Chapter 144

Oh, he's certainly missed this. He couldn't believe how much he'd missed his mate's body.

His ribs were still a little sore but that hardly mattered. He loved her and that was what mattered.

She moved in his arms and turned to face him, her adorable face was lit with a constant smile, his was too.

She leant forward and gave him a quick kiss. Her cinnamon flavour tasted even more delicious, he looked once more along her smooth neck and he wanted to taste her again. He hadn't known that he was able to mark his mate again, but it made sense. And he enjoyed it. The urge to mark her again had been shocking but she had been fine with it so he went for it.

"That was fun." She said as she nuzzled closer to his chest.

He chuckled, "Just fun?"

She giggled, "Okay, it was pretty… good."

He rolled his eyes and kissed the top of her head. While inhaling her scent. He knew she was joking with him.

They sat there for a couple minutes then she moved again.

"Are you still upset about me not telling you-?" She started, her eyes held a sliver of worry.

"No. I understand why you didn't tell me." His face became confused, "I don't understand why you didn't mind link me-"

"Okay, that was because I didn't want you to die. El-kor would've figured it out somehow and then…" She hugged him close causing his ribs to burn but he still loved his mate's rare hugs, "I had so many nightmares about you dying and I didn't want that to happen, in real life."

He hugged her close and rubbed her smooth back, "Okay, I understand. I wouldn't have risked it either." He spoke into her hair placing one last kiss. Her nightmares had been about him dying, his heart clenched in a strange way. And he looked down at her. He knew that she wanted to be strong, he knew that she didn't want to appear weak, but to him, a little talking is a great strength.

He gave her another kiss and decided that he would talk about it later.

"Now, how about we have a shower, because it's been awhile since I've had a decent one." He said leaning back a bit. She stared up at him with a sly smirk, "Okay, but you have to clean my hair."

"Deal." He said and climbed out of the bed, she followed, still wrapped in a blanket. He smiled at how shy she still was.

"Love, take the blanket off." He said gently as he started the shower. It was a regular corner stall, but large enough to fit five people, Raph shook his head to rid it of that thought.

"I will." She assured.

He shook his head and laughed as he got into the shower. She walked right up to the door then dropped the blankets and hopped in.

She grabbed her shampoo and handed it to him, "Here you go." She said with a cheeky smile. She always joked that the reason her arms were so strong is because she had to wash her hair.

He got it thoroughly wet and then began massaging the shampoo into her hair. He heard her sigh then say, "I don't usually massage it in."

He leaned forward and placed a kiss on her mark, "Well, I would like you to enjoy your shower."

Once he'd successfully rinsed all of the shampoo out of her thick hair she handed him a second shampoo bottle, "Why do you need two?" He asked as he began to massage it into her scalp.

He heard her giggle, "This one's for dandruff. It takes a lot to keep this hair so beautiful."

He smiled at this and then began to rinse the shampoo out. Next she handed him conditioner and he poured it onto her scalp and begun to spread it along her hair, once he was done she turned to him.

"Now it's my turn." She said with a smile, her dark hair pulled behind her back.

He turned around and waited for her to begin.

"Okay, so the first problem is… I can't reach your head." He heard her say.

He turned around with a chuckle, "Then what do you suppose we do?" He asked smiling.

She twisted her lips and he watched as her eyes thought.

"You could sit?" She suggested.

He smiled and gave her a kiss while the warm water was pouring down on both of them, "Only for you love."

Her eyes fluttered open adorably as he broke the kiss.

He sat down on the tiled floor and felt as she poured the shampoo conditioner mix into his hair. Brooke massaged it gently in, using her thumbs and swirling his hair.

"Boy's hair is weird." He heard her state. He smiled. Brooke wasn't innocent but she had an innocent charm, her eyes could look naive but they could also look just as wise. He loved the innocent side of her.

Once they were both done rinsing their hair they rubbed soap into each other's bodies. 'It was a very pleasurable experience.' Raph thought as he massaged the white lather into his mate's smooth waist and as she methodically did the same for him.

After their shower Brooke put her hair in a turban and then dressed in her robe. Then the couple headed downstairs to have some food.

While Brooke began cutting lettuce for a Caesar salad Raphael pondered over telling her about Amelia, and the fact that he had known her before.

As she tossed the salad he decided to tell her.

"Brooke, you remember when I told you about the rogue Alpha on the island? Alpha Spruce?"

She glanced at him and nodded, "The one who had kidnapped a bunch of people?"

"Yeah, him." He licked his lips, "You see, he had adopted or kidnapped, we're not sure, anyway, when we freed all of the people we also found a girl." He paused as he watched her lick her fingers of sauce.

Her eyes became distant and he could see that she'd figured it out.

"Amelia?" She said looking at him.

"Yes, she's a hybrid. Awhile back there was a group of people, you could say they were mad scientists, who'd discovered our existence. Instead of telling the world they kept it secret and experimented on Shapeshifters and Lycans, on shifters. They created hybrids. Some would be mostly Shapeshifter while some would be mostly Lycan. But you see, Lycans have a pack mindset. We believe in loyalty and honour, and we belong in a pack, together. Shapeshifters on the other hand, don't. They are devoid of honour and fight only for themselves, you've heard Duma talk about them-"

He stopped because Brooke had dropped her spoon and was standing with a shocked and worried look.

"What?" He asked getting closer.

"Amelia mentioned something. She said that our 'pet' would know what she meant by help." She said.

Raphael watched her perplexedly.

"I think she meant Duma."