Page 34 of Redeemed Wolf

He blew out a long sigh, turning his head to press his face to my neck. “I’m sorry,” he whispered raggedly. “I didn’t know…”

“Didn’t know what?” I asked, running my fingers through his hair.

“He said the pills would make me feel better, but I was never sick. Really, I was just scared.”

Pressing a kiss to his temple, I savored the way his breathing slowed to match mine. “What were you scared of, baby?”

“I was scared of how much I needed you. I shouldn’t need you…” A sob broke out, and he tried to turn away from me, but I wasn’t about to let him go.

“You want to know what I think?” I asked, wrapping my arms tightly over his bare chest. He nodded wordlessly. “I think that you’ve been surviving on your own for so long. You have been stronger than anyone I’ve ever met to get through it all, and even if I weren’t here, you would still make it through. That doesn’t sound like you need me at all. Wouldn’t you agree?”

He stilled, trying to think that through.

“You might not need me, Carter, just like I don’t need you, but it’s okay towanteach other. I’ve been all alone for so long, and for the first time, I think I’m ready to let someone in. I want to letyouin.”

“You do?” He peeked up at me, and while his eyes still looked glazed, he seemed a bit more coherent.

“I really do.” I kissed his forehead softly, raking my fingers through his hair. “Once we get this shit out of your system, we need to have a talk, okay?”

“About what?”

“About who you are, who I am. About where we go from here.” More importantly, we needed to talk about who his so-called father was and what he’d been up to, but I had no idea where to begin. This was going to destroy his world as he knew it, and I didn’t want him to hate me for it.

When I heard Pacey come back from the store, his familiar heavy tread making its way to the kitchen to unpack the groceries, I used my foot to unplug the drain. Carter and I sat in the tub as the water receded, our bodies slowly being reclaimed by gravity.

Leaving my soaked clothes in the tub, I grabbed a towel from under the sink to wrap around Carter’s shoulder, then threw a few more onto the floor to soak up some of the mess. “Mydownstairs neighbors are not going to be pleased,” I muttered under my breath. I wondered if the Grim Wilds bank account had enough to cover water damage.

I tucked Carter into my bed, my beast pleased to have him wrapped in our scent. “I’ll be right back. You get some rest.” He nodded, sighing as his eyes fluttered closed, then I snuck out, closing the door behind me.

Pacey was staring at his phone, eyebrows pulled low, where he’d brought up a recipe for chicken soup. When he picked up the knife and started hacking at the onion, I decided I couldn’t stand to watch the massacre.

“What the hell did that onion ever do to you?” I asked, cringing. I plucked the knife from his hand and nudged him out of the way. “It’s okay, I’ve got this.” I got started with the onions, grateful that the knife he’d bought was sharp at least.

The skills came back to me easily, but the memories of my mother did not. They left my insides feeling scraped raw as I repeated the actions she’d taught me as a pup.

“Watch your fingers. Just because you can heal, that doesn’t mean you can grow back the tip of your finger,” she’d said, booping my nose and making me giggle.

“Did you call home?” I asked to distract myself from the memories, all too aware of Pacey watching me, a strange mix of confusion and awe coming off him.

“Huh? Oh, yeah, Grandma was sleeping, but they said she’d get back to me. Hey, where’d you learn to do that?”

For a second, I debated not telling him. My memories were private, I’d never really spoken about my parents to anyone. Talking about them felt like taking a knife to myself and reopening those scabbed-over wounds. But Pacey was gazing at me with such an earnest expression that I found my hard edges softening. “My mom did. Since my dad wasn’t around so often, she mostly raised me herself, and working in the kitchen waswhat she knew best. So…” I gestured down at the neatly diced onion. “She told me that I would be able to use these skills one day to provide for my mate.”

The Overlands habit of letting the omegas care for the alphas had never sat right with me. It went against all my instincts, but I’d never felt comfortable voicing that to the others. They would only tell me I was wrong.

“Huh.” Pacey watched as I heated oil in a pot and set the chicken in to brown, before starting on the other vegetables. “Maybe you could teach me sometime.”

My hand stilled, the knife hovering over the cutting board. “Maybe…”

Only a minute later, with him still hovering over me, I sighed and passed him the peeler. “Here, think you can peel the carrots?”

“Of course, thank you!”

I told myself I was letting him help because it would mean less work for me, and that it had nothing to do with the eager gleam in the burly man’s eyes as he followed my instructions. It wasn’t my job to teach new skills to others.

Chapter 16

Carter

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