Page 63 of Mercy & Her Devils

Lark and I have been swirling in confusion ever since.

Kai didn’t give us any household rules (unless they’re coming at breakfast).

He didn’t stay to watch that we obeyed him about eating.

I can’t even see any monitoring devices or cameras in the bedroom.

Instead, Kai simply showed us how to work the taps on the ensuite’s bath and shower.

Then his cheeks flamed, as he left us two of his crisp, coffee colored shirts to sleep in, apologizing that he didn’t have any clothes for us and promising to order some immediately.

“A suit,” Lark ordered like he spent most of his leisure time commanding Alpha armies. “A stylish one.”

I knew Lark well enough to be able to see, however, that he was bracing to be hit.

Kai merely cast an approving glance up and down Lark’s jade suit and waistcoat. “Aye, lad. A man after my own heart.”

He didn’t seem to mind the thought of either providing for us or that we’d smell like him, if we wore his shirts.

With all his kindness, I don’t mind it either.

Both the gesture and his scent is settling my nerves.

I begged him to trash the white nightwear that Fletcher had bought me — and I’ve been forced to wear all this time.

Kai nodded with an understanding look that didn’t seem faked.

But then, he’s some kind of mysterious outlaw. Just like Antonio, he lies for a fucking living.

How can I trust him?

Still, I’m full, clean, and more relaxed than I have been since my bond was broken.

I’m wearing one of Kai’s shirts and nothing underneath. I draw the collar of his shirt to my nose.

I take a deep sniff of his floral heather ale scent. Instantly, I feel lighter, as if I’m running free on that Scottish mountainside.

A smile dances on my lips. I rock on my heels.

The shirt is so long on me that it reaches to my knees. I play with its hem.

Kai is a seriously large Alpha. But he knelt, so that he wouldn’t intimidate me.

My brow furrows in thought.

Fletcher always attempted to look bigger than he was. He had so many insecurities that he was desperate for people to see him as more deserving of respect and being feared than he was.

He wanted to be seen as bigger, smarter, and more capable.

He’d work late every night just to try and make things look effortless, when in fact, he’d actually had to work his ass off for them.

Yet Kai’s dominance is effortless.

Now, that’s a true Alpha.

I bite my lip, scanning over the guest bedroom. It feels like it’s a natural extension of the forest outside.

The relaxing, mildly hypnotic sound of Lark’s shower (he’s been in there so long that I have a sneaking suspicion he really is an Omega merman), wars with the roar of the creek outside the balcony window.

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