Page 71 of Bad Wolf's Nanny

Daisy’s voice, quieter now, “I know. I hate it too. But Lola’s strong. If she decides she’s done, she’ll mean it. And he’ll regret it.”

“He should regret it already,” Cassie muttered, “how long do you think it’ll take him to realize what he lost?”

“Too long,” Daisy said sadly.

The words hit harder than they should have.

Because it’s true.

Lola had been trying so hard not to hope. Not to imagine that Dane would show up at her door and say the things she so badly wanted to hear. That he’d finally put the fear aside and admit what was obvious to everyone but him.

She took a deep breath and smoothed down the front of her cardigan.

Cassie’s voice drifted back one last time, lighter now, “He’s going to show up at the club one of these days looking like someone just totaled his motorbike, and I’m going to say ‘I told you so’ before I even ask if he wants a drink.”

“You’ll say it while handing him one,” Daisy replied.

“Naturally.”

Lola stepped around the corner as casually as she could manage, trying not to look like she’d just been standing in the nonfiction section eavesdropping on her own emotional obituary.

Cassie and Daisy immediately turned toward her, eyes wide with guilt.

“You okay?” Daisy asked quickly, rising from the couch.

Lola forced a polite smile. “Yes. Just needed a moment.”

Cassie held out a cup of tea like a peace offering, “Still warm. Chamomile and honey.”

Lola took the tea, settled back into the chair, and folded the tissue carefully in her lap. She wasn’t sure what to say. The words were sitting just behind her teeth, sharp and clumsy and painful.

So instead, she just said softly, “Thanks for coming today.”

Daisy’s eyes softened. “Of course.”

“We’re always here,” Cassie said, “and not just with hot drinks.”

“Though there will usually be hot drinks,” Daisy added. “It’s sort of our love language.”

They sat together for a while in easy silence. The weight in Lola’s chest hadn’t gone away, but it had shifted. Become something a little lighter. A little more bearable.

Eventually, when the tea was drunk and Cassie was well into her second mug of coffee, Daisy leaned over and tapped her on the arm. “You’re still coming to ladies’ night, right?”

Lola hesitated. “Isn’t that a pack-only thing?”

“You’re with us,” Cassie said, without missing a beat, “pack or not. You belong. End of story.”

And somehow, despite everything, Lola believed her.

Even if Dane never came around.

Even if her heart still ached every time he looked right through her.

She still had this. These women. This messy, complicated new life.

She wasn’t alone.

Chapter 16 - Dane