Page 44 of His Sold Fated Mate

Her eyebrows went up. “Pardon?”

“From him. Do you have scars from him?”

Her fork paused, and she looked down at her plate. “I have a few, but he was normally careful where he hit.”

I tightened my fingers on the spatula. “Where?”

She licked her lips. “If I share, will you share? How you got yours?”

I didn’t like to talk about my scars, but if she was going to open up, it was only fair that I told her about mine. “I guess that’s a fair trade.”

She clicked her tongue, her eyes growing sad as she looked down at her coffee. “I have a scar on my left ankle from when he tripped me, and I fell down a flight of stairs. I had to get surgery. So, I suppose the scar wasn’t his doing. I have a scar on my right shoulder from where he threw a piece of glass at me.”

“What!”

“I broke a cup, and he threw the broken glass at me. He was pissed and drunk.”

I ground my teeth together, and she softened her gaze. “I don’t have to talk about the details.”

I shook my head. “I want to know.” I’d been trying to ignore her past, trying not to dig anything up, and that had been wrong. I needed to know. Aubrey was a part of this pack now, and I needed to treat her like a member.

She tapped her hand on her mug. “But the more you know, the angrier you’re going to get.”

I nodded. “Yes, and when I meet him, I’ll strangle him to death with my own bare hands.”

She snorted. “I’m okay, I swear.”

I frowned. “You’re not, Aubrey. I saw the way you shook like night. You’re not fine.”

She chewed on her lower lip. “Maybe, but I’m getting there.”

“I wish I knew sooner. God, I wouldn’t have been so rough last night.”

She shook her head. “You weren’t rough, Klaus. You were gentle with me last night. You asked me to tell you if anything hurt, and I promised I would.”

“I could have been nicer.” I wasn’t sure if that was true. Once I kissed her, all rational thoughts went out the window. I wanted to hear her moan. I wanted to mark her body up in every way that I could. I pulled her hair because I saw the way her body reacted to it. I bit her neck, and I could feel the way she tightened around my dick.

“I meant what I said. You’re safe here. I don’t want you to feel that you have to look over your shoulder. He will not touch you here.”

She frowned. “You don’t know Mike or what he’s capable of doing.”

I smirked. “And you don’t know the things that I’m capable of. I protect my pack, Aubrey. I don’t take threats lightly, either. If he so much as comes near you, he’s going into a grave.”

She poked at her pancake. “I’ve been trying to break free for a long time, Klaus. It’s not that simple.”

“I want to help. Let me help.”

“You are.” She offered me a soft smile. “This is helping. Just being here and talking is helping.”

I stared into her eyes and felt the twist. I wanted to pull her into my arms and kiss her. It surprised me how much I wanted to care for her. I’d never wanted to care about a person as much as I did with her. I wanted to keep her safe from any harm, even what my own hands could do. I sighed. “I just… I don’t want to hurt you any more than you have been, Aubrey.”

“I’m okay, Klaus. I promise. I have to head to the library. Are we good?”

I nodded, feeling a tug deep in my chest as she got up. “I’ll be around later.”

“I have a city hall meeting this afternoon if you want to join.”

“Of course. Just send me a text of what time and I’ll be there.” She got up and headed back up the stairs.