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As much as I believed him that the enforcer packs were knocking this out of the park, I wasn’t able to. Hearing their name set my senses on high alert. And nothing he could say would result in my longing to go chill with Steelwick any time soon.
“It’s not easy to hear, but that doesn’t mean it should be avoided.” I kissed his cheek. “Continue.”
“And that’s why Asilo will always be there.” He turned slightly, the sun catching his eye. “And when we find a group that hasn’t been given the opportunities they should, we help teach them skills they might need to be on their own—cooking, money management, how to change a tire, replacing a faucet, and other skills they can use for whatever packs, prides, or groups they choose to live with.”
“That’s amazing.” Those were skills everyone needed. “It must be incredibly challenging for all of you.”
“The work is tough, but very rewarding.”
“How did you decide to join Asilo Pride? Is it a job you applied for or were you born into the pride?”
His back stiffened, and I sensed I hit a sore spot. “You don’t have to tell me,” I assured him. I laid my hand on his thigh again. The touch was tentative, but it seemed to calm him. “Really, it’s fine. I won’t push.”
“No, I want to. It’s just hard. I share my story with many of the omegas that come through. I guess I never realized I would be sharing it with my mate as well,” he admitted. “On some level, of course, I knew I would have to. You deserve to know what I’ve been through.”
“If it’s too hard for you to tell me your history now, you don’t have to. I’ll wait until you’re comfortable, no matter how long that might be.” He’d been so strong through all of this. Whatever he told me had to be difficult.
My mate’s smile melted my heart. He leaned forward, pressing a kiss to my cheek. “Thank you for that,” he said. “It means more to me than you can know.”
He began sharing his story.
“I grew up in a small pride, a good one. I was happy there with an older alpha brother and a younger one. He was an omega, too. When I was barely of age, my parents talked about arranging matings for treaties and alliances.”
It was all I could do not to react to that. Arranged matings was a part of shifter history that needed to be kept firmly there. I had no problem if someone wanted help finding a mate—if it was their choice. Good for them. But historically, when arranged matings were done, the omegas had no choice, and it was basically a sales transaction. No basically to it in some circumstances. More than one omega was mated in exchange for a cow or a plot of land.
“We weren’t allowed to wait around for our fated mates. We met with another pride interested, but after one meeting, my alpha father decided I wouldn’t be mated off to them. I was fine with that, but the other pride wasn’t. They came back and stole me and ten other omegas from our pride. It was terrifying.” He closed his eyes, but continued on with his story. “We were beaten, starved, and mistreated in their pride until an enforcer pack found us and took us to Asilo for safety and to heal.”
Anger burned within me, but I kept my body still. My muscles went taut. He had to sense it, and I forced myself to remain calm. This was the shit of the days of old, only it wasn’t. It was still happening. How could that be? How could any of that be?
My mate was strong. Fierce. So incredibly amazing to survive what he’d endured and to then help others. I was lucky. Blessed by the goddess to have a mate such as him. How I longed to be able to take all of that pain away from him, to have somehow met him earlier, helped him avoid all of it in the first place. But that wasn’t the way of things. The best I could do was to be there for him now.
“That’s when I met Morgan and the others who stayed permanently within Asilo. I knew then that this was the work I wanted to do—to help others who had been through situations like mine and change things so that others are never put in that situation,” he explained.
“You were very brave and strong,” I said. “How long ago was this?”
“I’ve been with Asilo for seven years now,” he revealed. “My younger brother… he didn’t make it. He made it to Asilo, out of the clutches of the pack that took us, but his injuries were too severe that he never woke up.”
I sucked in a breath. Having Nathan here after discovering me injured as horrifically as I was, that had to have been like a sucker punch in the gut for him. His brother, his baby brother was killed. My heart hurt for both my omega and his kin. How could life be that cruel?
“The ones who hurt you, were they put on trial and punished?” They had better be dead or else I planned to track them down and murder them myself for the harm they inflicted on my mate and others.
He continued, “They were put on trial and put down for their crimes.” There was no emotion in his words. None. And my heart shattered even more.
I let out a long breath, trying to collect myself. It was my time to be strong…strong for my alpha. “I wish I could’ve taken matters into my own hands, not that I’m much of a fighter,” I confessed.
He wiped away a tear that had slipped from my eye. “Thank you for listening and for understanding.”
“Thank you for telling me.” It had been so hard for him, especially now, and yet he made it through. “I swear you’ll never be hurt by my hand. Anything you need, I will provide. We’ll go through this at the pace you set.”
He grinned. “What if it’s a fast pace?”
Heat stirred in my loins. “Whatever you need, mate, I’ll provide for you,” I assured him.
Chapter 10
Pol
After we ate, I helped Silas back into the cave to sleep for a while. Resting and lots of protein were going to go a long way in his recovery. He was already doing significantly better. Right now, his leg was my biggest concern. I wouldn’t be able to fix it on my own and getting him to help wasn’t going to be easy.
