Page 2 of Bully Wolf’s Nanny (Silvermist Wolves #1)

Nicolas Accardi had found himself in more than one precarious situation in his lifetime.

There had been the destruction of the Old Guard, the tense few years when Felix’s father had nearly driven the pack into shallow graves over petty territory squabbles and Felix himself had risen up against the ruling wolves and thrown them aside.

Nicolas had never left his side, even when facing down his own father. He still bore the scars.

Then, of course, there had been the breakthrough of his company.

It had teetered on the edge of greatness for several sleepless months, attacked on every side by rival firms uneasy at the growing threat, ready to plummet away into obscurity while Nicolas gave nearly every piece of himself to keep it from the abyss.

The stress would have killed a human. Luckily, he wasn’t one.

Then there was the responsibility of helping to run the pack.

Nicolas had been given complete control of the assets of the Iron Walkers, instructed to bring wealth and prosperity to Silvermist and its people.

It wasn’t only the pack who relied on his business acumen; the humans that thrived in their land also owed their comforts to him.

Other packs looked at the bountiful feast he had created and desired it for themselves.

Nicolas wasn’t opposed to bloodshed, though admittedly, he usually left diplomacy to Rick and violence to Dane.

But more than once, his hand had been forced.

All these things Nicolas had faced. He had stood tall and proud against overwhelming odds, and emerged victorious.

Which just made his present situation even more ridiculous.

“Gracie,” he said, his voice heavy with warning, “put the bowl down. Now.”

Gracie, completely oblivious to her father’s scrutiny, gurgled happily and continued to wave the bowl of yogurt and fruit about with alarmingly jerky movements.

Nicolas narrowed his eyes as he considered his options.

If he let her continue waving it around, it would definitely end up a complete mess on the floor.

Not a huge problem, but his cleaners weren’t due for another hour.

If he tried to pry it from her, it would no doubt become the worst day of her life, and her resultant temper tantrum might shatter his eardrums. And a mess would probably still be made.

“Gracie, please,” he said again, raising his hands in mock surrender, “you win. Now put the bowl down, and eat your snack.”

“Dadadada,” Gracie sang, her little legs kicking, knocking the bowl against the highchair tray. Her tufted dark hair was sticking out in every single direction, the bow long since lost, and her sparkling blue eyes glinted with mischief.

“You’re not going to make this easy, are you?” Nicolas asked, wincing as a glob of yogurt dribbled over the side of the bowl and down Gracie’s front. He’d forgotten to put her bib on.

Great. More laundry to be arranged.

Just then, his mobile phone blared out from the counter, the sudden sound shocking his daughter, who shrieked in displeasure.

On pure instinct, Nicolas whirled and growled, his wolf rearing up at the potential threat to his child, but the aggression ebbed into pure frustration as he saw the name displayed.

Leonard Lewis, Chief Financial Officer of Nero Incorporated. The only man brave, or perhaps stupid, enough to try and contact Nicolas when he’d made it clear he wasn’t to be disturbed. Nicolas jabbed the phone, switching the call off. He’d get back to Leonard later.

He turned back to his daughter, fully intent on getting the infant back under control, when a sticky clump of fruit and yogurt hit him square in the chest.

Gracie clapped her hands together and squealed in delight, the remainder of her food not currently dripping down his front flung to the floor. Her little grin shone from her mucky face, and despite himself, Nicolas couldn’t help but smile.

He’d get the shirt dry-cleaned. It wasn’t like he had a shortage of Armani.

“What am I going to do with you?” he ruffled her hair, trying his best to wipe her face. She writhed away from him, chattering nonsense sounds and syllables, smearing more yogurt over himself.

His phone chimed, a new voicemail from Leonard to join the others.

It would be shareholder nonsense, or perhaps annual reporting.

Or maybe yet another reminder that he hadn’t been to the office in months and people were starting to get apprehensive.

He didn’t care. His daughter came first. She would always come first.

It had become a familiar mantra in recent weeks. His phone chimed again, but this time it was the familiar sound of his security alert. He opened the app, only half paying attention as he continued his fight to clean his daughter up.

“It’s Felix, boss.”

“Let him through,” Nicolas said, “open the front door.”

The intercom crackled through the phone as his remote security obeyed, and soon Felix ambled into the kitchen, kicking off his muddy boots.

