Page 82 of Mercy & Her Devils

As a way to show his service.

Is it only a welcome? Or a courting gift?

But it means a lot to him.

I lay my hand over Kai’s, where he’s holding the plate. “I’m looking forward to trying it. Thanks for cooking this. It looks delicious.”

It’s a lie.

But it’s worth saying for the way that Kai finishes sliding an egg and slice of black pudding onto my plate, before edging it onto the table in front of me.

“An Alpha should provide for their Omega. I have a duty to cherish you with gifts and food,” he replies. “It brings me pleasure.”

It shoots through me then with sudden awareness: He’s Scottish.

Whatever views I have of the roles of Alphas and Omegas, he must have entirely different ones.

He comes from an Omegacracy.

Why would he want to leave there to travel here?

For the first time, I turn to study him with open curiosity.

Alphas are warriors in Scotland who worship and defend their Omega leaders.

He certainly looks like a warrior.

But I can’t understand him properly because he was raised in an entirely different culture to me. But I want to.

Kai tilts his head. “May I touch your forehead?”

Confused, I nod.

Kai gently reaches out his strong hand and lays the back of it against my forehead.

Then his expression becomes troubled. “You’re hot, lass. Perhaps, you always are after the type of sexy fun that you had this morning in your nest. But do you think your heat could be getting close?”

I bite my lip, anxiously crossing my legs.

No Alpha has paid this close type of attention to me, especially about my heats.

Is he going to start keeping cycle charts and counting down the days between heats?

“I don’t know. The Broken Bond Syndrome gave both Lark and me fevers,” I reply.

“It nearly killed her.” Lark deliberately doesn’t look up from his coffee.

Kai’s expression tightens. “I see.”

“Broken Bond Syndrome wrecks your nervous system. It can cause serious damage,” I explain. “I don’t feel touch or sensations like I did before. I can’t tell if this is my heat creeping up on me or the effects of the broken bond.”

Kai straightens his shoulders. “Then I’ll have to prepare the Omega Chamber for you, beloved, just in case. It’s a priority. What would you like me to buy for your most sacred time?”

I stare at him in shock.

Sacred?

Plus, did he ask me what I want?

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