Page 29 of Mercy & Her Devils

Lark and I stare at each other, frozen.

He likes me?

His daughter wants me as her new…?

But what happened to her Alpha mom?

Ex-mom now, I guess.

Why the hell did that asshole reject her own daughter?

Finally, Lark shrugs. “Kids.”

“Kids,” I agree, even though I have literally no experience of them. This is where a conversation change is good, right? “I’ve been here weeks…?”

Lark’s expression softens, before he drops to fold his long limbs and sit next to me. “How about this? Hello, my name is Lark.”

He holds out his hand to me, and I take it. “Mercy.”

Lark’s eyes light up. “Mercy, it’s wonderful to finally be able to say your name. Would you like me to help you to sit up?”

I nod.

When Lark gently slips his arm around my shoulders, I can feel that despite being kept here and giving most of his food to his daughter (and I suspect me), he still has a wiry strength.

He pulls me up and helps me to settle my back against the wall.

We study each other for a long moment, before I realize that his jacket is still laid over my lap.

“Do you want this back?” I reluctantly offer.

Lark’s expression becomes shuttered. “Don’t you want it?”

I clutch onto the jacket tighter. “You’re shivering.”

“And you’re only just coming out of… You almost died. Yes, it’s been weeks, and what happened to you was more severe than what I suffered. You need it more than I do.”

Lark carefully eases the jacket from my hold and then helps me to slip it on over my nightie.

I sniff at the collar, before I can stop myself.

“Thank you.” I mean for more than the jacket.

For everything….for saving my life.

I can tell that he knows that.

Lark’s plush lips quirk. “It’s okay. I found that I had some time on my hands anyway. I may as well save the beautiful Omega who needed me.”

Flustered, I look down.

He says it so easily.

I sense that he’s unused to getting thanks or praise, which means that he shrugs it off.

But I won’t let him.

I reach for his cold hand, rubbing it to give it warmth, and he startles. “Thank you. It was your touch and scent that pulled me back from the edge of death, again and again. You didn’t need to do everything that you have for me. We both know that not everybody would have.”

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