Page 16 of Arranged Wolf's Nanny
Felix shifted his weight. “Perhaps you’d like to meet Eva now, Rosalia?”
Rosalia gave him a tight smile, avoiding Rick’s eye. “Yes, I would like that very much.”
His future wife was a dignified little thing.
Felix gestured out of the room, guiding her through to the formal drawing room. John stalked after, his expression still furious.
Nicolas hung back, raising an eyebrow at him. “Are you coming through?”
Rick’s jaw clenched. The paperwork had been a marvelous distraction, if momentary. Now, he had to face the reality that his daughter was about to meet his future wife.
He didn’t reply to Nicolas, just stalked past him towards the sounds of chatter.
Inside the drawing room, Cassie and Daisy had risen to greet Rosalia, cooing over her cream dress and elegantly coiffed hair. Behind them, wide eyes trained on her future stepmother, Eva stood awestruck.
“Eva,” Rick said, beckoning her forwards, “come and say hello.”
Eva gulped, shuffling past Daisy, blinking up at Rosalia. “Hello, Rosalia. It’s nice to meet you. My name is Evangeline, but you can call me Eva.”
A smile cracked across Rosalia’s face. A genuine one. The first time Rick had ever seen her. She knelt down, accepting Eva’s hand in a solemn shake. “Hello, Eva. It’s lovely to meet you. I hope we can become very good friends.”
Eva’s face broke into a delighted grin, a bashful pink darkening her cheeks.
John cleared his throat, and Rosalia’s shoulders instantly tensed.
“Eva, this is my father. John Heath.”
Rick noticed that she didn’t move to let John close enough to Eva to shake her hand. She stood, remaining between her father and the little girl, her genuine smile replaced by a tense, worried one.
John exchanged a long, hard look with her.
Behind Rick, he felt Nicolas and Felix tense.
Something ugly and dark sparked in the air between father and daughter.
Rick’s wolf growled within him at the threat. It wasn’t tangible, wasn’t spoken, wasn’t human.
It was entirely animal.
Rosalia was defending a cub.
John Heath was a threat to a cub. Tohiscub.
Cassie, the only human in the room, exchanged a confused glance with Daisy, who gave a minute shake of her head before clapping her hands together loudly. “I’m not sure what we’re all doing standing around here, we’ve got a wedding to prepare for! Come on, Rosalia. Our friend Lola is arriving soon with your dress, and we’ll help you get ready!”
Rosalia glanced down in confusion at her elegant, if understated, cream dress. “I thought the ceremony would be informal, conducted here?”
“Rick here insists on tradition with these things,” Felix replied with a friendly smirk. “We’ll be going to the Pine ShadowGrove in a few hours to carry out the wedding and swear you in as a member of the pack.”
Rosalia took in this information with the same serene acceptance, giving Daisy a kind, if slightly bland, smile. “Of course. I would be delighted for you to help me get ready.” Something warmer, more genuine, sparked in her eyes as she glanced down at Eva. “Would you like to join us, Eva?”
Eva’s mouth opened in awe. “Yes, please!”
“Come on then,” Cassie said, winking at Felix as she brushed past him. “Rick, I’m sure you don’t mind us taking over a few rooms?”
“Be my guest,” Rick said, wondering if it was too early to drink.
Rosalia didn’t look at him as she walked past, Eva trotting dutifully behind her.
