Page 27 of Alpha Wolf’s Nanny (Silvermist Wolves #2)

Felix heard Rick’s call long before any of the others. A blood-curdling, primal howl that sliced through the forest like a blade. Raw, anguished, and furious.

He froze mid-step, the fur on the back of his neck rising.

“Rick,” he breathed, already breaking into a sprint, his boots tearing into the underbrush.

Dane was at his side in an instant, eyes flashing. “That was him. That was—”

“Go!” Felix growled, his voice a snarl, and the pack surged forward with him like loosed arrows from a bow.

Nicolas fell in beside them, all shifting mid-stride, their bodies rippling into their wolf forms with the ease of instinct. They thundered through the woods, a streak of muscle and momentum, trees blurring past in a green-and-brown haze.

The call had come from far away, but not that far. Not outside of their reach.

Whoever had taken them had been stupid enough to stay within Iron Walker territory. It was a mistake that would cost them their lives.

As they got closer, the forest a blur, the scent of blood hit them like a wall. Thick. Coppery. Wrong.

It led them to an abandoned warehouse in a half-abandoned town west of Silvermist. The structure was half-eaten by rust, the roof caved in at one side, the place forgotten by time and swallowed by the forest. Felix didn’t hesitate.

He leapt and slammed into the corroded steel doors.

They shrieked on their hinges before ripping free entirely, clanging to the concrete with a deafening echo.

Inside, chaos.

Rick, still fully shifted and visibly injured, paced protectively in front of Cassie, his fur matted with blood, his eyes feral and flickering with wild, fractured recognition. He snarled low in his throat, caught between fight and collapse.

Cassie was crumpled behind him on the ground, trembling, her arms locked around herself like a last defense. Her hair was tangled, her shirt torn, and her legs drawn tightly to her chest. She looked small. Broken. Like she was holding herself together through sheer force of will.

And surrounding them, shadows.

Men. Half a dozen of them. The sleaze of humanity, judging by the scent of fear and gun oil clinging to their clothes. Armed. Cornered. Angry.

Felix didn’t pause.

He launched himself at the nearest one, claws flashing. He caught the man in the chest, raking through denim and flesh like paper. The scream that followed was short and gurgled, blood spraying as the man dropped.

Then all hell broke loose.

The others were on them in seconds. Dane collided with two at once, teeth snapping. Nicolas tore a shotgun from another’s grip and crushed the barrel beneath his paws before ripping into the man's gut.

It wasn’t a fight. It was a purge.

Felix moved like a storm, silent and brutal. One of the men slashed at him with a hunting knife, but he caught the blade in his teeth and twisted until bone snapped. Then he drove his claws into the man’s neck and flung him aside like trash.

Another tried to run, a mistake. Nicolas took him down before he made it two steps.

The last man, taller, older, the one who reeked of command, raised a pistol with shaking hands.

Felix stepped through the shot.

The bullet grazed his ribs, but he didn’t slow. He grabbed the man by the collar and threw him back into the wall with enough force to crack concrete. His eyes burned into the man’s skull.

He had touched Cassie. He could smell it all over him.

The man whimpered, trying to form a plea. Felix didn’t let him.

He tore his throat out and let the body crumple.

When it was over, when the warehouse rang only with the fading echoes of snarls and the slick drip of blood, Felix stood in the center of the carnage, his chest heaving, his claws slick.

He turned.

Cassie hadn’t moved.

She was still curled on the ground, trembling violently, her gaze vacant. She wasn’t crying. Her eyes were wide and glassy, like she’d already seen too much to cry.

Felix shifted back without hesitation, pain flaring across his limbs, but he ignored it.

“Cassie,” he said, his voice low, raw. He knelt beside her slowly, not wanting to startle her. “It’s me. It’s Felix.”

She blinked, her eyes struggling to focus. Then she gasped.

“Felix,” she whispered, and her entire body crumpled.

He pulled the jacket and jeans off the limp figure of a nearby man, shrugging the clothes on before pulling Cassie into his arms gently, careful to avoid the raw marks on her arms. She clung to him like a lifeline.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple. “You’re safe. I’ve got you. I swear it.”

Behind them, Rick let out a low, guttural sound, no longer a snarl, but something tired. Resigned.

