Page 11 of Bad Wolf's Nanny
Her core clenched, and she growled, throwing her face up to the sky. Stupid shifter body reacting to stupid shifter hormones. She was above such things. She had been for a long time. She wasn’t going to let anybody, alpha male or no, get under her skin like that.
Especially not ones who teased her and mocked her and made her feel so…so…so unlike herself.
No. She would spend time with Cassie and Daisy, she would work at the library, and focus on her research. She wouldn’t think about Dane at all.
And that was that.
Chapter 4 - Dane
Dane rocked back in his chair, sprawling idly with his hands behind his head. He was trying to pay attention to Nicolas’s droning, really he was, but he kept catching a glimpse of a bare bit of bicep and found himself wholly occupied with what his next tattoo should be. His last had been a magnificent set of elk antlers that curved around his calf. Maybe he should carry on the theme and get a stag’s antlers.
He couldn’t help the slow smirk that crept over his face. A stag…or perhaps a doe.
Too bad, does didn’t typically have antlers. Then again, the particular creature he was thinking of did like showing off her claws. Maybe a cat would be better. Or a vixen.
Nowthatwas bound to get him into a world of trouble.
Perhaps he shouldn’t be considering a tattoo purely for the amusement of riling up a certain brunette student, but he couldn’t help himself. Ever since he’d first met her, he’d found himself wholly preoccupied with finding ways to get under her skin. He’d only seen her a handful of times since her disastrous pledge to Felix, but he’d taken advantage of every interaction. A teasing word here, a well-timed joke there, and she was a sputtering mess of indignation.
Really, it was too easy, but it didn’t diminish his entertainment.
Not that it meant anything, of course. It was just a bit of fun. None of the pack females would let him be so mouthy with them, not if he wanted to keep his hide intact, and he always ended up in a brawl with the males if they sensed him making fun.
ButLola.
Lola was fresh meat. Untrained, untested, and oh so delightfully naive.
And then of course, there was the way her body reacted to his whenever he stepped in a bit too close to her, or leaned down to blatantly scent her. Any she-wolf in her right mind would have slapped him, and he’d probably have deserved it, but Lola just got red-cheeked and flustered and scurried away from him like a nervous little mouse. But he could smell it on her.
Shewantedhim.
Oh, she might deny it. Might scowl and grumble at him, might snap and spit, but Dane considered himself an expert in such things.
She wanted him. But she would never admit it, to herself or to him.
And didn’t that make her the most delightful challenge.
“Something to add, Dane?” Nicolas asked, ice lacing each word.
Dane threw him a lazy grin. “Nah, you’re all good, Accardi.”
Nicolas sniffed, straightening the cufflinks of his ridiculously expensive shirt. “Really? Nothing at all to contribute to a conversation about border patrol?”
Dane heaved a sigh, dropping his forearms onto the table, leveling a wry look at Nicolas. “What is there to say? We run the border three times a day, and I’m always on at least one of those runs. Ain’t nothing getting through without leaving some sorta scent trail.”
“Shifters can drive cars, you know,” Rick said, flicking idly through the manila folders littered in front of him.
“Ain’t that why we’ve got Nicky and all his fancy tech?” Dane said, ignoring Nicolas’ slight growl of irritation at the nickname. “To combat any funny ideas shifters might get?”
“Take this seriously, Dane,” Felix said, his jaw tight, “it’s important.”
Dane scowled at him. “Yeah, I know it’s important. I’m the one who’ll be getting into it with some rogue or some dumbass Black Claw if it ain’t good enough. So you can really trust my word when I say that we’re all good here.”
“A load of our preventative measures, our fencing, our physical security are brand-new,” Nicolas pressed, those icy eyes of his hardening to steel. “That means they might have weaknesses that we can’t foresee.”
“Thought you were the one to order them in. If they’re faulty, it kinda sounds like a you problem,” Dane said.
Nicolas bared his teeth, one finger tapping against the wood of the desk. Other alphas, higher-ranking members of the pack, shuffled nervously and exchanged anxious looks. It wouldn’t be the first time Dane had gotten into it with Nicolas, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last.
