Page 4 of Alpha Wolf's Nanny
Felix threw his head back and groaned, letting Nick and Dane lead him to one of the booths in the corner. He had been right in the middle of some rather delicate treaty outlining when Dane had burst in, announcing that he’d had enough and they were all going out. When he had agreed, he thought it meant a few drinks down the local dive bar. Not a fucking group trip to Portland.
“Let’s just humor him,” said Nick, rolling up the sleeves of his pristine Armani shirt. “After all, it has been a while.”
“Too long,” agreed Rick, his eyes narrowing as he scented the air. “I do wish Dane had brought us to a shifter bar, at least. This place is crawling with humans.”
“So?” Nicolas asked, watching Dane flirt with the bartender as she poured him an alarming number of shots.
“We’re not humans, Accardi. Mixing rarely ends well.”
Felix’s jaw tightened, but he ignored the jab. In truth, he wasn’t entirely sure he disagreed with Rick. Not with the way things were going with the Accords. Not after Sarah…
He shook his head. No, we wouldn’t be led down that path again. He always got sentimental about his ex-wife around his twin sons’ birthday, but the reality was far harsher than his rose-tinted memories. She had left them, lefthim, because he was a shifter and she was a human. An all-too-common occurrence.
Rick was right. They didn’t mix well.
“Come on then, boys,” Dane hollered, slamming down a tray of shots on the table, some of the dark, sticky liquid sloshing over the sides. “Let’s get these down us, yeah? Next round’s on you, Accardi, we all read that Forbes article!”
“Surprised you know what Forbes is,” Nicolas retorted, grimacing as he downed one shot, then another.
Dane’s grin widened. “How could I resist your handsome face on the cover?”
“Is this really the best stuff they have?” Rick grumbled as he, too, took a shot. “Christ, this is going to be a long night.”
Felix picked up a shot glass, the sour smell of cheap whiskey burning his nose.
“Come on, Alpha,” Dane coaxed. “Get it down ya!”
“You’re not going to leave me alone until I do, are you?”
“Not a chance!”
With a huff of acquiescence, Felix took the shot, shuddering as the liquid burned its way down his throat.
“Atta boy,” Dane whooped. “And just think, now that you’ve got that nanny starting, we can all go out way more often!”
“Do you think I’ve hired a nanny to babysit for me so I can go outdrinking?” Felix asked, his eyebrows raising. “Christ, Dane. I barely have enough time to eat, let alone try and keep up with you.”
“You used to be way more fun,” Dane said, sticking his bottom lip out and pouting, the effect somewhat ruined as he folded his enormous, tattooed arms across his chest. “After you took over, it was all party, party, party. Now it’s all work, work, work.”
“Party, party, party?” Rick rolled his eyes. “What a way with words you have, Dane.”
“In what world was it a party?” Nicolas added. “I think I forgot what the sun looked like with all those long nights.”
“You were setting up a business,” Dane shrugged. “It was party time for me and the boss here!”
Felix leaned back, narrowing his eyes. “In what way was hunting down my father’s mongrels a party? All those truce meetings with other packs that ended in flat-out brawls?”
“Clearly, we have different opinions on what a party is,” Dane muttered as he downed another shot, his eyes raking over the bar, no doubt in search of some woman or other to keep him entertained for the evening. “That’s what your problem really is, Felix. You don’t enjoy the parts of being a shifter that make it worth the effort.”
A grin spread over Dane’s face, his nostrils flaring as he caught sight of something he liked, and with a waggle of his brows, he turned towards the crowd. “Speaking of things thatmake it worth it, I’m boutta show this human girl what kinda heat alphas pack. I’ll be back, keep him drinking!”
“He has a point,” Rick said, catching the wrist of a passing waitress and placing an order for some horrifically expensive bourbon. “You do rather shy away from the more…traditional elements of being a shifter.”
Nicolas snorted. “Hunting, fucking, and blood sport?”
“Broadly speaking,” Rick said with an elegant shrug. “Spend too much time around humans, and it can get easy to let their morals pervade. Forget what it means to be one of us.”
“One of us,” Felix repeated, downing another shot, the beginnings of a headache already forming at the front of his skull. “What does that even mean anymore? The humans are—”
