Page 41 of Captive Nanny to the Wolf

Rollo felt his blood rush to his muscled arms, “She’s not just a nanny,” he said a little too hotly as he glared at Dax.

“Hey. Easy, buddy. No offense intended,” Dax replied. But even as he said the words, he moved fractionally toward Rollo.

“Right, right,” Rollo said, suddenly letting out a tension breaking laugh. “Jesus, man, this shit has me wound tight as a drum.”

“And not just you, brother. Come on, let’s do this. Frederick, remember?”

“’She’s not just a nanny,’” he repeated, shaking his head at the tone he had used with his alpha. They both enjoyed a well needed laugh.

“Okay. Let’s go make things safe for yourvery specialnanny and kids, shall we?”

They huddled over the table and the map of Fae Crossing.

While Etta and Nan worked on Jack, it had been left to Lora to assist on the case. She had been the one to identify Frederick’s energy signature as well as the locations it seemed he had popped up at. They were trying to determine if there was any rhyme or reason to them.

As they looked at the maps, they realized there were a couple of locations none of the shifters recognized, houses that didn’t seem to have any connection to anything.

“This is my house,” Lora said pointing at a specific location Frederick had visited, “but that’s the only unidentified location I recognize. I can tell you with certainty that the others don’t belong to members of my coven.”

Upon further inspection and some research, though, they made connections to other shifters in the pack. It was unnerving, to say the least. When all locations were positively identified, Lora added, “We were at my house working on tracing back the portals to an origin point, but so far we haven’t been successful. Problem is, by doing that, we must have left some trace of our own. I assume that was how he tracked me. But no worries, I just warded the shit out of my whole street. Should have done it before anyhow.”

“Jezz. Any idea where he learned this stuff? I mean I’ve never heard of a shifter doing magic. Truthfully, I didn’t even know it was possible,” Rollo said.

“Well, theoretically, anyone can do magic. It is more a matter of how accessible it is, if that makes sense. Let’s say that with your big muscles, and your growls and claws, well…it is not very accessible to your types,” she said with a smile.

“I see,” said Dax, exchanging a glance with Rollo.

“He learned it somewhere but it’s hard to say. Part of the signature is masked.”

“Masked?” Rollo asked.

“Yeah, you know, hidden, obscured,” she said.

“Yes, I know what ‘masked’ means, thank you. I am just wondering what that could mean.” But before she could answer, Rollo answered his own question. “Clearly, whoever helped him, or taught him, wants to remain anonymous.”

“That would be the obvious conclusion, yes,” Lora offered. “But I am not a fae magic expert. Perhaps June could learn more. Anyhow, whoever taught him taught him well, because it seems he can not only . manipulate magic, but also track it.”

“Is there anything else you can tell us?” Dax said as she finished.

“Just more obviousness. This guy is dangerous. Between being a shifter, and being able to wield this level of magic? We need to be exercising extreme caution, Dax, and not relying on any old assumptions about what is safe. All bets are off this time.”

“Thanks, Lora. I couldn’t agree more. But it’s a stretch, trying to work without assumption. We know he’s after Rollo, but we don’t really know why, and we may never know. He’s already killed his brother and his mate and left his children orphans. But the question remains. Why? And on top of that, there’s Bloom father. That was no animal attack. And the timing is right. Plus, my gut tells me it was Frederick. But why?” Dax said.

“Cause the guy’s a psychopath, that’s why,” Rollo offered.

Lora’s eyes flew to Rollo’s. “That’s too easy. There has to be some reason. At least for part of it, no? This guy was in the pack, right? Was there anything strange about him? Did he act weird before all this happened? Maybe your brother did something to him? Or he thought he did?”

Rollo shook his head and ground his teeth. “It is killing me, and it’s been years. I have nothing. No idea. My brother was like the pack clown. Henever had anything mean to say to anyone. And as far as anything weird about Frederick. I mean, he had that nasty scar, but he didn’t seem mean. He seemed like someone who had been through something, ya know, but we didn’t pry,” Rollo continued.

“Yeah, we were trying to do right by him, accepting him into the pack and all,” Dax said, shaking his head.

“And then he does that. Crazy. No good deed goes unpunished. Whatever went on between them was kept from me. What would make someone betray the pack like that? Honestly, even in my worst nightmares, I can’t imagine.” Rollo looked at the floor, hands on his hips, remembering that day.

Dax nodded. “I know. It’s contrary to everything a shifter is. Pack is everything. I can’t imagine what could set a shifter against his own kind.”

“Well,” Lora began, a little hesitantly. “I wanted to wait till I get some confirmation from a few of the others, but I may know, or at least have a clue.”

She had their full attention. “Go on,” said Dax.

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