Enraptured

Chapter 65

To say that I was shocked by the sight was to say the least.

I reflexively caught Belle in my arms before she collapsed on the ground. Her eyes were unfocused and fluttering about as she held Theo protectively to her chest. Her breath were so shallow that it sent my mind into overdrive.

She said that she was only going to visit my tailor to get Theo a suit made. I even sent all of my most reliable guards with her and they didn't message me about anything happening, so what on earth happened to my two precious angels to leave them in such a state?

I swiftly swept her off the ground and nodded for Watson to close the blind of my office for me as I made my way over to the decorative sofa sitting in the corner of my office. The door clicked shut when Watson finished his job and resigned himself to standing guard outside my office to give us some privacy.

I pulled Belle's favorite knitted blanket— the one that she left here the last time she took a nap at my office with Theo— over the two of them as I sat down on the sofa.

She kept muttering random words erratically under her breath. Something along the lines of "stares", "too much", and "stranger."

I tried to gently ease Theo would out of her deathly grip but she only tightened her hold and frantically whipped her head around to look up at me in a panic.

I slowly eased my fingers under her grasp and softly cooed, "Love, it's just me. Your Metri. I'm a safe person, right?"

She stared at me blankly for a moment before nodding slowly as recognition faded back into her eyes. Her grip loosened as she released a shaky breath and nodded, "R-right, Metri is safe. I came to find Metri..."

She took in a deep breath of my scent as she leaned into my chest for support. As all of her previous flight-or-flight responses drained out of her body, she slowly became limp in my arms and eventually released Theo from her arms for me.

I gently laid out our passed out little one onto the sofa next to us with his head resting against my leg. I pursed my lips when I noticed the streaks of tears dried on his cheek.

I silently pulled some of the blanket over him. Once I was sure that he would be alright for the moment, I turned my attention back to my shaken up angel.

I kissed her temple reassuringly as I held her in my arms, rubbing light circles against her back in an attempt to comfort her. With time, the tremors slowly started to fade out of her body.

She hadn't gone into a full blown panic attack like this since the time she was attacked by that man on the streets before we got together, so it pained me to see her in such a state.

And all I wanted to do was to yank out the name of their offender and hunt them down for daring to harm my family, but I knew that that wasn't what she needed at the moment. She needed me to be her pillar of support, to be calm and patient for the time being until she could ground herself again.

She whimpered slightly when I shifted my hold. I stroked her head reassuringly as I settled back down.

I started softly, "Love, would you like to talk about what happened?"

She pressed her lips into a thin line. Her head still lowered as she mindlessly thumbed a button on my shirt.

I didn't want to push her, but it pained me not to know what was hurting her.

After a painfully long period of silence, she eventually mumbled, "I'm sorry for interrupting your work. I didn't mean to get overwhelmed by everything."

I gently pulled her hand away from my shirt. Engulfing her cold fingers in my much larger hands, I pressed her hand against my cheek in an attempt to pull her attention away from her spiraling thoughts.