Page 26 of Rejected Nanny Mate (Crystal Creek Wolves #3)

“Seriously, you should let me take you on a tour of my territory. It would be good for my pack to see me having a friendship with someone from the allied packs.”

I laughed. Jayce had been showing up at the cafe more often lately, and while all the girls on staff had a crush on the dark, mysterious Blacktide Alpha, I'd been around Joe enough to know that the last thing I wanted in my life was more Alpha nonsense.

Still, he was fun to talk to, and he was the only person outside of Scott and Samson who could relate to some of the eccentricities that came from living with a pack Alpha.

“I don't think anyone would be impressed with you bringing a waitress-nanny on a tour. Maybe you should ask one of the other Betas to join you. Or if you have a death wish, maybe one of the Lunas?”

Jayce snorted, “Yeah, right. I wanted to enjoy giving the tour, not be on edge the entire time and fearing for my life.”

“You should be fearing for your life right now.”

Surprised, I turned around to see Joe, his chin raised and a scowl on his handsome face. All of his attention was on Jayce, and there was the threat of violence in the air.

He'd have looked more intimidating if he weren't holding a baby, especially a baby in a pink onesie with a giant matching headband bow on.

Jayce huffed. “Is that right?”

“If I catch you hitting on my nanny again, I won't be happy,” Joe said, crossing his arms.

Jayce laughed. “You know, for someone who doesn't want his nanny, you sure do seem to spend a lot of time with her.”

Joe growled, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up.

It was an impressive sound, but not one that came from a man who was in control of himself.

He was being driven by jealousy, which meant that Jayce was right.

I could feel my cheeks growing red, and I pressed my hands to them.

I didn't want Joe to see me blushing. He already had too much of a hold on me.

“I'm taking her out tonight,” Joe said, as though that ended the conversation. “Rose needs dinner, so we're going to head out.”

“Uh, hello?” I waved my hand in front of Joe's face. Rose laughed. “You didn't even ask me if I wanted to get dinner. What if I have to close the store?”

“Do you have to close the store?”

“... No, the other server is closing, but still. You should ask me first before you start making plans in that thick head of yours.”

He frowned. “Well, are you hungry? I'll buy you dinner.”

“I was actually having a nice conversation with Jayce here.”

Jayce held his hands up, looking at Joe. “It was nice talking to you, Gwen, but I value my place in the alliance, so I'm going to go and leave you two—” he glanced at Rose. “You three alone.”

I watched him go, mouth hanging open, and when the shop door closed, I rounded on Joe. “What, now I can't have friends? I like talking to Jayce!”

“There's something about him that I don't completely trust,” Joe rumbled. “He's manipulating you. Maybe to get to me, maybe to get in your pants, I don't know, but I'm positive his motives aren't innocent.”

Rose leaned in her father's arms and held her hands out to me.

I took her from Joe and balanced her on my hip, but my eyes never left his.

“I can handle myself, Joe, and it's frankly humiliating to have you come in here meddling around with my personal life.

I'm your nanny, not one of your wolves. So, leave me alone!”

I was fuming, and without a second thought, I stormed through the kitchen and out the back door with the baby still on my hip. I just needed a minute to catch my breath, and it was impossible to breathe with Joe so close and radiating so much Alpha energy. He was so...so...

“Frustrating!” I said to Rose, who stared up at me with wide eyes. “So frustrating! He acts like he has some sort of claim on me, but he doesn't! He can't! He won't! And it's driving me crazy!” I shook my head. “And you...you're my little star. You wouldn't act like that, would you?”

The baby smiled, showing off her toothless gums and blowing a spit bubble. I kissed her on the forehead.

I paced for a few minutes to try and calm down, but it wasn't working.

My heart was still pounding, and my blood was still boiling.

I was shocked that he hadn't followed me, but Joe had learned that when I needed my space, I wouldn't relax until he gave it to me.

I was about to go back inside when I heard something coming from the treeline behind the store, and I froze, listening closer.

“Help!” The voice sounded far away and exhausted, but when they repeated their cry, I was able to identify the person yelling. It made my blood run cold, and my heart rose into my throat.

“Help me!” Rhie was shouting, and it sounded like she was on the verge of collapsing. “Please! I can't keep running!”

I started off toward the sound, but something held me back. “Rhie?” I called, but there was no answer. Rose whimpered in my arms, and I clutched her tight. “It's okay, sweetheart,” I murmured. “It's okay.”

Was it, though? Chasing anything down with the baby in my arms was reckless, but if I waited, it might be too late for Rhie.

I exhaled slowly, making up my mind. I'd see if I could easily find her, and if there was danger, I'd go back for Joe.

But if Rhie had just fallen and broken her ankle or gotten caught in an old bear trap, I'd free her first.

I took off at a run, and even though Rose was a baby, her reflexes were fast. She wrapped her arms around my neck and tucked her head into the crook of my shoulder. I couldn't tell where Rhie was, but I did my best to follow her voice. It wasn't hard, though. She kept yelling.

