Sharp Change by Milly Taiden

green trees as far as the eye could see, without a building or home in sight. Turning in a full circle, she didn’t see anyone else.
    Giggles caught her attention. She smiled at the childish laughter. Walking toward the noise, she came upon a large tree. Crouching down, she peeked behind it and saw two toddlers, a boy and a girl, playing on the grass.
    The little girl blew unsuccessfully at fat brown curls that kept falling over her eyes. The little boy grinned mischievously and used a small stick to dig a hole in the grass. Concerned for the children’s safety, she walked around the tree to ask the whereabouts of their mother. They looked up at her and smiled.
    “Mommy!” they yelled and ran toward her. Their soft, chubby, little hands pulled her down on the grass, and they climbed onto her lap.
    The little girl’s gray eyes twinkled when she smiled impishly at Sophia, while the little boy lifted a chubby hand to pat Sophia’s face and pulled one of her long brown curls to play with. He leaned his head onto the curve of her neck.
    The little girl, feeling left out, also grabbed a curl and twirled it in her fingers, copying her brother and leaning onto Sophia’s other shoulder. Love and joy filled her heart while she held the two precious bodies.
    Sophia woke up with a strong sense of well-being and happiness that she couldn’t contain. She smiled and turned to look at Chase. Instead of seeing happiness reflected back from him, he was watching her warily.
    “What’s wrong?” she asked, losing some of the contentment surrounding her just seconds before.
    “How do you feel?” he asked her quietly, brushing her hair from her face.
    “Good. Hungry, but good. Actually, not hungry, I’m starved. Why?” She sat up on the bed, noticing she wore a cotton sleeping gown. She clearly remembered falling asleep naked in Chase’s arms.
    There was a knock at the door, and Chase moved to open it, letting Julia in. Her sister’s worried gaze increased the anxiety Sophia felt.
    “Thank God, you’re finally awake.” Julia rushed to sit by the bed.
    “Of course I’m awake. What’s going on?” She demanded a little more frantically.
    “Sweetheart, you were sleeping for a long time, and we were worried about you.” Chase moved to the other side of the bed and held her hand in his.
    “What do you mean for a long time? How long was I asleep?”
    Chase and Julia looked at each other. Then Chase nodded and Julia replied, “Two days.”
    “What? That’s impossible. I mean I was…we were…” She turned to Chase for some help, knowing her face had turned red.
    “Yeah, well after you fell asleep, we were unable to wake you up. We called the shifter doctor in, but all she said was to let you rest and that you would come around once you weren’t so worn-out.”
    His eyes kept roaming over her face as if worried she’d keel over in sleep any second.
    “Well, I’m not sure why I slept so long, but I feel incredibly rested. So where’s the food?” She winced at the cramping in her stomach.
    She enjoyed the conversation around her while they ate, and thought of how she’d love to check out her blood under a microscope. Wondering what lay behind the bouts of exhaustion she was experiencing, she wished she could pick apart her cells and look at the impact the shifter gene had had on her system.
    Once again, Chase, Seff and Riel went off to look for Tryx. After two days of searching, every clue they’d gotten had seen no results. They were starting to wonder if she’d been taken out of the state or if she’d been killed. Sophia refused to believe the sweet wolf was dead.
    Julia went home with River after he made a comment over how tired she looked.
    Sophia was on her own inside while two men secured the outside of the house. Because she was tempted to take a nap, she decided to use Chase’s computer to access her work e-mail instead. The last thing she needed was to take a nap and wake up a week later. In her e-mail, she