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When he went back to work, Adar’s mind drifted to that angelic face. Even under all the bruises, Oliver’s beauty had been unmistakable. Adar had never seen anyone as pretty as him, and his belly went weak and soft.
So that was what it felt like to recognize your mate, the certainty of knowing that everyone kept talking about without being able to explain how it felt. Adar could understand that problem now because he didn’t have words either. All he knew was that Oliver was his.
He’d have to be patient, though. Very patient. Good thing he wasn’t in any rush. Now that he’d met his mate, he could and would wait as long as needed until Oliver was ready. Hell, maybe Oliver didn’t even recognize the bond between them. Wouldn’t be the first time in the pack. Some triads had taken their sweet time to find each other, so it wouldn’t surprise Adar if that were the case for Oliver and him.
The omega probably wasn’t even interested in anything anytime soon, not after what he’d been through—though Adar suspected the abuse had been far worse than he had realized—and that was fine. Adar would wait. Fate had proven she had her ways of working things out, so all he had to do was be patient.
In the meantime, he would think of a million ways to kill Dempsey. He’d hurt him first. The man didn’t deserve a slow death. No, he had some payback coming, and Adar would be all too happy to let the asshole experience every single thing he’d ever inflicted upon Oliver and others. Give the man a taste of his own medicine. See if he was still so cocky then. Adar would avenge Oliver. His mate.
And once Oliver had healed, physically and emotionally, they could start getting to know each other. They could go out on dates, and Adar could woo him. He’d take his time with that as well, make sure Oliver trusted him before moving on to the next step. One day, they’d be happy together and?—
His brain came to a screeching halt.
Wait.
Fuck.
FUCK.
How would this ever work with Adar’s…proclivities? He’d learned that word when he’d done some Googling to find out if he was the only sick bastard who needed pain to function well. Not daily or even weekly, but every few weeks, he needed someone to hurt him in the right way to clear his mind and help him relax and refocus. Without it, he became tense and stressed as hell, and his temper was hair-triggered.
Newsflash: he wasn’t the only one. Discovering there were others out there like him had been a big relief. When he’d told his best friend, Isam had expressed his willingness to give Adar that pain and rough sex he craved, and everything had been perfect.
Until it wasn’t.
Isam had found his mates, and ever since, Adar had been forced to visit a club in the city on the rare occasions he could leave pack land. It was barely sufficient, never matching the intensity he’d found with Isam. Probably because Isam had known him so well, he’d been able to read Adar like a book. Those strangers only did what Adar had asked them to. Their efforts were adequate, but never more than that.
He’d counted on his mate being able to provide that. Fate knew how much Adar needed this, so she would pick someone for him who liked impact play as much as Adar did, only on the giving end instead of the receiving. Right? He’d told himself time and again to be patient, that everything would work out.
But Oliver would never be able to hurt Adar. Adar wasn’t even going to bring it up with him. How could he, after what Oliver had been through? How could he confess to his fragile angel that he craved the very thing that had traumatized Oliver? Fucked up was one way to describe it. Hell, if Oliver found out, he’d want nothing to do with Adar, and he couldn’t blame him.
Fuck.
He took a deep breath. Okay, so he’d have to get over this need. Somehow, he’d have to teach himself how to function without needing pain. He could do that. His parents had always impressed upon him that he could do anything he set his mind to, so he could accomplish this as well. He’d always been disciplined, so he’d apply that trait to this challenge and overcome it. He had no choice.
Oliver was his mate, and he’d do whatever he needed to find his happily ever after with him.
Even denying himself.
In the meantime, he wouldn’t let Oliver out of his sight. Nothing bad would ever happen to him again. Not as long as Adar was alive.
Chapter Three
Oliver checked again to ensure his bedroom door was locked. Was it the third time? The fourth? It had become a habit now, a ritual that reassured him. He’d lived his entire life in a world where locks didn’t exist, where privacy was a foreign concept, where his boundaries were completely ignored.
He still couldn’t believe his new reality, where locks represented freedom, contradictory as that might sound. Now, he could choose to hide away in his room, and no one would enter.
He took a deep breath, turned toward the mirror on the back of the door, and stepped close to study himself. The last evidence of Dempsey’s final act of brutality was gone. Finally. It had taken a long time for every bruise to disappear, for the ache in his ribs to subside, for the dull, throbbing pressure in his head to drift away.
Rest. Aside from painkillers, that had been the thing that had done the job. Rest. He slept for hours and hours, still took a three-hour nap every afternoon, only to crawl into bed again by nine and be knocked out until the early hours of the morning. Eleven or twelve hours of sleep every night was still his new normal.
Enar had explained his system was recovering. Not just Oliver’s body but his mind and soul as well. It made sense. He never felt more at peace than when he was about to fall asleep, safely tucked in a warm, clean bed, knowing that nothing and no one could hurt him.
Adar wouldn’t allow anything to happen to him.
He had become Oliver’s shadow, always watching him from a distance, guarding him, keeping him safe. He never talked to Oliver, never crowded him, never did anything to trigger Oliver’s overly sensitive defense mechanisms. All the other alphas still did, despite their best intentions. They didn’t do it on purpose. Sometimes, Oliver couldn’t even explain what had put him on the defense, but he didn’t feel safe with them. Even though he knew they would never hurt him, his subconscious hadn’t accepted that truth yet.
But Adar? The biggest alpha of them all didn’t scare Oliver one bit. On the contrary, his massive size only helped Oliver feel safe and protected. That, plus the man’s care. Oliver wasn’t sure if Adar ever slept, let alone when and where, but as soon as Oliver set foot outside his cabin, Adar was there, sending him a soft smile whenever Oliver met his eyes. Following him at a distance, never threatening, just his constant shadow.
