Page 58 of Alpha Wolf's Nanny
Felix’s eyes tracked the firelight flickering across the walls, his jaw tight. The tension in his muscles refused to ease, no matter how many deep breaths he took.
He didn’t want to have this conversation.
“I’m not avoiding her,” he said, quieter this time, but no less firm. “I’m protecting her. From me. From this life. From everything that comes with being mine.”
“Protecting her by ignoring her? By letting her walk around, thinking you hate her? It’s torture for all of us, Felix. We can smell it all over her. She’s devastated. She thinks you’ve rejected her. You’re acting like a child.”
Felix didn’t rise to the bait. His voice stayed level. “It’s better than letting her get attached to something that was never going to work.”
Rick entered the room then, quiet for once. He stood by the door, arms folded, and nodded once. “He’s right.”
Nicolas shot him a look. “Oh, good. Reinforcements.”
“I’m not here to gang up on you,” Rick said mildly, “just saying, Felix is right. If he gets involved with her, the falloutcould be catastrophic. He knows it. I know it. Deep down, so do you.”
Felix let out a breath, some tension easing from his shoulders at Rick’s support.
“She’s human,” Rick continued. “This isn’t just about the two of them liking each other. There are politics. Expectations. Power dynamics. If it goes bad, if she gets hurt, or she hurts him, Felix doesn’t just lose a lover. He loses face. The pack fractures. And if the pack fractures, we all bleed.”
“So that’s it?’ Nicolas asked, his face incredulous. “We throw our instincts and emotions under the bus for appearances? For optics?”
“Don’t be naïve,” Rick snapped, “this isn’t about emotions. This is about survival. You think the other alphas won’t seize on it if Felix mates a human? Some already think he’s too soft. You want to give them more ammunition?”
“She’s not asking to be mated!” Nicolas threw up his hands. “She’s asking not to be treated like a shadow in her own home. She just wants to beseen. And neither of you seems to understand that ignoring her like this isn’t saving her from emotional fallout, it’scausingit.”
Rick frowned slightly, his weight shifting. He didn’t respond.
Nicolas turned to Felix, his voice harder now. “You think you’re being noble. But you’re just hurting her in slow motion. If this is you protecting her, maybe it’s time to admit that your protection does more damage than your love ever could.”
“It’s not that simple,” Felix said tightly.
“Yes, it is,” Nicolas said. “She’s already in pain. And so are you. You think I don’t see it? You’re not eating. You’re snappingat people. You haven’t smiled in days. You’re in emotional freefall, and Rick here just wants to make sure you don’t start fallingwith her. But newsflash. You already are.”
Rick’s jaw worked, his arms tightening across his chest. “You think I want this?” he said, quieter now. “You think I like telling Felix not to be with the one woman who’s made him light up inyears? I don’t. Ihateit. But I know what happens when emotions run unchecked. I’veseenwhat it does to alphas. What it does to packs. We can’t afford that.”
“And I get that,” Nicolas replied. “I do. But you’re not saving him from that future. You’re just trapping him in a different kind of hell. One where he gets to watch the best thing in his life walk away because he was too afraid to hold on to her.”
Rick looked at Felix then. And something shifted in his expression. Just slightly. The hard lines around his mouth loosened. His eyes softened, despite himself.
“You love her?” Rick asked, his voice full of frustration.
Felix didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.
Rick sighed and rubbed a hand over the back of his neck. “Shit.”
“I know,” Felix said.
For a moment, the fire crackled quietly between them.
“So what are you going to do?” Nicolas asked.
Felix shook his head, pacing. “I don’t know. I keep thinking…if I wait long enough, this’ll pass. The feelings. The pull. But it’s only getting worse.”
“Then stop waiting,” Nicolas said. “Talk to her. If it’s over, say that. But if there’s even a chance it’s not…don’t let fear make your decisions for you.”
“I just…” Felix raked a hand through his hair. “I want to do right by her. Not just what I want. What sheneeds. And I don’t know if that’s me.”
Rick looked like he wanted to argue. But then he saw the look in Felix’s eyes and fell silent.
