But if he was going to help this omega—and for some reason, he really wanted to—then he was going to have to learn, and fast. At the very least, he had to figure out how to make her stop crying.
Cade wasn't sure why he felt drawn to her, other than the obvious reason that she was an unmated, unclaimed omega. But if that was the only reason, he'd have a raging hard-on and an overwhelming urge to simply fuck her tears away.
But that wasn't what he was feeling.
Sure, he was attracted to her—massively, staggeringly. But that wasn't the reason he'd brought her home with him. His little show of misguided chivalry was due to a compulsion to protect her that he couldn't ignore. To…take care of her. And if he had to comfort her first to do it, then so be it.
Cade looked around first to reassure himself, but of course, there was no one on his land to see what he was about to do. Awkwardly, he lowered himself down on his haunches by her side.
"Don't cry."
It came out a little harsher than he intended, and it was clear from her continued sobbing that his words had done nothing to break through her terror.
"Uh…please don't cry."
Nothing.
Not knowing what else to do, Cade gave her a clumsy pat on the back, but the shock of his touch only sent her skittering farther away.
Oh, for fuck's sake. Why did this have to be so damn hard?
Cade wasn't some touchy-feely beta trying to pick up a girl in a grocery store or some shit. He was a goddamn alpha. Alphas didn't soothe, they protected. They guarded.
But maybe that was the problem.
This omega had never felt the touch of a real alpha, of a man who wouldn't merely not hurt her, but would tear apart the whole goddamned world if anyone tried to harm her.
With sudden clarity, Cade remembered that was exactly who he was. Not only that—he was pretty damn sure it was what this omega needed, the thing that might just calm her down.
Dropping all pretense, Cade closed his eyes and blocked out everything but his instincts. He smothered the voices who'd told him he was too young or too cocky or too quick to fight and dug deep for who he was when he crossed the border for the first time, when he was filled with the rush of finally knowing he was where he was meant to be.
When he opened his eyes again, Cade knew exactly what to do.
He reached out and grabbed the woman and pulled her into his arms, wrapping his own tightly around her so that she was completely shielded from the outside world.
"It's all right," he told her solemnly. Let other guys do the sweet-talking. All Cade had was the truth, but his instincts told him that was all she needed. "I got you now."
She stilled in his arms, her only motion the rise and fall of her breath. Cade felt the tension slowly melt away. One last hot tear fell on his forearm, but that was all. She was finished with crying. Even her scent shifted, the sour sting of fear giving way to a deeper, earthier smell, like the gentle warmth of a crackling fire in the middle of winter.
Cade pulled her even closer, burying his face in her corn-silk hair and unconsciously matching his breath to hers. His next words came with no forethought at all.
"I've got you, and no one is ever going to hurt you again.”
Chapter Five
An alpha had her trapped in his arms, his hard chest pressed to her back, his breath on her neck. His voice was deep and rumbling and reached deep inside her so that she could feel him in every cell of her body.
Emily couldn't process what he was saying—all she could do was wait, frozen, for the air to be squeezed from her lungs. She knew what would happen. She'd be crushed until she almost passed out, then released only so that the torment could continue. Again and again and again.
Except…this time things were different.
This alpha was different.
Cade.
Emily turned the name over in her mind as the tension slowly drained out of her. It was almost as if his voice—or maybe it was his touch—was a powerful sedative. She didn't feel sleepy, exactly, just…limp. Boneless.
Relaxed…?
This was a feeling that Emily hadn't had in so long, she barely recognized it. But as Cade continued to murmur, almost purring, she felt soothed, even comforted. His arms weren't trapping her; they were loose enough that she instinctively knew he would let her go if she insisted now. Something had changed between them. Her terror was a disaster that he'd averted, a flash fire he'd put out.
Cade's voice was deep, like Sloan's, but otherwise, it had little in common. Sloan always spoke in a hoarse rasp, with a cruel edge that had frightened her from the start. Over time, hearing him talk came to elicit an automatic reaction in Emily: her heart started racing, and she shrank into herself, overwhelmed by the desire to disappear.
With Cade, it was different. His words found their way into her veins and flowed along with her blood, gently untying all her knots of tension from the inside out.
But as her intellect caught up with her emotions, Emily’s mind signaled caution. She had absolutely no reason to trust Cade, she reminded herself.
No one had to tell her what he was—an alpha, quick-tempered and violent by nature. She knew firsthand the strength in an alpha's muscles, the damage that those hands could do. And she knew how quickly an alpha's temper could be provoked.
But despite all that, Emily couldn't seem to rouse herself from the warmth of Cade’s embrace, the raw honesty behind his words.
I've got you.
No one is ever going to hurt you again.
It was almost enough to make Emily dare to hope again.
No. No! Just as quickly as that deceitful emotion appeared, she swatted it down. She'd survived too much to be tempted by hope's false promises ever again.
Still…after the day she'd had—hell, after the last two months she'd had—Emily deserved a little solace. What harm could it do to stay just a little longer in this temporary comfort?
No harm…as long as she didn't lose herself in it.
Which would be way too easy to do. Emily inhaled one last time of Cade’s scent—wood smoke and leather and pine—before reluctantly pulling away.
She settled back down onto the soft blanket of pine needles on the forest floor, half expecting Cade to grab for her again. But he didn't.
In Emily's experience, there were only two reasons an alpha ever touched an omega—when he wanted to hit her or when he wanted to fuck her. In neither of those scenarios did Emily have any choice in the matter. Whatever he wanted to do to her, she was powerless to stop him.
That was why she was so surprised when she lifted her head and found Cade still bent down on his haunches in front of her, his unusual gold-flecked eyes locked with hers. She detected no anger in their depths. No violent lust, either.
Emily struggled to define the emotions he seemed to be battling. The intensity of his gaze filled her with a strange awareness that bordered on discomfort. There was curiosity, yes, and perhaps a bit of frustration, but also…compassion? Concern?
But that was ridiculous. Those weren't emotions that alphas were capable of experiencing.
Emily suddenly realized she had been staring and immediately dropped her gaze. She struggled up to her feet, wincing at a sharp stab of pain in her right knee as she tried to lock it.
"I'm sorry," she gasped.