Page 19 of Rejected Bullied Mate

I got out a mug from the cabinet and set it on the counter before turning around to grab the kettle. I was about to fill it with water when Kiera spoke again, her voice quiet but still filling the empty space. "Do you have cocoa instead?"

My hand froze on the faucet. When I turned to her, she wasn't even looking at me, but down at her folded hands instead. Vulnerable. Fragile. How could I possibly deny her anything? This woman had just unleashed powerful magic against my wolves to protect herself, and now she was asking me for something as simple as cocoa. Something inside me softened, and I nodded.

"Yeah," I said, much gentler than before, "I do."

"Thank you," Kiera mumbled. The last traces of the magic had finally vanished from her skin, leaving her pale and exhausted. I knew I should keep pressing and get her talking again about the power she had used to fight against my pack, but something inside of me had quieted.

This was Kiera, my mate and the mother of my child. I wasn't sure why, but I wanted to treat her better than the other pack members and wanted to earn her trust. The magic she'd displayed was still terrifying, and I wasn't sure how she'd ended up with that much power, but Kiera didn't look dangerous. She looked scared and overwhelmed, and my wolf didn't want me to keep pressing. I'd made a promise to my father that I'd be the best Alpha I could be for this pack, but part of that promise included my Omega, too. She was mine to care for.

I finished heating up the milk and poured the hot chocolate into a wide mug. Kiera's eyes didn't move from the table while I brought it to her, and I set the cup down gently in front of her, hoping she'd be able to feel that I didn't want to argue.

Her fingers wrapped around the mug tightly, no doubt warming them. I waited for the tension to drain from her shoulders, but it didn't. Her muscles locked so tightly that it was a shock she could even breathe.

"I'm not going to force any answers out of you tonight," I told her, "So relax."

She did, marginally. "You aren't going to tell me what a stupid mistake I made?"

"Would you like me to?" I raised an eyebrow. She'd just thrown three of my shifters to the ground without even blinking. Kiera might have been the pack's outcast, but I'd be stupid to not be aware of what she was capable of now. She was still weak as an Omega, but this power that had awoken inside her was anything but.

"Not particularly." She still sounded on edge, and her fingers tightened around her mug, but she wasn't shaking anymore.

I waited until she let out a long breath and finally took a drink before speaking again, "How long did those three assholes mess with you before you left the pack?"

She sighed and set her mug down. "Since I was a kid. They always called me human, weak, worthless...you know, all the classics." She traced her finger around the edge of the mug. "I thought they'd have grown out of it by now. Apparently not."

Anger rose in me even though I had no excuse to feel it. I hadn't exactly been kind to her back then either, but I hadn't known just how rough she had it. "If I'd been aware, Kiera..." I clenched and unclenched my fists, the red moon making it difficult for me to keep my temper in check. "I know I was a jerk back then, but I would have stopped it had I known."

She didn't look like she was convinced. "Even if I really was human?"

I didn't argue the point. I knew she wasn't human. Both her parents were shifters. She might have been a weak shifter, but she wasn't human. "You were part of my pack, human or not, and my job was to keep you safe. Even before you became my Omega...you still mattered."

For a long moment, Kiera just stared, steam from her cocoa curling up and bracketing her face. It was like she wasn't sure if she believed me or not, but her face softened. Just slightly, but it was better than nothing. Had anyone told her that she mattered before?

"I feel short. I fucked up." I admitted. "But I have no intention of letting anything like that happen ever again. I'm a better Alpha than I was back then. And I can be a better man, Kiera, even if you don't like the way I go about it."

She inhaled sharply, her throat bobbing as she swallowed. When her tongue came out to wet her lower lip, I couldn't take my eyes off it. Her mouth was slightly parted, as if she wanted to say something, but she wasn't sure what. Kiera needed space, she needed time, but before I could stop myself, I was leaning forward, a hand on her knee, determined to coax whatever unsaid words she had in her mouth out with a kiss. I was denied my shift beneath the red moon, but I could accept that if I could just kiss her—

Then, before I reached her, a small voice called out from down the hallway, "Mama?"

Kiera jerked back, almost yelping in surprise at what she was about to do. "Coming, my love," hurrying down the hallway without sparing me a second glance. I followed, annoyed but understanding her priorities, and stayed far enough behind her that she wouldn't feel crowded.

When we reached his room, Kit was sitting up in bed, his face creased from his pillow. His blanket tangled around his legs as he reached out blindly in the dark for the comfort of his mother. "I had a bad dream."

"I'm here, baby," Kiera murmured, sitting on the bed with him and holding him close, her voice low. She smoothed his hair down and repeated, "I'm right here."

Her voice was steady, with no trace of the fear or anxiety she must have felt from the confrontation back at the bonfire. There was no trembling in her hands as she rubbed Kit's back, and no hesitation when she pressed a kiss to his temple. She was calm, solid, and strong. Everything a mother should be.

And then it hit me. The woman who had been obviously scared, even a little skittish, back in the kitchen moments ago had disappeared. Whatever she'd been feeling—about me, her power, or the whole damn situation—it had all been pushed away for her son.

For Kit, Kiera was fearless.

I leaned against the doorframe, content to just watch as she tucked the blanket back around the boy, whispering soft reassurances until his breathing evened out and his eyes closed one more. With his mother beside him, Kit could quickly conquer the fear of his nightmare and relax back into the mattress, comforted and safe.

She stayed a moment longer, making sure that he was truly asleep, before she rose and stepped back towards me.

I pushed off the doorframe and motioned for her to follow me. When she didn't move, I frowned. "I'm not going to bite you," I said, trying to make a joke, but Kiera's face only darkened.

She shook her head, stepping past me and into the hall. I followed her back to the kitchen table and watched as she picked up her hot chocolate again, though she didn't drink any. Instead, she looked down into the cup as if she was trying to make a decision, and it took long minutes until she was able to look back up at me.

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