Page 15 of The Brooding Alpha's Mate
My bear bolted toward the door, and he tried to get inside, allowing the shift only when he realized his paws weren’t doing the job.
Rushing to his side, I quickly discovered that while my mate was screaming, he wasn’t awake. He was in bed, still dreaming, his body thrashing, his screams turning to pleading, begging.
“No, stop. Please don’t. No…this is not what family does. Stop! How can you do this to me?”
With each word, my heart broke a little more.
I didn’t know what to do. Waking him up would assure that he remembered everything. But could I let him continue to suffer like this, with the hopes that he wouldn’t? There was no right answer, and he had a decision that had to be made.
“Please!”
That one word was all I could take. He needed my touch. I pulled him into my arms and hugged him close.
“I’m here, mate. I’m here. No one’s gonna harm you. No one’s gonna hurt you. I’ve got you.”
He woke sobbing, holding me tightly, begging me not to let go.
“I’ve got you. I promise we’ll keep you safe, and they will never find you again. No one will harm you ever again. I’ll make sure of it. It’s my number one priority.”
He mumbled words to the point I couldn’t make sense of them, his tears too thick, his crying too raw. The entire time, I squeezed him tightly, promising him it wasn’t real, that it was only a dream, assuring him I was there, that I was real, that he was safe in my arms.
He cried and cried until his tears finally ran dry, eventually falling asleep in my embrace. I held him close, not wanting to let go until I was sure he was sound asleep. When he was, I laid him down gently and climbed into bed beside him, wrapping my arm around him.
I hoped he could scent me…know that he was protected. That he was loved. That he was safe.
And most importantly, that he was not anyone’s property.
Chapter Nine
Colson
I sat up straight in bed, clutching the thin blanket in both fists. Someone else was making breakfast. Did that mean I’d overslept…oh.
“It’s okay, Colson. I’m here. It’s me, Alex.”
Bear. Mate. Safe.
Thank the goddess for the levelheadedness of my wolf. “I thought I’d woken up late. That I hadn’t made breakfast.”
“You slept in and you didn’t make breakfast, I did.”
I let my body collapse against the wall behind me. The cabin was small but it was perfect at the same time. A small, basic kitchen. A double bed in the corner under an open window. A bathroom and shower for two.
When I was a kid, my dreams had been simple. A cabin like this. A farm. A garden to kneel in, feel the dirt between my fingers. Eating the food I cultivated. A mate who loved me. Pups running around my legs.
And here I was, in a portion of that dream.
“Thank you. Bacon?” I asked. Silly, omega. Of course it was bacon.
“Bacon. Grits. Cheesy scrambled eggs. But I can make something else if you want. I brought a bit of everything since I didn’t know what you’d like.”
“Anything sounds good. Thank you for cooking. I’m going to go to the restroom first.”
I got up and swung my legs over the side of the bed. My bladder surged, reminding me of the urgency. I was still in Alex’s shirt with some pajama pants he’d lent me.
“I’m going to go to the car to get the coffee.”
Thank goodness. Sure, we were mates, but peeing and pooping in front of another person took a level of intimacy we hadn’t reached yet. All natural but still. I intended to keep a little romance in our mating.
