1. Harper

CHAPTER ONE

HARPER

" C ome on, Ari, we're going to be late," I called to my daughter.

She came running down the hall in a princess dress my mother had bought her over the weekend. "You know you can't wear that to daycare." The dress was very nice, and I didn't want her getting it dirty. I would also never hear the end of it from my mother if she did.

She stomped her feet, her blonde curls bouncing as she did. "But I wanna."

"I know, hun, but if you get it dirty, I'm sure you'll be really sad. Why don't you put on some play clothes today, and maybe this weekend Nonna will take you out to tea and you can wear it?"

"Why can't you take me?" she asked.

Wasn't that the question? "I have to work," I told her honestly. I wish I didn't need to, but I worked in real estate, which meant working through weekends and sometimes even on holidays. It was difficult with a young kid, but I knew it was better to be well provided for.

She shrugged, happy with that answer, and moved to get changed. I finished packing her lunch and threw my coffee in a tumbler. Though Aria was a bit of a wild child, she was very intelligent and very understanding, though I wished she didn't have to be.

At the same time, I did like my job. Though my boss was a bit much on the best of days, I still loved it. I loved seeing people's faces change when they found the home for them and talking about interiors for hours on end. Even the property bidding gave me a rush sometimes. Still, I couldn't help but feel the constant mother guilt for enjoying my job instead of always wishing to be with my kid.

As I waited I looked around the apartment. It wasn't anything fancy, two bedrooms on the third floor with an open concept living room and kitchen. I had always loved minimal, beige décor. Some people said that made me boring or basic, but I didn't mind those things. Something about the clean, light look was calming to me. However, amongst my neutral couch pillows and light wood furniture were colorful crayon drawings and stuffed animals strewn about. Though this wasn't the life I saw for myself, Aria gave me color, and it changed everything.

Ari came back and pulled me from my thoughts. She was in a sparkly pair of blue leggings and an orange jack-o'lantern shirt. It didn't match at all, but it would have to do. She insisted on putting on her own shoes, meaning we were definitely going to be late. Fighting with her would just make the whole thing take longer, so I decided to cut my losses. I checked my phone and messaged my boss, letting her know. She was annoyed but understanding, though I had to meet with a buyer that morning and I didn't want to push off any more than I needed to.

Ari finally got her shoes on, and we ran out the door. I got her strapped in the car and started it up.

"Mom," Ari called from the back.

"Yes love?"

"Can I watch rabbits?"

I sighed. I tried my hardest not to let her have too much screen time, but just for the quick trip should be fine. I passed her my phone, and in seconds, I heard that song from the video about the creepy rabbits. They were half-baked internet cartoons with scarily large eyes and an annoying jingle that haunted my nightmares. But she loved it, so there were a lot of rabbits in our house.

We made it to daycare quickly, and I walked her inside. She was almost five, and I knew we wouldn't be here for much longer. I'd already started looking into elementary schools for kindergarten.

The woman at the desk greeted us, as always, and I helped Aria get her bag and coat off. "I need my phone back," I said to her as we got to her classroom.

"Morning ladies," her teacher said as we neared the door.

"Good morning," I replied. "Sorry we're late."

"No problem," she said. "We're just having breakfast. Aria, why don't you put your stuff away and I'll get you some yogurt, hmm?"

Aria normally ran right in and hung her coat in her cubby, but she was still fixated on my phone, even though the video wasn't playing.

"What are you looking at, Ari?" I asked.

She turned the phone towards me and the teacher. "What's this?"

My face turned red when she turned the screen towards me and her teacher. Across the top, it said Kis-Meet - Find your perfect match, a ‘k' inside a heart along the top swoop.

"Oh," I squeaked, snatching it from her hand. "It's one of Mom's apps."

"Can I see it later?" she asked.

"Maybe. We can talk about it after school," I told her. I hoped she would forget all about it. It worked…most of the time. Less often than I'd like.

"Kay," she said before going towards the table with the rest of her friends.

I turned, red-faced to the teacher. "I am so sorry."

She smiled. "It's okay. Things like that happen all the time. You should hear what some of these kids with older siblings repeat."

I laughed. "Great, well, I need to head out. Her grandmother will be picking her up today. She had a pretty good morning and slept well last night."

She dotted down some notes. "No problem. We'll see you tomorrow."

I went out the door and watched through the window for a moment before I left. Ari sat with one of her friends at the small table, digging into her yogurt and berries. Though she has been going to this daycare since she was young, leaving her was always hard.

When I got to my car, I took a deep breath, trying to turn my focus to work. Instead, it turned towards the app Aria found. How did it even end up on my phone? I tried to think back, but I couldn't recall ever downloading something like that. The only thing I could think of was girls' night with Kristen. We met in college, and she stuck by me through everything. She always insisted I should get out there and meet someone, and while it sounded nice, I didn't know if I was ready. For a hookup, maybe, but a real relationship meant bringing someone into our life. I didn't know how I felt about that.

Unable to help myself, I opened the app. The ‘K' logo popped up before disappearing to reveal a profile. It was like other apps I'd seen, with a few photos and a short bio. His name was Jasper Leo Hawthorne. It was a bit strange for him to have his entire name on his profile like that. I scrolled through, interested that all the photos were group photos.

One of the men was blond, with blue eyes and tanned skin, like he spent a lot of time outside. Another appeared a bit shorter, with golden eyes and black hair left fairly long. He styled it half back in a lot of the photos and always wore a large smile. The last man was large and gruff, with brown hair and a beard to match. He was much larger than the other two, in height and width. His dark eyes shone bright, but he looked a bit more stoic in the photos.

I scoffed. Why did men always do this? They always posted themselves in group photos as if to hide themselves, though in this case, I didn't know why. They were each so attractive, I would swipe right on any of them. There was one of them all sitting around a table in some tropical place, and another that looked like they were somewhere in Europe. The photos made me a bit nervous. I had never been farther than the next state over, let alone another country. Would we even have anything to talk about?

It also said ‘Enski Mountain Pack.' That gave me pause. Though wolf shifters and humans had been coexisting for a long time, they tended to stick to their packs and didn't interact with humans.

We lived in Springwall. It was up in the mountains, which made it the perfect place to sell real estate to rich retirees looking for a beautiful home, but it was also the perfect place for wolf shifter packs. I'd lived here my whole life, right next to Enski Mountain, and I'd only seen a handful of them. They were larger than humans, and of course, I'd heard the stories people told meaning to scare, but I didn't believe them. Still…

In what felt like a momentary lapse in judgment, I decided to tap the little heart confirming the match. It was a simple act, but one that still made my heart thrum.

I was shocked when the profile whooshed away and nothing else came up. Normally, these apps had more than one swipe, but it seemed once you picked a match with this one, that's all you got. Maybe it only let you have one match at a time or something.

Oh well. With that out of the way, I tucked my phone into my purse and got to work.