An Unwavering Promise--Completed

Chapter Twenty-Four

Alexander’s POV

Making sure to protect her head, I carefully guided Eleanor out from under the table once everything calmed down. The coffee shop was a wreck. The team I had been assigned had really done a number on the place. The windows were completely shattered, tables were upturned, and even parts of the walls were falling down. There were several gaping holes into the adjoining eatery next door. We had cleared all of the surrounding buildings of people to ensure there wouldn’t be any casualties. All that had mattered was making sure Eleanor was safe. I wasn’t going to lose her again. And certainly not to him.

I gazed over and watched him being forced to the ground and cuffed with silver. Dominic was then roughly brought to his feet and pushed outside to where the armored van was waiting for him. He wouldn’t be getting away any time soon. I would personally make sure of that. I smiled with pride. This was the part of the job I loved: seeing it come to fruition with a positive outcome.

“Eleanor!” Dominic shouted as he was pulled away.

Eleanor started towards him, but I pulled her back into my arms, holding her in place.

“What are you doing?” Elenaor asked.

I frowned and looked over at her with a confused expression. She repeated the question, but it still didn’t make any sense to me.

“I was finally getting answers! You don’t know the whole story! Why did you burst in like that? I was getting somewhere with him! Now, I doubt he’ll trust me again! He probably thinks I set him up!” she yelled.

Flabbergasted, I simply stared at my mate with my mouth agape. This was not the happy reunion I had envisioned.

Explain to her why we did it. She was in danger. Tell her that we are not the bad guys. She’s sensible. She’ll understand. Dominic wasn’t going to just give her up.

I nodded at Hunter and then stated, “Yeah, you were in danger! We had to get you out. It’s my duty to protect you, to–”

“No,” she interrupted heatedly. “Your job as my mate is to support me. I can take care of myself. How many times do I have to say that?”

“This was the mission, Eleanor. We agreed to capture him. You did set him up! You weren’t prepared for this. I was against it from the start. I did have to save you because you don’t know when to stop!” I replied, instantly regretting my words.

Eleanor’s face crumpled as she looked back at me. I could see her replaying my words. I could see the hurt I had caused.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

Holding up a hand, she shook her head. “No,” she said tersely. “You’re probably right. I wasn’t supposed to go into the building. I broke protocol. You did what you thought was necessary.”

“Still. I’m sorry. I crossed the line. I know you can handle yourself. It’s just… To not know what was going to happen to you. I couldn’t handle it. I can’t imagine my life without you.”

She stayed quiet as we made our way out of the building and to the car I had parked down the street. We would need to debrief later, but I knew that we had to sort this out before going to headquarters.

“Couldn’t you tell I was perfectly fine?” Eleanor whispered suddenly.

“What do you mean?” I replied.

“When you showed up, not only could I smell your scent, but I felt your emotions: your anger and relief. I did my best to tell you through the bond that I was fine. Why couldn’t you trust that? I understand that you can’t bear the thought of losing me, but when will you learn to trust in my decisions the way that I trust in yours?”

My breath hitched as she asked me the same question I’d been asking myself since I realized it was the truth. Why couldn’t I feel her? It was a known fact for mates to be able to feel one another through the mate bond. Part of me knew something was off. I could still inhale her scent. I knew she was my mate. I had this overwhelming longing for her at all times. But, that was it. I couldn’t sense her emotions. If she had conveyed some sort of message to me through the bond, I couldn’t receive it.

Climbing into the car, I waited until she also entered and put on her seatbelt.

“My darling,” I began, not really knowing how to start this conversation. “I’ve been holding onto something for too long. I didn’t know how to tell you. And honestly, I thought it would fix itself if I just let it be. I, uh, I can’t you in the mate bond. I can’t sense your emotions or tell what mood you’re in unless it’s on your face. Whatever you meant to tell me as you entered the coffee shop didn’t transpire on my end. I don’t know if I’m broken or if Nicholas messed something up within me when he decided to toy with me. I don’t know exactly what’s wrong, but just that it is. I couldn’t tell that you were safe with Dominic.”

She was quiet for a little while before finally saying, “That explains a lot, actually. Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out and get through it. We’ve overcome every obstacle in our path thus far, so why let this hinder us and stop us? We’ll ask Hailey and see if she knows anything or knows someone to talk to about it. You’re not broken, Alex. I refuse to believe that.”

I felt overwhelmed by the amount of love from my mate. It wasn’t through the bond that I was feeling this, I just knew that was how she felt. I covered her hands in mine and squeezed. The Moon Goddess had really given me a gem by giving me Eleanor.

“Thank you,” I breathed. “Apparently, I really needed to hear that.”

“I love you, Alex. And I won’t stop loving you just because you can’t feel what I feel. Humans don’t have this bond, and they seem to be doing just fine.”

I marveled at her. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Nope,” she laughed. “You really don’t, but that’s okay.”

Hunter laughed with her, and for the first time, in quite a while, I was at peace. Things had become so hectic and wild in the past year. If someone had told me that the Alpha Sumit would literally change my life and how I perceived the world, I would have laughed at them. However, looking back at everything we’d been through, I knew it was for the best. The world needed to see how much more there was to it. Humans had lived unchecked for centuries, and it was time for a change. The dragons needed to come back, the mysteries of the orcs needed to be discovered, and the demons needed to remain locked away in their plane of existence.

“Where do we stand?” I then asked.

Eleanor took a deep breath and let it out. “We’re good. I’m still a little annoyed that you overreacted. But then you explained where you were coming from and that helped. You also told me about the reason why you can’t trust me all the time and that also helped. My annoyance will go away pretty soon. But, overall, I think we’re fine, unless you have something?”

“I’m still mad at you for going off script back there. However, you are far too curious for your own good, so the allure of answers was too great for you to ignore. If I ever have an answer for you, I’ll make sure to let you know as soon as I can. I hope in the future that you never do that again, but I will do my best to give you the benefit of the doubt. You don’t often do things without reason, and I do want to show you that I do trust you and your decisions. My anger will subside soon, too,” I said.

“Okay. So…we’re good?”

I chuckled. “Yes, we’re good.”

“Good. Because I’ve been wanting to do this since the coffee shop,” she said before leaning in and pressing a kiss to my lips.

My hands instantly went into her hair, and she let my tongue enter her mouth. This she-wolf made me weak in the knees by just kissing me. I couldn’t get enough of her.

Eleanor broke our kiss by pushing away slightly and saying, “If we go any further, I won’t be able to stop.”

“I don’t want you to stop,” I growled, feeling my lust for her grow.

She grinned at me. “In the car? You really wanna ruin the car? And what about being in public? We could get in trouble if anyone sees us!”

I shrugged. “A little risk makes things hotter in my opinion. Besides, we haven’t christened the car yet, and it’s been feeling left out.”

“Ew!” she laughed, punching my shoulder.

“I wouldn’t mind if we get in trouble,” I then said huskily.

She only giggled and shook her head. “Don’t we have a meeting to get to?”

A knock on the window startled us both.

“Yes, we do,” Natalie said in disgust. “And I’m supposed to ride with you guys to head quarters. I would prefer you not have s*x in the car.”

Eleanor and I locked eyes, and both of us burst out laughing.