“Help! Please! I need help!

“Rhie, keep talking!” I called out. “I'm coming to help you! Just tell me where you are!”

“Gwen? I'm over here!”

I ran in the direction of her voice, and finally, my eyes caught sight of the pale form of my friend, her back pressed against a tree, hiding.

Her face was tear-streaked, and she was panting as if she'd run multiple miles.

I gasped when I saw the blood covering her clothes and the dirt all over her, like she'd been digging through the ground.

“Rhie,” I whispered. “What happened?”

She shook her head, unable to speak for a moment, and then finally choked out, “The surge.”

Before I could respond, Rhie's eyes fixed on something over my shoulder, and she screamed hoarsely. “It's right there! We have to run!”

I could smell the ozone and feel the pressure of the air around us changing as it grew closer.

Without thinking, I shoved Rose into Rhie's arms and called my power forth, whipping around to face the surge.

It was a foolish move. I wasn't well trained, and my magic was still weak, but I had to do something to protect my friend and my precious Rose. Even if it killed me in the process.

“Rhie, run!” I told her, voice thin, “I'm going to handle it. Get Rose back to the cafe and tell Joe where I am!”

I didn't hear her leave, but she could have been waiting for just the right moment. I was afraid. Of course, I was afraid. But as much of a house mouse as I was, I was still willing to fight if it meant protecting someone I cared about.

My palms glowed, and I held them forward just as the distortion became visible, barreling towards us—

And then I was being shoved out of the way, and another taller, beautiful woman stepped into my place.

Where my power glowed white or light pink, Mia's was a brilliant jewel-toned green, and her power was so strong that it kicked the leaves up around us in a whirlwind.

When her magic met the surge's, they crackled, and Mia screamed in pain as her feet were pushed back across the forest floor, but she didn't give in.

Her magic rose, and she pushed back hard.

Step by step, Mia managed to drive the surge away, and then, with one guttural yell, she swept her hands hard to the side, and the distortion in the air vanished as quickly as it had appeared.

The shockwave of Mia banishing the magic made my ears pop, but she'd done it. We were safe.

Mia, panting, blood running from one of her nostrils, held her hands out to Rhie.

My friend handed Rose over instantly, but I didn't miss how Rose looked towards me with worry as Mia took her.

It made my hands itch to pluck the baby out of Mia's arms, but what sort of monster would I be to snatch her baby away when she had just saved us?

“Thank you...” Rhie breathed, looking at Mia in awe. “Thank you so much. I've never seen anything like that before.”

“You're welcome,” she said, almost dismissively. Most of her attention was on me, and she wasn't happy. “Why in the fuck are you out here in the middle of the woods with my baby?”

I bristled. “Excuse me? I was taking care of her until you got here.”

“Like hell you were!” She shouted. “You were endangering her life! That thing could have killed all three of you! What would you have done then, huh?”

“That's enough,” Joe's voice cut through the night like a knife, and his appearance made both Rhie and me gasp. His eyes were golden, and he was shaking, barely keeping himself from changing. I'd never seen him this upset before, and he had always been so careful about not scaring Rose.

But Rose didn't seem scared of her father. If anything, she was leaning toward him and away from Mia. I filed that image away to mull over once things had calmed down.

“Gwen, what were you thinking?” Joe snapped, coming to stand in front of me, but he couldn't look at me. He was still staring at Mia, who was glaring back at him. “Why didn't you come get me?”

“I heard Rhie screaming, and I panicked,” I mumbled, looking down at the ground. “I thought if I wasted time, something terrible would happen to her. And I had no idea that it was the surge. I just wanted to do something—”

“You are doing something,” Joe told me, finally taking his eyes off Mia to meet mine. “You're taking care of my daughter. That's all I need from you. I don't need you to be a hero or a soldier. I just need you to keep Rose safe. She needs you. Do you understand?”

“Joe—”

“Do you understand?”

I didn't answer for a moment. “I do.”

“Good. Go back to the cafe. Take Rhie with you. I'll walk Mia and Rose back.”

“I—” I wanted to argue, and I really didn't want to leave Rose with how she was looking at me, like she wanted me to save her from her own mother, which made no sense. I knew I was being ungrateful. Mia had saved us all, and I should have been kissing her feet, but something just didn't feel right.

Or maybe I was just jealous. That was the simplest explanation, even if I hated it.

“Let's go,” Rhie whispered, grabbing my arm.

When I looked at her, she looked desperate to get away, and still a total mess from her run-in with the surge before I'd shown up.

It looked like the blood was mostly from a small cut on her forehead, since head wounds bleed so much, but otherwise, she was unhurt.

I took one last look at Joe, Mia, and Rose, seeing Joe's head bowed close to Mia as he spoke to her. Rose was still looking at me, and it took all of my self-control to tear my eyes away and let Rhie lead me back to the cafe.

I should be thankful, I kept repeating to myself. We'd all be dead without her. She's a hero.

But if that was true, why did everything feel so wrong? And why had Rose looked at me like that?