Page 110 of Bad Wolf's Nanny
She nodded, unable to stop the smile spreading over her face as his arms wrapped tight around her, holding her steady, protective, and warm.
“Yes, yes, I’m alright. That was… was…”
“Did I hurt you?” he asked, nuzzling into her neck.
“Trust me,” she said with a grin, “you didn’t do anything that I didn’t enjoy. Immensely.”
He chuckled, the sound reverberating against her skin, and she nestled further into his heat.
“Lucky for you,” he said, pressing a kiss to her shoulder, “I’m a shifter. I plan on doing at least sixteen more things youimmensely enjoybefore the sun is up.”
Her breath hitched, “I can’t remember the last time I stayed up all night for anything other than studying or looking after Sammy.”
“Well then,” he said, moving his rapidly hardening length inside her, causing her to squeal in shock, “good thing we ain’t got anywhere to be tomorrow.”
Epilogue - Dane
It had been six months since the battle. Six months since the heart of Silvermist had been destroyed, alongside the last remnants of a dark history that they were only too happy to bury.
As was custom with such things, Red Teeth and his alphas had been burnt down to ashes and scattered in the wilderness of the forest, with the hope that they may give back to life and nature what they had taken from it.
It had been a somber sort of funeral. A lot of old wounds were dredged up. Nicolas clung to Daisy like she was the only thing keeping him afloat. Felix stood, stoic and vast, watching the final remnants of his war burn away. Rick had looked out into the forest. Towards the Grove, far away beyond the hills and trees.
And Dane…
Dane had wanted to hide behind sarcastic quips and jokes.
But he couldn’t. Not with this.
Red Teeth had been the enforcer of the Iron Walkers before him. Left a legacy of blood and fear. And Dane needed to face that, confront it both in his history and in himself, to ensure that such darkness was never repeated.
Lola stood by his side as he watched the flames lick upwards into the night sky. She had taken his hand. And she had smiled at him like he was worth a damn.
He supposed, with her and Sam and their unborn baby, he did have something to be proud of. Something to build.
Lola had made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that she wasn’t going to pause her research or her thesis or any of it justbecause she was pregnant. She had gone on a rant about gender norms and feminism and the death of independence, completely blind to the fact that Dane had never actually tried to stop her in any capacity.
He figured it was just part of her adjustment to her new life, and so he let her rant and brewed her a cup of her favorite tea. She had accepted it with a sniff, making some snarky comment, and he had promptly fucked her attitude right out of her.
It only took her five minutes after said attitude adjustment to get right back on her high horse about things.
Dane didn’t care. Secretly, he loved her fire. Her passion. Her adoration for musty old books and late nights in the library. She was making excellent strides in some of her theories, and Rick had begun sniffing around for ideas he could present at one of his beloved Accord meetings. She agreed to share her findings if, and only if, he allowed her access to his personal collection. After a muttered insult about Yale and their supposed intellectual inferiority to Harvard, he had relented.
Lola came back home that night, arms laden with books, and a terrifying grin on her face.
And Dane fell even harder for her.
They still fought like cats and dogs. He still couldn’t resist winding her up, and she couldn’t resist taking the bait, but it was never serious. If anything, it was the best fun Dane had had in years.
And Sam, little baby Sam, who wasn’t so little anymore. At eight months old, he was big and strong, and Lola talked about percentiles and weight groups and kept meticulous notes on his development, but Dane didn’t need any of that. Hebounced his son on his knee, listening to his gurgling laughter, his heart so full he was worried it might explode.
He had begun looking at houses. Now that Lola was officially living with him, and another baby on the way, it was clear they needed more space than Dane’s apartment. Lola’s only opinion had been “close enough to walk to the library.”
Of course.
It suited him rather nicely to be close to the center of town. Nicolas was in the middle of finalizing architectural plans for the new and improved Pine Shadow Club, with heavy input from Rick. Who knew the man had such strident opinions regarding floorboard layout.
As long as there was a training yard, a bar, and plenty of space for his people, Dane didn’t care. He was one of the first to volunteer to help clear the wreckage of their old club, and fully intended to contribute to the building of the new one. He wanted his sweat, his labor, hiseffortwritten into the very walls of the place. A permanent reminder of his dedication to the pack.