Felix looked at him.

The wolf’s head was down, his flank heaving with exertion. His gaze, now more lucid, flicked between Felix and Cassie, a flicker of regret glinting in his eyes.

“You kept her alive,” Felix said quietly. “You did good, Rick.”

Rick gave a short, gruff noise in response before slumping against the floor.

Dane approached, having shifted back, running a hand through his hair. He stepped over one of the bodies, his face grim. “We’ll take care of this. Get her out of here.”

Felix nodded without looking up. His arms tightened around Cassie.

“I’m taking her home.”

***

Felix didn’t stop moving until they were back.

He carried her the whole way, even when she murmured that she could walk. She didn’t protest long. She was too tired. Too hurt. He laid her gently on the couch, pulled a blanket over her, and crouched beside her until her breathing evened out. Then she spoke, her voice hoarse and cracked.

“I knew they’d come for me eventually,” she whispered, not looking at him, “but I didn’t think they’d find me here. Not with you. Not after everything I did.”

Felix frowned, his brow knitting. “What did you do?”

Cassie looked at him, eyes glassy, her body still curled tight beneath the blanket like she might fall apart if she so much as stretched. “Everything.”

He waited. Gave her the silence she needed. He didn’t want to pressure her. But she was already unraveling.

“I ran from them. Years ago,” she said slowly, “back when I still thought I had a choice. When my dad’s debts became mine.

My mom was sick, you see, and he borrowed money from the wrong kind of people to pay the hospital debts.

When he ran, and Mom died, I found out he’d left the debts in my name.

They wanted to make me pay it off, the only way they thought a girl like me could.

I didn’t…I couldn’t…” she swallowed hard.

“So I ran. State to state, earning just enough money in shitty diners and bars to take me to the next location. They always found me. It got to be too much. I got on a bus, going who the hell knows where, and ended up here.”

“Silvermist,” Felix murmured.

She nodded. “It was supposed to be safe. It was supposed to be quiet. I thought if I stayed low, never stood out, never got too close to anyone…”

“But you did,” he said gently.

Her eyes flicked to him. “Yeah. I did.”

Felix reached for her hand, hesitated, then laid it gently over hers. She didn’t pull away.

“I never meant to put any of you in danger,” she whispered, “you or the boys. You have to believe that.”

“I do,” he said, “but Cassie, you’re not alone anymore. You don’t have to run. Not from them. Not from us. You should have told me.”

A tear slid down her cheek, and she bit her lip. “They said they were going to make an example out of me. That they’d kill me slow, make sure everyone saw. And Rick…” Her voice cracked. “They were going to sell him. Drug him. Turn him into a thing.”

Felix’s grip on her hand tightened. “They’re dead now.”

“I know.” Her voice was flat, quiet. “But that doesn’t undo what happened.”

“No,” he said, “but it means they won’t hurt you again.”

A silence stretched between them, heavy and taut.

Then Cassie said, almost inaudibly, “I was scared you wouldn’t come.”

Felix looked at her, adoration fierce and thick in his chest. “Cassie. I’d burn the world down to find you.”

Her breath caught, and she covered her mouth with her free hand, as if trying to hold something in. A sob, a confession, a truth too sharp to say aloud.

“I don’t deserve that,” she said.

“You deserve more,” Felix said. “You deserve peace. You deserve safety. You deserve someone who would go through hell to bring you home.”

She stared at him. “Why?”

“Because I love you.”

It landed like the coming of a storm.

Cassie blinked. “You…what?”

“I love you,” Felix said again, softer now. “I tried to pretend I didn’t. Tried to push it down, tell myself it wasn’t real. That it was a bad idea. That you didn’t feel the same. But it didn’t go away. It never went away.”

She looked at him like she couldn’t breathe. “Felix…”

“You don’t have to say it back,” he said quickly, voice rough, “not now. Not if you’re not ready. But I need you to know. I need you to understand that this”—he gestured between them—“was never about duty, or protection, or anything else. It’s you. It’s always been you.”

She let out a broken breath and finally, finally, leaned into him.

Her forehead pressed against his collarbone, her hands fisting in the front of his shirt. She was shaking, but not from the cold.

