#Chapter 461- Back to my Mate
Ella
Immediately, I tear myself away from him. “What!?” I gasp, appalled at the idea.
His face falls in horror, in disappointment. “Ella, I – ”
But I don’t say another word to him. Instead, I spin and hurry back into the dining room as fast as I can. Conner, seeing me coming, is immediately on his feet, a growl in his throat.
“What’s wrong,” he snaps as I press myself to his side, his arm going instinctually around me, protecting me. “What did he do?”
“Nothing,” I breathe, glancing back at Calvin who looks at me with a hand over his mouth, as if he could cup the words he just said into his palm and shove them back down his throat. “Can we just…can we go home?”
“Did he touch you!?” Conner snaps, looking at me, appalled.
“No, Conner!” I say, my voice breaking as I look up at him a little desperately. “It’s fine – it’s all fine! Can we just go!?”
His eyes sweep over me as his growl intensifies, but when he sees that I really am all right he’s immediately in action, moving me quickly to a fire exit next to the elevator and hastily pushing open the door, ushering me quickly down the set of stairs as he lifts his phone to his ear, calling the car and telling it to be ready right now.
The hostess gasps a little as we burst out of the staircase, but Conner ignores her as he ushers me out of the restaurant and over to our car, which immediately pulls up to the curve.
My whole body is still shaking with the intensity of the last few minutes. It might even be trembling harder now, because while I started to tremble because of whatever thing is between Calvin and I, I’m starting to shake harder now as I try to work through the implications of this.
“Luna,” Conner says, his voice worried as he helps me duck into the car and then climbs in after me, shutting the door. “Are you all right!?”
“Um,” I say, looking up at him, wrapping my arms around myself.
His eyes go wide when I don’t immediately say “yes.”
Frantic, he barks at the driver to go and then slips off his jacket and wraps it tightly around my shoulders, using his hands to chafe at my arms, trying to warm me up. And while honestly it does nothing – I mean, I’m not actually cold.
– I appreciate his efforts, his desire to help.
I lean into my friend a little just a little, murmuring a thank-you as I pull the jacket tight around me and tumble into my thoughts. Because…
Mate.
Mate!
Honestly, it’s not possible – Sinclair is my mate
But…
I shake my head, trying to figure it out. Because Sinclair – I know he’s my mate, my fated mate, and that what we have is so much deeper than just a chosen mate. I mean, our connection, our finding each other, our family – it was fated, envisioned for us even as I was a child. He’s not at all just some guy I met and liked by chance-
We are – I know it in my bones, we are fated mates, in our own way.
But…
I bite my lip because…Lydia.
Sinclair already had a fated mate before me. And it hadn’t been a good fit but they had been sure: the bond was there, she was his fated mate, and wolves – we’re only supposed to get one.
So…if Sinclair can have two…
Wouldn’t it make sense that I could too?
I moan a little at the agony of the idea, leaning my head against Conner, who wraps a tight arm around me.
“If you don’t drive faster,” he growls at the driver, “I’m going to rip your damn head off and carry the Luna back myself. So DRIVE!”
The driver glances back at my bodyguard with wide eyes, but he does indeed step on it. And I close my eyes and pray that he does get me home fast.
Because I need to be home, with my mate and my baby.
Right. Now.
Conner stays pinned at my side as he gets me home, helping me out of the car in the garages below the palace and escorting me through the halls. But as we approach my door I lift a hand, placing it flat on his chest.
“You should go,” I murmur, stopping and starting to shrug off his jacket.
“What?” he asks me, baffled, looking at the very short space between us and the door to my suite as if a thousand assassins could leap out in that tiny distance.
“Conner,” I say, looking up at him seriously. “I am so grateful for how good you’ve been to me tonight -”
“Of course, Luna,” he says, frowning down at me. “You’re well, you’re our Luna, and our Queen – I’d do anything for you -”
“And I’m very grateful for that,” I say, handing his jacket back to him. “But Sinclair is going to be…volatile this evening,” I say, my lips pressing into a thin line. “And considering that your scent is on me now…”
He frowns at me, confused, but then realizes that I’m probably right, because he was so nice and comforting to me in the car, putting his arm around me.
Conner puts his face in his hands, letting out a deep sigh before looking up at me. “What did that asshole do to you, Luna? I’ll kill him for it -”
“Nothing,” I insist, shaking my head.
“Seriously, Conner, he didn’t do anything bad – just…just let me handle Sinclair, all right? And maybe…make yourself scarce for twenty-four hours or so.”
Conner laughs a little, but he also goes a little pale. “All right,” he murmurs, nodding. Then he looks again at the door to my room. “Are you sure you – ”
“I can walk ten feet by myself, Conner,” I say, rolling my eyes a little, and I hear him laugh as I wave over my shoulder. I pause with my hand on the doorknob, watching Conner disappear down the hall, and then with a deep sigh I press the door open and step inside.
The room is dark, which makes sense, because it’s very late now, and the baby is asleep –
“Ella?” Sinclair asks, and I don’t even jump as my eyes move to where he’s
sitting in a chair by the window, fully dressed, clearly waiting for me. He stands, already intuiting that something’s wrong.
And I sigh, pressing the door shut behind me and leaning back against it.
“What’s wrong,” he growls, taking a step towards me and I hang my head and shake it, tears pricking at my eyes.
Because as much as I held it together on the rest of the car ride home, not wanting Conner to see me fall apart as we walked back to the room, now that I’m here?
I start to completely unravel. Sinclair gasps a little when he realizes how upset I am and he’s before me in a moment, reaching for me.
And I throw myself into his arms, wrapping my own around his waist, pressing my head against his chest and sobbing as I take a deep breath of his comforting scent, as I feel his arms wrap around me, as he lowers his face to my hair and presses a kiss there.
He lets me cry for a moment, I think shocked
But then that moment passes and I feel him start to go tense with fury.
“What did he do,” Sinclair growls, already livid.
But I tighten my arms around him and shake my head.
Because Calvin – honestly, he didn’t do anything.
It’s my stupid mother this time again.
Because the Goddess is the one who deals out mates – and did she seriously do this? Did she give me a second mate, when I’m finally, finally happily settled with my first?
What the hell is she playing at?
