Page 6 of Alpha Wolf’s Nanny (Silvermist Wolves #2)

Felix was well aware that the only reason his sons were holding their tongues was due to his looming behind Cassie as she introduced herself to them.

He’d mastered the art of an intimidating stare to keep his boys in line when they were being too unruly.

As she held out her hand with a bright smile, their eyes flicked upwards, and he gave them a pointed look.

“Nice to meet you,” said Daniel, accepting Cassie’s hand. “I’m Danny.”

Logan wasn’t so willing to behave himself. “Are you a human?”

“Hey,” Felix snapped, “don’t be rude.”

“It’s okay,” Cassie glanced back at him with a small, reassuring smile. Felix’s chest tightened.

“Yep,” she said, turning back to Logan. “Human through and through.”

Logan’s face twisted in displeasure, his little nose wrinkling. “So you don’t know anything about us?”

Cassie laughed. “I’ve been told you like adventuring in the woods.”

“It’s not adventuring,” said Danny, rolling his eyes, “it’s our territory . We have a fort and everything. We guard it against the Sharp Fangs!”

“The Sharp Fangs, they sound scary.”

“They’re not,” Logan said. “Our friend Thea was mad that I’m the Alpha of the Stone Crows, so she started her own pack so she could be alpha. As if a girl could be alpha!”

“Do you fight battles with them?”

“Yes, of course, every Tuesday after school!”

“And how many have you won?”

The boys exchanged a look, an angry cloud passing over Logan’s face as Danny’s eyebrow rose in silent challenge.

“Six.”

“Okay,” said Cassie with a grin, “and how many has Thea won?”

Logan kicked at the floor, his cheeks turning slightly red. “Eight,” he mumbled, almost too quietly to catch.

“Then it sounds to me like Thea is doing a marvelous job of being alpha, girl or not!”

“It’s only because Uncle Dane gives her loads of help!” Danny said. “Logan told him we didn’t need any help, even though I said we did, so he joined the Sharp Fangs!”

Felix rolled his eyes. Good to see that Dane was teaching the young pack members how to fight with one another instead of getting along.

“How do you win a battle?” Cassie asked as the boys led her through to the kitchen, both speaking over each other to try and answer.

The war had grown from a simple capture-the-flag style game to an absolute monstrosity of rules and regulations and special cases and forfeits.

Felix had long ago stopped trying to make sense of it, but Cassie nodded seriously as she listened to the two constantly interrupting each other.

“So you see, if we can get the red ribbons tied high enough in the fort, they won’t be able to see them and get them! They’ll be hidden!” Logan said, waving his arms around.

“We’re not allowed to hide them; they have to be in plain sight, which is why they should be down by the creek, that’s the furthest from Sharp Fang territory!” Danny retorted, rolling his eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Cassie hummed, leaning over the table, tapping her chin in thought. “Have you considered an ambush?”

This stopped both boys short, and they stared at her with a renewed sense of respect. Felix could practically see the cogs turning in their heads, the burgeoning delight at an adult with a new scheme for them to try.

“The way I see it,” Cassie said, “is you should split the ribbons. One by the creek, and one visible in your tree fort. That way, Thea will have to split her forces. Have most of your pack at the fort, making a show of fighting her off, and then have an ambush waiting by the creek. She’ll think you’ve left it unguarded, so when she tries to take it, you can claim your… what was it, six prisoners of war?”

“Seven!” Logan said, puffing his chest out. “One more than the last capture!”

Felix watched as they continued to talk strategy, Cassie throwing herself into the role of mentor as though she’d been playing the game her whole life.

His boys were looking at her with a kind of calculating wonder as they tried to match whatever silly, Mary Poppins-style image they’d had of a nanny with the woman in front of them.

No doubt they had imagined he’d bring them some austere English harridan with mean, squinting eyes and no tolerance whatsoever for misbehavior.

He had been tempted—for sure, he had been tempted—but he knew his sons would just take that as a challenge, a silent game of how long she would last under their torment.

