Chapter 118

Melanie’s POV

I’ll never get used to the way Asher stays calm when chocolate milk becomes modern art. Theo’s favorite pastime is launching that bottle in the air like he’s auditioning for some sticky Broadway show. Me? I flip. I’ve yelled, I’ve sobbed into paper towels—once, I even considered bathing in the carpet cleaner out of sheer frustration. But Asher? He barely flinches. No sigh. No “Really, kid?” groan. He just strolls in, swabs Theo’s face and hair clean, tucks him into the crib, then scrubs my bedroom like it’s the day’s only urgent mission. Afterwards, he tucks himself into bed so soundly I’d think he was on sedatives—except he swears he isn’t.

It’s only day one of my emergency metamorphosis—no magic tricks left to hide my wolf self—and he’s already endured: a jittery toddler, a sticky crater of chocolate milk on the floor, and me turning into a giant wolf every ten minutes. Yet no meltdown, no rage, nothing but steady hands and the softest “Hey, it’s o