Page 9 of Arranged Wolf's Nanny
John turned to Felix, puffing up his chest as he pushed Rosalia forward. The girl glanced between them with clearly increasing alarm, her heart audibly thundering in her chest.Rick glared between her and her father, any trace of amusement gone.
“Felix, as Alpha of the Green Mountain Pack, I would like to officially claim my boon for services given in your fight against Red Teeth.”
Felix was silent for a moment, his jaw working. “Speak it.”
John smirked. “I demand the marriage of my daughter, Rosalia Heath, to Frederick Reinhardt of the Iron Walkers.”
Chapter 3 - Rosalia
It was as if all the air had been stolen from her lungs.
Marriage. Her. Frederick Reinhardt.
Surely her father was joking. Surely this was some ploy, some…some…political game she didn’t understand.
She hadn’t had the faintest idea, not a single hint that he…that he…thather own fatherwould spring this on her in such a way.
It was only the sharp pain of her fingernails cutting into her palms that prevented her from gasping out.
Marriage. Now. To…to…him.
She hardly dared to look at Rick, her heart in her throat, her legs suddenly unsteady. But when she did, she had to fight not to let tears well in her eyes.
He was positivelymurderous.
He stood, fists shaking with rage, shock, and fury painted over his face. A sharp, rumbling growl erupted from him, and Rosalia stumbled back in fright, suddenly terrified that he might shift here and now into a wolf and tear them all limb from limb.
Her father caught her, fingers tight and painful around her upper arms. Rosalia was aware of a sharp whining and realized too late that it was coming from her own throat.
She clapped a hand over her mouth, no longer able to control her tremoring, chest heaving as she shrank from the thunderous alpha in front of her.
She wanted to run. Wanted to flee. Her wolf lashed within her chest, desperate to be freed, but her father’s iron grip was a cage she couldn’t escape from.
The bar had fallen silent, and every single alpha turned towards them,watchingher. Seeing her weakness. Her fright.
Witnessing Rick’s wrath.
An alpha at one of the tables, a Black Claw member, laughed and elbowed his friend. “If you won’t take her, Reinhardt, I’ll gladly have her. She looks like she could use some breaking in.”
Rick’s eyes snapped to the Black Claw, and he let out a vicious, guttural snarl that stabbed at Rosalia’s ears and made her want to snarl back, defend herself, submit,anything. It wasn’t a human sound. It was a threat, a warning that only a fool would ignore.
Felix grasped Rick by the arm, not looking once at Rosalia as he heaved the alpha out of the bar, snapping his teeth at any alphas stupid enough to jeer as they passed.
Rosalia watched them go, eyes trained on Rick’s barely controlled form, muscles poised to run from the threat.
Felix shoved him through the door, the oak wood slamming behind them, leaving Rosalia alone with her father and a dozen alphas who looked at her withhunger.
She swallowed, all her senses snapping back to herself as she looked slowly around the room.
She released a breath, “Father—”
“Not a word,” he said, his face twisted in anger, “follow.”
She had no choice but to obey, not when his fingers dug into her arm as he half-dragged her across the bar towards a set of double doors that led out onto a veranda. She cried out as he half-threw her outside, stumbling over her heels before managing to right herself.
No sooner than she had, she sucked in a breath, taking a few shaky steps backwards, shrinking from the oncoming storm of her father’s figure.
Her back hit the balustrade, the icy stone cutting through the thin fabric of her dress.
