Page 80 of Locke

I shook my head. He didn’t understand. He didn’t know about my family, didn’t know about all of them in Venezuela. He didn’t know about the bounty on his head—what if he found out about that?

How was I to tell him all this? He would be angry, furious. And what about the men chasing me?

If he gets pissed enough, he’d leave me to deal with thisheatalone. I did not even know what aheator arutis! Or why it was happening!

And that was when I did something I never do; I began to cry.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Locke

If there was one thing in this world that could instantly deflate my knot, it was the sound of her tearful cries. The sight of a woman shedding tears was unbearable to me, their faces flushed with anguish, the glistening trails of sorrow streaming down their cheeks.

It was why I had my men take care of the women after a mission. Women saw me as a dick. I was stone-faced around them, ordering the men to take care of the weeping women after rescue missions. My men were better capable.

I couldn’t handle seeing women in distress.

My mate was now sobbing in front of me while my knot was lodged deep inside her. It was softening more quickly than I ever thought it could. My body was shutting down, my heartbreaking. I could hear the cries of my mother when my sister died, and I had to make her stop.

The only tears I wanted to see from her were of pleasure, not of pain.

“Baby, I’m so sorry.” I pulled on my cock. My knot was still hard, but it had softened enough to dislodge from her cunt. It made a slick pop when it fell from her body. My wolf was protesting. He wanted to shove it back inside her, but damn it, I would not have my princess cry.

I climbed over her, letting my skin feel the dampness on the sheets. I brought her body closer to me and let her head rest into my neck. “Fuck, I know I’m a lot sometimes but I swear it’s to keep you safe. But you crying like this is gonna break me.”

She sobbed again, gasping for air. “I-I am not crying. My eyes are sweating.”

As my wolf snorted, a soft snore filled the air, causing a smile to slowly spread across my face. I observed her face, which turned a deep shade of red, while her nose twitched and sniffed with each breath.

When my mother cried, my father would try to beat her. I’d always be around to stop him; tell him if he laid a hand on her, I’d do everything in my power to ruin what he had built. He would stop, but still, I would cross the line if I comforted my mother in his presence.

Mordecai saw me as nothing but a walking, emotional, weak wolf. I was weak in my father’s eyes because I had feelings toward my mother. I wanted to protect her from the bastard, but that didn’t stop the insults, the punches and blows I took for her.

“An alpha isn’t allowed to have feelings. Females are to bear children for the betterment of the pack.”

I cleared my throat and continued to stroke her face as she continued.What does one say to comfort a female?

“Emmie, let me fix it. What do you want?” I pleaded.

I fucking pleaded!

“I—I need to call someone,” she said.

I raised my head and looked for the phones that sat on the nightstand. I reached over her, bringing the phone between us and laid it on the pillow.

“Here, it’s right here. You can call whoever you want.” I very well knew it was her family. She was worried sick now that the reality of it all was crashing down on her.

Emm sniffed and stared up at me. “Can I have privacy?”

She looked so hopeful I almost let her win.

“No,” I shook my head. “You’re my mate, no secrets between us. You are finding out mine through the bond we share—”

Her eyebrows raised, and her lips parted.

“I know you’ve seen some shitty parts of me. And soon I’ll be able to see all the shitty parts of you. I know some Emmie; I’ve seen that you have been with other men, and how you’ve worked hard to be who you have become.”

Her lip wobbled, but she tried to set her lip into a pressed thin line to hide it.