Page 61 of Alpha Wolf's Nanny
“Uncle Nick!”
“Rick! What are you—”
“—Thea with you—”
“Where’s Dad?”
Nicolas stilled the boys with hands on their shoulders as they barreled into him. “Woah there, one at a time!”
The boys continued their clamoring, their noise ringing in Cassie’s ears, her heart still racing from the sudden intrusion. She glanced at Rick, seeing his nostrils flare as he took in her panicked stance, and she instinctively forced her body to relax.
“As I said,” Nicolas said to her, “sorry to barge in, but…” he glanced down at the boys, wincing slightly at their eager expressions, “but Felix has had to go on some…quite urgent business.”
“Urgent business?” Cassie repeated, her voice raising slightly at the end.
Nicolas nodded slowly, his face grim. “Urgent business. He told me to bring you and the boys back to mine, you can stay with us until…until he’s back.”
Cassie swallowed, pulling the boys into her, one arm around each. “And when will that be?”
Nicolas’ jaw tightened, and he knelt down to address Danny and Logan. “Why don’t you two go and pack a bag, eh? You’re coming for a sleepover at my house. Thea’s very excited to see you!”
By this point, the boys had picked up on the undercurrent between the adults, glancing between them with worried facesand wide eyes. Cassie gave them both what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Go on, do as your Uncle Nick says. I’ll be up to help you in a moment, okay?”
The boys paused before nodding, looking back over their shoulders as they climbed up the stairs, their furious whispering audible even to Cassie as they raced towards their rooms.
Her throat tight with worry, she turned to Nicolas, her hands folding over themselves as she forced herself not to tug on her hair in worry. “Well?”
“He’ll be fine, Cass,” Nicolas said, grasping her shoulder. “Dane’s with him, as are some of the other fighters. It’s more of a recon mission than anything.”
“Felix wants us to stay with you because of a recon mission?” Cassie asked, raising an eyebrow. “Come on, Nicolas, I deserve to know the truth.”
Nicolas’ eyes darted to the stairs, his jaw working as he crossed his arms over his chest.
Rick took that moment to step forward, his chestnut hair artfully styled as ever to look perfectly messy, his eyes cold and calculating. “Why don’t you help the boys pack, Nicolas, while I help Cassie sort everything else out? You can go ahead with them, and we’ll follow in my car. It will give Cassie and I a chance to…to chat.”
Nicolas looked between them, his jaw working. Finally, he nodded.
Cassie watched Nicolas head up the stairs and let the tension roll off her shoulders in a shaky breath. The boys’ excitement had dimmed as soon as they’d seen their uncle’s face. They weren’t stupid. They could tell when something was off.
She turned to Rick, still standing like some Greek statue. His presence made her skin prickle. Not with fear, not exactly, but a heavy unease that wrapped itself around her ribs.
“I don’t need help packing,” she said stiffly, arms folded tight across her chest.
“I’m not here to pack,” he said simply.
“Then why are you here?”
Rick gave her a look, his usual brand of unreadable, the kind that suggested he knew a hundred things she didn’t. He stepped a little closer, just enough for her to notice the faint scent of leather and cloves that clung to him, sharp and slightly off-putting. “I owe you an apology.”
Cassie blinked. That wasn’t what she expected. Not from him.
“You what?”
“I said I owe you an apology,” he repeated. His tone wasn’t warm, but it wasn’t mocking either. Just…even. Calm in a way that somehow made it harder to trust. “What happened in the woods…that was wrong. I let fear get the better of me. And I took it out on you.”
Cassie stared at him, caught between disbelief and wariness. She tilted her head, arms still crossed. “Because I’m human?”
He didn’t flinch. “Because I thought you were a threat.”
