Hello! In honor of Easter and the fact that this book hit 100k reads, I decided to upload the next chapter!
For those of you who don't celebrate Easter or any of the "Christian" holidays or whatever, I hope you had a good Sunday and were able to relax and rejuvenate for the week ahead.
I love you guys lots and your support for my books means the world to me. I cannot believe so many of you like this story, though it is the one I am most proud of by far. My newest werewolf story, Hideout(coming soon), is up there too. If you haven't checked that out yet already, I'd appreciate it greatly. It won't be updated until one of my other stories is completed or deleted. But an excerpt and the first chapter is up. No pressure though!
Anyways, thank you so much for 100k. It meant the world to me. I hope I can continue to live up to your expectations.
Please keep commenting! I love reading them and lately, my comment rates have lowered a bit.
Alright, back to Dominic, Caroline, and their struggle to fit into each other's lives.
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Chapter Twenty One
D O M I N I C
"How are things going there?" I asked Andrew. A couple days had passed since the emotional breakdown that Caroline had and her mood hadn't improved. Plus she wasn't eating very much, which was starting to concern me. I didn't want to use force or have to scare her into eating, but I would if it meant keeping her healthy.
"Things are going as well as can be expected, if not a little better. No one has been outrightly homophobic to us yet, which is a good sign," Andrew said with a laugh. "Though Alf is having trouble fitting in. He hasn't made any friends yet."
I sighed, looking to where Caroline was laying on the couch in the office, plugged into her music and reading. "That sounds familiar," I mumbled.
"Yeah? What is the little Caroline up to since we've been gone?" Andrew asked.
"She actually tried to make an effort once with some of the girls in the pack at a breakfast, but the women did not respond well. Since then, she's been really out of sorts. Still blames herself for everything that went down with Alfie," I explained. "I set the date for the Mating ceremony and that has been a big problem as of late as well."
Andrew chuckled. "Oh, I bet. When is the date?"
"Twelve days from now," I answered.
He whistled slowly. "Man, no wonder she's upset. Alf and I haven't even spoken about that yet. That is definitely rushing it."
"Who's that?" Caroline asked curiously.
"It's Andrew," I mouthed.
Her expression wavered slightly and I knew exactly who she was thinking about. "How's Alfie?" she tested, voice soft.
I smiled gently at her, motioning for her to come here. She unplugged her headphones and dog-eared the page she was on before padding over to me. "Andrew, I'm going to give the phone to Caroline, she wants to say hi," I informed him.
"Hi, Andrew," Caroline greeted. "How are you?"
She was quiet for a few moments before her body tensed up. I reached out to wrap an arm around her waist, but Caroline put a hand over her other ear and took a step away. "A-Alf?"
I kept trying to pull her against me, but she gave me a glare that told me to knock it off. Whatever Alfie was saying, it must have been serious. Caroline ended up having to leave the room, racing out.
"No, no, no, Alfie!" I heard her cry. "Don't say that, please. It was my fault, I promise. I am the absolute worst-"
Then her voice disappeared, so she must have gone outside to talk to him. The landline in the room started ringing just as I started to get back to work and I didn't recognize the number. "Dominic speaking," I greeted.
"I think I've got both of our mates crying now," Andrew said in amusement. "I literally had to throw the phone at Alfie and run to get him to accept the call."
I chuckled, shaking my head. "Not surprising. I would have probably had to do the same, or hold it to her head. She's felt so guilty. But it wasn't until a couple days ago that she actually let it all out."
"Did you force it out of her?" Andrew quizzed curiously, when I hesitated to respond, he let out a little snort. "How did Caroline handle it?"
The memory of her screaming at me, her hands over her ears, trying to block out my voice ran through my head, followed by the image of her body shaking with sobs. "It was awful, truly awful. One of the worst things I have ever had to do with her this far," I muttered. "She was absolutely terrified. And the next day, she tried to run away when she saw me, begging that I wouldn't do it again. I have never seen her react like that to anything before. You know she always acts so tough and fearless."
"It is probably really good for your bond though. Has she shown signs of being more connected to you since then?"
I thought back through the past couple days. I had no idea if she was being any more clingy, but only because I was always the one asking her to come with me. I took her to the cafe once and she didn't leave my side, but was that because she was afraid of me or because she wanted to be near? "I have no idea, man."
"I'm sure things will change in a couple days, if not sooner. Especially with her and Alfie talking again. Speak of the devil, he's off the phone. Why don't you take your mate out tonight? Make her feel special and beautiful and all that Nicholas Sparks movie stuff. I'll talk to you later."
He hung straight up, just as Caroline was walking back into the room, her eyes red but her cheeks dry. "H-here's your ph-phone," she mumbled. She was just trying to act as if she hadn't been crying.
I grabbed her hips and pulled her against me, then sat in my chair so she was perched in my lap. "I hope those were happy tears," I told her.
Caroline sniffled, nodding slowly. "H-he said he didn't hate me. That he never did, but he was sure I hated him. A-and Al-Alfie thought it was his fault, not m-mine," she mumbled.
With a smile, I tucked her hair behind her ears. "See? I've been trying to tell you-"
"You would say anything to make me feel better though. To try at least."
Chuckling, I leaned up to kiss her cheek. "True, but I meant it that time. You just were afraid of telling me the truth, huh? That's why we had that exercise the other day, or one of the reasons why." Her body tensed up at the mention of making her have an emotional breakdown, which made my wolf want to snuggle her until her fear went away. I put her arms around my shoulders, kissing the tip of her nose. "Caroline, are you still scared of me?"
Caroline's eyes closed as she dropped her head. "I don't know."
"You're my girl, you know that?" I whispered. "There is nothing to fear."
"How did you do it? You made me... you forced me to break down, I couldn't fight it or stop and it hurt," she said softly.
I helped her legs straddle me more, so she was closer to me. Then I rubbed our noses together tenderly before trying to kiss her, but she leaned away. "No, let me," I ordered. "Let me have this. Let me have you."
Caroline hesitated, but when I pushed on her back, she didn't fight me. I kissed her softly, cupping the back of her head and tangling my fingers in her hair. "My mate," I murmured against her lips before deepening the kiss. She wasn't really responding, which only made me want to kiss her more fiercely. Caroline gasped as I clutched her rear end tightly, separating our mouths.
"Dominic-"
She was cut off when I started kissing my mark on her throat. Her hands clutched my shirt tightly when I bit her neck playfully, which was the reaction I was hoping for. This was a sign that there was something there, she was feeling something. With a light chuckle, I lifted my head and kissed my way to her ear.
"I'm taking you out tonight."