Alpha
Cole Brown knows that the isn't supposed to be lying, but then, the young man can not help it. If he has to protect this lady, he has to make sure that she understands what it takes to be protected.
It isn't like it is a blank lie though, she is his mate for crying out loud. As he glares at her, he waits for her to come back to his comment about being his fiancee.
Emily took a deep breath and released it, words failing her.
"My head is a mist right now, Cole, I don't know what happened to me, I woke up in a strange bed in a strange house. I thought it was mine, but it isn't. My eyes hurt so badly and I don't see a fucking thing when it is at a reasonable distance," she complains, the tearing strangling her neck, fighting to kill her.
Emily wasn't going to show how weak she was, definitely not in front of this man, one she doesn't even know, talk less of trust.
Cole's face was a smirk when he said his next words.
"For someone who doesn't see well, I am shocked that you could check me out minutes ago, you know?" he said raising his brows at her in a teasing manner.
Emily felt the heat crushing her cheeks, it was warm and hard, and it felt like it was going to kill her, make her grow mad, and not even give a fucking damn about it.
"I didn't check you out... I was just making sure you didn't steal anything. Thought you were a thief for heaven's sake," she growled out stretching her legs out on the couch and using her blanket to cover her head with it.
She doesn't know why she did that but when a bust of laughter filled the air, she pushed the blanket down, peeping through a small hole she created.
"Uh huh!" was all that came out of Cole's mouth.
"Shut up! I am sorry, you know?" she says.
Cole didn't respond, he went straight to checking her out again.
For the second time since he had seen her, she seems a little pale, just like the night when he had saved her from the club.
"Are you alright?" he asked as he took a firm grip on her blanket and yanked it open.
Emily didn't fight, she was in so much pain to fight her grip on the blanket. It was the blood that soaked the side of her robe that made Cole's face grim.
"Emily, you need to tell me when you aren't fine, you know?" he said as he carried her in his arms for the second time that morning.
He started up the stairs when he heard her voice.
"I don't want to be a burden to you, besides, my mind is still a fog," she says honestly.
The young lady doesn't know why but talking with Cole makes her feel safe, and open.
That, she notices that the man doesn't utter a word, he just stays calm and manages to find his way to the room she had previously occupied.
The bed was still unmade, she felt embarrassed, but they didn't stop there, he went straight to the adjoining door plastered to the wall and walked into it.
As she glanced through the walls it was a good, well-furnished bathroom. Cole gently placed her on the slab and he eyed her warily before stepping towards the bath to turn on the water.
"You can't do this for me, Cole, no!" she says as he stood in front of the tub, his hands stopping.
Slowly, he turns towards her, his eyes hard on hers.
"Why? you are scared I am going to see you naked? well then, let me remind you that I have been doing this for the past three days now, don't mind, I wouldn't touch anything without your permission," he says still standing there.
When he was greeted by silence from the lady's part, it was enough proof for him to continue.
He filled the tub with warm water, and he brought out the scented fragrances he had rushed to the shop to buy them.
This is the first time that he is shopping for someone that isn't himself, Cole hadn't known what to buy, thus, he had picked several toiletries from the ladies' side of the supermarket and bought them.
He held out a fragrance and he was about to put it when a sharp voice tore through his mind.
"And what is that?" he asks gently.
"Lavender. Are you allergic to this?" he asks looking at the packet in his hand.
Emily didn't know what she was allergic to, she didn't even know how to respond to such things. Cole might have discovered that he sounded a little sheepish to bring that up because he grits his teeth and let that smile faintly on his face.
When he turned around to face Emily, her eyes were on him as if he was checking him out. Of course, she was doing so. Who wouldn't want to ask questions about a man they didn't know, besides, it was only his words she had for comfort.
Cole had told her that he was her fiancee. She couldn't hold to that, she needed more answers to contain herself with it.
He reached to the hem of her dress and that made her shriek beneath his touch.
"Holy Fuck! Cole," she says dreadfully.
Cole stops, his dark green eyes burning through hers.
"You can let me help you do this for you, Emily, or you can do it yourself and I will wait outside," he says making her feel safe to trust him.
Emily knows that the young man had done such things for her in the days that followed, she shouldn't be acting like a wimp, but again, she can't help it.
Taking several breaths to regulate her body, she nods her head allowing him to continue. Slowly, Cole takes off her dress and puts it in the wash basket.
Emily only had a pant, and her chest was bare. There was a bandage hogging her ribs, and her heart thumping heavily.
Emily noticed how her body seemed to be comfortable with the young man around her, it was because he didn't look at her with lust, hell no! Cole wasn't even acting like her boobs were outside and the nipples had started to harden on their own.
Cole let her know she was safe with him, whatever was in her past could stay there, he is the future, and he wants to protect her.
He strives for that protection.
When he took off the bandage, she winced in pain, and the wound was there, with stitches all over her it. The pungent smell hit her nose and she felt the hot tears prickling her eyes.
"I am sorry," Cole said to her as he glanced her way.
"You did this?" she asks her voice dreadfully frightful.
Cole looked at her, and then, realization dawned on her.
"Hell no! I wouldn't ever lay my hands on you, Emily, trust me, and if I ever set my hands on the bastard that did this to you, I swear, I might... I will strangle him with my bare hands," he gritted out.
His words made Emily shiver beside him, she looked anywhere but at his face. This made him slightly offensive. Raising his hands to pinch her chin, he forced him to look at him straight in the eyes.
"Princess, I will never hurt you, I swear to you on my alpha bloodline," he says.
This time, the young man's eyes seem to hold the truth and bring forth a cloud of questions in her mind.
"Alpha? you are an alpha?" she inquires warmly.
Cole cursed beneath his breath, but there wasn't much he could do, he had said it already.
The young lady wasn't ready to leave this topic yet, she opened her mouth to talk, to say something, but was cut short when Cole beat him to it already.
"You can ask your questions after breakfast," he says.
"When are we having breakfast?" she demanded avoiding his eyes.
Cole took in a deep breath before he releases it. It was to help stabilize his nerves. Staring at the lady with renewed strength, he started speaking.
"After you finish having a bath and I dress your wound," he says as a matter of fact.
Emily had no more questions. But then she opened her mouth to speak, it wasn't anything related to what had just happened, but she smiled when a curse escaped the young man's lips.
"Oh shit! not again," he groans out.
This made the lady chuckle, but she quickly brushes it aside as she went ahead to talk.
"I have to wash my hair, Cole, it is dirty and probably stinks as well, I can't wash it in the tub you know?" she says her eyes a brown glass as she lets her know.
She was right, Cole had a suggestion though, thus, he let her know.
"What about I help you wash your hair at the sink and then, you have a full bath in the tub then? when you are healthy enough to take full baths, you can have the shower to yourself," he says letting her know.
Emily was more than happy, she didn't think twice to buy the idea.
**
Five minutes later, Cole helped Emily climb into the bathtub, and as she sat down, she was surprised he didn't kneel beside the rub.
"I will be outside if you need me, the only thing you need to do is call my name, okay, princess?" he says letting her point sink in fairly.
Emily frowned, it was a bug frown that made Cole know that everything wasn't alright.
"You wouldn't leave me now, would you? I mean, what if I walk out of the shop and I can't see well, so, I wouldn't notice the spots of water on the floor, thus, making me slide on it and hitting my head for the second time this morning?" she asks her hand instantly going to her temple, where the first lump was starting to form.
Cole noticed it too and frowned.
"Fine, I will stick around," he says picking up the body scrub and applying more lavender to it.
"Let's get you this bath, Princess," he says sweetly.