Chapter 41

Eleanor:

I froze, staring at the gun for a few seconds before processing the fact that he called my real name.

I didn’t even know what he was doing in there speaking to both his beta, Vladimir, and Viktor. 

All three men were inside the office, and if they knew who I was, then I was more than just a little doomed.

My heart raced against my ribcage before I forced myself to sit and look at him.

My legs and hands which were aching from the glass that tore through my skin seemed like nothing as I felt like my heart was being pulled out of my chest.

If the man that I called mate, the one person who I was supposed to feel secure around, was treating me this way, then I didn’t blame Elton for the way he treated me. Maybe it was how things were in this world. It was what I saw my father doing to my mother anyway, then what made me think that things would be any different?

The fact that I couldn’t even open up to Natasha was something that I knew pained her more than she let out. However, I didn’t want her judging me like the Alpha was. If anything, I wanted to find my security somewhere, even if it wasn’t him. I wanted to be sure that one person would look at me without pitying me like every other woman in my life did.

Flashback:

“Eleanor, I am not going to tell anyone about it. But you opening up…”

“It is not going to make any difference, Natasha. You’re just going to end up telling the Alpha, and if not the Alpha, you won’t be dealing with me. If not that, you’ll just end up feeling sorry for me. Either way, I don’t want to go through that.” I said, shaking my head at her. The one person who was ever allowed to approach me at home was a maid who worked for my mother.

She was the only woman who was smart enough to be able to help me without getting caught. And thanks to her, she was the one reason why Elton never managed to make me pregnant. Her remedies to keep me safe were the only things that kept me going. To say the least, I knew that no one would be able to hurt my child the way that I was hurt.

“Sisters don’t pity each other, Eleanor. I only want to hear you out. For fucks sake…”

“You are going to say that now and then you would choose to not want to be my sister. You would choose to want to let me go just like everyone else did.” I said, stopping her. 

“Try me, Eleanor. And if I let you go, then you can choose to fucking dagger me, do you understand?” She asked. My eyes welled up with tears and I laid down on the pillow as I sobbed. She sighed and walked toward me before gently wrapping her arms around me as I lay down. She laid her head on my shoulder and gently kissed it before sighing. “I can’t imagine who would break a soul as pure as yours, but I want you to know that you are safe, Eleanor. Whoever did this, and whatever happened, is all behind you. All you have to do is just try to open up. It would help you a lot, sestra…”

End of Flashback…

“I asked a question, Alienora.”

“Eleanor,” I said, correcting him. His eyes met mine and he raised an eyebrow. “That name died with me in the fire that burned my mother’s body.” 

“Do you really expect me to believe a word that you’re saying right now?” He asked, and I looked down at my lap. “You ran away from your ‘fiancé’, if I can say ran away…”

“What?” I asked, frowning in confusion at his accusation. 

“What are you doing here? What information have you passed to him?” He asked, his tone calm as he held the gun. Tears fell from my eyes at his words and I shook my head, wanting to wake up from this nightmare. “I ASKED A FUCKING QUESTION!”

His tone took me off guard and I jumped before closing my eyes and ears, trying to hide from him. The last thing that I wanted was for him to hit me, and I knew to anticipate it. “Your fucking games are not going to work anymore. Quit your fucking act and speak to me, what the fuck have you told the man?”

“You have lost your mind.” I said, gathering the courage to open my eyes to look at him. “You have lost YOUR FUCKING MIND.” 

I didn’t even know how the yell tore from my chest, but I knew one thing, my heart raced against my chest and even the Alpha froze, clearly surprised by my tone. “If, after everything that you saw, my fear, my pain, I fucking opened up to you to the maximum that I could, think that I am giving him any information, then you have lost it.”

“Then why the fuck didn’t you tell me that you were his fiancé, huh? Why have you been hiding under my fucking roof…?”

“You fucking said it, HIDING!” I said, grabbing the pillow from behind me. I threw it at him before I could stop myself and he frowned. “I have been fucking hiding within your stupid walls for months. I saw my safety in you and I chose to hide…”

“Hide from what? You and the fucking man were about to get married. Why the hell…?”

“Because I was fucking damn tired of all the pain that I have been through. I was tired of getting beaten, yelled at, accused, and being fucking raped to prove a point on an almost daily basis.” I said as tears fell from my eyes. The Alpha froze, processing my words before he got up from his chair. My eyes widened in surprise as he extended his hands toward me; however, I curled up and moved away from him, not wanting him to touch me. “You got what you fucking wanted,” 

“Eleanor, stop.” He said, and I shook my head at him.

“Why? So you can raise a gun? Your hand? Or is your voice this time?” I asked, sniffing as I tried to stop my tears from falling from my eyes. My wolf broke, shying back as I looked at him. “I found my safety in you. I said that your arms would hold and keep me safe, you wouldn’t hurt me. I trusted that you wouldn’t...”

“Eleanor, just listen…”

“I, Eleanor Bernardi, reject you, Alpha Killian Ivanov, as my mate and Alpha.” I said, glaring at the Alpha who shook his head at me, seeming unaffected by my words. My heart raced against my chest and I couldn’t help but find myself weakening as my wolf suffered more pain than she ever has. She has gone through enough with me, and the last thing that I wanted was to risk more pain on her. She didn’t deserve it, I didn’t deserve it either. 

Killian walked toward me, his eyes fixed on me, as if a predator chasing his prey. He cupped my cheeks as he looked me dead in the eye, making sure that he had my full attention. His hot breath mixed with my own for a few seconds before he shook his head.

“Over my dead, fucking, body.” He said, connecting his lips with mine. My heart raced against my chest and my hands shook as he pulled away to look me in the eye. The two of us took deep and slow breaths before he ran his finger over my cheekbone. “You’re mine, Eleanor, and I suggest that you keep that in mind.”