The Panther's Second Chance (Book 10 of the Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 13

Natalia left Dominic's room and headed down to grab some breakfast before she went up to change. She hadn't been ready to leave him yet. But at the same time, she knew he was still struggling a bit with all of this. She could see that plainly, until she'd distracted him with that kiss. He was a good kisser. It had made her toes curl.

She'd briefly considered completing the bond with him last night. Thoughts of him inside her had warmed her, but she wasn't sure if either of them was ready for it. Not completing the bond, but actually having sex. Well she was, but she wasn't sure that he was.

Her thoughts drifted back to her dreams of him, and she shuddered. Was he really that good in bed? She knew he wasn't a virgin. It would be insane to think he was. But she also knew he enjoyed women. Hopefully he would be happy enough with her. Hopefully she could please him. She hadn't been with a man yet, and knowing Dominic would be her first and only excited her quite a bit.

She walked into the dining room and grabbed a plate and her breakfast, then hurried back out and up to her parent's apartment. She wasn't dressed for breakfast, and she didn't have much time. She was going have to eat on the fly.

Noelle was waiting for her when she walked back in and she cringed waiting to see what her mother would say. She should have told her parents last night about Dominic but she'd been a little indecisive when she'd come back. Not about him, but about talking to him before anyone else.

"Dominic, huh?" Noelle asked, eyeing her, with a frown.

"Dad told you?" She'd expected him to.

"Of course. He's meeting with him here shortly." Noelle crossed her arms over her chest.

Natalia cringed. "I'm not rejecting him."

"I didn't think you would. None of us do. Nor would we expect you too. Rejection sucks, and Dom has suffered for thirty years from the last rejection whether he wants to admit to it or not," Noelle said softly.

Natalia looked at her mom. Noelle would know. She'd been rejected by her first mate too. "He expects me to."

She saw Noelle's shoulders slump. "I can't say I'm surprised. Is that why you stayed over night with him?"

Natalia nodded. "That and he's my mate but I'm still not sure he believes me either. He just seems so unsure that I want him." It broke her heart.

She ate her breakfast quickly. She'd kept it light and knew she'd be starving by lunch. "Are you going down to the gym?"

Noelle nodded, following Natalia into her bedroom. "I am. Ragnar's training you today though."

"I know. He linked me earlier. Does he know?" Ragnar was almost as old as Dominic and had been mated to a woman in her early twenties. He'd probably understand Dom better than anyone.

"I don't know." Noelle sat down on Natalia's bed.

Natalia walked into her closet and stripped off her clothes, throwing some new ones on. Ragnar wouldn't like to be kept waiting. She wondered if Dominic would come to the gym. She really hoped her father wasn't giving him the third degree.

She walked back out. "Will you braid my hair?"

Noelle nodded as she grabbed a comb and band, then set to work. Natalia could do it herself but Noelle's would be neater. Not that she supposed it mattered. She wasn't going to the gym to look pretty. And if Dominic was getting the third degree from her father, he may not show up in the gym anyway. "What's dad saying to him?"

"He's giving him his approval and talking to him about being a liaison," Noelle said.

Natalia breathed out slowly. "Okay." Hopefully Dominic would finally accept that this was all okay.

"Did you think he wouldn't?" Noelle asked.

"I don't know," Natalia admitted.

"Well, it's kind of the same situation as our own. Except I was older and he was younger, and thankfully you didn't just go through a rejection," Noelle said.

"No but he did," Natalia reminded her.

"Which means, you need to remind him that you want to be with him. Enough that he actually believes it. Dominic is an Alpha male, wolf or not, but having his heart ripped out like that really changed him. It broke him. He never fully moved on from it," Noelle said softly as she finished the braid.

"You think he still loves her?" Natalia asked with a frown.

"No, no. Not at all. I doubt he ever did. The whole thing happened much too fast. But he felt that bond very briefly, and he's craved it ever since. I know that. Nick knows that. Kai knows that. Kai and I have talked about it quite a bit. He understands it better now that he has Cassidy." Noelle stood and Natalia followed her out of the apartment and down to the elevator.

"You also need to remember that he has been alone for a very long time. This whole thing is going to take some getting used to. So don't push him too much." She stepped off the elevator when it stopped and headed down to the gym.

Natalia followed along and walked inside with her. She immediately felt Ragnar's disapproving gaze on her and cringed. She was late. She sucked in a small breath as she turned to face him.

"You're late. Why do you smell like you've been in bed with Dominic?" Ragnar asked her.

Leave it to Ragnar to get straight to the point. She felt her cheeks heat up under his stare. "Um.."

"Is he your mate?"

"Yes," she said.

He laughed. "Well that's interesting. Go warm up."

Twenty minutes later, she was fighting with Abby, her mother's Beta. Abby was a bad ass, and she was going harder on Natalia than she ever had before.

Natalia was holding her own though, and for a good fifteen minutes, the match was fairly even. Until she got distracted.

The gym door opened, and Dominic walked in, throwing off her concentration. It was like her body instantly knew he'd walked in, and tingled in anticipation. She didn't even have to look at him or catch his scent. She just knew he was there. She wanted to look at him though. Wanted to see what he was wearing.

Abby's fist hit her right in the face, breaking her nose. She groaned. That had hurt, and she felt blood start to drop down. She was pretty certain her nose was broken.

"Stop." Ragnar called. He walked over to her. "Hold still." He straightened it, and she whimpered in pain. "Get your head back in the game, Natalia."

She wanted to flip him off, but she didn't. He was right. She'd lost her concentration for one moment and had regretted it.

But she couldn't get back on her game. Her attention was focused on the man who had mated her in her dreams even though she hadn't looked at him. He was on the rowing machine. She could hear it. She could visualize his muscles working and wondered what he looked like without a shirt on. He wasn't body builder muscled, but ripped and lean. She could tell that even in his T-shirts. And she was going to be seeing him very soon without a shirt on. She couldn't wait.

Abby's fist slammed into her side, making her wince, as pain shot through her. She was so off her game now. She fought back, but she couldn't seem to get her head back in and she was hurting. The pain would dissipate, only to be replaced by more, as she took hit after hit. She frowned, waiting for Ragnar to end the match, and she was constantly aware of the sounds of the rowing machine. She wanted to see him shirtless.

Images of him holding her up while he thrust up into her entered her mind. His words from earlier filtered through her mind.

I will possess you. All of you. You will belong to me.

A fist slammed into her and a sharp pain ran through her chest, shocking her at how badly it hurt. Something was terribly wrong, she realized. She stared at Abby, who was frowning back at her and then she dropped as blackness settled over her.