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She shakes her head, lips pulling into a grimace—to keep more tears from falling, he suspects.
Wordlessly he wraps his arms around her waist and pulls her reluctant body tight against his chest. When he rests his cheek on the crown of her head, she shivers, but doesn’t try to move away.
They sit in silence for a long time. It takes more than an hour before she slowly begins to soften against him, and even then he suspects it’s only from sheer exhaustion.
He relaxes too, taking her with him when he leans back against the door so she can rest more comfortably on his chest.
“Jacob?”
His name leaves her on barely a whisper, but it still sends a shiver down his spine.
“Hmm?”
“I can’t give you back your memories.”
It should bother him more than it does, but right then, all that matters is that his name on her lips feels like a caress to his soul.
FOUR
ADDIE
He strokes my hair. My back. To soothe me, at first, but he keeps moving his warm palm over my scalp and down my spine long after my breathing has slowed and my body is limp against his.
At the back of my mind, I know I should be scared of this closeness to an alpha I can’t control. Iamscared, but I’m too exhausted to feel anything but the comfort of his warmth. Wrung out. Even the awful, searing guilt is numbed as I lie against his chest and listen to the slow, steady drumbeat of his heart.
I remember holding that heart in my hands when he first came to my lab. He was so badly injured, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to make use of his body. But when I held that strong, beating muscle… I still remember the surge of absolute certainty that I would bring him back, despite the odds.
I brush a thumb against his uniform, over his heart. No matter how many parts of his body I replaced with superior technology, in the end, I didn’t take his humanity.
Soft lips ghost against my scalp before I have time to register the muted throb of guilt attempting to reawaken low in my chest. I’ve done unspeakable things to him, telling both myself and him that he wasn’t a person, and yet he has capacity to feel empathy for me.
Once the exhaustion lifts, I don’t know how I will cope with that knowledge and remain intact.
I’m almost fully asleepwhen Jacob tenses beneath me, his arms constricting around me.
I’m too drowsy to feel alarm, my instincts lulled by the unwavering certainty that my alpha will protect me from any and all threats, but it does tip me back into semi-alertness.
I hear soft footsteps that quickly come to a stop, followed by a rumbled, “What the fuck?” It’s AX21.
“Shh,” Jacob whispers. “Don’t disturb her.”
“Don’t disturb…? Did the bitch make youcuddleher?” Despite AX21’s lowered voice, the shock in it is plain.
“Watch it.” Jacob’s warning tone is equally unmistakable.
“Beg your pardon?”
AX2’s warm fingers brush against my nape to move my ponytail out of the way.
AX21 sucks in a sharp breath, and I know what he’s seen, but there’s no responding sense of shame or horror in my gut. A throb of pride from my alpha ghosts through our bond as he shows off his claim, making me nuzzle into his chest, the sensations of warmth and comfort filling any crevice still capable of feeling anything but exhaustion.
There is silence in the lab for so long, I’ve nearly drifted off again when sounds of movement pulls me back from the cliff once more. AX21 sits next to Jacob, huffing a breath.
“Whywould you…?” There is worry in the other man’s voice. Concern.
My alpha scoffs. “She would have died if I didn’t.”
A long pause.
