“Rafe?” He grunted, not turning in surprise which told me he had seen me enter, or at least sensed me. “Can I come in?”
He grunted again. I pursed my lips, debating.Fuck it. I shucked my clothing and it pooled on the floor. His defined back muscles jumped with each rake of his hands through his hair.
I slowly approached and placed my palm on his shoulder, over the slashing scars of a whip. He froze and his hand fisted at his side. He’d been harmed in so many ways.
A whisper of his hurt spilled through me. It was a dull throb . . . like he was attempting to stifle it. That must have been what he’d been doing the entirety of his life—suppressing things. No wonder he was always angry.
Maybe he didn’t even know how else to deal with things.
I’d kept my barrier in place the entire time, but I relaxed that muscle in my brain, and the swell of emotion flooded past the wall. He jerked like he’d been gut punched.
Rafe pressed his hands to the wall and lowered his head. My sadness seemed to break through.
I held him as he trembled.
Chapter 46
Igrabbed the strawberries Cade had just plopped in the basket, keeping step with the cart Rafe was pushing.
“You have to keep your nutrients up,” Cade murmured against my ear. I turned to look at him striding right next to me. “Omegas are too delicate.” He said this as if he were reciting something he had heard.
“Ah, all of a sudden we’re too delicate.” I raised an eyebrow. “Did you learn that at an academy?”
All Alphas and Omegas were required to take courses on the care and nuances of Omegas. There were all sorts of different schools, but some sort of education was mandated by the Council.
“We did our training online. And no, Cade was asleep with the computer open half the time,” Rafe said.
I laughed, shaking my head. There were different ways to go about it. Attending an academy, the classes were built intoschedules, or there were classes hosted at the ORD, while the last resort was an online course. Cade was still glaring at Rafe.
“Did you take his test for him?” I looked over my shoulder to meet Rafe’s brown gaze. He seemed so . . . relaxed recently.
“Dorian did,” he responded with a chuckle.
“Whatever,” Cade mumbled.
We passed the aisle stocking slick pads, and period pads for Betas. I slowed, eyeing the items and weighing whether I’d need some slick pads.
“You don’t need those, baby, I’ll lick up all the slick you produce.” Cade’s arms went around my waist and he nuzzled my neck. I snorted, tucking my chin lower and writhing in his arms from the ticklish sensation. “Fuck, I forgot,” he suddenly said and let me go. “I’m going to grab some vitamins. I read they’re good for Omega immune systems.” He veered to the right and down an aisle.
I blinked after him, catching my breath.
Sometimes that man gave me whiplash.
Rafe angled the cart down the empty lane, and I snapped out of my daze, catching up to him. A male Beta standing behind the cashier grinned and said, “Did you find everything you needed?”
“Yes, thank you.” I started placing the items on the belt.
Rafe’s head was swiveled to the side, but I couldn’t see what he was looking at. He fished inside his jeans pocket and handed me a sleek metal card.
“Here, I’ll be back in a sec.” He disappeared around the endcap, and I focused on getting everything out of the cart. It didn’t take him long to return, his legs eating up the tile.
“What’s that?”
Rafe held a book tucked against his side. I reached for it, and his lips thinned, but he didn’t fight me grabbing it. Flipping it, I read the title:Cook for your Omega.
How . . . sweet.
He cleared his throat, and his eyes kept skidding to the side. Gingerly, he took it away and placed it at the end of the moving belt. Red flushed his cheeks, and I didn’t think my heart could melt any more.
