Page 13 of Bully Wolf’s Nanny (Silvermist Wolves #1)

Nicolas may have described the trip to New York as a vacation, but so far, he wasn’t getting to enjoy it.

While Daisy and the girls explored the sights of New York—carefully and surreptitiously guarded by private security, of course—Nicolas had spent most of his time stuck in the office talking to boring old men about various business mergers and acquisitions.

The deal with Harper Incorporated was on the brink of success, and he needed to be there to ensure its smooth passage.

But by the time Saturday evening rolled around, he found himself well and truly fed up.

“I think you gentlemen will be able to hold down the fort until Monday,” he said to the assembled board, standing abruptly from his chair and interrupting whatever conversations had been happening. “Better yet, everyone should go home. I imagine Nero tower will still be standing in two days’ time.”

There was an appreciative chuckle from the room, and Nicolas gave all the necessary farewells before entering the lift, pressing in the security code that would take him up to his private suite in the penthouse of the skyscraper.

Truthfully, it had been killing him for several hours that Daisy and the girls were there, in the same very building as him, and he could not join them. He had promised them a vacation, and so far, he had barely been present for any of it. He would make it up to them.

Daisy in particular. After all, he had planned the evening meticulously, and he was about ready to get started.

The elevator ride was short, and Nicolas stepped into his suite, already rolling up the sleeves of his crisp Armani shirt.

He followed the sounds of laughter and music through to the living room, only to find all the cushions and pillows in the entire apartment piled into the center of the room, not to mention a good number of the blankets, too.

“Hello?” he called out.

“Nicolas!” Thea’s muffled voice came from somewhere inside the pillow mountain, and after a series of grunts and huffs of effort the little girl emerged, dark hair messy and eyes gleaming.

“We built a pillow fort!”

“I can see that,” he said, raising an eyebrow. “Is your mother in there somewhere?”

“Yes,” came Daisy's soft voice from somewhere in the middle of the pile.

Nicolas fought back a chuckle. “Are you going to come out, or do I need to come in there and get you myself?”

“I can manage!” Daisy crawled out, Gracie squealing with amusement in her arms. Just like her daughter, Daisy’s blonde hair was sticking in every which direction, her clothes wrinkled, but her smile bright and happy.

“There’s my girl,” Nicolas said, crouching down to take Gracie from Daisy’s arms. He didn’t miss the slight bob in her throat at his words. “Have you had a good day?”

Gracie babbled a series of nonsense sounds that Nicolas translated into something along the lines of ‘yes, it’s been excellent, but your absence was noted and there will be consequences.’

He rocked his daughter, tapping her little button nose once. “I know, I know. I’m late. How can you ever forgive me.”

“You missed The Lion King!” Thea announced, the disdain plain on her face. “It was a-may-zing!!”

“I’m sure it was,” replied Nicolas, ruffling her hair, “but tomorrow, I’ll go with you to see any musical you like. How about that?”

Thea’s blue eyes widened, mischief flashing across them. “…Mamma Mia?”

He fought back a groan, but he had given his word. “Fine. Mamma Mia. I’m sure it will be riveting.”

Daisy chuckled, smoothing down her daughter’s hair. “Wouldn’t you rather see Wicked?”

Thea chewed her lip, before looking back to Nicolas with hopeful eyes. “…Both?”

“Hah!” Nicolas crouched down so that he was eye level with her. “I like a girl who knows what she wants. But I’ve yet to meet a girl who could convince me to see two musicals in a row.”

Thea pouted. “Fine. Just Mamma Mia.”

“Good girl,” he said fondly, before standing back up. “Now, I’ve arranged for you girls to have a babysitter come over. I’m taking your mother out to dinner.”

“You are?” Daisy asked at the same time as Thea whined, “But I want to come!”

“Yes, I am. And no, you can’t. It’s a grown-up restaurant for grown-ups only.”

Thea huffed, and Nicolas shot her a wink. “But I’ll see if I can sneak you in for lunch tomorrow. How about that?”

This seemed to mollify Thea, who apparently decided she’d had quite enough of talking to them and dove back into the pillow fort.

“We’re going out to dinner?” asked Daisy, a hint of apprehension in her tone.

“We are,” he said. “In fact, if you go to your room, you’ll find a gown in your closet to wear. That is, if you’ll accept it?”

