Page 82 of Bad Wolf's Nanny

“Good,” she bit back, “because Idon’tlook at you the same. I can’t. You made sure of that.”

For a moment, the only sound was their breathing, heavy, ragged, uneven. Then, quietly, he said, “I know I don’t deserve to ask you for anything. But I’m asking anyway. Please. Just…be careful.”

Her anger wavered. Just slightly.

The way he said it, low, raw, and almost broken, cracked something open in her chest.

He wasn’t commanding her now.

He wasbegging.

That terrified her more than the yelling.

He took another step forward. “I know I don’t get to ask. But it’s not just about you anymore. It’s Sam. The baby. I—”

“Youreallythink I don’t know that?” she whispered.

He opened his mouth, but the words didn’t come.

She stared at him. Not just Dane the enforcer. Not just the domineering alpha.

Just…Dane.

The man who had wrecked her, ruined her, kissed her like he couldn’t breathe without her.

The man who stood in the street like a shattered thing because he didn’t know how to make it right.

Her heart thudded painfully.

“I need space,” she said, softer this time, “I need to think. And Ineedyou to let me go.”

His jaw clenched like it physically hurt him to step aside.

But he did.

Just one slow, agonized step out of her path.

Her hand hovered over the car door. She turned back.

“We’ll talk in the morning,” she said.

He nodded.

Then, just as she opened the door, he murmured, “Lola…”

She looked at him, barely able to meet those dagger-like eyes.

“I need to think about whether I want you in my life at all,” she said flatly.

Then she slid into the driver’s seat, closed the door, and drove away without looking back.

And Dane, ferocious and powerful alpha, stood in her headlights like a man with no idea how to stop himself from losing everything he wanted.

Chapter 18 - Dane

Dane stepped out of his truck and into the late afternoon air, already gritting his teeth, Sam in his arms.

Rick’s manor house sat like a dark monolith at the top of the hill, its stone walls steeped in history and silence. The sun was beginning to dip below the trees, casting a soft golden light over the wide porch and sweeping lawn, where the smell of grilled meat and the sound of children’s laughter spilled into the air.