No, much better to present them with someone young and fun who they could actually connect with.

He’d done his best to advise Cassie that they would still try and test her boundaries, but she seemed unbothered.

She’d met his warning with a kind of airy dismissal, as if she reined in two chaotic boys every day before breakfast.

It was a good attitude to have. It meant that she might actually survive the experience.

He wondered suddenly if she had younger brothers.

Talking to her, it was like her life had started at twenty years old.

In all of her wonderful stories about traveling the country, she’d never once mentioned her family.

He’d talked plenty about his boys, but her situation was a blank slate, and he hadn’t thought to ask.

Looking at her now, it was easy enough to imagine her surrounded by an enormous family, an elder sister tasked with wrestling her younger siblings and cousins into behaving.

He found himself hoping that that was the case.

He didn’t know why, but the idea that she didn’t have anyone at all made him irrationally angry.

He gritted his teeth. Family meant something entirely different to shifters than it did to humans.

She was twenty-two, still so new in the world; of course, she would want to spread her wings and explore what life had to offer.

She probably just hadn’t mentioned her family because she currently had more interesting things going on, at least from her perspective.

Because that was how humans viewed family—a burden, a challenge, a sacrifice .

They were so much happier when they had their independence.

Even if it meant abandoning those that they claimed to love.

He and Cassie were from two different worlds. He had to remember that. She would be a perfectly good nanny, of that he was sure, but anything beyond that…

His wolf growled inside of him, thrashing and snapping its teeth. Images flooded his mind of Cassie beneath him, her eyes wide and her lips parted, breathy moans tumbling from her.

Fuck .

Maybe this had been a huge mistake. No, scratch that. This had been a huge mistake. What the hell had he been thinking, agreeing to hire her?

But as he watched her laughing and joking with the boys, their faces cautiously open to her, he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. Not yet. After all, Logan was already asking if she could come watch Tuesday’s skirmish, and Danny was demanding her input on camouflage.

Felix cleared his throat, trying to cut through the rising chaos before the two boys declared full-scale war at his kitchen island.

“Alright, alright,” he said, stepping forward. “That’s enough planning for now. You’ve got homework to finish before dinner.”

Two identical groans followed.

“We’ll come up with camouflage ideas later,” Cassie added brightly.

Danny turned to Felix. “Can she eat with us?”

“She lives here now,” he said, a little more gruffly than he intended. “She’ll be eating with us every night.”

Cassie looked surprised, then caught herself, nodding quickly like she was trying not to make a big deal out of it.

“I’ll set the table,” she offered, already moving toward the cabinets.

“We’ll help!” Logan announced, darting in front of Cassie towards the cutlery drawer.

“No,” Felix said, “you’ll go and finish your homework.”

“But—”

“Now,” Felix reiterated, raising a stern brow at his sons.

They muttered darkly under their breath, but obeyed, scampering off and leaving Felix and Cassie alone.

He waited until the sound of his sons' footsteps had faded upstairs before he turned to find Cassie already halfway through pulling out dinner plates.

“You don’t have to do that,” he said.

Cassie glanced up at him, startled. “Oh. I don’t mind. This is part of my job, right? I’ve worked in loads of diners, this is easy.”

He nodded, watching her move as he leaned against the counter, arms crossed over his chest. She was quiet and efficient, even as she cursed to herself upon opening the wrong cupboard for the third time before finally discovering the water glasses.

At one point, he moved to help her, but was met with a stern glare.

He didn’t like how easily that pleased him.

“The boys like you,” he said eventually.

Cassie’s mouth tilted up. “They’re great kids.”

“Just you wait until one of them shifts for the first time.”

She went still for a moment. “How…old will they be when they shift?”

“It’s hard to say. Fourteen, maybe fifteen. But they’ll be moody as anything for a good few years beforehand.”

She chuckled, but there was a pause, and then she said, carefully, “You must be proud of them. They listen to you.”