Daisy raised an eyebrow, but nodded cautiously.

“Excellent. Our car arrives in two hours.”

***

As predicted, the dress he had picked out for Daisy fit her like a glove.

It was dark red, with a sweetheart bustier that clung to her curves before sweeping out into an elegant satin skirt that swirled around her feet like water.

She’d curled her hair into soft, romantic waves, half-pinned behind her head, and colored her lips crimson to match the dress.

All in all, it was the perfect combination of sweet and sexy, and she had turned nearly every head in the restaurant as they swept inside.

“I’m sure I’ve told you how beautiful you look,” Nicolas said, sitting back and swirling his whiskey around his glass as he watched her take elegant bites of the strawberry mousse she had chosen for dessert.

Daisy blushed, glancing at him from under her lashes, a small smile on her lips. “Yes, you have. A few times actually. And I’ve reminded you of how…dashing you look.”

“Dashing?” he said, his eyebrow quirking. “Quite the compliment.”

The restaurant he had chosen was perfect.

Its elegance was understated, he couldn’t bear anything too gauche, but the chef had multiple awards, and the wine list dated back to 1874.

Low piano music drifted over the spice-scented air, the lighting dim to allow gold-flaked candles to flicker and bathe the diners in a warm glow.

The truth was, Nicolas was launching an attack.

He had decided that night in the woods, when they had run together as wolves, he was sick and tired of denying what was between them. He had given her space to adjust, to get to know him again, to begin to trust him after everything, but now he was running out of patience.

He had decided he wanted her. And so he would have her. It was as simple as that.

He knew Daisy. He had known her for years. There was no doubt that she had been tying herself in knots over the past few weeks, denying her attraction, forcing herself to resist him. It seemed it was down to him to take that first step forwards, and he was only too glad to do so.

And while he was well aware that her affection would not be bought with pretty dresses and fancy dinners, it certainly couldn’t hurt.

“So what’s Felix’s deal?” Daisy asked, deceptively neutral.

Nicolas raised an eyebrow. So all it took was three glasses of an excellent vintage for her to finally pluck up the courage to ask more about the pack. She was getting more comfortable.

“What do you mean, his deal?” he asked, careful to keep his tone light.

Daisy waved her spoon around. “You know, his deal? Why did he do what he did? I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, quite the opposite in fact, but it can’t have been easy.”

Hazy memories flashed behind his eyes in quick succession. Orders to join the front lines. Anger and rage and plotting. Blood between his teeth.

“No,” he said, “it wasn’t easy at all.”

“My father won’t talk about it,” Daisy said, “ever since he broke faith and moved with mom out west. It’s like his time with the Iron Walkers never happened.”

“I always thought you left with them,” Nicolas replied. He couldn’t remember much about Daisy’s family. Her mother was human, he was fairly sure of that, and although her father had been an alpha, he hadn’t stood out in the pack. A foot soldier. Middle-rung.

Daisy shrugged, her muscles tensing slightly. “I didn’t like the sound of Los Angeles.”

He’d picked up on that little quirk of hers.

Whenever they strayed into territory she was uncomfortable with, she focused all her energy on her words.

She forgot that her body told him much more of a story than whatever carefully curated nonsense she came up with.

Mostly it was when he talked about her family. Or about Thea’s father.

He never pushed her on it. She would tell him when she was good and ready.

He suspected whatever relationship she had had with Thea’s father had turned sour.

Perhaps there had even been abuse involved.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t uncommon for alphas from rougher packs that didn’t govern their own well enough to take out their aggression on those closest to them.

The thought set his teeth on edge.

“You were asking about Felix,” he said, and she shot him a grateful smile for the conversational redirect.

“It’s just so different now. The pack still feels strong. If anything, it feels stronger. But people aren’t scared like they used to be.”

Nicolas smirked. “That tends to happen when a pack works together instead of being blindly commanded to by some power-hungry dickhead.”

“How did you do it?”

Nicolas leaned back with a sigh, debating ordering himself another drink.

“Felix’s father began grooming him for leadership when he was still a boy.

All of us, sons of the Old Guard, were being taught and trained to take up the mantle when our father died in some territory brawl or other.

And we all bought into it. Felix especially.

He was very different when he was younger. ”

Daisy leaned forward, her wide eyes fixed on him, utterly enrapt.

