The Huntress - The Hunt #1 (COMPLETE)

20. Ashamed and Accepted.

The house was silent. The boys were still asleep, luckily. Dorian was laying next to his mate, Ella, catching his breath. She hadn't said a word since he so aggressively took what's his. She hadn't moaned in pleasure, she didn't orgasm. Dorian felt the dread as he realised she knew what he'd done.

"I'm..." Dorian wanted to apologize.

"Don't!" Ella stopped him with her tone clipped and cold. "I'm going to give you this one, but no matter how angry you are with me, I will not allow this to happen again. We clear on this?" she whispered to him. Dorian's eyes watered. He had never wanted to hurt his mate, the pain he felt for what he'd done was suffocating.

"Never," he simply promised, too unsure of himself to form full sentences. To his surprise, Ella kissed him before she got up from the bed. She dashed into the bathroom and started a shower. Dorian couldn't move, he was frozen by his mate's actions. How could she still kiss him after what he'd done to her? He'd used the most intimate way they could show their love for punishment and hate. She should push him away, not kiss him so lovingly. He felt the tears before he even realized what was happening.

With the tears, he could feel the weight being lifted from his soul. He could finally accept that he had his family whole again. He was hopeful that this time Ella would stay. That maybe he could at last be the alpha his parents had wanted him to be.

Dorian had to admit, that his pack was actually doing well. Their borders were hardly ever crossed without permission. He had no enemies, but plenty of allies. His pack was growing at a steady pace, no one was abused or unhappy. Everyone had been taken care of. There were jobs for the adults, care for the elderly and orphaned children. The local school was well staffed and the level of education provided was above average. Even without his mate, Dorian had managed to run his pack efficiently. Dorian needed to find a way to let Ella take some of the responsibility. He didn't want her to feel useless or unwanted.

Before getting up, Dorian contacted Mick telepathically and ordered him to assemble the pack at two in the afternoon. He needed to introduce his family to the pack. He knew they wouldn't be happy about Ella's return, given that she was a vampire and how she'd treated Dorian in the past. Wolves were loyal and took care of each other. He did have hope, that introducing the boys would melt their hearts and make accepting her easier on the wolves. He had to have hope.

***

Ella scrubbed her body, holding back all suffocating emotions as Dorian's actions hurt her. She could grant him this, for all she'd done to him, but it still hurt her soul. He'd wanted to apologize, Ella just couldn't hear those words, they would have broken her even more. The logical part of her brain tried to shuffle her emotions away, succeeding mostly. She needed to pull herself together, if not for Dorian's sake, for the boys. Daniel would know if she was upset about something. She was glad the twins were asleep as Dorian attacked her. Were she human, still, she'd be covered in bruises, he'd been rough with her. The dramatic side of her reminded her, that this was essentially rape, he'd taken her without consent and by force. She just needed to calm down and push it down. He obviously felt terrible, she knew that much.

As Ella got out of the shower, she dried off quickly, needing to prepare something for breakfast, as Dorian still ate human food. She walked out of the shower and was instantly shocked to see how broken her mate was. He was devastated, clearly, regretting his actions.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Ella was torn, should she be angry or forgive him. She wasn't used to being a weak female who allowed that sort of behavior, never in a million year would she allow him to keep breathing after that. She sighed, uncomfortable to be around him. He could smell the awkwardness surrounding them, she knew.