Page 11 of Arranged Wolf's Nanny
“Traditions change, John,” Felix growled.
Her father shrugged. “It is for you to choose whether or not to grant this boon, Felix. But remember, when your pack wasattacked, when your females were captured, we fought by your side. We helped you destroy Red Teeth and his alphas.”
Felix bared his teeth, stalking back and forth. “I won’t deny you. I’ll grant you your boon. Butonly,” he stopped, looking straight at Rosalia, “if your daughter consents.”
“What of Rick?” John asked, pulling Rosalia forward by the arm. “Will he consent?”
Felix ignored him, his expression softening as he looked at her.
He seemed like a kind male. A noble one.
“You will be welcomed into our pack,” he said, “and no harm will befall you. You have my word. But if you do not wish this, all you have to do is say so.”
“Of course she wishes it,” her father said, and Rosalia recoiled from the pure fury in Felix’s gaze. For all his apparent gentleness to her, she had to remember that there was a good reason he was one of the most powerful shifters in the country.
“Rosalia?” Felix asked, folding his arms, staring at her with an intensity that made her throat tighten and tears well.
This is it. This is your chance. You can escape. Just say the words.
Felix raised an eyebrow. “Is this what you want?”
Say no. Say no to him. Run away, run far away—
Her father’s fingers tightened, digging into her skin with enough force to bruise. Behind his serene smile, she saw the rage. The promise of what would happen if she disobeyed him.
She spoke, the words barely louder than a whisper, “I will marry Frederick. If…if he’ll have me.”
Disappointment flashed over Felix’s face, and Rosalia swallowed a gulp.
“Very well,” he said, turning back to her father, “they shall be married.”
“Excellent!” her father said, releasing her arm to clap his hands together. She resisted the urge to rub at her bruised flesh, numbness spreading down her limbs.
Felix’s eyes were full of pity as he bade them goodnight.
She hardly heard his words. Hardly heard her father as he crowed and grinned and led her back through the hotel to her room.
That night, all she could see as she chased after sleep was the overwhelming fury on her future husband’s face.
***
“And you haven’t spoken to him since? Not even once?”
“I told you, Katie,” Rosalie said, placing another neatly folded dress into her bag, “my father is handling all contact with the Iron Walkers. All he’s told me is that Rick will marry me, nothing else.”
Katie huffed, collapsing back on Rosalia’s bed, staring up at the canopy. “I think you’re lucky.”
“Lucky?” Rosalia asked, incredulous.
Her friend shrugged, “Everything’s being sorted out for you. You’re marrying one of the most powerful alphas in the country. Your position is secured. You’re going to be aReinhardt.”
Rosalia closed the bag with slightly more force than was necessary, wrenching the zipper so fast she was momentarilyworried she might break it. “I don’t know what being a Reinhardt means.”
Katie rolled onto her stomach, cupping her chin in her hands. “Surely you’ve heard of the Reinhardts?”
Rosalia turned away from her so that she wouldn’t see the tension in her face, busying herself with packing up the drawers of her vanity. “Of course. I just…thought they were all still in Europe.”
“Frederick’s head of the family seat in America,” Katie said. “They’ve been here practically since theMayflower. Kept close ties to their European family, of course. The Iron Walkers and theLe Sang Sacrepacks have strong ties.”
