Wanted by the Ruthless Alpha

CHAPTER SIX

Lana's POV

Dorothy’s tiny fork scraped against her plate, the only sound between us for a long time. Every time she lifted a bite to her mouth, she glanced at me first, like she was checking I was still there. Like I might vanish if she looked away too long.

"Can you tell me more about Dorathy? I would like to know why she's very quiet. I thought children were very outgoing at this age. She should be playing dress up, and having tea parties with dolls..." I started eating the bacon on my plate.

“Mr. Ronan didn’t tell you, did he?” she murmured, barely moving her lips.

I shook my head, too scared to speak.

She checked left and right, then leaned in, so her words brushed my ear. “Dorothy is the only surviving child of the Alpha of the Syrian Moon pack. Two weeks ago, Rogue Alpha and his pack attacked. Slaughtered everyone. Men. Women. Pups. King Lancaster arrived near the end… pulled Dorothy and a handful of others from the fire. Her parents were already gone. Her nanny died shielding her with her own body.”

The bacon turned to ash in my mouth. I looked at Dorothy. The too-pale skin, the chapped lips, the way her little shoulders curled inward, like she was trying to take up as little space as possible. A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it. I wiped it away fast, hoping she didn’t see.

“She asked for her nana every day for a week,” Alexa whispered. “She hasn’t said the word since.”

I swallowed hard and reached over, brushing a stray curl from Dorothy’s forehead. She leaned into my touch, just a fraction, but it broke something open inside me. I will keep you safe, baby girl. I swear on my life.

Alexa straightened her voice back to normal volume. “And yes, before you ask, everyone here is wolf. No humans except you now.”

My fork clattered against the plate. The room tilted.

Everyone.

Every maid who wouldn’t meet my eyes. Every guard at the gate. Ronan.

Ronan, who had held me in the air by my throat like I was a rag doll.

I stood so fast that the chair scraped loudly against the marble. “I... I need some air.”

I lost my appetite, maybe because of Dorathy’s sad story or because I had just found out that I was surrounded by beings who could rip my head off my body without breaking a sweat.

What the hell did I get myself into?

I managed to get Dorothy down for her nap an hour later, reading her the same picture book three times until her eyelids finally drooped. I glanced at her, and adjusted the blanket on her body.

I sat at the edge of the bed without moving an inch. She sketched a wolf with grey eyes earlier, and insisted that the wolf in her drawing was a princess. The princess was coming to save the werewolves from an ancient curse. I couldn't shake the weird feeling I had when I stared at the wolf's grey eyes, and anytime I looked at the rough sketch, I felt like I had a connection with the picture.

My thoughts were a tangled mess, louder than the silence that engulfed me.

Eventually the walls felt too close. I needed out.

I slipped into the hallway, and walked straight into a solid chest.

Hands caught my shoulders before I could fall. “Whoa, easy. Are you okay?”

I looked up and forgot how to form sentences.

Green eyes, soft and bright like new leaves. Warm smile. White doctor’s coat over a blue shirt, stethoscope around his neck. Dimple on the left side when he grinned.

He was beautiful in a way that felt safe, like sunlight after a week of storms.

“I wasn’t looking,” I managed.

“Clearly,” he laughed, low and kind. “You’re Dorothy’s new nanny. Lana, right? I’m Finn. Pack doctor. Also, Ronan’s considerably less grumpy younger brother.”

Younger brother. Of course. Because my life wasn’t complicated enough.

He studied my face and whatever he saw made his smile fade into something gentler. “You look like you’re about to bolt. Come on, you need some air.”

I let him lead me through a side door onto a wide stone balcony that overlooked the forest.

We sat on an outdoor couch, close enough that our knees almost touched. He didn’t crowd me. Just existed, steady and calm, while the panic slowly ebbed.

“I signed my life away this morning,” I said eventually, voice small. “With my own blood.”

Finn winced. “Yeah. That’s… tradition. Not the fun kind.”

I shoved his arm weakly. “Not helping.”

He laughed again, the sound wrapping around me like a blanket. “Sorry. I suck at pep talks. But I’m good at keeping people alive. So there’s that.”

Silence settled, soft and easy. The sun was sinking, painting everything gold and rose. Our eyes kept finding each other and holding a little longer each time.

He reached over and took my hand, thumb brushing across my knuckles. Warm. Careful.

“Hey,” he said quietly. “You’re not alone in this, okay? Friends?”

My throat tightened. “My bodyguard friend,” I whispered.

His gaze dropped to my mouth. The air between us changed, thickened. He leaned in, slow enough that I could have stopped him.

I didn’t want to.

Our breath mingled. My lips parted as it was about to touch his.

The balcony door slammed open so hard it bounced off the wall.

“What the f*ck is going on here?”

Ronan.

He filled the doorway like a thunderstorm, fists clenched, eyes blazing that terrifying gold. The temperature seemed to drop ten degrees.

I jerked away from Finn so fast I nearly fell off the couch. Finn straightened slowly, his expression calm, and his hand stayed loosely curled around mine, like he was making a claim.