Page 50 of Bad Wolf's Nanny

“Of course. I won’t be long.”

He moved toward the kitchen and leaned against the counter, arms folded. It was a casual pose, but on Rick, nothingever looked truly relaxed. There was a coil beneath the surface, something always ready to snap.

“How are you settling in?” he asked.

She straightened her spine. “Fine.”

“And the baby?”

“Healthy. Happy.”

“And Dane?”

She blinked. “What about him?”

Rick tilted his head slightly. “It’s quite the arrangement you have here. Living together. Co-parenting.”

Her jaw tightened. “I’m helping out. That’s all.”

“Sure.” He smiled, but it still didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m just curious. It’s not often someone from outside the pack integrates so quickly. So…thoroughly.”

There was an implication in that word, and Lola didn’t like it.

“I haven’t integrated into anything,” she said evenly, “I’m not pack. I know that.”

“And yet here you are. In Dane’s space. With his child. It’s unusual.”

Lola folded her arms across her chest. “Is that what this is? You’re here to assess how unusual I am?”

Rick chuckled softly. “I’m here to check in. Alpha’s orders. We’re tightening the borders. Monitoring everyone. Especially non-pack shifters.”

There it was. The veiled threat, neatly folded inside polite conversation.

“You think I’m a threat?”

“No.” He pushed off the counter and took a step toward her. Not close enough to be aggressive, but close enough that she noticed. “I think you’re smart. Smart enough to know how bad things could get if the wrong wolf crossed into the wrong territory.”

Her breath caught. “You think someone might…smuggle him in?”

“Red Teeth has sympathizers. Outcasts. Rogues. Some shifters don’t care who they follow, as long as they get blood.” He studied her face. “You grew up in a pack, didn’t you?”

She hesitated. “Yes.”

“But you left.”

“I wasn’t needed.” She paused again before adding, “Or wanted.”

His expression flickered—interest, maybe even something like pity—but it was gone before she could name it.

“It’s hard to know where you belong,” he said, “even harder when you think you do…and then realize maybe you never did.”

She swallowed. “What do you want from me, Rick?”

He didn’t answer right away.

Instead, he stepped past her, toward Sam’s room. The door was mostly shut, but the crack let out just enough of the soft white glow from the baby monitor.

“You care about him,” Rick said quietly.