“But then something changed. We all got big enough, old enough, that we were being sent out to fight. Me, Felix, Dane, a few others too. And we saw what it was like.”

Her lips parted slightly, her eyebrows knitting together. “I didn’t know that,” she said softly, and Nicolas could have sworn he saw tears glinting in her eyes.

“You aren’t an alpha,” he said, but without any bitterness. “You would never have been sent to the front line. Or even involved in any of this. The Old Guard valued the strong. The rest were…well. I don’t need to tell you how the rest were treated.”

“No,” she said, “you don’t.”

“Felix saw how utterly pointless it all was. And saw the discontent among the rest of us. He saw an opportunity. And so he formed the New Guard. At first, we all thought it was some bid for power. The older alphas respected that. It’s not like it’s rare for a pack Alpha’s son to come of age and overthrow him.

But there were a few of us, a very select few, who he told the truth to.

He didn’t just want to take power. He wanted to fundamentally change the way things were done. And we believed in him.”

“And so you fought,” Daisy said.

“And so we fought. We secured a couple of powerful allies within the pack. And several of the old alpha’s strongest sensed the changing tides and left before the real fighting started.”

“They just…abandoned the pack? Why not join Felix?”

“The kind who ran—they wouldn’t have been welcome in the new order. Felix would have put them to sword, so to speak.”

“Surely nobody deserves that,” Daisy said, her voice soft and full of sympathy.

Ah, Daisy. Trust her to feel bad for the sorry sons of bitches who had abandoned the Old Guard. “The world would be better off with them dead,” he said, his voice hard. “Most of them are. Dead, I mean. Lone wolves with a penchant for savagery don’t fare too well in the wilds.”

“But some are still alive?” Daisy asked, her voice close to whisper at the hint of intrigue.

Flashes of memory. Of Red Teeth crushing another’s alpha’s skull between his fists. His yellow eyes shining beneath the bone-white mask he wore. The screaming from the cells beneath the Pine Shadow Club.

“Yes. Some are still alive. And we may not have won if they decided to fight instead of run when Felix first made his move. Again, we had other powerful allies in the pack. Rick was a deciding factor. He was already in the process of dethroning his father and claiming the family seat when we convinced him to throw his weight behind us. I think he saw the opportunity Felix’s rule would give him. ”

“Rick?”

“Frederick Reinhardt,” he said, and Daisy’s eyes widened in recognition of the surname.

“Five years older than us so you won’t have met him at school.

For a while, it looked like he wanted to make a bid for leadership.

And he probably would have succeeded too, if it weren’t for the deal he struck with Felix. ”

“The deal he struck?” Daisy asked, leaning forward, eyes shining. Nicolas couldn’t help the smile that spread over his face. She was like some keen student, desperate and hungry for knowledge, taking each tidbit and hoarding it away.

“You know,” he said, raising an eyebrow, “I probably shouldn’t be spilling pack secrets to a woman who is adamant she doesn’t want to take her place in the pack.”

Daisy blushed, casting her eyes downward. “You’re right. You probably shouldn’t.”

There was a definite hint of Thea’s churlishness in her tone.

Impulsively, Nicolas reached forward to take her hand. She gasped and looked up, blinking at him in the soft light of the restaurant.

“I know I’ve said it before,” his fingers tightened around hers, “but you would be welcomed back with open arms. There’s a place for you here, Daisy. You and Thea. You don’t have to be scared.”

“I’m not scared,” she said, and then paused before whispering, “not anymore.”

His other hand drifted up to caress the side of her face. Instead of pulling away, her cheek pressed further into his palm, and she closed her eyes and sighed as if some great weight had lifted off her chest.

“I’m glad,” he whispered.

Her eyes opened, and they were so bright, so warm, so happy, that Nicolas felt his heart lurch in his chest.

He was a bastard. A complete bastard for what he had done to her all those years ago. It was the only thing in his life that he truly regretted. And now, he was being handed an opportunity to make things right. And he wasn’t going to screw it up this time.

Slowly, carefully, giving her plenty of time to pull away if she wanted, he leaned forward.

She sucked in a breath, her eyes dropping to his lips, before releasing it in one long, needy breath.

It was all the permission he needed.

He closed the distance between them, leaning over the table, uncaring if people were watching. She met him halfway, their lips joining, and deep in his chest his wolf howled in victory.