Page 63 of Alpha Wolf's Nanny
“But still bad enough that I can’t be alone in the house with the boys?”
Rick inclined his head. “That’s why I’m here. To make sure you’re safe.”
“Safe?” Her laugh was dry, humorless. “Is that what this is? A courtesy patrol? I’m not a pack member, Rick, as you keep reminding me. I’m not your responsibility.”
“You are under the alpha’s protection,” he said, stepping into the lounge, his eyes sweeping the room. “That makes youeveryone’sresponsibility.”
“Well, if you really want to help, maybe make some tea while I pack.”
She turned on her heel and headed upstairs, not waiting to see if he followed. She heard his footsteps a few seconds later. Quiet, measured. A predator.
In her room, the bed was still unmade from the morning rush, a half-folded pile of laundry sitting on the armchair by the window. She grabbed her bag from the bottom drawer, laying it on the mattress. She didn’t hear Rick enter the room so much asshe sensed it, her animal instincts rearing up and alerting her to the tiger hiding in the grass.
“I don’t know why you’re really here,” she said, rifling through a drawer for socks, “but if this is some sort of loyalty test or passive-aggressive warning, save it.”
“I’m not here to threaten you, Cassie.”
She paused. It was the first time he’d used her name.
He stood in the doorway, arms crossed but relaxed. His eyes didn’t look like they had in the woods, sharp and full of disdain. There was something tired in them now. Resigned.
“I don’t hate you,” he said. “I did. Or I thought I did. You reminded me of things I don’t like to think about.”
“Like what?”
He didn’t answer immediately. His gaze drifted to the window, out into the forest, now cast in deep green shadow.
“My family has been here a long time. Hundreds of years,” he said, his voice unnervingly even. “We’ve seen the best and the worst of times when it comes to relations with humans. And the worst of times were…well. I suspect you don’t have the pelt of your grandfather folded away in a chest.”
Cassie’s mouth fell open. “You’re not serious?”
His eyes gleamed. “What makes you think I would joke about something like that?”
“But…but…why not bury it? Why keep it? That’s just…macabre.”
“My father wanted to reunite it with the rest of his remains in the family crypt,” Rick said, “but my grandmother refused. Said we needed to keep it as a reminder. A reminder ofwhat humans are capable of. She was a…ferocious woman when she needed to be.”
Cassie swallowed, her throat dry. “That’s horrible.”
He shrugged elegantly. “That’s history.”
She shuddered, imagining the inside of his grand, old house as some sort of gothic Victorian mansion out of a fairytale, full of secret tunnels and dark secrets. It suited him, but it didn’t help her feel at all at ease in his presence.
“I know it’s not fair,” he went on, “you would never do something like that. But sometimes instincts don’t give a shit about fairness.”
Cassie nodded slowly. “Well…I guess we both have our trauma.”
He met her gaze. “I guess we do.”
A beat passed. Then Cassie sighed and moved around the bed to grab a hoodie from the chair.
And that’s when she saw it.
A white envelope, placed carefully on her pillow.
It hadn’t been there this morning. She was sure of it.
Her stomach tightened. “Rick?”
