Page 76 of Bad Wolf's Nanny

“Lola,” he said, his voice low and sharp as he followed her further into the apartment, through into the living room, where she was gently placing Sam down into his crib. “This isn’t just about you anymore.”

She turned slowly, fire sparking in her eyes. “Oh, I’msorry, is my potential pregnancy somehow moreyoursthan mine?”

“That’s not what I—”

“Because last I checked, I’m the one carrying it. I’m the one whose body’s about to be hijacked. Andyoudon’t get to show up and start barking orders just because you happened to put it there—”

“I’m trying to keep yousafe!”

The words came out louder than he meant, ripping through the apartment like a shockwave.

She flinched, just slightly. It gutted him. But he couldn’t stop.

“I caught the scent of a strange alpha near the territory line this morning,” he growled, stepping forward, “another few steps, and he would’ve been inside our borders. I lost the trail.Lost it.Do you have any idea what thatmeans?”

She paled. Just for a second.

“Do you know what happens if someone like that finds out what you are?” His chest heaved. “That you’re mine? That you’repregnant with an alpha’s child?”

“Don’t say it like I’m some broodmare to be fought over—”

“I say it like itis. You’re vulnerable. You’re exposed. And if Red Teeth or one of his followers so much as smells you—”

“I’m nothelpless, Dane—”

“Youare,” he snapped, “compared to them? To me? You think those pretty words and glares you throw around are going to protect you when someone twice your size grabs you in the dark?”

She stepped back, her mouth tight. Her eyes sparked, but he was already spiraling, the heat under his skin uncontrollable now.

“From now on, you’re not walking anywhere alone. Not the library. Not the store. Not even downstairs for the damn mail. If you want to go out, you call me. You check in. Or I’ll assign someone to shadow you, I don’t care which.”

Her expression curdled in disbelief. “Youcan’tbe serious.”

“Iamserious. And I don’t give a damn what you think about it. Until this threat is gone, you follow orders.”

“Orders,” she spat, the word acid on her tongue, “like I’m one of your enforcers? Or your property?”

“Don’t twist it.”

“Youjusttold me I was yours—”

“Because youare,” he thundered, and before he could think better of it, he closed the distance and slammed his hand against the wall beside her, caging her in.

She gasped, not from fear, but from sheer fury. “Let mego!”

“You want to see how easy it would be?” he snarled, towering over her, every inch of his dominance bleeding from his skin like heat, “How easy it’d be for an alpha to overpoweryou? To take whatever he wants from you before anyone even hears you scream?”

“Dane—”

He leaned in, his breath hot against her face, “Because that’s what’s out there. And it’s not a fuckinggame.”

She shoved him hard, but he didn’t move.

Her chest was rising fast, her hands shaking.

“I’m notafraidof you,” she said, voice hoarse but unyielding.

“You should be.”