The Alpha Prince's Mate (Book 7 Of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 14

Mila slowly opened her eyes. Everything hurt. She ached all over from the beating she'd taken. Her wrist and ribs hurt the worst. He hadn't broken any of her ribs, but he had bruised them. Her wrist had a nasty fracture that was going to take a while to heal. She wanted to punch Owen in his face for doing this to her.

She finally hauled herself painfully out of bed and into the bathroom before she walked into the kitchen. It was two in the morning and Riley was sleeping. There was a note on the table, letting her know there was chicken noodle soup in the fridge, that Rebekah had made. She'd been vaguely aware that Rebekah had been there earlier, but she'd been so tired, she hadn't really talked to her.

She carefully pulled out the soup and dished herself out some into a bowl. Having her wrist in a cast was incredibly annoying. She was down to one hand. Even gripping anything with that hand right now hurt. Her left hand was pretty much useless for the time being. At least she was right handed.

She sat down at the table and began to slowly eat her soup, suddenly aware of how bad her face hurt as well. Her lip was busted and she could feel salt in that wound. Ironic. She felt a tear slip down her cheek and sighed.

The other thing she was upset about was the fact that she had stood up Ethan. She'd been so worried about him standing her up and she'd done it to him. If he'd even showed. But she couldn't go to him like this, her face and body messed up from another man's fists.

She'd slept right through their coffee date this morning. She felt so horrible about it, but more than likely she would never get the chance to see him to apologize. She'd probably permanently damaged his opinion of her.

The thought of that really made the tears come and before she knew it, she was sobbing her heart out again. She cried until she couldn't anymore, then sat back, staring into her half eaten bowl of soup. She was crying over a man she barely knew. A man she hadn't even gone on a date with. A man who she thought she had a connection with. Though she'd probably just imagined it.

But he was constantly on her mind. She'd found herself wanting him last night when she'd been at her worst. Last night had been one of the worst nights of her life, and she'd found herself wanting a man she didn't even know. It was like she knew he'd offer her comfort, which was completely ridiculous. No man in his right mind was going to want to comfort a woman he didn't know after she'd been beaten on by another man and ended up in the emergency room. She had too much baggage. Hopefully he had stood her up too.

The nurse in the emergency room had asked her if she wanted to file a police report against Owen, and at first she'd said no. But then, after she'd thought about it and began to realize the damage he'd done, she'd changed her mind. She was so furious with him, and she blamed him for ruining her coffee date with Ethan.

They'd taken pictures of her bruises, among other things and she'd been asked repeatedly if she'd been raped. She was glad she hadn't, but now she was afraid it might happen. She was afraid to go home. It was why she'd so easily agreed to come back to Riley's house. She was going to have to move, and very soon. She was glad Owen didn't know where she worked. She'd made a point to not tell him that. Not yet. And now she was glad she hadn't.

She hadn't even been in that apartment for that long and had been just really turning it into a home, and Owen had come along and ruined it for her.

She wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she couldn't return there. She supposed she'd have to talk to Riley about it in the morning. She was glad that Riley was here, that she had family close by. Family who cared about her and who were willing to help her and support her. If she'd been in Chicago alone and this had happened..she didn't want to think about that.

Mila had lived in the city, in Chicago all her life. Her father had been a Chicago police officer. Her mother had died when she was sixteen, leaving her in her father's care. He'd only lived another two years after that before he'd been gunned down. That had only been four months ago. Not very long at all.

Fresh tears poured down her cheeks as she thought of him. She missed him terribly. When Riley had asked her to move to Texas, Mila had jumped at the chance. She preferred to be near family and living in Chicago had just become wearisome. It held too many memories.

She also found she preferred small town life to the big city. She was just upset that she'd met the wrong guy. Her thoughts drifted back to Ethan again. Maybe he'd been the right guy, but she'd ruined it. She'd never know now. Ethan would just be a fond memory until she forgot about him.

She got up, put her bowl in the sink, and walked back into the bedroom, hoping to get some more sleep. She got as comfortable as she could and pulled the blankets up. She sighed.

She thought back to the first day she'd laid eyes on Ethan. He'd been standing there in the Texas heat with no shirt on and she hadn't forgotten that. He looked absolutely gorgeous, his chest well defined, his arms lifting those bags of mulch like they were nothing. His abs.. they were perfect. And his V cut.. she wanted to see what it led to.

She'd seen it in her dreams. More than one dream now. She'd dreamed about him a few times today. He was always there, always naked, always first showing up as a wolf, then changing into a human. Always touching her. Always pleasuring her. Her dreams were very erotic. But now, that's all Ethan would be. A very pleasant, very erotic dream. And eventually she'd forget about him and move on.

She had no idea why he always started out as a wolf in her dreams. It was always the same wolf too, mostly black with white streaked through his fur. The wolf would approach her and she would pet him, before he would turn into a very naked Ethan. She blamed it on the books Riley had gotten her hooked on reading.

The real Ethan could fit that definition of a sexy werewolf male, with his gorgeous good looks, but he was most definitely human. He'd probably laugh if she were ever to tell him she dreamed he was a werewolf. Or think she was crazy. Which she probably was.

She picked up her latest book she'd been reading and opened it. Maybe it would help her fall back asleep.

She finally did drift off to sleep, and he was there. He shifted from the wolf and walked up to her, pulling her into his arms. He held her close, comforting her and settled down on the forest floor, holding her in his lap. No sex, just comfort, the one thing she'd needed from him. She felt calm, peaceful, and happy.

***

Sunlight filtered in on Mila's face the next morning, rousing her from her deep sleep. She opened her eyes and rolled over on her back, wincing in pain. For a moment, she'd forgotten what had happened.

Ethan had been there in her dreams, comforting her and holding her, and she felt much calmer this morning. Why was she so fixated on him? She barely knew him, but the man was definitely living rent free in his head.

She pulled herself out of bed slowly. She felt more sore this morning than she had yesterday, and she needed to talk to Riley about a bath and if she had some epsom salts. Mila definitely needed a soak, though even that now was going to be hindered by that cast.

She was off today as the garden center was closed. It was Sunday. But she did work tomorrow, and she was going to go in. She couldn't afford to keep taking days off. It was bad enough that she'd missed today.

She headed into the kitchen and found Riley sitting at the table, drinking a cup of coffee. Mila sat down across from her.