Page 129 of The Alpha's Protective Mate

I close the door after them and rest my forehead against it for a moment.

“Tea, Mr. Montgomery?” Mrs. Mallory has appeared next to me, her eyes concerned.

“No, thanks.” I make my way to the living room, and Mano looks up from where she’s sitting with her six kittens. “Hey, girl.” I sit down next to her, watching her feed her babies. She makes a small sound and rubs her head against my hand when I pet her.

“She misses the madam,” Mrs. Mallory says sadly.

“I know. I’m trying.”

“I understand, but I don’t think Mano has ever been away from the madam for so long. Perhaps you should let her into the room.”

Beruth injured Mano to quite an extent. Ricky looked after her, helping her recover. Even now, the cat’s voice is hoarse. If Mano had also died, I don’t think Charlotte would recover. I’ve seen her love for her pet. Mano is like her child to her. Charlotte did speak one time, when she asked me about Mano; once she learned her cat was with Ricky, she went quiet again.

It’s frustrating seeing the woman I love like this. I want to help her, but I don’t know how.

I look at my housekeeper. “Yeah, I’ll do that. Ricky’s going to come by again in a bit to give Zeno a checkup. Can you leave out something to eat for him? I don’t think he’s doing too well, either.”

Mrs. Mallory smiles at me. “I’ll stay around and give you both a hot meal. Maybe between the two of you, you can convince the madam to come down and eat something.”

“Thanks, Mrs. M. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

She beams at me and is about to leave when she pauses. “A lot of packmates have been dropping by to see the madam. They heard that she lost someone important to her during her fight with Beruth Sanguinite, and they want to offer condolences. They’ve been bringing food and small gifts. I don’t have the heart to tell them to stop.”

“Thank you. I’ll let her know.”

Once she leaves, I run my fingers through Mano’s fur and sigh. I didn’t think the pack would welcome Charlotte so easily. When I announced who she was to me during that pack meeting, aside from the few angry faces, the rest of the pack accepted her. Because they didn’t want to lose me. But it’s one thing to accept her and another thing to look after her like a packmate, reaching out to her in her loss, trying to offer comfort. Word of her fight with the leader of the Nelo Clan has spread like wildfire, not to mention her relationship to him. I don’t know how the last part was leaked, but it has convinced the pack that Charlotte is one of them now.

Soft footsteps have me glancing at the stairs.

Charlotte meets my gaze; there are circles under her eyes. Her physical injuries have healed, but her heart is still raw and bleeding.

Her voice is quiet and hoarse. “Mano.”

Mano dislodges herself from her babies and leaps off the couch, racing toward her. Charlotte slumps on the stairs, letting her cat climb all over her, sniffing and licking her anxiously. Her grip on Mano is gentle, and she buries her face in her fur.

I walk over to her. “I thought you were sleeping.”

“I heard Mano’s cry. I wanted to see her,” Charlotte says tiredly. “I needed to see her.”

“You haven’t met her kittens.” I hold out my hand. “Come on.”

When she looks up at me, the sadness in her eyes kills me. It’s almost like someone has thrown a bucket of water over the fire that once burned inside her. But she accepts my hand, holding Mano in her other arm.

The kittens mewl, and Mano jumps down from Charlotte and runs over to them. Grabbing one of them with her teeth, she proudly presents it to Charlotte, placing the wriggling baby at my mate’s feet.

“She missed you,” I whisper to Charlotte, who crouches down and picks up the kitten. She pets it.

“Good job, Mano.”

I guide Charlotte to the couch, where the rest of the kittens are, and watch her immerse herself in them as they clamber over each other to sniff her.

“I’m glad you got out of bed,” I say, taking Charlotte’s free hand.

“I wasn’t trying to worry you.” Charlotte lets one of the kittens curl up in her lap, tuckered out from all the exertion. “I just—”

“You’re grieving.” I touch her face lightly, making her eyes lift toward mine. “I understand that, sweetheart. Tell me how to help. I don’t know how to fix your heart or make your pain go away.”

Charlotte covers my hand with hers. “I never told you about Angie, I guess. She was wonderful to me. She’s the one who found me on the street, alone, when I was fourteen. She brought me to the women’s shelter. She let me sleep with her, comforted me. And she became a constant in my life. She wouldn’t let me take care of her, but whenever I needed someone, she was there. And now she’s gone. I have to reconcile with the fact that I will never get to talk to her again.”

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