Chapter 401: Chapter 401

Chapter 401

Zane

I stared at this young adult woman but snapped my jaw shut to hide my surprise. She looked like Xander

more than ever, but I could see Lanie in her, too.

She’d gone off to school today in a blue and white dress with white tights and black shoes. Now she wore

a long skirt in a floral pattern. It was too long for her and dragged on the floor. Her shirt was of a different

pattern that didn’t match. The sleeves were too short.

“We…hrmmm,” the male teacher said. “Anita gave her some clothes from the lost and found.”

The woman, who must have been Anita, added, “I’m sorry, but we didn’t have any shoes or socks to fit her.

We did the best we could.”

Stella chuckled softly as she lifted the hem of her borrowed skirt to show off what looked like paper

booties on her feet. They were the sort meant to go over shoes to keep them from dirtying a carpet.

There was

some duct tape holding them on.

“It was quite an unexpected event,” said Anita.

The world swam a little bit as I tried to take it all in.

“Did you know?” the male teacher asked. “Because I have to say, Mr. Constantine, if you did, it would’ve

been nice if you’d informed the school. Perhaps kept her home today?”

“She’s not contagious,” I said sharply.

Anita cleared her throat. “Of course not. Herb wasn’t implying any such thing. We’re just all a little taken

aback, that’s all.”

“Papa,” Stella said quietly with a sideways glance at the man on one side of her, and the woman on the

other. “I’m dismissed from the school. I think we ought to go home now, don’t you?”

Herb stepped up and said quickly and apologetically “Stella’s always been a star student here, but I think you can see why she’s no longer able to attend.”

“Of course,” I said automatically. “Thanks for taking such good care of her.”

I’d been wondering if they were used to this sort of thing, but it was now clear this was out of the ordinary

even among a bunch of supernaturals.

“My other pups. Alaina and Isaac. Are they being dismissed, too?”

I braced myself for word that the twins had somehow hurtled into adulthood, too, or maybe just adolescence. A stage Stella had sk ipped, I thought a little wildly and pressed my lips together to hold back a

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Chapter 401

spurt of inappropriate laughter. The less of a big deal I made out of this, the easier it would be, or so I hoped..

Anita shook her head. “The twins are in preschool art class right now. They’re not…rather…ahem.”

“Allie and Izzy are fine, Papa.” Stella’s eyes shone as she smiled and took my hand. She looked back at her former teachers. “Thank you both for everything. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

Anita smiled. “You come back and see us anytime, Stella.”

I had to trust my daughter that her siblings were, in fact, fine. She didn’t say anything else as we left the school and started toward home. Her paper booties made a shushing noise with every step she took.

I couldn’t stop myself from staring down at them peeking out from under her skirt. Something about the fact that they’d had to dress her in cast-off clothes and give her makeshift shoes really struck all of this home

for me.

Stella was truly no longer a child.

When we got around the corner and almost to the elevator, Stella finally spoke.

“I’m sorry to have shocked you this way, Papa. It was unavoidable.”

I stopped walking and turned to put my hands on her shoulders. I looked down into her face, which was so familiar but also so strange at the same time. This was more than the usual rapid growth young wolves. went through. She looked like an adult and spoke like one, too. She’d been acting older than her age for a

while now, but this wa s…something else altogether.

I didn’t know what to think about it. “Stella, how did this happen? What’s going on?”

Her smile did not falter or fade, but her eyes did cut around the corridor. She let them flick upward toward the spot where the ceiling met the wall. I glanced there, too, but didn’t see anything other than a small, dark spot. It was one of those spiders that watched everything. Now that I knew about them, I could spot them

everywhere.

“I think we should get home first, before we talk about anything. I’m starving,” she said cheerfully, rubbing

her stomach. “I missed snack time at school today.”

“Sure. Let’s get you home.”

I was going to have to let my mates know what had happened to our daughter. What she had become.

Together, we’d have to figure out how it had happened…and more importantly, why.

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