Page 27 of The Wolf King's Demand

Just then, the door opened, and Addison strode in. The room immediately fell silent. She looked around at them all and then frowned.

“So, you decided to go ahead and discuss plans to ward off the attacks without me. I don’t need all of you talking behind my back like I’m a scared child in need of protection. I may not be able to shift, but I did inherit other abilities from my father. Hearing, sight, strength.”

Her tone grew lower with every word. Tyler could practically feel the embarrassment and awkwardness radiating off his enforcers.

“We apologize. We really didn’t mean any disrespect …” Valerian began, but Addison put up a hand to stop him.

“Stop, I don’t want to hear it. That’s not why I came here anyway.” She turned her attention to his beta. “Louis, I have a task for you.”

The beta straightened. “What would you ask of me, Highness?”

“There’s a woman, Letitia, who approached me earlier about possibly becoming a nanny for the children. I’m considering the idea, but I want you to look into the woman’s background first.”

Louis nodded. “It will be done.”

Tyler was impressed by the way Addison commanded his men with such ease.

“The little ones starting to get underfoot, Highness?” Malcolm quipped.

Addison offered him a smile. “No, but I can’t spend as much time with them as I like.”

“Should we allow this strange woman to care for these children?” Henry put in. “Perhaps we should consider someone we already know.”

“Are you volunteering?” Addison asked.

Henry sputtered a bit. “I, um, well … it’s not that I don’t like children, I do. I just have no idea what to do with them.”

Valerian laughed at his fellow enforcer’s blunder. “Can’t say we’re much for babysitting, Highness. Louis will find out if this Letitia of yours is solid.”

Tyler nodded and stood from his chair. “Indeed. And now I believe it’s time we end our gathering. We all have our assignments.”

There was a chorus of “Yes, Sirs,” and the enforcers cleared the room. Tyler turned to Addison. “Walk with me?”

He escorted her back up to his room, where they could have more privacy to talk.

“You’re certain about this whole nanny idea?” Tyler asked.

Addison snorted. “I don’t know about you, but I know I can’t be with the children all the time. They need someone to look after them when we need to go after a lead or have meetings. We can’t have all our meetings after their bedtime, you know. It’s not a long-term solution.”

“It just seems strange having someone else taking care of them. Aren’t we sufficient?”

She smiled at him and put a hand on his arm. “She won’t be replacing us. She’d just be stepping in when we’re busy.”

That put him at ease, and he smiled at her. “All right then. As long as Louis approves it, we'll let Letitia watch over the children.”

Her smile grew. “Glad you see it my way. So, do you want to talk now about what all you men were discussing?”

Tyler sighed. “I wish I could say there was something to tell. The outpost was a dead end, and we have no new leads so far.”

Addison frowned. “I’ll do a little digging of my own then. See what someone from the underground chat rooms has to say.”

He grinned. “It seems you will be needing that nanny after all.”

A strange look came into her eye, and she fixed him with a serious look. “You do know that I wasn’t implying that we need a nanny because you’re inadequate, right? You make a great father, Tyler.”

His heart warmed at her words. But he noticed she’d left herself out. “And what about you? Do you want kids of your own?”

Her reply was immediate. “No, not if they can’t shift like me. I don’t want to put a child through what I went through. Even if there’s only a quarter chance of it.”

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