“Sloane, baby, are you ready? We’ve got to get going… I’d like to get to Uncle Gray’s before nightfall,” I called out.

“Ready, Daddy,” my little angel replied as she came out of her room juggling three dolls and a baby bed.

I chuckled and went to help her.

“You’re taking all of these with you?” I asked. “You’ll only be gone a week.”

“They’ll miss me, Daddy,” she told me, looking up at me with her big eyes. “I gotta kiss them goodnight before bed. I have to take them.”

I nodded, because, honestly, she could ask me to pack up her whole bedroom and take it to my brother Grayson’s house, and I would. I’d do anything in the world for her. My mate, Sarah, had died in childbirth, so it had always been just Sloane and me.

She was my everything.

“Okay, baby girl, let me get a duffel bag to put your dolls and their bed in, okay, then we’ve gotta go.”

Sloane waited patiently while I went to get the bag and placed her dolls lovingly inside of it. Then I grabbed her overnight bag, pillow, favorite blanket, and grocery bag full of toiletries and Sloane’s favorite foods.

My brother, Gray, was a bit of a recluse.

He was a great brother and even better uncle, but he was used to living alone on his land and tended to be a solitary man. His love for Sloane was greater than his need to be alone, and although he hated to come in to town and be around the pack, he enjoyed it when we went to visit him.

When I’d asked him to watch her for a week while I held a trial period to try and find a new mate, he’d happily agreed. Sloane was excited to spend time with her Uncle, she loved going to his farm, but I knew he wouldn’t have things like cereal, fruit snacks, or applesauce, so I was always sure to bring those items from home.

“Ready?” I asked her once the jeep was loaded.

Sloane nodded and reached out her arms so I could lift her up into the car seat.

As I drove the hour to my brother’s place I thought of what I knew about Katja, the woman who was arriving tomorrow to begin the trial period.

She was a couple years younger than me at twenty-seven. She’d been a nanny and said she loved kids, which was the biggest draw for me. I was looking for someone to be a mother, and good role model, for Sloane. That was my biggest objective.

I wasn’t looking for love, or an honest to goodness mate… I’d already met mine and had no desire to replace her.

Katja also said she liked to work out, be active, and enjoyed the outdoors. As a wild-life tracker, tour guide, and outdoor enthusiast, it was a plus to find someone to spend my life with who shared at least some of my hobbies.

I didn’t care what she looked like, although her picture was attractive, but I hoped that she was kind, compassionate, and easy to talk to.

Those were traits that I figured were necessary when raising a little girl.

I looked in the rear-view mirror to see Sloane had dozed off in the back seat and smiled and my perfect little girl.

She had her mom’s sunny disposition and my dark looks, but my daughter was also funny, kind-hearted, and full of love. I don’t know how I got so lucky, maybe it was God’s way of apologizing for taking my mate, but Sloane was an absolute gift.

We finally pulled left onto the long road that led out to Grayson’s farm.

My brother had moved here ten years ago and had never left. He didn’t go back to town for anything… pack meetings, shopping… hell, he hadn’t even attended my wedding, Sloane’s birth, or Sarah’s funeral.

I understood, I really did, although there were times when I needed my brother and wished he were around. During those time, I came out here. The first three months of Sloane’s life had been spent at Gray’s farm. I’d been devastated and lost, and he’d helped me learn to cope... how to be a father.

I saw him sitting on the front porch waiting as I pulled up to the house.

“How’s it going?” I asked as I jumped out of the jeep.

Grayson was coming down the steps toward me, a wide grin on his face.

“Better now that my two-favorite people are here,” he replied, grabbing me and pulling me in for a quick hug. “She asleep?”

“Yeah, but she’ll wake as soon as I unbuckle her. She’s excited to see you.”

“Let me get her,” Gray suggested.

I nodded and moved to get Sloane’s things.

“Uncle Gray,” Sloane said when he lifted her out of the seat, her speech slurred from sleep. “I brought dollies for us to play with.”

“I was hoping you would, Princess,” my brother told her, dropping a kiss on her head as he carried her toward the house.

We went inside, with Sloane and Gray heading toward the living room, and me turning down the hall to put her things in the bedroom he’d made up for her.

By the time I came back out with the bag of groceries, Sloane was telling him all about her last few days of Kindergarten. I unpacked the groceries, then moved into the living room to join them.

“You need anything?” Gray asked.

The plan was for me to turn around and head right back, since I needed to pick Katja up at the airport in the morning.

“I think I’ll go for a quick run before I head out, if that’s okay… stretch my legs a bit.”

“Sure thing,” Gray said with a nod, then added, “Just stay away from my chickens.”

“Asshole,” I said with a chuckle and shake of my head, then I moved to give my daughter a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll come back in and say goodbye before I leave.”

“Okay, daddy.”

I went out the back door, put some distance between me and the house, and took off my clothes. Then I shifted and took off, making sure to go in the opposite direction of Gray’s chickens, so I didn’t tempt my wolf.