Page 47 of Feral

She pulled it on, wrinkling her nose as the scent of an alpha who wasn’t her mate enveloped her, but she didn’t seem too bothered by it. He’d seen mated females bite, scratch, and snarl to rid themselves of another alpha’s attempt to scent-mark them. At least he wouldn’t have to contend with that aspect of claiming her.

“What’s your name?” he asked, brushing a lock of her wet hair from her face. She was a pretty little thing, he’d give Barnes that, though looks had never played much of a role for alphas when it came to finding a mate.

“Lillian,” she said, meeting his gaze.

“Okay. I want you to know that you’re going to be safe with me, Lillian. I know things are pretty shitty for you right now, but I’ll always have Barnes’ back. Even now.”

She nodded, gaze dropping back to her hands. She didn’t believe him. But she wouldn’t. Not before she had a new bond to occupy her.

He swore silently as he took in the shell of a woman in front of him. Like he did most nights, he’d planned to make himself an early dinner and fall asleep in front of the TV, if the power didn’t get knocked out during the storm, but from the looks of Barnes’ mate, he’d have to change his plans quite dramatically. She didn’t look like she’d last much longer.

“You hungry?” Least he could do was feed the girl first.

Lillian shook her head, eyes still on the floor. “No. Thank you. I just… Is there somewhere I can sleep? Please? I’m so tired.”

Jerome sighed and straightened up. “You need to eat. C’mon—you can sleep soon, but I don’t want you keeling over on me, yeah?”

When she made no move to get up, he hoisted her into his arms and carried her to his living room that also hosted his small kitchen. He plopped her down on one of the two homemade bar stools by the breakfast bar and went to pull out some of the powdered soup he stocked up on when he went into town on his monthly shopping trip. He’d poured it into a pot and followed with two pints of water before something occurred to him.

“You pregnant?”

“I don’t know.” She looked so defeated when she answered, but despite the pain in her dead gaze, he didn’t miss how her hand automatically fluttered to her belly.

Fuck.

“I’ve got meat in the freezer, but it’ll take a few hours to prep.”

“No. Thank you. I don’t need… I’m not hungry.”

He briefly considered ignoring her and getting out one of the deer haunches in his freezer, but decided speed was more important than substance for the moment.

She didn’t eat the soup when he put it down in front of her, not until he grabbed the spoon and held it to her lips. She barely parted them then, but she swallowed when the liquid filled her mouth. It was enough that he didn’t have to force-feed her, and for that he was grateful.

Once her bowl was empty, he sat down on the bar stool next to her with a sigh, leaning one elbow on the counter for support. “So… how long were you with him?”

Her voice was a hoarse whisper. “A week.”

Jerome grimaced. A week. What the fuck had made Barnes claim a girl for such a short amount of time? What’d been worth the pain he’d inflicted on her? Even with another claim to dull her loss, she’d never be quite right.

“Did he… mention what would happen, once you sought me out?”

“No. Just that you’d look after me. That they wouldn’t get to me.”

His grimace turned to a frown. “‘They?’”

“SilverCorp. Or I guess it might be the government now.” She gestured vaguely. “I don’t know if I’m of any importance to them anymore, but… they’re not gonna want me to talk. Not that anyone would believe me.”

“What, exactly, don’t they want you talking about?” A shiver made its way up from the base of his spine, a reminder of his time in the field. It was the same shiver he’d felt when danger was imminent. Something was off. Something was way off. Why would anyone, especially the government, be after his friend’s mate?

“Everything.” Her body shook violently, her fingers reaching for her now bandaged ribs. She raked them over the padded T-shirt, a mindless motion born from the same despair he saw when her face contracted. “Everything they did to him. Tous.”

“Shh, okay, calm down.” He slid off his chair to grab the distraught woman, pinning her arms to her sides as he pulled her against his body. She was stiff as a board, and her shaking only increased. “We’ll talk about it later.” Once his mark was on her neck, so she hopefully could do so without coming apart at the seams. He wanted to know—needed to know—what his brother’s final days on this Earth had been like. He peered down at her nape, saw the scars from Barnes’ claim marring one side, and drew in a deep breath. It was time.

The purr was hard to force out at first—the girl’s trembling set his own instincts on edge, but the need to soothe her for what came next won out, and so after a few false starts he managed.

Lillian softened slowly against his chest, her eyelashes fluttering against his bare skin. Gradually, her shaking eased until she was completely still.

“He did this too,” she whispered after several long moments. “He would purr for me.”

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