Noelle only woke up twice in the night, and Daniel got up with her each time, changing her diaper, bringing her over for Jenna to nurse, then burping her and rocking her back to sleep.
He'd crawled back in bed and pulled Jenna back into his arms. She'd barely woken up long enough to feed Noelle, she was so exhausted. He laid there, holding her tightly through the night, never wanting to let her go.
Jenna woke the next morning to find her cheek pressed up against Daniel's bare chest. She lay there for several long moments listening to his heart beat, happy that it was still beating.
She finally slipped out of the bed to check on Noelle, surprised to see she was still sleeping, and then headed into the bathroom. A cry from her daughter had her hurrying back to the bedroom, only to find Daniel already up and pulling her out of her crib.
"Relax, Momma. I got her," Daniel said softly as he carried his pup over to the changing table.
Jenna slipped back into bed, admiring the muscles rippling across Daniel's back as he worked. She'd forgotten how attractive every part of him was. She could lay in bed and watch him do mundane things for hours.
Once he was finished, and had her in dry clothes, he brought her over for Jenna to nurse before crawling into bed next to her.
"How did you sleep?" He traced his finger over Noelle's downy soft head.
"Better than I have in.. well I don't know how long. Thank you for getting up with Noelle last night." Jenna glanced down at him. She'd propped up pillows against the headboard while she nursed.
"She's my daughter. Plus I know you were completely exhausted."
She finished nursing, and Daniel took Noelle from her. "Daniel, how do I become a werewolf?"
He looked up at her in surprise, then frowned. "I think it involves my blood, but I don't totally remember. I read about it in a book in our library, but that was probably over two hundred years ago," he admitted.
"So we need to find that book?" Jenna had laid back down on the bed and was enjoying watching him with Noelle. She loved how he'd stepped up to his role as a father so easily.
"No, we can just ask my parents. You can talk to my mom since she went through it," Daniel said.
"Your mother was human?"
He nodded.
"Can I tell my brothers?"
Daniel was quiet for a moment, thinking that one over. "Yes, though we need to stress how important it is to keep the secret."
"Rule number one," Jenna muttered.
Daniel looked up at her in confusion.
"We do not talk about Werewolf Club."
Daniel snorted, then looked down when Noelle whimpered. "Sorry Love," he said softly, rocking her gently.
He walked over to Jenna and handed Noelle to her. "I uh..." he gestured to the bathroom.
She smiled, taking Noelle. "Go ahead."
A knock at the door caught her attention as Daniel disappeared into the bathroom. The door opened partially. "Jenna?" Michael whisper yelled.
"You can come in."
Michael pushed the door open further and stepped in. He was looking a bit disheveled, his clothes wrinkled and his hair a mess.
Jenna frowned at him. She hadn't seen him since before she'd left for New York City. Michael had finished his training to become a police officer, and was now working in the city. He also had a girlfriend that he spent most of his spare time with, and wasn't around very much. "Did you just get home?"
"Um, yeah," he rubbed his jaw sheepishly.
"Have you seen Dad yet?"
"Not since the day before yesterday," he admitted, then glanced towards the bathroom when the toilet flushed. "Is someone here?"
Jenna blushed. "My.. boyfriend."
"He spent the night?" Michael eyed the bed, noticing that both sides had been slept in.
"What do you want, Michael?" Jenna tried to change the subject but the door opened and Daniel walked out, surprised to see a man standing in Jenna's bedroom though he quickly realized from his scent that he was one of her brothers.
"Daniel, this is my youngest brother, Michael," Jenna introduced him.
Michael sized up the shirtless man standing in his sister's bedroom, noticing the bulging muscles and washboard abs. The man must live at the gym.
Daniel stepped forward and shook Michael's hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Yeah, um, can I talk to my sister? Alone?"
Daniel raised his eyebrows at the young man, but nodded. "Sure." He started to leave the room.
"No!" Jenna got up and walked over to the two of them. She shoved Noelle into Daniel's arms, then pushed her brother out her door, following behind him as she shut the door behind her. "What is wrong with you?" She whisper yelled at him
"What is wrong with you?" He whispered back. "You didn't have a boyfriend a few days ago, and now you're bringing this guy home, sleeping with him and leaving Noelle alone with him? You can't know him that well, Jenna."
"He won't hurt her," Jenna said, exasperated.
"You don't know that," Michael glared daggers at her.
"He's her father," Jenna glared right back.
Michael's mouth dropped open as he stared at her in shock. "Her biological father?"
"Yes!"
"Oh."
Jenna rolled her eyes at him. "Go take a shower and make us some breakfast. I'm starving." She turned around and walked back into her bedroom, resisting the urge to slam the door behind her.
Daniel had put Noelle in her crib and was now sitting up against the headboard with a huge smile on his face as he watched her cross the room and throw herself down on the bed. Jenna had a fiery little temper, he realized, finding it very attractive.
"You heard that entire conversation, didn't you?" She muttered, staring up at the ceiling.
"I did," he admitted. "He's just worried about you."
She huffed. "I know, but he disappears for days at a time, then comes home and has the audacity to call me out for having you here. I can guarantee he has no idea about what happened yesterday."