“I didn’t think I could love anyone,” she murmured. “Not after what I went through. Not after…not after the fear.”

Felix wrapped his arms around her, careful, patient.

“You don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for,” he said into her hair. “Not now. Not ever.”

“But I do,” she whispered, “I love you too, Felix. I just didn’t know how to say it. I didn’t know if I was allowed to feel something good again.”

“You are.”

They sat there like that for a long time, the world outside completely forgotten.

Eventually, he stood, keeping her hand in his.

“Come on,” he said softly. “Let’s clean you up. You’re bleeding.”

Cassie nodded, silent, letting him guide her toward the bathroom. Her legs were unsteady, her ribs bruised, but she leaned into him like she trusted him completely.

And Felix…he didn’t take that trust lightly.

He led her to the bathroom where he turned the taps on, running a hot, steaming bath. He didn’t look at the labels of the various products before dumping them in the water; an aromatic, floral scent clashed with some sort of coconut.

Carefully, so carefully, he helped her remove her clothes, his heart clenching at every scrape, every bruise.

Then, when she was standing completely naked in front of him, she tugged at his stolen shirt.

Wordlessly, he climbed out of his own clothes and lifted her into the bath, settling himself behind her.

For a while, he just enjoyed the feeling of her safely in his arms, her fingers tracing shapes in the bubbles around them. Gently, he massaged shampoo into her hair, relishing how she groaned in pleasure as his fingers massaged her scalp, how her body relaxed into his.

His hands skated down slightly, brushing over her shoulders, rubbing her tender flesh. He skirted closer to her neck, and her breathing hitched, the motion pushing her chest slightly out of the water, her nipples pink and swollen at the water’s surface.

He felt himself harden at all the soft flesh under his touch, felt the energy in the room change, become charged and alive.

Cassie sighed and settled against his chest, her hands rising to cover his and gently move them down to her breasts.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice rough. “You’ve been through a lot, and I don’t—”

“I’m sure, Felix,” she said, smiling up at him, “believe me. I want nothing more than this.”

It was all the permission he needed. Too long he’d been holding himself back, restraining himself, convincing himself that this was wrong. That he couldn’t go there. That he needed to turn away.

But then he’d nearly lost her, and had tasted true fear. And now, he never, ever wanted to let her go again.

With confidence, he palmed her breasts, his fingers brushing over her nipples.

She gasped, arching into his touch, her muscles trembling.

With a grin, he teased one hand down her torso, his fingers trailing over her skin, relishing the slight whimpers pouring from her lips.

Her fingers grasped his thighs, her fingernails scraping over the skin there, and Felix could smell her desire.

Without waiting, he drew his finger through the soft folds of her core, finding her hot and aching. The bud at the apex of her thighs was swollen with need, and he wasted no time rubbing it with savage precision.

She nearly came undone in his arms then and there.

Drawing away, he dipped two fingers into her, feeling her softness clenching around him, pulling him deeper inside. She wriggled backwards, the gentle swell of her ass brushing against his engorged manhood, and he drew in a sharp hiss of breath.

Evidently, she liked that reaction, as her hips began to move and buck into him, teasing him, driving him wild. He stroked his fingers inside of her, earning more of her pretty moans, and dropped his lips to the slightly salty skin of her neck, scraping his teeth over her fluttering pulse point.

“Felix, please,” she begged, her fingernails digging into his thigh. He liked that. He wanted her to mark him, to claim him for herself.

He growled, his thumb flicking over her nipple, his fingers working inside of her, bringing her closer and closer to the edge.

She thrust backwards, her ass rocking against him, and he grit his teeth. He would not finish after only a few bucks against her warmth like some inexperienced pup. She deserved the best, and he was going to give it to her.

With a keening whine, she collapsed, her muscles clenching as she rode out her orgasm, her chest rising and falling with the force of her breaths. He grinned savagely, not relenting his assault on her tender flesh, until she had to beg him to stop. To show her mercy.

“What is it you want, Cassiopeia?” he asked, saying each syllable like a prayer.

She groaned, her head falling back onto his shoulder, her muscles still trembling. “You, I want you, Felix.”

He stood, lifting her out of the bath, and carried her through to his bedroom.

He was only too happy to oblige.