Page 56 of Alpha Wolf's Nanny
What did she expect? That a powerful, impossibly handsome Alpha with more on his shoulders than most people could handle would fall headfirst for the human nanny with a mess of a past and absolutely nothing to offer him?
A choked laugh escaped her.
It had been a mistake. All of it. Letting herself hope. Letting herself believe.
She should never have come here.
But where else could she have gone?
A few minutes later, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a towel, the steam fogging the mirror. She wiped it with the flat of her palm and stared at herself. Her cheeks were flushed from the heat, her freckles more pronounced. Her eyes looked too wide. Too raw.
She looked like a girl trying very, very hard not to cry.
“Pathetic,” she whispered.
She pulled herself together the best she could. Dried herself off, dressed in one of her cleaner outfits, jeans, a loose plaid shirt, sleeves rolled up. Something easy, something nondescript. Something that wouldn’t draw anyone’s attention.
Especially not his.
She padded barefoot back to her room and sat on the edge of the bed, towel still wrapped around her damp hair. A half-packed backpack sat on the floor with spare snacks and juice boxes already tucked inside for the boys’ trip to the woods. She stared at it for a long moment.
At least out there, she didn’t feel so small.
And at leasttheystill wanted her around.
Her thoughts turned again to Felix. How quiet he’d been. How distant. His expression when he looked at her, when he bothered to look at her at all, was tight. Guarded. Like he was holding something back.
Was he angry at her?
Or worse…disappointed?
Her chest twisted painfully.
She reached for the hairbrush, her hands moving automatically, tugging the bristles through the knots.
If he wasn’t going to say anything, if he was going to keep pretending like nothing had ever happened between them, then fine. She’d stop trying. She wouldn’t push. She’d do her job, take care of the boys, and stay out of his way.
She was good at that. Disappearing when she wasn’t wanted.
After all, he’d made it painfully clear all those weeks ago that he expected professionalism. The lapse in the woods didn’t have to change anything.
She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and sucked in a breath. Old wounds, childhood taunts, echoed in her ears.
Ew, she looks like a stick insect. Have you seen how buggy her eyes are?
Are you like, super poor? Why do your clothes smell like that?
You’re literally like, so disgusting. Like I would kill myself if I looked like you.
You’re nothing but a loser virgin with a deadbeat dad and a mom who probably doesn’t even want you.
They were words. Just words. Why did they still have so much power over her? It didn’t actually matter what Felix said, how much he reassured her. She’d never believe that his rejection was because of anything other than how she looked. He could say it was because she was a human and he was a shifter all he liked, but the truth remained. She wasn’t good enough for him.
He needed someone like Daisy. Someone pretty and sweet and fiercely devoted. A shifter, sure, but also someone who knew her worth. She’d heard stories, of course, about how Nicolas and Daisy had gotten together. How Gracie’s biological mom, Francesca, had tried to drive them apart. From the sounds of things, Daisy had acted with such grace, such elegance…it was no wonder Nicolas fell in love with her. She knew what she was worth.
Cassie also knew what she was worth. And it was a hell of a lot less than someone like Daisy.
She was trash. A runaway, destitute, a liar. She had nothing to offer, and nobody who truly wanted her.
