Page 39 of Alpha Wolf's Nanny
“Do you believe in it?” she asked, quietly. “That I should’ve died for stepping in the wrong place?”
He met her gaze head-on. “No. Not you.”
“But someone else?” she pressed.
He groaned, scrubbing his hands over his face. “If they came with ill intent, if they were hunting us, or scouting us, or…yes. The Grove is the heart of our pack. And we protect it with everything we have.”
Cassie didn’t say anything for a long time. The wind rustled through the trees above, and the fire crackled between them, soft and warm and far too calm for the weight in the air.
“If you want, I can leave,” he said finally, his voice cracking ever so slightly. With tiredness, with adrenaline, he didn’t know.
“But I’m in your sacred grounds.”
“Cassie, after tonight, I don’t really give a shit,” he said, eyes focusing on her. “Stay and camp overnight and hike back tomorrow. I won’t have you walking the woods at night, it’s dangerous.”
Cassie snorted. “Yeah, I got that.”
“I don’t mean from us,” Felix said, a surge of anger swelling in his gut. “Away from the trails, there are wild animals. Pitfalls. It’s wild land, untouched by humans. It’s not safe for you.”
Her shoulder bunched inwards, and a great tiredness settled over Felix. He hadn’t meant to snap at her.
“Or I can stay with you,” he said, more gently.
She didn’t reply, just stared into the fire, her chin set in stubborn anger. He sighed and climbed to his feet. It was an answer enough.
Turning, he made for the tree line, ready to shift, when her voice called out after him.
“Stay.”
He turned. She still wasn’t looking at him, her gaze fixed instead on the fire. But something inside him clenched at how small she looked, how vulnerable.
“Okay,” he replied, “I’ll stay.”
Chapter 13 - Cassie
She didn’t know what had driven her to call the word to him.
Stay.
Perhaps it was the ferocious intensity on his face. Perhaps it was the clenching of his fists. Perhaps it was the way he looked at her like she was a puzzle he didn’t know how to solve.
Wordlessly, he sat down at the base of one of the trees, folding his arms over the vast expanse of his bare chest, the blanket tucked securely around his hips and riding up his powerful thighs as he stretched his long legs out in front of him.
Cassie swallowed, her throat dry.
With a long groan, Felix’s head fell backwards, the tension seeping from his face and shoulders.
Her stomach twisted with a stab of guilt. She had gone straight to accusations, to questioning his culture, to making assumptions. If she hadn't left the trails, then none of this would have happened.
“I’m sorry,” Cassie said, somewhat awkwardly, her feet shuffling in the earth. “For trespassing.”
“It’s okay,” Felix replied without looking up, “it’s not your fault.”
“I looked up the local public access rights,” she said. “I guess I only looked at…um…human sources.”
“I said it’s not your fault,” Felix’s eyes did crack open then, shifting over her. Even sitting, even mostly naked, he was still ridiculously intimidating. “It is the pack’s responsibility to mark our territory lines.Myresponsibility.”
“Still,” Cassie said, rubbing her arm, “I could have done more to check. I don’t know why I didn’t.”
