Page 81 of Alpha Wolf's Nanny
And Frederick Reinhardt was raining holy fire of retribution down on them all.
He had taken itextremelypersonally that they’d been able to capture and cage him.
Felix didn’t mind unleashing the full force of Rick’s brutality on them. It was no less than they deserved, after all. And while he could magnanimously feel good that they were protecting innocent lives by wiping out the organization, he couldn’t deny the satisfaction it brought his wolf to keep Cassie safe by tearing her enemies limb from limb.
It had even helped with relations with other packs. While Rick was free to hunt the bastards down in neutral territories, he could hardly go storming into pack territory. But when Felix had alerted the US Alphas to the threat, one that could very realistically impact them, as the group was apparently shifter poachers as well as launderers, thieves, and cut-throats, they had been only too happy to join in on the bloodbath.
It was rather a deft piece of diplomacy.
The human government and law enforcement naturally turned a blind eye. It was, after all, also in their interest that the threat was neutralized.
“Fucking animals,” Rick snarled, finally collapsing into the chair opposite Felix, his jaw working as he stared into the fire. “I’m considering bringing Evangeline back. If they’ve got ties in Europe, then—”
“She should be with the pack,” Felix finished.
“If only it were so simple,” Rick said, eyes narrowing. “Her bitch of a mother insists on proper education. It’s in the court documents. And given she’s a fucking shifter, there are no clever little loopholes to exploit.”
Felix held his tongue. Eva’s mother was an extremely sore topic. She was a socialite from another old, powerful shifter family who had very foolishly tried to trap Rick into marriage by lying about the birth control she was on.
She had underestimated Rick’s capacity for cruelty when he felt he’d been made a fool of.
“Bring Eva back,” Felix said. “It’ll do you good to have her near you, where you can keep an eye on her. If Zara protests—”
“If Zara protests about one more thing…” Rick trailed off, glowering into the fire.
Felix sighed. Eva was such a gentle, sweet little soul. He only hoped that Rick’s nature wouldn’t smother that entirely.
There was a gentle knock at the door, and Felix called, “Come in!”
It was Cassie, grinning widely as she ushered the boys into the office, the sounds of merriment from the rec room of the Pine Shadow Club drifting up the stairs.
Felix rose to greet them, pressing a kiss to Cassie’s lips and ruffling the boys’ heads. “Hello, my love. What can I do for you?”
“The boys want your help picking a movie tonight,” said Cassie, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, “they’ve had another argument with Thea.”
The boys instantly clamored that they hadnothad an argument; it was simply a case of Thea beingwrong. As Cassie countered their points and the three exchanged good-natured teasing, Felix smiled.
Family.Hisfamily.
It had been nearly a month since he had rescued Cassie from the debt collectors, since they had finally admitted their feelings for one another, and he could truly say he had never been happier. He was well aware that they were in the throes of the honeymoon phase, but he didn’t care. As far as he was concerned, the honeymoon phase would last forever.
How could it not, when she looked so beautiful? Her freckled face was flushed with happiness as she hugged the boys close to her, her soft chestnut hair falling in loose waves around her shoulders. She was perfect.Perfect.
They’d had a lot of long conversations about their relationship. They both had a lot of crap to deal with, after all.Cassie was still prone to isolating herself, shoving her feelings deep, deep down because she was afraid that they would be too much for him to handle.
They never were.
And he…he still had a lot to unlearn about his attitudes towards humans. At least, when it came to being in a relationship with one. He was scared sometimes, of course, he was. He had so much to lose. But when he looked into her eyes, he knew he would rather spend a lifetime fighting stupid fears with her by his side than he would anything else.
They were going to wait a while to get married. Cassie was still only twenty-two and had shyly admitted to him that she had once wanted to go to college to study astronomy. He had kissed her soundly and told her he would support her in anything she wanted to do. They were already looking at courses together, something in Portland perhaps. She didn’t want to have to travel too far away from the boys.
As for the boys…well, it was safe to say they were overjoyed at learning that Cassie and Felix were together. They still called her Cassie, and Felix had made it clear that they could have whatever sort of relationship they wanted, give it whatever label they chose. He needn’t have worried. Cassie adored them, and they adored her, and that was that.
“If you two keep arguing like this,” Rick said to the boys, interrupting Felix admiring his family, “Thea’s going to sweep the entire pack out from behind your backs. You’ll be calling her Alpha.”
The boys looked utterly horrified as Felix threw his head back and roared with laughter.
“Come on,” Rick said, rising from his seat, his scowl melting into something close to gentle resignation, “I’ll helpyou sort this mess out. It’s high time you two learnt aboutdiplomacy. Cassie,” he nodded to her on his way out, and she gave him a smile.