“Only when I’m glaring at them,” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Otherwise, they’re like tiny tornadoes. I appreciate that you didn’t panic when they started going on about the Sharp Fangs.”

“I’ve been involved in worse,” she said. “Besides, it’s sweet. And very serious business, clearly.”

Felix tilted his head, watching her as she opened the fridge and began sorting out ingredients for a simple salad. Her movements were relaxed, but he could see the telltale tightness around her shoulders.

She was waiting for the conversation to shift. Waiting for the real reason he’d stayed behind.

“There are a few things we should go over,” he said.

Cassie froze for a half-second before she closed the fridge door and turned to face him. “Sure. Of course.”

“Weekends. They’re for me and the boys. You’ll be off-duty then unless something comes up. They need time with me, and I need time with them. That’s non-negotiable.”

“Understood,” she nodded. “That’s totally fair.”

“Second, their curfew. The boys go to bed at eight, lights out by nine. Unless there’s a pack event or school holiday.

You’re responsible for getting them ready in the morning, getting them to school, and picking them up if needed.

They take the bus most days, but someone needs to be here when they get home. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“You’ll have a car. The silver SUV in the garage is yours while you’re here. Don’t crash it.”

Cassie blinked, her mouth falling open. “That’s…generous.”

“It’s practical,” he replied. “You need to be mobile.”

She nodded, her face still awash with amazement. “I’ve got a question, if you don’t mind?”

“Of course not.”

“What’s the deal with the security system? Is it an alarm, or one of those modern camera system things? Will I need house keys?”

Felix couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. “Security system? I don’t need a security system. I can scent a trespasser from two miles away. And the territory is under constant patrol. You’re safer here than anywhere else in Maine.”

Cassie didn’t respond right away. She ran a hand through her hair, tucking it behind one ear, nibbling her lip. Felix could scent the anxiety washing over her. “So people can just…come in when they like?”

“Within reason,” Felix said. “Nobody’s going to burst into your bedroom in the middle of the night. But yes, my friends stop by for a drink. Shifter kids come over to play with the boys. That’s just how it is.”

“Okay,” she said slowly, “I’m just…not used to that. My hometown was a bit…rougher. I guess I like to know who’s coming and going.”

Felix’s expression softened, just a fraction. “I know it’ll be an adjustment. You’re used to pack life. Yet.”

Her eyes snapped to his, wide and wary. “Yet?”

“You’ll get there,” Felix said, a wave of protectiveness washing over him.

He shoved the thought away.

“It might help if you came to a gathering this weekend,” he said.

“It’s being hosted by one of my friends.

Nothing formal,” he said quickly, seeing the panic on her face.

“Just food, drinks, music. The whole pack’ll be there.

You can meet the others, see how we do things. Might put your mind at ease.”

She hesitated, her tongue darting out to wet her bottom lip. “Do they…do they know I’m human?”

“They will. And they won’t care. Plenty of pack members have human mates. You won’t be the only one.”

Cassie’s eyes widened slightly at that, but she nodded. “Alright. Yeah. Okay.”

“They’ll like you,” Felix said. “Eventually.”

She gave a half-laugh. “Is that supposed to be comforting?”

“It’s the best I can offer.”

She looked at him then, really looked, like she was seeing past the gruffness and the professional distance and the joking, and for a split second, he wasn’t sure who was evaluating whom.

Then Logan’s voice echoed down from upstairs.

“DAAAAD! Danny stole my tablet again!”

Cassie choked on a laugh.

Felix sighed, dragging a hand down his face. “And that’s my cue.”

“Should I…”

“No,” he said firmly, “I’ll handle it. Your job doesn’t start until tomorrow morning.”

He turned to go, then paused in the doorway.

“Thanks. For today. You handled them better than most.”

She beamed at him, and something shifted in his chest.

“Don’t thank me yet,” she said. “Wait for the novelty to wear off. Then I’m sure they’ll be back to their chaotic ways.”

He snorted, “Trust me. They will.”

And with that, he disappeared up the stairs, already preparing for whatever disaster awaited him.