Page 57 of Her Cruel Alpha

I paused for a moment when I rubbed my fingers together. “Because I understood what it feels like. Being a human and having people always thinking less of you.”

Henrik frowned. ”Do you still feel that? Even after being married?”

Things had changed when I was married, and it wasn’t like it was always like that. But I could remember times when no one stood up for me. When I had no one in my corner when I was being told I wasn’t enough.

“Yeah.”

Henrik smiled. “I hope you're aware that I will always be in your corner.” He reached a hand up, rubbing a thumb over my cheek. “I don’t want you to feel that like.”

I felt my stomach jump in a good way. I softly smiled. “I’m gathering that.” I leaned closed to him, resting my head on his shoulder. I knew that we still had a long way to go, but at least I knew that I could trust Henrik. We had come a long way and if I was being honest, Henrik had always been on my side.

The movie played and Henrik twirled my hair. Every once in a while, he would ask a question and I found myself sinking against him. It was nice. Spending this time together was peaceful in a busy life we seemed to have

“Since you seem to be so full of questions, why don’t you tell me something I don’t know?” I glanced at Henrik and found he was asleep. His face was relaxed as his chest rose and fell smoothly. He looked peaceful, which calmed me. I set the empty bowl aside and moved the sheets to slip out of the bed when his arms tightened around me, holding me closer.

“Don’t go,” he mumbled as he shifted on his pillow. “You’re warm and comforting.”

I didn’t fight him on that. I remained curled up in his arms. He was warm and made me feel safe. I didn’t fight the sleep that crept up on me.

For the next couple of days, I remained at home to help Henrik heal. He stayed in bed for the first day, his bruises mostly gone, but I knew it was still his ribs that needed to heal. Bones took the longest to heal, and with his ability slowed, it would take longer than normal.

The next couple of days, Henrik moved around the house. He relaxed in the living room, reading over reports while I cooked. He spent some time outside to get some fresh air and took in the nice weather.

“Henrik, how do you like your burgers?” I asked as I leaned outside the screen door.

Henrik looked away from the sun and towards me. He was wearing no shirt with shorts. His bruises were mostly gone, but I could see he stiffened when he turned too quickly. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m going to cook. You have a grill.” I pointed towards the grill that sat just a few feet from him.

His eyebrows went up. “You know how to use a grill.”

“Doesn’t everyone?” I asked, as I leaned on the door frame.

He smirked. “You know you're full of surprises. What else don’t I know about you?”

I snorted and grabbed the burgers, bringing them outside. Henrik turned in his seat. “No, really. What else about you do I not know?”

I set the burgers down and turned to him. “Well, what do you want to know?”

“We were paired up because we have things in common, so what do we have in common? Surely we have a handful of things in common because of that.”

I turned the grill on and leaned against the railing of the deck. “Believe it or not, but I never read the full report of how we were paired. I just read our names.”

“Okay, so then tell me something you're interested in. If you were on a date, what are some things you’d bring up.”

I had to think about it for a moment. I didn’t like to tell too much on a date because some of my hobbies scared people. “I like to fish. I used to fish when I was younger. I was pretty good at it.”

“Really?”

I nodded. “I also know French, Spanish, and Portuguese.”

His jaw dropped. “What!? Holy shit, Katie. Are you serious?”

I nodded. “I’m not great at them. I started to learn one and then got a little bored and moved on to another. I told you I spent a lot of time in school, so I was constantly looking for something to do.”

“But you can speak to them? Like fluently?”

I nodded. “I can. I can hold a conversation.”

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