Chapter 40

Killian:

“There is a woman, her name is Eleanor, a few miles out of the city.” Viktor said, showing me a picture of the case. The empty landscape showed a barn and a house in the middle of. Three horses seemed to be tied up on one of the stable fields, and though big, it seemed empty and was only filled with cattle. “They don’t seem to have a picture of her, but they say that she killed her step father. She is on the run and they are trying to find her.” 

The fact that we were interrupted by Eleanor’s behavior stirred me more than I could describe, and the fact that I knew that she would have blurted out who she was didn’t slip my mind. I knew that it wasn’t wise of me to stop her; but I also knew better than to have her exposing who she was, if she was who I believed she was. The pack wouldn’t give her a chance to explain herself, and though I would understand their reason, it wasn’t something that I wanted happening. 

“Last name?” I asked, and he shook his head. 

“They haven’t mentioned it, but the man’s last name is Brooks, Adrian Brooks to be more specific. Her mom died at his hands and he has been taking care of her since. There are rumors around him being abusive, but that could be media play.” He said, and I nodded. 

“Take care of the case and have them stop looking for her. If she is hiding because of that, then we are going to be taking care of burying it.” I said, and he nodded. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I tried to think straight.

The barn that was in the picture looked nothing like where I pictured her coming from. If anything, she looked to be the type to live in a mansion, an Estate maybe. She didn’t seem as in awe or surprised by the size of the house and the number of maids and servants around. It was like she was used to living such a thing; therefore, to find that she came from a barn confused me. 

“What are you going to do about it?” Viktor asked and I shook my head. I still wasn’t even sure about the whole thing that he was telling me. It could be her, but I doubted that she would be able to have it in her to kill someone. To say the least, even holding a gun for her would be good. Her killing a person, be it using a gun or a knife, now that was something that I found very hard to believe. Plus, the fact that she muttered HIS name last night was not something that I could easily disregard. The anger and pain were ones that I couldn’t voice or describe. The need to protect her was something that grew more painful and agitating, and the idea of her lying to me was not something that I could drop.

“I still want us to keep the search going. Something in me tells me that it is impossible for that to be the case.” I said, looking at the man who frowned in confusion. This was going to be something that stayed between the two of us. If she was really the woman that I have been looking for, then I was not going to put her life in danger. The pain that I felt as I recalled the night before as I held onto my mate as if her life depended on it was one that I was not going to forget. 

Flashback:

I kept my arms wrapped around my mate as she slept in my arms.

Her heart raced against her ribcage despite her being asleep and her breath being even. 

I tightened my grip around her and kissed the crown of her head, wanting her to feel me. However, at this point, I could tell that we were somewhat back to square one. Her wolf was blocking the mating bond, and that was something that I could tell.

“Please don’t hurt me,” she muttered in her sleep. 

“Shh, baby girl, no one is going to hurt you.” I whispered to her, wanting her to hear me. I didn’t want to wake her up. I knew that it would scare her to wake up while her mind was putting her through nightmares. “You’re safe, baby.”

“Elton, please stop.” She said, tearing up in her sleep. I frowned in confusion as she sniffed. I tightened my grip around her as she sobbed. She fought for a few seconds, muttering occasional words like ‘please’ or ‘stop’. However, it wasn’t long before she went completely quiet as her body stilled completely.

I looked down at her for a few seconds and I couldn’t help but shake my head as I tried denying the thoughts that played in my head. My chest ached and I shook my head at my mate before forcing myself to lay down.

Speaking to her was going to be a whole lot better than coming up with conclusions. That was something that I knew very well. I forced myself to close my eyes for a few seconds before I found myself opening them again as my mind went wild before I sighed.

“What are you hiding, Eleanor?” I whispered to her. “Who the fucking hell are you?”

End of Flashback.

“I’ll go and check on her at the infirmary.” I said, and he nodded as I got up. My chest ached as I opened the door to find the maids cleaning the blood stains off the floor. The fact that she had cut her legs and hands the way that she did worried me, and the fact that she didn’t seem to acknowledge the pain was something that pained me more than I could let out.

I stood beside the door for a few seconds before forcing myself to knock on the door. The nurses were already on their feet, waiting for my orders, but I had nothing to tell them.

Natasha, who was sitting beside her bed, stood up as she took sight of me. Her eyes met mine and she shook her head. I didn’t respond, and instead, I simply chose to nod at her to leave. She frowned in confusion, but she knew better than to argue.

I knew that Eleanor was awake despite her still laying on the bed and not turning to look at me. Her heart raced, and I couldn’t help but take a deep breath, wanting to control my anger as I recalled the way that she behaved.  

I removed my gun from my holster before walking toward her. I sat down in front of her before placing the gun on top of my right knee, making sure that she saw it. The gun wasn’t loaded, but I wanted her to believe that it was, only then was she going to take my words seriously. She held her breath for a second and I forced myself to stay calm and firm. 

This was the last method that I wanted to take with her, but considering the fact that she was going to choose to hide things from me if not; then I was going to take different measures.

“Alienora Bernardi,” I said, catching her attention. Her heart raced against her ribcage and she slowly sat up to look me in the eye. She clenched her fist around the blanket that covered her, and I waited for her to react; however, she seemed to completely freeze. “Mi dispiace, ma non posso provare alcun danno fisico in quanto sono un'intelligenza artificiale senza un corpo fisico. Sono qui per fornire informazioni e assistenza. Se hai bisogno di aiuto con qualcos'altro, sarò felice di rispondere alle tue domande.” Give me one good reason why I shouldn't press this trigger and shoot one bullet on your forehead. You have thirty seconds to answer.