Page 21 of Alpha Wolf's Nanny
The two men stood silent awhile, Felix waiting for Nicolas to say his piece, and Nicolas no doubt trying to find a way to say it that wouldn’t result in a black eye. The corner of his mouth quirked, a small divot forming between his eyebrows, as it always did when he had a problem to solve.
Felix groaned. “Just spit it out!”
“Look,” Nicolas said, “you know I trust your judgment better than anybody else’s. You’ve led us through thick and thin, and your instincts have never been off before. Except with…”
“With Sarah,” Felix bit out, the irritation already tightening his jaw, “you don’t need to remind me.”
“Don’t I?” Nicolas asked, folding his arms. “You never really talk about her. I mean, I get it, what she did was unforgivable, and you’re allowed to be angry—”
“Of course I’m fucking angry,” Felix whirled on his friend, muscles bunching. “Every time one of my boys is upset, every holiday when they look at the front door with hope, every birthday when there isn’t so much as afucking card—”
“I know, Felix,” Nicolas said, raising his hands placatingly, “trust me, we were all there, we all saw her do it. She swore to you up and down when you got married that she would stick with you even through the shifter stuff, and when she turned tail and ran, I wanted to hunt her down and shake her and remind her that she made a promise to you. To all of us. And she broke it. And you—”
“Had a fucking meltdown,” Felix finished, his tone biting, his fists clenched. But when he saw only care in his friend’s face, he breathed out, trying to release some of the tension. Nicolas wasn’t his enemy. He was only trying to help. “I know I was a mess, okay? And I know I never should have put Sarah in that position to begin with. Everyone knows shifter-human relationships are doomed. But I thought…ah, I don’t know.”
“You thought you could make it work,” Nicolas finished for him, clapping him on the shoulder. “In all fairness, if anyone could, Felix, it would have been you. It wasn’t your fault that she wasn’t who she said she was.”
Felix laughed bitterly. A note. That was all she had left. A note.
I can’t do this anymore. It’s too difficult. I’m sorry. Our boys will be better off with you. With the shifters. Take care, Felix.
She hadn't even said goodbye to them. Not a word to Logan or Danny. Just vanished overnight like none of it, the wedding, the promises, the birth of their sons, had ever mattered.
Felix gritted his teeth.
He didn’t like talking about her. It was easier to just bury it. Because that’s what alphas did. They moved forward. They looked after their pack becausethatwas their job. His job.
But today, something about the presence of Cassie, her warmth, her easy laughter with his sons, her wide eyes scanning every corner of the gathered pack like she wanted to belong but was holding herself back, had cracked something open.
He didn’t want to talk about Sarah.
But here he was, with Nicolas, dragging the bones of his past out into the sun.
“I thought I was doing the right thing,” he said finally, voice quieter now, “with Sarah. Thought if I showed her what it meant to be part of a pack, she’d fall in love with it like I did. I thought she’d love my boys enough to fight for them.”
“She wasn’t built for it,” Nicolas replied. “That’s not your failure. It’s hers.”
Felix nodded once, roughly. His jaw still ached from clenching. “Yeah. But I won’t make that mistake again.’
“Is that why you’re pushing Cassie away?”
Felix didn’t answer.
Nicolas’s brow rose. “You think I didn’t notice? You’ve been watching her like a hawk since she arrived. You’re hyperaware of where she is. You stepped in front of Rick like you thought he might eat her for dinner.”
“He might have,” Felix grumbled. Nicolas didn’t waver.
“You told me this was professional. But the way you look at her? That’s not professional. That’s your wolf laying a claim.”
Felix didn’t respond right away. He couldn’t. Because part of him wanted to deny it, deny the possessive curl in his gut when he saw other people talk to her, deny the way his wolf stirred every time she entered a room, but it would be a lie.
And he couldn’t lie to Nicolas even if he wanted to.
“She’s not pack,” he said finally. “She’s not one of us. And I won’t trap another woman in this world when she doesn’t know what she’s signing up for.”
“You think she doesn’t see it?” Nicolas asked. “She’s great with the boys in all of their chaos. She’s chatting away with Daisylike they’re old friends. She’shere, Felix, and she’s willing to learn. Just because Sarah couldn’t do that, it doesn’t mean—”
“It’s not the same,” Felix responded, fist clenching around his beer bottle. “She’s a human. More often than not, it goes wrong, and I have bigger shit to deal with than—”