Daniel leaned over Jenna, and brushed her hair back, gently stroking her cheek. "You're quite beautiful when you're angry."
Jenna felt her anger instantly dissolve as she looked up at him and felt the tingles erupt across her skin. "What are those tingles? Is that a mate thing?"
"Yes." He ran his hand down her neck, gently touching his mark before bringing it down the V neckline of her shirt. Jenna's lips parted and her tongue slipped out to wet them.
"Jenna," Daniel whispered as he brought his lips down on hers.
Finally! She eagerly opened her mouth, giving him access as he kissed her like a starving man. He rolled on to his side, and pulled her up against him. Jenna moaned softly in his mouth and wrapped her leg around him. He slid his hand up her thigh, pulling her closer.
He finally ended the kiss as he heard Michael walk by the door. There was no way this could progress any further with both her father and her brother right under the same roof. He wouldn't put it past Michael to walk in, thinking he was protecting her. "When do you go back to work?" He gently rubbed her back.
She looked up at him with lust in her eyes, and a small sigh escaped her lips. "Tomorrow evening. I only work three nights a week."
"How would you feel about coming to the pack house with me today?" Daniel asked her.
"I'd like that." She was quiet for a few moments, lost in thought. "What about Noelle?"
"She'd come with us?"
"No, I mean what about her safety? I don't want something like what happened yesterday to happen again." Jenna took a deep, shuddering breath. She couldn't help but worry about it. Someone had come right into this very room and taken Noelle out of her own crib. Jenna realized she wasn't going to feel safe as long as he wasn't there, protecting his daughter. She needed him. "I'm so glad she's too little to understand what happened."
Daniel could feel her panic creeping in, and he pulled her tightly against his chest, calming her. "Ideally, I'd like you to move into the pack house with me where you'd be the safest, but..."
"Okay," she interrupted, then realized he was about to add something else. "... but?"
Daniel chuckled. "I didn't expect you to agree so quickly. I was going to say I know we're moving very quickly."
"Oh. Would it be quick if I was a werewolf?" Jenna asked him.
"No."
"Well, technically I've known you for a year. You marked me a year ago. I've given birth to your child. And.." she stopped, and laid her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat. "..I fell in love with you a while ago." She whispered.
Rafe howled happily in Daniel's mind as he felt a surge of happiness at her words. 'Told ya Mate loves us.'
"Yesterday was the worst day of my life, aside from losing my mother. I never want to experience something like that again. They took her out of her own bed, Daniel."
Daniel could feel her pain, her terror at the idea of something like that happening again. He rubbed her back, trying to calm her. "I won't let anyone take her again. I love the both of you so much."
"But I can't expect you to stay here every night. You have responsibilities."
A knock sounded out her door again and Jenna sighed. "Go away, Michael!"
"Breakfast is ready!" Her brother called.
"Plus, you and I both know we won't have any privacy here, and I'm going to need a repeat of our first night together soon," Jenna admitted. "I've played that night over and over again in my head."
"I know you have," Daniel said without thinking.
"What do you mean, you know I have?" Jenna pulled back, staring up at him.
"Well..."he paused, gathering his thoughts. He hadn't meant to tell her that, or at least not yet. She'd find out anyway once she marked him. "Remember how I told you last night that I could feel your emotions?"
She nodded slowly.
"Well, I could feel when you were aroused too," he admitted.
Jenna groaned. How many nights had she layed in bed, visualizing him making love to her? Too many to count. Her face turned beat red. "That's..." she stopped, too embarrassed to continue as she pulled out of his arms and got out of the bed. She walked into her closet, and found some clothes to wear, and began to get dressed. She could hear Daniel get up as well, and felt bad that she had ruined the moment. She stopped as a sudden thought occurred to her and turned around to confront him, halting when she saw him standing there in just his boxers. Her mouth went dry as visions of him naked yesterday entered her mind.
Daniel glanced up and saw her looking him over. He pulled up his jeans. "What's up?" She was still wearing her nightgown, though she'd pulled on socks and she had a sweatshirt in her hands.
"So, if you could tell when I was... then would you know if I had.. been with someone else?"
She'd put that together quickly. "Yes."
"And even if I had decided I didn't want to be with you, you would still always know?"
"Yes."
Which would hurt him deeply. Jenna walked across the room, stopping in front of him. "Why didn't you tell me that?"
"Because I didn't want it to influence your decision," He stared down at her, his eyes flashing.
"You stubborn man," she muttered, tossing her shirt down on the bed, before pushing him down on it. "You would have suffered through that for years on end."
"That's why I said I shouldn't have marked you until I knew you wanted to be with me," he pulled her between his legs, holding her close.
"Oh Daniel." Jenna sighed. "We both made mistakes that night." She hugged him for a long moment. "Will I get to mark you when I change?"
He chuckled. "I want you to. Now you'd better get dressed. I'm starving."
She pulled away and headed back into her closet, dressing quickly. When she came back out, Daniel was fully dressed as well, and standing over Noelle's crib, watching her.
"She's coming downstairs with us. I can't leave her up here alone."
"Okay." Daniel scooped her up and followed Jenna downstairs.