Page 28 of Bad Wolf's Nanny

Dane hesitated for a half-second, then shifted the boy toward her. She took him, just as awkwardly as before, but with a little less panic now. She settled him into the crook of her arm, brought the bottle to his lips, and when he latched, suckling greedily, a sharp pang bloomed in her chest.

“You’re a natural,” Felix said, impressed.

“I’m absolutely not,” Lola muttered, “But he’s hungry. That part’s not complicated.”

Rick finally spoke.

His voice was calm. Low.

But something in it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“You’re not pack,” he said. “Why offer this kind of help?”

She looked up sharply. “Because he’s a baby. A helpless, abandoned baby. I don’t need to be pack to care about that.”

Rick tilted his head, just slightly. He was studying her again. Dissecting.

“I’m just curious,” he said smoothly. “Most…outsiders don’t stay long once they see how things really work around here.”

“Then I’ll just have to surprise you,” she said, lifting her chin.

That earned a quiet snort from Nicolas and a twitch of Felix’s mouth that might’ve been a smirk.

Dane, though, wasn’t smiling.

He was staring at her with an expression she couldn’t read. Not teasing. Not wary. Something else. Like she’d done something impossible, and he didn’t know whether to be grateful or afraid.

“It’s not a long-term thing,” she added quickly, looking away. “Just until you figure something else out.”

Dane nodded once, slowly. “Okay.”

The word settled like an anchor in the room.

Lola looked back down at the baby. He blinked up at her, tiny hands curling against her chest. She could feel his heartbeat through the fabric of her shirt. It was fast. Fragile.

She swallowed hard.

“I’ll clear the spare room,” Dane said, suddenly all business, “move the desk out. We can put a crib in there.”

“You should get a rocker too,” Felix said. “And blackout curtains. And white noise. Trust me.”

Nicolas grinned slowly, almost predatorily. “You know, after so many years of your bullshit, this could almost be considered karma.”

Dane growled, “Fucking seriously, Accardi?”

“Nicolas,” Felix said with a small hint of warning, though the bastard did have a small smirk on his face.

“Let’s at least give him twenty-four hours to adjust,” said Rick with a wicked grin, “then I reckon payback is fair game.”

“Like you can talk, Reinhardt. You’ve never changed a diaper in your goddamn life,” Dane grumbled.

Rick gave an elegant shrug. “We did warn you this would happen someday.”

While they continued bickering, Lola carefully shifted the now-empty bottle and began gently rubbing the baby’s back, as she remembered reading somewhere. She’d never imagined herself in a situation like this, surrounded by powerful shifters,in the heart of a thriving pack, but suddenly, somehow, she felt less out of place than she had since arriving.

Still deeply confused.

Still mildly terrified.