Page 44 of Rejected Nanny Mate
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Yes.”
“Okay.” his tone was clipped, but he still pressed a kiss to the side of my neck. “A one-time thing. Sure.”
I felt tears pricking at the corners of my eyes, but I blinked them away and forced myself to relax into his body. Ifthis were the only time I'd get to have him, I should try to enjoy it.
Even if it felt like I was grieving.
Chapter 15 - Joe
I'd been a fool about a lot of things when I was younger, but I liked to consider myself one of the more experienced, knowledgeable wolves in the Crystal Creek area. I always laughed at the shenanigans the younger pups got up to, and the fights for power and mates that often cropped up. To me, it seemed like hormone and dominance-driven bullshit. Maybe that outlook had been tinted by the fact that I was one of the four most dominant wolves in the area, and I never had to worry about challenges and petty squabbles actually affecting me.
Then Gwen had gone into heat, and I suddenly understood all the hormonal nonsense that I'd written off before. I felt like a teenager again, lusting after her and obsessing about every move she made. The way she swept her hair over her shoulder, how she applied lip balm, the scent of her body wash cascading through the house every time she showered. I was losing it, and I had no idea if I'd made the situation better or worse by mating and knotting her that first night of her heat.
The first night of her first heat. And the first man she'd ever slept with Fuck. How was I ever supposed to get over all of that? I'd been all of Gwen's firsts, and I selfishly wanted to be her last, too.
But she wanted to keep things casual. Professional. Like they'd been before.
I agreed, but it was driving me out of my mind. And I had no reason to complain because I'd rejected her the first time. I was too much of an Alpha to beg her to reconsider, and I'd have been a hypocrite to try and seduce her into bed again. She wasjust trying to keep the lines of our relationship clear, and I was going to respect that.
But damn it, it was hard. I needed to get a fucking grip and focus on other things. My pack. The alliance. The magic surges. And, of course, Rose.
Gwen didn't hang around much once she was off the clock with the baby like she had before, though the bond she had with Rose and the affection between them hadn't changed. It wasn't the baby that she was avoiding, but me. So, I gave Gwen the space that she needed, staying out of the house during her nannying hours, and not trying to keep her around once it was my turn to be with my daughter for the rest of the evening. It was a little lonely, but it was worth it if it made her feel more comfortable.
Besides, it gave me time to work on the magic issue. The surge from the night of Gwen's heat had faded, but I knew it would happen again, and soon. I needed to make sure we were prepared when it did, and I spent a lot of time in my office, doing research. I'd tried to talk to the other Alphas about it, but they seemed to think that it was just a fluke thing, and not something we needed to worry about. They didn't understand, but then again, they had other things to focus on. Mates, children, pregnancies...and they hadn't been directly attacked. That had been an experience that was mine alone.
So, I focused on myself, trying to dig into the source of the power, but came up short every time.
Gwen had finally told her friends about her magic after some prompting, but Kiera and Nayeli had reacted exactly how I'd expected them to—excited, but also like they’d been expecting it. Maybe they had. She'd been the last one standingof the friend trio without some sort of power, so it made a weird kind of sense that Gwen's power would manifest eventually.
There was a lot of chatter about why so many Omegas in the area were becoming witches, but no one had any answers, and I, at least, had bigger issues to deal with.
There had been more surges, but they'd been more to the harmless, stationary kind that faded away without causing any harm. There were no residual scents, and nothing to indicate who might be responsible.
It was storming the night one of my scouts had come across another moving surge, but it seemed to have no interest in him, and he was able to call me and let me know before it caused any harm. I'd looked across the house at Gwen, who was sitting on the couch with Rose cradled in her arms, the baby half asleep, and decided that I wouldn't get her involved if I didn't have to. They both looked so peaceful, and I was reluctant to test and see if the surge would target Gwen again. She was much safer in the house where nothing could get to her.
I'd told her it was another surge, but didn't specify that it was another moving one. Gwen didn't question me, and I stepped out of the house into the cool air, rain soaking me instantly. Thunder rolled in the distance, and lightning brightened the sky every few minutes.
A group of my wolves, all experienced hunters, had gathered with me, and using the information the scout had provided, we set out into the forest to find the moving surge. With the rain as bad as it was, we all shifted and followed the sharp, ozone-tinted scent of the magic. The farther we ran, the more worried I became that we weren't going to catch it. If it made it into the city and out of the forest, it would be a shitshow of epic proportions.
Finally, I picked up an increase in the scent, and I lifted my head to the sky, howling to let the other hunters know that I was on the trail. They joined me, and we ran hard, yipping to each other to communicate as we went. The scent became so strong that it burned my nose, but we pressed on, using our superior night vision and the brief lightning flashes to guide us.
Finally, we reached what I was sure was the source of the scent, and it was so overpowering that I sneezed, pawing at my nose. I looked hard, but didn't see the distortion in the air like I had before. Then, another wolf yipped from a few feet away, and I loped over to where he had stopped.
When I saw the source of the scent, I immediately shifted back to human without hesitation, because there was no magic surge to fight or drive away.
Instead, there was an unconscious woman on the ground in front of us, her clothing completely soaked through and her pale face streaked with mud. Her hair was bone white, and for a moment, I was sure she was dead, killed by the surge, which would explain why she reeked so strongly of magic.
But then I saw the slow rise and fall of her chest, and I was gripped by urgency. “We've got to get her back to my place. I want wolves surrounding me as I carry her. Alert me if you see or sense the surge. Let's go!”
The pack fell into formation around me, and I leaned down, scooping the girl into my arms. She was light, lighter than a human her size should be, and I wondered how long she'd been out here. Her head lolled against my chest as I moved, and I held her tighter, my heart pounding. What was I going to tell Gwen? What would she do with this stranger, and the magic that clung to her like a second skin? The woman's breathing was so slow that I didn't dare risk taking her to one of the more experienced,but much farther away witches. Gwen had been able to heal my magic-induced injuries; surely, she could help this woman, too, even if it was just enough to keep her alive until a stronger magic user arrived.
It wasn't far back to my house, and soon we were there. My wolves all went back to their posts, and I kicked open the front door and carried her inside, laying her gently on the couch. Gwen stood, Rose in her arms, and her eyes widened when she saw me holding the woman.
“Joe? What...”
“I'll explain, but can you try to heal her? I'm not sure what happened, but she's weak, and she smells like surge magic. I need you to do for her whatever you did for me. She might have the answers about the magic surges that we're looking for.”
“Yes, of course.” Gwen nodded, but she paused in the act of handing me the sleeping baby. “You're soaked. Let me put her to bed, and I'll be right back.”
