Page 26 of Bad Wolf's Nanny

“I know.”

There was a silence. The kind that pressed in around her ribs and made everything feel heavier.

“I was going to make tea,” she blurted, because she couldn’t take the weight of it anymore.

“You still can.”

“I don’t want to drop him.”

“You won’t.”

“You don’t know that.”

“You’ve been holding him for twenty minutes, and you haven’t dropped him. That’s a pretty solid track record.”

She looked down again at the baby’s little face. His tiny lips twitched in his sleep, like he was dreaming about something important.

“He’s…not cried too much, considering the trauma,” she said.

Dane didn’t respond.

And maybe that was for the best.

A knock at the door startled them both.

Dane moved first, wrenching it open with one hand while the other stayed instinctively near his hip, where his knife usually sat.

It was Felix.

And Nicolas.

And Rick.

Lola wanted the couch to swallow her whole. What would they think of her there, holding a baby that wasn’t hers? She was practically a stranger, but here she was, cradling the enforcer’s baby!

“Jesus Christ,” Nicolas said the moment he stepped inside, “you really weren’t kidding.”

Felix looked straight at Dane. “Where is he?”

Dane stepped aside, and three fully grown, battle-scarred shifters stared at the sight of Lola Devereaux, neurotic academic, outsider, perennial blush hazard, sitting on Dane’s couch with a baby sleeping against her chest.

She froze like she’d been caught doing something illegal.

Felix’s brows lifted slightly. Rick tilted his head. Nicolas huffed out a surprised laugh.

“Well,” he said, “looks like someone’s already handling the hard part.”

Lola flushed violently. “I…he just…Dane went out, and I was here, and it seemed logical and…don’t look at me like that!”

Felix held up a placating hand, “We’re just surprised, Lola. That’s all.”

Rick didn’t say anything. Just watched her closely. Too closely.

“Here,” Felix said gently, setting the bag down, “I know you just got supplies, but it’s amazing how quickly you run out of stuff. This should cover anything you missed. Formula, bottles, sterilizing tablets, wipes, diapers, spare onesies. I even got a teething ring, just in case. The twins used to love those.”

“Thank you,” Dane muttered, running a hand through his hair. He looked…lost. Rattled in a way she’d never seen.

So she stood.