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He was so proud of her and even more honored to be her mate. He knew it couldn’t have been easy to trust complete strangers.
She shifted in her sleep, burrowing deeper into her pillow.
Her blanket was resting down around her hips, so he pulled it up to cover her shoulders. On an impulse, he pressed a gentle kiss to her temple. When he leaned back, he noticed her eyes were open and she was watching him with a sleepy smile.
He cupped her cheek, “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
She placed her hand over his on her cheek, then turned her face to kiss his palm, “You didn’t wake me. Doc told me to stay awake for a bit because of my concussion. I was just closing my eyes.”
He smiled, knowing she had been sound asleep, “Well, it’s good you followed his instructions. He does tend to know what he’s talking about.”
“I’m sure he does.” Then she leaned up a little bit, “Aiden, what happened to the men who attacked us?”
He took her hand that was still over top of his, “We brought the bodies back to the pack to be burned. Gabriel is probably taking care of that now.”
She nodded and buried her face back into her pillow, “I killed one of them.”
Aiden sat on the bed beside her, wrapping his arm around her waist, “You did what you had to Kenzie. They were trying to take you again. Andre’s desperation is showing. It was foolish to attack you this close to the pack.”
“Maybe so, but I still hate that I had to do it. And I killed Dimitri. He was locked in a cage, and I killed him while he was defenseless.” She covered her face with her hand, “What kind of person does that make me?”
Aiden pulled her hand away from her face to see tears streaking down her cheeks, “Please don’t cry love. Dimitri knew his fate and he provoked you intentionally so you would kill him. He knew we would have pressed for more information, and he knew he would be executed. He was a monster and a coward, and he deserved to die for his crimes.”
Kenzie shook her head, “But it didn’t need to be me. I just couldn’t control myself. I lost it. I was hurting so much, and I was so angry. All I could think about was ripping him apart. But now, even with all the hurt, I can’t get his face out of my head.”
“It might take a while to get rid of those images, but I’ll help you if I can. And if it makes you feel any better, Dimitri was more than a monster and a murderer. He’s also one of the men who hurt Sorcha and countless others, in ways we can’t even imagine.” He glanced over to Sorcha’s sleeping face.
He had seen many of her scars, visible even through her fur. She tried to hide any time she shifted and often wore long sleeves, but it didn’t matter. He had caught glimpses and he knew Marshall and Kenzie both had noticed them too. She had suffered horribly.
Kenzie squeezed his hand, “Actually, that helps a lot, thank you.”
He leaned over and kissed her temple again, “Of course. Now, I think you should put all the bad things out of your mind and try to get some sleep. Dream of me, that’ll make you feel better.”
She chuckled, “You’re ridiculous. Go away so I can sleep. You’re distracting.”
He stood up and pulled the blanket back up to cover her again, “Okay, I’m going. I’ll come back in a few hours to check on you.”
“Thank you, Aiden.” She smiled at him as he turned to leave the room.
He blew her a kiss from the doorway, “Always baby. Sweet dreams.”
He waited for her to close her eyes before he started to leave, but then he saw that Sorcha was also awake.
“You two are good together. You make her happy and take away her pain.”Sorcha’s eyes watched him as she spoke in his head.
He nodded,“She makes me happy too. And I will always do my best to take away her pain.”
“Marshall helps with my pain too, though I haven’t told him.”
It truly made him so happy to hear her say that.“You should tell him.”
She shook her head slightly,“I can’t give him anything except friendship right now.”
“Darlin, he is not going to ask you for anything. All he wants to do is help. He knows you’re hurting, and it hurts him too. All he wants to do is protect you, but he can’t protect you from the past. You can trust him if you are willing to. He would do anything for you.”
“I know he would. I will try to let him in more.”She smiled at him, “Thank you Aiden.”
“Always.”He winked at her, making her giggle. She wiggled her fingers at him in a little wave. He smiled as she closed her eyes again, then turned and headed back to the house.
