The Alpha and The Enforcer [TATE]

Chapter 29

Ellie's P.O.V

Jacob's voice broke the quiet again, steady but heavy.

"Alice sabotaged the Northern border patrol ten days ago. She used Christian's seal to make sure no guards were posted. That's how the rogues got in."

I didn't react at first. Didn't even blink.

Slowly, I walked to the window in my living room, the cold glass cool beneath my fingertips. Outside, the light was dull, gray and flat like the sky had forgotten how to hold color.

"I'm not surprised," I said, voice low, flat, the edges sharp and dry like broken glass. "Alice always wanted more than what she has. Always wanted to get inside somehow. And she's always hated me. I just never thought she'd be clever enough. Or maybe I was the fool for not seeing it." A bitter, humorless laugh slipped out. It echoed hollow in the quiet room.

Jacob's eyes stayed on me, softening, but weighted with something unsaid. The silence stretched between us, thick and heavy.

He shifted, took a breath. Then, without hesitation, stepped forward.

His footsteps were steady, deliberate, closing the space between us with purpose.

Before I could react, his arms wrapped around me.

The sudden heat of him was a shock against the cold I'd wrapped myself in for so long. His chest pressed firmly to mine, steady and sure, grounding me. I felt the rhythm of his heartbeat beneath his shirt, a slow, steady thrum I hadn't realized I'd been waiting for.

For a long moment, I stayed still. Confused.

But I didn't pull away. I didn't say a word.

His hand found the back of my shirt, fingers curling like he needed to hold on to something. To me.

"I should've hugged you the moment I found out you were awake," he murmured, voice low, breath warm against my temple. His words trembled in the quiet. My eyes closed slowly. The tension in my muscles softened, just a fraction. The heat from him seeped through the cold I'd carried for too long.

The room seemed to shrink around us, holding only this fragile moment.

He stayed tight, like letting go might make everything fall apart.

I felt his fingers trace small circles on my back, a grounding touch.

Neither of us spoke for what felt like hours, just breathing, holding, existing in the space between words.

"I know you didn't ask for comfort," he said gently. "I know you walked out of that hospital on your own terms, like always."

He shifted slightly, pulling back just enough to look at me, his arms still holding firm around my waist.

"But seeing you like that, hooked up to wires, unconscious... Ellie, it wrecked me."

His voice didn't shake. It was quiet and even, but the pain beneath it rang clear.

"I've seen a lot of things," he continued, "fought a lot of enemies, taken hits I never thought I'd stand up from. But nothing's ever scared me like the thought of losing you."

He wasn't trying to make a moment of it. He wasn't trying to push feelings onto me or ask for anything in return. He was just telling me the truth.

I could see it in his eyes, how close he'd come to breaking under the weight of that silence in the hospital room. How long he must've sat there, waiting for me to wake up. Watching for a flicker. A breath.

I didn't know what to say. I wasn't good with moments like this. Raw, exposed. Honest.

But I didn't pull away.