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I stand there frozen as he makes his way into the house, nudging the garage door shut to keep the cold out. He sets the bagsof groceries down on the kitchen counter before turning to face me.

He keeps his distance, almost like he doesn’t want to spook me.

“Sorry, shopping took longer than I thought it would, I wanted to see if I could have some food ready for you by the time you woke up,” Madden says, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

I blink up at him in surprise. He wanted to have food ready for me? But I’m the omega. It’s my purpose to take care of alphas.

I glance at the sheer amount of food on the table and panic starts to grow heavy in my gut. Four alphas must have huge appetites if Madden has gone out to get this much food. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much in my entire life.

“N—no need to apologize,” I say, clasping my hands in front of me around the pill bottle. “Would you—would you like me to leave?”

He steps towards me. His dark chocolate scent wraps itself around me and I have to force myself to swallow the sigh that’s working its way up my throat. His scent is so much better in real life than it is on a t-shirt.

“No, please stay,” he says. “I just have to go grab the rest of the groceries.”

There’s more? How much did all this food cost?

I scold myself in my head. That’s such a stupid question. Of course alphas like these don’t have to worry about money for food, look at the kitchen I’m in!

Still, this can be an opportunity for me. I need to make it known I want to be useful. I want to earn my keep.

“Do you need help?” I ask.

Madden glances down at my legs, still covered in bandages and gives me a kind smile. “No, it’s okay. I got it.”

I deflate. Of course he wouldn’t want my help. He has moremuscle in his forearm than I do in my entire body. I was stupid enough to even offer.

Madden surprises me by taking a few slow steps towards me, as if giving me time to run away if I want, before lifting my chin to meet his eyes.

My focus pinpoints on where he’s touching me. It’s such a soft touch from an alpha who holds so much power in his body.

“How about this,” he says. “I’ll definitely need some help putting all of these groceries away, so how about you sit tight until I get everything inside and then we put everything away together.”

“Okay!” Excitement hits me. He’s giving me something I can do to help! This is good. This is great, even.

“Good girl,” he says, his fingertips tracing my jaw before he turns quickly and heads back through the door to the garage.

My own hand lifts to where Madden touched me and inhale sharply. God. I think I’m blushing redder than a tomato right now. It feels like my face is on fire.

I shuffle over to the plastic bags on the kitchen counter and start peeking into them.

There are bags full of fresh vegetables and fresh fruit. I don’t think I’ve had vegetables that weren’t out of a can in my entire life.

There’s chicken, beef, and even fish, wrapped in fresh butcher’s paper. I check the price tag of the beef and my eyes bug out. Why are beef tenderloin steaks so expensive?

“Alright,” Madden says, carrying another armful of groceries in. “This is the last of them.”

I take a quick step back from the groceries, wincing a bit as I place a bit of weight on one of the cuts on my feet.

“Oh shit, your pain meds are probably wearing off by now, huh,” Madden says.

I give him a nod. “I—I came downstairs because Chase said I had to eat something before I could take them.”

“Ah, here, how about you take a seat first?” Madden says, nodding his head to oneof the barstools.

“What about me helping?” I ask softly, not wanting him to think I can’t help. My pain medication can wait.

“It’s okay,” he says, waving his hand. “I can get started putting all the frozen stuff away. The freezer’s pretty straightforward, we just sort of throw everything that needs freezing in there.”