Page 43 of The Butcher

The rift in our pack isn’t just affecting us anymore, it’s impacting Indy as well, and if we want her to truly be our omega the way she’s supposed to, something has to give.

And it looks like it’s up to me to do the giving.

“Do you need to take a nap? I can come back…”

Indy shakes her head and takes another step toward me, her nearly purple eyes going wide under her hood. “No, please, I’m okay. Really.”

This time I let my smile fly because the last few days, Indigo Rae seems to actually want to spend time with me, and I’m trying to show her that’s a good thing. I don’t think she’s used to that; having her feelings validated, or being around people she likes and enjoys.

Not that I know for a fact that she likes me, or enjoys my company, but I’d like to think we’re heading toward both.

“Do you want to sit?” I nod toward the bed as I set my laptop bag on the end of it. “It’ll be easier for me to show you this stuff if we’re sitting.”

“Okay,” she says as she doesn’t move an inch. “Yeah, we can sit.”

My brows raise a little as I watch her stand there, chewing her lip and wringing her hands, all while staring at the edge of the bed as if it’s made of hot coals.

I really want to know where the hell Indy was before she came here.

She hasn’t talked about it, not even with Nan, and between the fact that she has no idea how to relax or really act around people, and being little more than a corpse when Bram found her, it had to be hell on earth.

Indy isn’t ignorant, she isn’t as naive as someone who’s been completely isolated from society, but she has an almost wondrous quality about her. Like everything is new, it’s all exciting and scary, and Indy’s gratitude knows no bounds because of it. I can tell she’s had some sort of formal education, very similar to my own as a matter of fact. Indy’s rather intelligent when she’s comfortable speaking. She seems to like tinkering with things—she took apart the old school mantelclock that was broken and put it back in working order—and she really enjoys reading, and her penmanship is beautiful. But Indy doesn’t understand what the internet is.

That blew my fucking mind.

In this day and age, finding someone who not only isn’t one hundred years old but is actually younger than I am, and has no idea what the internet is? I about shit.

She told me she’s heard of it, mainly in the context of shopping, which is a concept she understands as well, but when I brought up ordering things from Amazon, Indy gave me the cutest confused look I’ve ever seen.

It’s like she was living in some sort of pioneer village right on the edge of some major city.

I’m curious as fuck, but I won’t push. Indy can tell me when she’s ready.

Or when I explode from the number of questions I have that are starting to stack up in my head.

“Indy?”

“Yes?” she responds but doesn’t move.

“Are you going to sit?”

“Yeah.”

I shake my head with a smirk. “Sometime today?”

Her gaze slowly shifts in my direction and she blinks a few times before a nervous smile curves her lips. Indy nods then walks right up to the edge of the bed and turns but as soon as I round the end of it to join her, she freezes. “You’re going to sit, too?”

“If that’s okay.” I grab my left pant leg and tug it up far enough to show her my shin rod. “I won’t if you don’t want me to, but it would be a lot easier on me.”

After a few tense moments, Indy nods, and we both sit.

She watches me closely as I grab my laptop and turn it on, positioning it on my thighs so she can see the screen. I starttapping on the keys and sliding my finger over the mousepad, quickly getting us to Amazon’s home page. Indy scoots a little closer, her eyes fixed on everything I’m doing, probably not even realizing her leg is an inch or two away from touching mine.

I don’t say anything, though. I don’t acknowledge it at all because the last thing I want is for her to freak out and shut this down when I’m just trying to help, and I’m thrilled to finally be this close to her.

“So, what do you want to look up first?”

Indy glances at me before going back to the screen. “Blankets?”

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