Chapter 28

Killian:

I watched as my mate took a step back, avoiding my eyes for a second as her heart raced. 

She didn’t even understand how much I wanted to know who dared hurt her the way that they did in the first place, but that was something that I was going to have to figure out with time.

“I would like to be excused.”

“Eleanor,”

“Please, Alpha.” She said, stopping me. Tears formed in her eyes and I frowned as she turned around to leave. I frowned and wrapped my hand around her arm, stopping her. I slowly put my hand on her shoulder, gently massaging it before sliding her sleeve down a bit. The V-cut that was on the dress made it a lot easier for me to do so.

“I am not going to hurt you, Eleanor.” I lowered my voice to above a whisper as I looked at her, letting her know that I did not intend to hurt her. 

She froze completely and I could tell that she was holding her breath as I looked at her back, my heart dropping to my stomach as I saw the whip bruise. Her heart raced against her chest and I slowly touched her swollen and cut skin. 

She arched her back and moved away from me before raising her dress to fix it. She didn’t bother saying a word as she turned around to face me, her eyes holding an amount of pain that I didn’t like. 

She looked at me for a second before shaking her head as she walked past me, making sure not to touch me as she walked back toward the house. I took a deep breath, calming myself before nodding at the stable boy to come. He nodded and took Alexandra as I followed Eleanor to the suite. 

She refused to turn and look at me, not that I expected her to, and I had to fight the urge of wrapping my arms around her, wanting to pull her to my room to cradle her in my arms. Whoever had done this to her was a person that I was going to make sure to kill.

“Eleanor, please…”

“I have work to do, Alpha.” She said, turning around to face me. Her eyes were bloodshot red and she took a deep breath to control her pain and anger before turning to the door. “Therefore, please, allow me to go before I get in trouble with Liana over work that I have missed.”

“Eleanor, who did this to you?” I asked, shaking my head in question. “Just give me a name and I will be sure…”

“I do not need your pity.” She said, stopping me. Her tone changed as her eyes hardened. I could tell that she was fighting off her tears and that alone hurt me more than anything. Her eyes avoided mine, and though I knew and could tell that she was hurting, I could tell that she was going to refuse speaking to me if I pressured her. “If there is nothing that you would like me to do, please allow me to go and proceed with my duties.”

I studied her expression for a few seconds, my chest tightening before my eyes hardened. “You are dismissed,” 

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I watched as Eleanor walked out of the suite, not bothering to look at me or say a word as she carried a bucket in her hand. It has been the case for the past three days, and though I did believe that things were going to die down, I could tell that nothing was going to change as she wouldn’t even look at me. 

“She hasn’t been speaking to any of us either,” Natasha said, following my gaze. “I tried to understand what was wrong, but she has been refusing to open any subjects that were not related to whatever we were working on.”

“Has she been eating?”

“Barely a few bites here and there before she got up. She would often be the first to enter the kitchen and the first to leave as well.” Natasha said and I nodded.

“Did anything happen between the two of you?” She asked, and I raised an eyebrow. “I know that you don’t like me interfering in your things, but this case is different. The woman seems to be…”

“Nothing happened, Natasha,” I said, stopping her. The last thing that I wanted was for her to know about something as personal to my mate. The fact that things did not turn out as I intended was not something that I liked. The last thing that I wanted to do was hurt her, and instead, I just ended up breaking something in her. 

“Am I supposed to believe that?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You are supposed to leave and not ask considering that I chose not to answer.” I said, glaring at the woman. She raised an eyebrow before shaking her head at me.

“You are forgetting that I am not the other women in this house,” she said, before walking to the door. “Call me back here when you’ve remembered that.”

She walked out of the suite and closed the door, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I headed toward my office as I tapped the desk twice, trying to think of a logical explanation to what I have been dealing with. Had it been another woman, I knew that I wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Yes, I wouldn’t have liked someone to hurt a woman that was in MY Estate and my pack, but I also wouldn’t have fussed about it as much as I was doing now.

However, this was my mate, and the fact that I knew that I couldn’t protect her, she wasn’t even allowing me to, annoyed me. The suite’s door opened and Eleanor’s scent hit my nostrils, and shaking my head, I got up from my desk and walked toward her room as I heard her opening the door. 

“Eleanor,”

“Is there anything that you need from me, Alpha?” She asked, looking down at her feet as she avoided my eyes. Her stance was broken, unlike how she was at the garden before the whole situation happened.

“Yes,” I said, pushing her door open behind her. She frowned in confusion and watched as I nodded at her to go inside. I could have called her to my room, it was across hers anyway, but considering that I knew that she would be asking to be excused if she didn’t like where the conversation was going, I didn’t want to give her that chance when I was in her room. 

“What are you doing here?”

“I believe that this is my suite and home, I can be wherever I want to be.” I said, taking a seat on the couch that she had in her room. I nodded at her to come, and she stood in front of me, waiting for my order. I looked at the couch, silently calling her to sit down, and she shook her head at me. “I did ask, I said.” 

She chewed the inside of her mouth for a second before nodding and taking a seat beside me. “I did not intend to hurt your feelings with what I did, Eleanor.”

“Alpha,”

“You are going to listen to every word that I tell you, and you are not required to answer any of them.” I said, stopping her. “I don’t know who you are, your past, what you are hiding. Believe it or not, I am curious, and I want more than ever to find out who you are. But I also know to respect your privacy enough to give you your space to trust and accept me before opening up to me."

She looked down at her lap, avoiding my eyes and I took a deep breath as I tried to find the right words to say without hurting her. The last thing that I wanted to do was send the wrong message to the woman, making her believe something that I did not mean.

“When I asked who hurt you, I genuinely meant it because I wanted to help you. I didn’t want to hurt your feelings nor did I want you to take it the wrong way. I also wouldn’t have forced you to something that you didn’t want.” I said, my voice softening. “It might take a day, two, a week, a month, or even a year, but I want you to know that I will be waiting, very patiently, for you to trust me. And when you do, you can come and open up to me. I give you my word that I will not hurt you, I will not judge you, and if you allow me to, I will be protecting you.”

“You might not accept me for who I am,” She said and I smiled. 

“You would be surprised at what and who I can accept when I want to.” I said, my voice softening as I looked at her. I got up from the couch before putting my hands either side of her body. She frowned in confusion before I kissed her forehead. “Now, enough with the cold attitude and bring back the beautiful light that I saw in your eyes out at the garden. Whatever it is that you are hiding from, as long as I am alive, you are safe, malyshka…”