Page 112 of Bad Wolf's Nanny

“I’m serious,” Felix nudged him in the shoulder, “this whole fatherhood thing… you’re really good at it.”

Dane swallowed the unexpected lump in his throat, coughing to clear the emotion, kicking the ground with his foot. “I…thanks, Felix. That…that means a lot.”

Felix smiled at him before jogging over to Nicolas and pulling him away from the stupid floor tile argument that was somehow still going, heading up towards the pool. Rick watched them go before turning back to Dane, lips pressed together in disapproval.

“You should go easier on her,” Dane said, “she just wants to impress you. A hug wouldn’t kill you, Rick.”

Rick’s eyes flashed. “How I choose to raise my daughter is my business.”

“Never said it wasn’t,” Dane replied, raising his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying. She’s desperate for your approval. It couldn’t be more obvious. Just something to think about.”

“Then I’ll think about it,” Rick said, his voice pure frost.

Dane rubbed the back of his neck, “Hey, uh…did we ever hear from John Heath? About the boon?”

If it was possible, Rick’s expression grew even icier, “No. Not yet. But he’s coming for an Eastern Alliance meeting next month. I’m sure it will come up then.”

With that, he turned on his heel and stalked towards the pool, his fists clenched.

Dane let out a sigh.

One day, perhaps Rick would stop punishing Eva for her mother’s crimes. Perhaps.

He turned towards Lola, who had managed to climb to her feet, maneuvering Sam around her swelling belly. Dane jogged over, taking his chubby son from her arms, checking her over as he did so.

“Are you okay? Do you need anything? Water? Food?”

“I’m fine, Dane,” Lola said with a smile, leaning into his side. “What you did for Eva was really nice.”

“She’s a good kid. Bit too nervous. Just needs a bit of help breaking out of her shell.”

Lola laughed. “I can relate to that.”

“Do you wanna go swimming? It’s about time we got Sammy in the water, I reckon.”

“Oh God,” she said with a dramatic eye roll, “it’s not enough that he’s conquered crawling, now you want him terrorizing everyone in the sea as well as land?”

Sam gave a happy babble, opening and closing his little fists in the air towards Lola. She leant forward and nuzzled his tummy, making him laugh.

“Alright then,” she said with a smile. “You two go swimming. I’ll give it a miss this time, I want to carry on with my book.”

“Let me guess,” Dane said with a smirk, “Integrated Pack Histories Regarding Shifter Attitudes to Cultural Contamination from Human Colonization in the Trans-Alpine Territories?”

Lola let out a surprised bark of laughter before pulling a book out of her bag. “Twilight, actually.”

Dane guffawed, tucking her in close under his arm. “That crap? She knows nothing about actual packs. And why the hell would the main chick go for a vampire when wolves actually exist?”

“I’ll let you know,” Lola said with a grin, “and then you can tell me all about pack history from the, what was it, trans-alpine region?”

“I’ve already forgotten,” Dane said, pressing a kiss to her lips.

She hummed, smiling against him.

And deep down, deeper than he thought existed within him, everything settled into place.

*****

THE END