Page 14 of Alpha Wolf’s Nanny (Silvermist Wolves #2)

“No,” Nicolas replied immediately, “definitely not.”

Dane turned to him with a grin. “You’re late.”

“You’re not,” Felix shot back. “Arguably more surprising. Where’s Rick?”

As if summoned by name, Rick stepped from the shadows, hands behind his back like a goddamn general surveying a battlefield.

“Evening,” he said coolly, nodding to each of them, his eyes not quite focusing, already half-lost to his wilder instincts. Felix felt the call too, the rippling under his skin, the thrash of his wolf just begging to be released.

The moon was just beginning to rise.

And though the pack’s pulse was gathering, ready to run, Felix couldn’t stop the itch in the back of his neck. The one that whispered Cassie’s name.

He growled, rolling his shoulders back, cracking his neck. Tonight, he would run with his pack, and he would forget all about Cassie.

The pack spilled out onto the lawn behind the lodge, laughter and chatter softening into something quieter, something loaded and ready.

Moonlight gilded the meadow, painting the grass in silver, and already a few had begun to shift, their bones cracking, fur blooming, bodies stretching and changing with the ease of long practice.

Felix rolled his shoulders and glanced at Nicolas, who hadn’t moved. He stood beside Daisy, arms folded, jaw tight. His eyes hadn’t left her for more than a few seconds, his whole stance wound up like a spring.

“You know she’s fine, right?” Felix said under his breath.

Nicolas grunted. “She’s still too close to her due date for this.”

“She’s a wolf, not a porcelain doll. She’ll tell you if she needs to stop.” Felix elbowed him lightly. “Come on. Run with me. Blow off some steam.”

Nicolas’s eyes narrowed slightly. “You trying to distract me?”

“Obviously,” Felix replied. “Also, I’m going to smoke your ass.”

That earned a flicker of a smirk. “In your dreams.”

“Then prove it.”

Felix didn’t wait for an answer. He crouched low, letting the shift take him, the pain all but numb after so many years of transformation. His bones rearranged, muscles stretching, fur bristling through skin as he dropped into the form of his true power. The Alpha.

Beside him, Nicolas followed, dark and lean. Within moments, the two wolves were poised at the edge of the trees.

“On three,” Felix said, his mental voice rich with challenge. “One. Two—”

He didn’t wait for three.

With a gleeful growl, he lunged forward, paws tearing into the soil, the wind already rushing past his ears. Nicolas cursed behind him, then gave chase, their playful snarls rousing the rest of the pack into motion.

They ran.

Through trees and shadows, over fallen logs and through dappled moonlight, the pack thundered as one, a blur of fur and teeth and joy.

Felix pushed harder, laughing through the bond when Nicolas caught up and nipped his flank, only to be outpaced again a second later.

Nicolas was fast, Felix wouldn’t keep his lead for long, but for the time being, he was determined to enjoy his victory.

This was what he needed. Pure, clean movement. Breath and blood and wind.

But even here, even now, her scent tugged at the back of his mind.

Cassie.

She should’ve been back at the lodge, curled up under a blanket, the boys clambering over her as they argued about movies. Not alone. Not out here in the dark.

Felix shook it off and focused on the path ahead. The whole point of being out here, with the pack, was to forget about Cassie.

The trees thickened. The Grove was near, the sacred ceremonial site of the pack. He focused on the feel of blood pounding in his ears, the scent of damp earth, the excitement of competition as Nicolas gained on him.

Dane and Rick had joined in, too; however, they seemed locked in a battle of strength, bowling into each other with ridiculous force. It was good. Natural. Play that enhanced their bonds and taught them to fight better.

Others were racing and playing too, their howls and yips echoing through the trees. A group of the smaller females, including Daisy, kept a more sensible pace behind them, and Felix was sure to keep an ear out for them. They were the most vulnerable in the pack, after all. But no less deadly.

They were nearing the center of the Grove now. They wouldn’t go to its heart, that was closed off for only the most sacred of ceremonies, but they would commune with the earth. Ground themselves in their territory as a pack.

He slowed as the forest dipped into a shallow bowl, the ancient scent of pine and sage heavy in the air.

That’s when Rick stopped.

The sudden halt nearly caused a pileup behind him. Several wolves skidded to a halt, confused. Dane snarled in irritation.

“Rick?” Felix stepped forward, hackles rising. “What is it?”

Rick turned, eyes narrowed, nose lifted to the wind. His body coiled tight.

“There’s a human,” he said, his voice cold as ice, “close. Trespassing.”

Rick didn’t wait.

He bolted east, vanishing into the trees like a ghost.

Felix’s heart slammed against his ribs.

Cassie.