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

Chapter 22

Ethan relaxed at her words. She wanted to get to know him. He'd been tense since she'd called him crazy. Not that he could blame her. Especially after her last boyfriend. But she'd reacted better than he'd hoped. She hadn't been afraid of him or Maverick, and she'd accepted him. He was sort of glad she read the books she did. It made her at least somewhat open to the idea of all of this, and she'd picked up on the fact that she was his mate without him even telling her. He couldn't even imagine trying to explain that to her, though he would have done his best.

Soul Mate. It was the best explanation. His other half. His fate. The female he was destined to be with. And he was her destiny.

But now they'd gotten over that hurdle. He'd had no intention of telling her so soon, but given what had transpired over the last twenty-four hours, he'd realized it was necessary. She'd needed him, and of course, she needed to know why she needed him. There were still many more things he needed to tell her, but for now, he'd wait. He didn't want to overwhelm her any more than he already had.

Sleeping with her last night had been what he'd needed. He'd been so stressed out since Saturday morning when he'd found out what had happened to her. Now, he was calm and actually enjoying talking to her, enjoying just being around her.

She was still attracted to him, too. Even when he'd been pulling his clothes off, she'd been watching him intently, barely able to look away. It had been a bit awkward. Having her watch him strip was arousing, and he'd been half hard before he was completely undressed. Whether she'd noticed or not, he wasn't sure, but oh well. He had warned her. He didn't think she'd seen much, though. He'd shifted as quickly as he could. He hadn't wanted to make it any more awkward between them than it already was.

He studied her now, looking her over. Her face looked better today. Her bruises had more of a green color to them, and hopefully would start to fade soon. His gaze darted down to the cast again, and he wondered how long she had to wear that for. Too long in his mind, but there was nothing that could be done about it. She wasn't a werewolf.

Well, at least he didn't need an excuse to come see her now. She knew what she was to him and would expect him to be around, which thrilled him. He just needed to finish up his responsibilities with Alamo Pack, and then he could focus entirely on her.

"There are things I need to do today," she said, interrupting his thoughts.

His gaze settled back on her face, looking her over slowly. He really wanted to touch her again, but he wasn't going to yet. He'd let her initiate it. "Like?"

"My apartment. I have to go clean up the mess." She sighed, looking down at her broken wrist.

His gaze darted down to the cast on her arm. "How are you going to do that by yourself?" She wasn't. How was she even able to dress herself?

"I.." She looked a bit deflated. "I don't know."

He saw the tears coming, and he watched her closely. He might be touching her instead of waiting for her to touch him. Whatever she needed, he'd be there for her.

She sucked in a deep breath. "I'm sorry. I'm not normally like this. I'm really not one to cry over every little thing. That's not me, but I'm so overwhelmed."

Yup, she needed him again, but he'd let her meet him halfway. He laid his hand down on the table. "Mila."

She swallowed, not looking at him. She was fighting those tears. "What?"

"Give me your hand."

She placed her hand in his, then pulled her hand back, startled when she felt the tingles, and her eyes darted up to him in wonder. "You felt those?"

"Yeah."

"It's a mate thing?"

"It is." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Give me your hand, Mila. I can calm you."

She put her hand in his again and he watched her visibly relax. She brushed away a tear and looked up at him. "I think maybe I should hire someone to clean up the mess. I almost don't want to go back there, but I need to see if anything is salvageable that I missed yesterday."

"Where are you going to stay?" It was another concern. She had no where to go. She was homeless at the moment.

"Um.. I can probably stay here for a bit. I don't know. I .. I'm almost afraid to live alone now," she said softly, her gaze now on her empty bowl.

"I'm going to throw this out there, and let you think about it. You can stay with me if you want. I have a three-bedroom apartment. I'm not asking you to live with me as my girlfriend, or rather my mate, not until you're ready for that. You can have your own room and your own space. But I will keep you safe. It's not very far from the garden center either." He watched her eyes widen a bit at his offer, and she looked up at him.

"I'll think about it," she agreed.

It wasn't a no, but he knew humans tended to move much slower in relationships than werewolves did. Annoyingly slow. The chances of her saying yes weren't all that great, but at the same time, she did feel safe with him, and it may be her excuse to say yes.

"So you don't live with your pack?" she asked curiously.

He'd sort of expected that question, and knew it was a pressing one that he was going to have to answer sooner or later. He could imagine that she had a million questions. He'd answer them, though. "No. I don't live there. Well, I have a room at their pack house currently, but I'm moving out." Sort of. Technically, he'd never lived there. He'd just occupied a room for a couple of weeks.

"Why not?" She actually seemed rather concerned.

"I am not going to be in Alamo Pack much longer." He was supposed to transfer leadership today. Something he was going to have to do at some point. Not that he wanted to leave her alone.

"Did something happen? Did you get kicked out? Is that a thing?"

She seemed very concerned about that, which sort of made him smile. "No. Well, yes." He sighed. "I'm doing a great job of explaining. You can be kicked out of a pack, though it doesn't happen often, and no, I haven't been kicked out. Alamo just went through a leadership change. Their old Alpha and Beta were running the pack into the ground. They were hoarding money and hiding it. My sister, Nick, and I came in and took over the pack, but we have no intention of staying. Others, who will do a much better job, are taking over."

"So, do you have a pack?"

"I do, just not around here," he said.

"Where?"

"My pack is located in Pennsylvania." He watched her face drop as she took that in. He hadn't really wanted to tell her that yet, but it was important that she knew, and not something he'd planned to keep from her.

"So you're leaving."

He saw her face fall and her eyes got watery again surprising him. She was already that attached to him? "Mila." He squeezed her hand. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm staying here for now until we figure us out. I knew as soon as I met you what needed to happen. My family knows. My pack knows. I'll stay here as long as I need to. That's why I rented an apartment."

"You'd be willing to put your life on hold for me?" The tears were back and he gently squeezed her hand.

"Mila, I'm hoping my life will be with you. I will do what I need to do. If that includes staying in Texas for a while, then I'm fine with that. I may have to leave occasionally for some things, but I will always tell you, and if you want to go with me, you can. But there's nothing pressing for a while." He sat back watching her.

She was crying now, and he frowned. She pulled her hand out of his and wiped away her tears, her gaze on the table again.

He really hated seeing her cry. "Mila, come here," he said softly.