Bending, he pressed his lips to her forehead. Jury shuddered and pleaded, “More.”
Angling his head to the side, Koe snarled, “Out!”
Hiro and Cyrus hurried from the cell as Koe pulled back to rip his shirt over his head. He was shocked when Jury did the same. Shedding her turtleneck, she stood before him in just her ribbed, black t-shirt. Koe pulled her to him, her warm skin pressing into his as he rubbed her back and arms.
Jury sighed contentedly, melting against him. “I knew this would make me feel better.” Pulling back, she pointed to a spot onher wrist. “I tripped, and he caught me here, and it felt like I was being electrocuted.”
Koe frowned at the spot and then grabbed her hand and massaged her wrist.
“That feels so good,” she sighed. “As soon as you touched me, the pain lessened, but you rubbing over the spot has made the pain disappear.” She looked up at him in confusion. “It’s just gone.” Brows shooting up, she rushed out, “I didn’t make it up, I swear.”
Koe kept rubbing her wrist and shook his head. “I know you didn’t.”
Glancing around the cell Jury said, “I still don’t even know why they asked me to come down here. They didn’t even get a chance to explain.”
Desperately, he wanted to tell her that Hiro and Cyrus had acted on their own, that he had no part in what had just happened to her. But he was a good Alpha, and good Alphas didn’t hide behind their pack, especially not when the decision had been his.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Jury,” he pulled her into him, crushing her against his body as he rocked her back and forth.
Jury rested against his chest, holding onto him with a grip that said she was afraid to let go.
“It was me, Jury,” he admitted shamefully.
Jury tensed.
“For the sake of my pack, I had to know if…” He swallowed hard around the lump of regret in his throat.
Jury’s body was rigid only a moment longer before she went lax against him. Pressing her forehead against his chest, she whispered, “I get it. I don’t blame you. I would have hurt me too.”
Her words had him tilting his face upward as he pinched his eyes closed. He swallowed hard against the guilt that threatened to choke him. What the fuck had he done?
Jury gently palmed the side of Koe’s face and pulled his head down.
Opening his eyes and looking at her, he hated himself so fucking much.
“It’s okay.” She offered him a shaky smile that didn’t quite pan out. “I’m okay. I…it doesn’t hurt anymore.”
It didn’t matter, though. In his estimation, the damage had already been done. How could she ever trust him after this? She wouldn’t.
“Koe,” she sobered and pulled back slightly. “Stop!” she demanded, brows spearing down as her chin trembled. “I can scent your turmoil, and I don’t want to be the source of it. You have every right to safeguard your pack.”
And fuck, watching her trying to be strong to assuage his guilt was so many damn things. It was gracious in a way he’d never experienced; it was strong in a way he’d never known a woman could be, and most importantly, it was Alpha female. It was the mark of a good leader, a sign of someone who could not only stand at his side, but who could battle this big, bad world with him while putting her comfort aside for the good of their pack.
Shaking his head sadly, he squeezed her hip and pleaded, “Please, let me make this up to you. I can fix this, Jury.”
He knew he was begging, and he didn’t care. He was done thinking ill of her. If his touch soothed her when another male touched her, then her wolf had chosen him. A Biter plant wouldn’t have done that.
“There’s nothing to fix, Koe.” Jury pulled her hand from where it rested against his jaw, the sudden loss of her warmth bothering him in ways he couldn’t explain.
“You had to make sure,” she soothed, looking down. “You had to keep your pack safe. You did what had to be done. I’m just an outsider. Any good Alpha would have done the same.”
Her words were a punch to the gut and not just because she was trying to pacify him after what he’d just had done to her, but because she understood his thinking and accepted it.
Jury pulled back and blinked up at him, huffing a watery-sounding laugh. “Honestly, I don’t even know why it hurt.” Her delicate brows furrowed in confusion, “They just touched me, and it was too much. No hitting, no harming. It was just mere touch.” She ran a hand up and down her arm. “I couldn’t stand it. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Yeah,” he massaged her hip, refusing to release her when she attempted to step away from him. “It makes a lot of sense.” Lifting a hand, he ran the pad of his thumb over her cheek and murmured low, “It doesn’t hurt when I touch you.”
Brow furrowing, Jury shook her head. “No. Only them. It makes no sense why other people touching me hurts, but when you do it feels…” She let the sentence taper off, but Koe had to know.