“Alpha,” Nicolas inclined his head.

“I’ve told you so many times, Nick, you don’t need to worry about that ‘Alpha’ bullshit with me.”

Despite himself, a grin spread over his face. “But you’re so mighty and all-powerful.”

Felix rolled his eyes and plucked Gracie from her high seat, swinging her through the air and smiling at her gurgles of joy. “Good to see you, squirt! Christ alive, you’re bigger every time I see you!”

Gracie babbled and waved her chubby fists towards him, grabbing fistfuls of his worn plaid shirt.

Nicolas leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. “How are the boys?”

Felix rocked Gracie, smiling as she managed to catch a few locks of his long, dirty-blond hair. “Absolute terrors. Enjoy this time, Nick, because once they start running around, your life will be spent almost exclusively chasing after them.”

“And nothing from Sarah?”

A dark look passed across Felix’s face at the mention of his ex-wife. “What do you think?”

Nicolas bit his tongue. While he was certainly no stranger to the feeling of suddenly being solely responsible for a child, their situations weren’t exactly comparable.

Nicolas had barely remembered the name of the one-night stand who had shown up on his doorstep with a tiny bundle of joy.

Felix had been head over heels for Sarah.

She was a human, though. And Felix was the alpha of one of the most powerful packs in North America. Different priorities. Different values.

It didn’t mean he had any sympathy whatsoever for Sarah.

“We missed you at the most recent pack night,” Felix said lightly, although there was a definite undercurrent to his tone. Nicolas’s hackles rose.

“As I told Dane, I was busy. I couldn’t make it. I’ll make the next one.”

Felix nodded slowly, settling his large frame down into a chair. “I’m worried about you, Nicolas.”

Nicolas scoffed. “What could you possibly have to be worried about?”

Felix’s stormy eyes narrowed. “Come on, don’t tell me you haven’t been going absolutely crazy cooped up in here.”

“ Cooped up? ”

“I know you’ve been looking after Gracie,” Felix said, raising a hand to stop him before he could get angry, “and I’m not suggesting you stop. I just think it might be time to get some help. When was the last time you went to New York? Don’t you miss Nero?”

Huffing, Nicolas resisted the urge to head towards the liquor cabinet. “They can manage without me. And so can you. I set up all the pack businesses to be mostly self-sufficient.”

“I’m not here on pack business,” said Felix, bouncing Gracie on his knee, “I’m here as your friend.

As your closest friend. Nobody’s arguing that you haven’t done a fantastic job growing the pack treasury.

Hell, three wolves working twice as hard wouldn’t have done a better job.

But we miss you. We want you back in the fold.

Big things are coming, and I need you by my side. ”

Nicolas’s fists tightened as he turned to Felix. “Big things? Don’t tell me you’re thinking about pack expansion. Felix, that was exactly the thing that nearly destroyed us—"

“I’m not talking about petty territory squabbles,” Felix said, his voice hard. “I wouldn’t put the pack in danger like that. Or the humans.”

He couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “The humans fight us at every turn, why should we—"

“They don’t,” interrupted Felix. “If you’d been more present recently, you’d know that relations with the humans have never been stronger.

We have a real opportunity here, Nicolas.

To make things better. For everyone. Rick’s abroad at the moment and making great strides in England.

The Accord meetings are going well. We could ally internationally. ”

“And as long as pack ventures are making enough that Rick can fly first class to his beloved Accord meetings, then I’ve done my job.”

Felix sighed, climbing to his feet. “You can fight me on this all you like, but you can’t deny I’m right. The time has come for you to step back into things again—both at Nero and with the pack.”

Nicholas eyed his friend, the firm set of his jaw, the determination in his rugged face, and let out a rush of air.

When Francesca had first appeared and handed Gracie over, claiming she had no desire to be a mother, Nicolas had decided then and there that Gracie was the most important thing in the entire world.

He didn’t particularly care that Francesca didn’t want to be part of her daughter’s life; he barely knew the woman.

There had only ever been one woman he had believed good enough to be the mother of his children, and she…

She was long gone.

So he was more than happy to be the sole carer for his daughter. She was his entire world. He couldn’t imagine ever trusting anyone else to look after her like she deserved. And he wasn’t willing to compromise.