Chapter 46

Eleanor:

I woke up when I heard the door open.

My heart raced and I fisted my blanket in both fear and worry, waiting for whatever terror was to come. 

The light opened, and it took me a second to catch Killian’s scent and realize that I was safe, and that the fear that I lived through was now in the past. I wasn’t back at the pack where I was to be harmed the second my door was opened. 

“I’m sorry for not knocking on the door. I didn’t think that I would be waking you up.” He said, standing by the door. I nodded and ran my fingers through my hair before he slowly took a step forward. His eyes were fixed on mine as he looked into my soul, silently asking me to allow him in, to trust that he would be different, and to trust that he wouldn’t harm me.

I watched as he closed the door, and it wasn’t until I processed what I was seeing that I frowned at the sight of bruises and blood that was on his face. 

“Killian, what the…?”

“It’s nothing, malyshka.” He said, sitting beside me. I frowned in confusion and shook my head at him before extending my hand to his right cheek. I ignored my own bandage as it seemed like nothing in comparison to what I was seeing. If anyone knew what it was to have their face rearranged by beating, then it was me; therefore, I knew that this happened through a fight. 

“What do you mean it’s nothing, Killian? Your face is completely bruised.” I said, and he smiled before taking my hand in his. He kissed my palm, and I froze as I looked down at our hands. “HEY! Don’t distract me. Someone hit you, Killian…”

“Well, it wasn’t my plan to do so, but if it is done that easily…”

“Killian,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest as I looked him in the eye. “What happened?”

“Nothing, really. Vladimir and I were playing around yesterday.” He said, making my heart drop. He wasn’t being serious right now, right? I really hoped that he wasn’t. Because if THIS was playing, I didn’t want to know what was the real deal. “It is something that we do when we’re somewhat annoyed or are having a lot on our minds.”

“I take it that you had A LOT on your mind if you ended up doing this.” I said, looking at his face. The cut that was on his right eyebrow was still bleeding, and the fact that he had it uncovered as coldly as he did surprised me. 

“We managed to clear them out, a bit, at least.” He said, and I shook my head at the man before he took my hand in his. He looked down at the bandages for a second before running his finger over them, his touch feather light as to ensure that he didn’t hurt me. “How are your legs?”

“The doctors came to check on me a while ago. It seems that I am okay, at least as far as I understand. I am in a little pain though, I can’t lie about that part.” I said, and he nodded in understanding. Truth be told, normally, I would be dealing with my own pain without anyone caring about whether or not I was hurting. Even if they did, they were never really allowed to show it. Otherwise, neither Elton nor my father would be merciful to them.

“Well, you are going to need to heal properly because the two of us are going to start training.” He said, making me frown in confusion. I shook my head in question and he smirked. 

“May I ask, what is it that I am training for?” I asked. He ran his finger over my hand, gently drawing random patterns over it before letting my hand go to look me in the eye.

“Well, you are not training for anything in particular. The main thing that I want is for you to build your confidence. I think that self defense would be a good start to that. Martial arts would also help you learn to control your emotions and feelings, and they would help you grow stronger as a person.” He said, looking me in the eye. It was something that I was never allowed to do, and though an Alpha blood, I was never even allowed to train among the pack members. It was like my father always deemed me to be weak for the man who ‘claimed’ me to hurt me.

The fact that my mate, the man that was fated to claim me as his, wanted me to grow stronger was something that took me off guard; however, I didn’t know how to voice it out to him the way that I felt without upsetting him into thinking that I was comparing.

“You’re lost in your thoughts.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, looking down at my lap.

“Don’t be, actually, I am curious about what you were thinking. Mostly because I want you to be able to open up to me without fearing that I would judge you for it.” He said, making me look up at him as my heart skipped a beat. He smiled, his smile warm and welcoming. A small dimple was on his right cheek, and I couldn’t help but find myself smiling back at him.

“I don’t want you getting mad at what I was thinking.” I said, and he put his finger under my chin. I knew that he did it to make me know that he didn’t want me looking down. His words, asking me to put my chin up, played in my head, being the reminder of the difference that I was living now and my past. 

“I want you to voice out what you’re thinking, because if it is something that is hurting you, I would be able to help you with it. If it is something that you want or don’t want to do, the two of us can discuss and compromise. You’re not forced to do something that you don’t want, Eleanor. And that is something that I want you to start understanding.” He said, his voice calm and gentle. My heart raced, and I couldn’t help but look down at my lap as tears welled up in my eyes. Killian didn’t say a word before he slowly extended his arms toward me, wrapping them gently around my body as he pulled me in for a hug. “The days of the pain that you lived through, no matter what it was, are gone, okay? Keep in mind that I am going to kill everyone that dares think of harming you, do you understand me, malyshka?”

“Even though I am as broken as I am?” I asked, looking down at his lap as I avoided his eyes. My heart raced against my ribcage as I wiped my tears, not wanting him to see them. He put his hand on my right cheek, raising it gently for me to look at him before connecting his lips with my own.

His kiss was gentle, loving, and I couldn’t help but feel my heart skipping a beat with every move that we made. He smiled into the kiss before pulling away to rest his forehead against mine. 

“We are two puzzle pieces that are meant to fit, baby girl.” He said, smiling at me. “And the two of us have our scars. All we have to do is find our way to mend them.”

“What I can’t?” I asked, and he smiled. 

“Then I will be the one to mend them for you, baby girl,” he said, lowering his voice to above a whisper. “All I want from you is to let me in and allow me to do so…”