Page 33 of Rejected Nanny Mate
“Aren't you?” Vernon didn't sound curious. He sounded accusatory.
“No. Well. Maybe. I—”
“The real question is—how do we know you were helping him like you say? What if it was your magic that stuck him down in the first place? That created the surge?”
“That doesn't even make sense,” I sputtered.
“It does if you're a rogue witch. You've been hanging around our Alpha and his child, and now the Alpha's hurt and unconscious, and you're standing there saying you aren't a witch. Seems like a whole lot of coincidences to me.”
I felt light-headed, the anxiety making it difficult to catch my breath. They were all staring at me, and it was hard to tell how much of what Vernon was saying they believed, but none of them seemed ready to stand up and defend me.
“I'm not a witch,” I repeated. “And I didn't do anything to Joe.”
“So, you were trying to save him.”
“Yes. He was bleeding, and he needed help. So, yes. I used the magic.”
“And where did the magic come from, then?”
I had no idea, and there was no good way to explain that without sounding insane. The simplest solution was that it came from me, but for my magic to manifest at such a time? It felt impossible. “From him, maybe? Or the land? I guess it could have come from me, but...”
“From him.” Vernon barked a laugh. “You can't be serious.”
“Yes. Or...I don't know. Maybe...”
Vernon shook his head. “It doesn't matter. It's too much of a coincidence,” he looked around at the other wolves who had pressed closer to us, trapping me between all of them and the truck. “We need to restrain her and take her to the Beta so he can question her.”
I could feel the blood draining out of my face. I'd met Joe's Beta, Malcolm, only once, but he'd intimidated me even then. An older man, Malcom, had been Joe's father's Beta, and when Joe took over, he didn't bother to replace him. Malcolm was old, but he was a fiercely effective Beta. “No, please...”
Someone's hand landed on my arm, and then another on my shoulder. I tried to push them off, but my anxiety surged again, and my vision started to go blurry at the edges, my hands and feet tingling.
Oh no. It was too late. I was minutes, if not seconds, away from a full-blown anxiety attack, and I was in the middle of some messed-up citizens’ arrest by Joe's pack.
Just as my breath started to come short, there was the smallest flicker of power from behind me, and the hands on my body fell away. I turned, along with all the other wolves, to look at Joe.
Somehow, he'd shifted back to human and was pushing himself to his feet. Without the fur, his wounds were even more visible, and they looked terrible. Even if I hadn't been on the verge of losing control, my head would have been spinning from the sight of the gash along his ribs and the smaller wounds dotted around.
“Alpha!” Vernon exclaimed, but the look Joe sent him was withering.
“Get. Away. From. Her. All of you!”
Even in his weakened state, Joe's voice was commanding. His dominance filled the air, and the pack members all dropped their hands and stepped away from me.
“Joe?” I whispered.
His gaze snapped to me. “Gwen. Are you okay?”
“Yes. I think.”
“Good. Then get over here.”
I rushed toward him, and he wrapped a protective arm around my shoulders. When his fingers grazed my skin, I felt a measure of comfort and reassurance I hadn't expected.
He turned his attention back to his pack. “I don't know what kind of ideas you all have gotten into your thick skulls, but Gwen saved my life. I don't give a damn if she used magic or anything else at her disposal. She'd just run miles and miles to get away from the surge, and she used what was left of her energy to save me. I don't want to hear another damn word about her being dangerous. Do you understand?”
The wolves murmured their agreement.
Joe looked over the group one more time, and all of them averted their eyes, submissive even with how hurt Joe was. Then he exhaled slowly, wincing from the pain in his ribs. “Now. One of you drives the two of us home. The rest of you can walk.”
