Page 72 of Arranged Wolf's Nanny
Her eyes widened slightly. “Together?”
Chuckling, he pulled her closer. There was heat in his actions, for sure. But not the kind that promised seduction. Not even the kind designed to initiate passion. Just simple warmth. “If that’s okay?”
Her cheeks pinked as a small smile curved across her lips. “I’d like that.”
He nudged her towards the bed, unbuttoning his suit jacket to drape it across the chair. As he did, his eyes drifted across the loose sheets of paper, the elegant swirl of Rosalia’s handwriting.
And his eye caught the ink.
His name. Clear as day.
Rick.
Every muscle in his body went taut. He reached out, plucking the page up, his eyes roaming across the page. Rosalia startled, moving towards him, hand outstretched—
But it was too late.
…things didn’t go well at the Accord meetings today, unfortunately. Remember that plan of his I told you about? The Black Claws caught wind of it. A shame, really, but I know he’ll sort things out. He’s so clever…
“What’s this?” His voice was low, dangerous, as his hand tightened around the paper, wrinkling it in his fist.
“Rick—”
“Don’t.” His eyes scanned the lines, the implication clear as day. “You wrote about me,” he said, turning on her, the paper crackling in his grip. “About my plans. How much did you tell her?”
Rosalia’s face paled, and she didn’t answer.
“Rosalia. How much?”
She gulped, her pulse jumping, her eyes wide, “She…she’s my friend—”
“Your friend?” His laugh was sharp, cruel, “Your friend lives in Green Mountain Pack. Under your father’s thumb. Do you think letters aren’t intercepted? Do you think he doesn’t know every word you’ve sent?”
Rosalia stepped forward, shaking her head fiercely, “No. No, Katie would never—”
“You trust her with your life?” His lip curled, “And what about mine? What about Eva’s? Did you trust her with that as well?”
Her breath caught, tears shimmering in her eyes, “I would never hurt Eva. I would never hurt you.”
But the words only fanned his fury. Betrayal burned in his gut, bitter and choking. He had let her close, closer than anyone in years, and now this? This was how she repaid him? By bleeding his secrets onto parchment and sending them into the hands of whomever might read them?
“From the start,” he hissed, stepping closer, “this was your plan, wasn’t it? To gain my trust. To sit at my side and listen, and then feed it all back to Green Mountain. To your father.”
“No!” Rosalia flinched, recoiling as though struck, “You don’t understand. Katie is not my father. She’s all I had. She is—she is—” Her voice broke, and she pressed a trembling hand to her mouth.
Rick advanced another step, his wolf snarling inside him. “She is a weakness. And you’ve made me weak through her.”
Rosalia’s eyes shone with desperation. “Listen to me, please! Katie is nothing like him. She hates him. She hates everything he’s done to me. She would die before she betrayed me. She would die before she betrayed you.”
“Do you hear yourself?” His voice cracked like a whip. “You admit you’ve told her things you shouldn’t have, and you expect me to believe it’s safe? That your childhood friend is somehow immune to the pressure of alphas? That she cannot be turned? That your father won’t use her the way he used you?”
Rosalia’s shoulders shook, but she stood her ground, chin trembling yet lifted. “Because I know her. Better than anyone. She is the one person in this world who has never hurt me. Not once. She’s not like us. She doesn’t play games, she doesn’t lie, she doesn’t…she doesn’t take. She gives. Always.”
The passion in her voice struck him, almost disarmed him. Almost. But the image of his name scrawled across her page burned too vividly in his mind.
“You expect me to gamble my pack, my daughter, on your certainty?” His voice was cold now, colder than it had ever been with her, “You expect me to believe that your fragile notions of friendship matter more than this war?”
Rosalia shook her head desperately, “No, not notions…it’s the truth! I kept myself alive all those years because of her. I endured because I knew at least one person in this world loved me without condition. I shared things with her because I had to, Rick. Because if I didn’t, I would shatter.”
