Chapter Twenty Five : Protect
I spent a couple of weeks contemplating my situation, really giving it a deep thought.
Although I was uncertain of the future with Eros, I do know for certain that he wouldn’t hurt me.
As for escape, I haven’t gone through with it.
With his scent mark on my skin, it’s impossible to run or hide from him. The trail I leave behind would be like a map that would lead him to me. What’s the use in doing something so pointless?
He could track me down before I could get very far and drag me back the very next. Escape is highly improbable so I won’t try to sugarcoat it by thinking that I could.
Even if I wanted to run, Jared’s pack is to the left of here and to the right is a giant forest that looked rather dark and creepy. If I run into Jared, I might as well put a noose around my neck and hang myself. Because Jared is not going to let me get out of there alive.
Other than that, if I manage to succeed, what would I come back to? A life of hiding in fear like a rat in order to stay out of the government’s radar?
How many years of ‘peace’ would I get before my cover gets blown?
I don’t think that the government would let me live peacefully. If they know that I managed to get away from Jared and his pack, they will surely hunt me down for information. By then, I would still have to live in hiding. How easy is it to create a fake identity without causing suspicion or with my never-aging face?
I’m sure that the government would be able to track me down as easy as pie. And, if I’m lucky, they might just send their hunters after me.
Then, that would be the end of me.
Literally.
The options don’t look very promising, either direction that I take. It’s almost like choosing between the lesser of two evils. I know I’m over thinking and I can’t help it. So I decided to just go with the flow and see where it gets me.
Hopefully not buried six feet under.
Hopefully.
As the days passed in a blur, I’ve also learned a little more about Eros. It would be weird to be sleeping in the same bed as him and not learn a thing or two about him. At least I thought so.
Although, there are some people who have been married for over 20 years and still don’t know they’re sleeping next to a psycho.
Is that not scary?
But anyway, I learned that his parents already passed away during the vampire versus werewolf war hundreds of years ago and that Zanthos is his only living sibling.
Eros is not just a regular Alpha. He is 1 of the 5 Cardinal Alphas. After superseding Zanthos, he worked his way up the ladder to becoming a Cardinal Alpha and has been reigning over the central territories for a while now.
Eros didn’t hide anything from me and was completely open and honest about everything. If I had questions about him or the pack, he answered them without any hesitation.
Which was weird to me because I could easily use this information against him.
Although he knew this, I can tell that Eros trusted me.
I don’t know what I have done to attain his trust because, so far, I have done absolutely nothing.
Eros put me on his top priority. While he treated everyone well, he treated me better.
Not to brag.
But it was the truth.
He is very meticulous in the care of me. Everything he did was immaculate, especially if it came to me. Which made me like him even more than I already did.
I don’t know if it was a good or a bad thing.
Other than that, he was extremely patient with me, never forcing me into anything that I wasn’t comfortable with.
Truthfully, he has been a complete gentleman, even in bed. He kept his hands to himself, never touching anything he wasn’t supposed to without my consent, and he had kept his promise.
Although his erection would stab me in the butt or lower back almost the entire night, the man refused to take care of it. I think that it would be bad for his health to hold it in.
I had even told him to go take a cold shower, hinting at his erection but he said, “It’s a waste to see it go down the drain.”
I was speechless for almost 30 seconds before I took it as a joke and laughed it off when I was actually crying on the inside. Now, I really wonder what would really happen if we mated.
Would I come out of it with certain limbs missing or would I be on bed rest for the next two month?
Who knows?
The strong attraction, unbearable sensations, and uncontrollable emotions are a lot more than I can handle. And the fact that Eros could make me tremble and moan, without even touching me, is almost sinful. And I wonder if anyone should ever be given this ability over someone.
It is downright illegal.
I was never given such an opportunity to discover this tidbit of information while working for the government. As I am now learning it first hand, I’ve learned a lot more than I could inside of a laboratory.
“Emira, the food is going to get cold,” Eros informed.
A chunk of well-cooked steak magically appeared right in front of me.
I blinked a couple of times before parting my lips to bite off the steak from his fork. Eros' lips curved into a small smile and his eyes were downcast as he continued to patiently cut up more portions of the steak on my plate.
“Sorry,” I muttered through a mouthful of steak.
I grinned sheepishly at his handsome face before washing the perfectly seasoned steak down with a sip of cool water.
“Are you worried about what the council said?” There was a slightly awkward pause that ensued right after his question.
I couldn’t help but nod my head.
“Eros, I don’t want to have kids—pups yet,” I finally reply, watching him through my lashes.
Eros set the plate of finely cut steak in front of me and placed a fork down on top. I dropped the bomb on him and he looked completely fine, handsome face still really calm and relaxed. His beautiful blue eyes stared deeply into my own and I couldn’t help but choke back a sigh of relief.
He didn’t seem mad.
“Forget about what they said, Emira. We will go at our own pace. 3 months. 6 months. 1 year. 10 years,” he softly said, his fingers brushing off a strand of hair that had stuck to my lips. “It doesn’t matter how long it takes. We have a whole lifetime ahead of us and I will wait for you, regardless of what the council says.”
I couldn’t stop my heart from beating rapidly in response because I knew that every word he spoke was true.
And I believe him.
From the very bottom of my heart, I believe Eros.
“But they said—”
“I will protect you, Emira. Even if the gods themselves come, I will protect you.” The conviction and truth in his words made my eyes burn with unshed tears.
“What’s the use of this Alpha position if I can’t even protect you?” he murmured, his voice slightly gruff and rasp as if he was asking himself that.
I had to bite down on my tongue hard to keep from crying.
No one has ever made me feel the way that Eros does. Not even family has willingly protected me the way he has. And I’m sure that I will never find anyone that will willingly do that without asking for anything in return.
I pressed the back of my palm to my nose and mouth to cover the suddenly overwhelming emotions that filled me, trying to hold the dam together before the tears start rolling.
He’s making me too emotional.
“Don’t cry," he said. Eros picked up my fork and brought a piece of steak up to my mouth again.
“It’s all your fault for being so cheesy.” I attempt to glare at him before biting down hard on the steak and chewing rapidly.
“I can’t help it when it comes to you, Emira,” he softly said, handing me a napkin to wipe my mouth.
“Stop it. You’re giving me goosebumps.” I waved my fork at him before taking a bit of mashed potatoes from the plate.
He chuckled, slightly shaking his head at my childish antics.
The room had gone comfortably quiet now with occasional sniffles here and there from me as I viciously chewed on the steak.
I glanced up slightly from the steak to look at Eros who was looking at his documentation, patiently waiting for me to finish my meal.
Since that first time that we ate together, Eros has not eaten with me again. What I mean to say is that he stays with me the duration of the meal, watching me eat until I’m finished.
He never eats while he is with me.
I asked him once but he had waved it off and gave me the same old reply that he would eat later. It was oddly unsettling.
“What is it?” He glanced up from his paperwork and gave me a soft smile that lit up his eyes, waiting patiently for my reply.
“If our relationship is to work, Eros, I need to know all aspects of you. It feels weird to be eating by myself every time,” I said.
I picked up the glass cup and took a gulp before continuing, “I don’t mind the food that you eat. I’m not that easily grossed out.”
He sent this blinding smile my way before leaving the room for a couple of minutes.
When he returned, there was two giant plates, if it could even be considered plates, of meat, bloody and raw in all of its freshest and finest nature. My eyes widened immeasurably at the amount until I remembered that he was a werewolf and not a human.
I give him a slight glance before attempting to finish my food. I am certain that Eros didn’t want to ruin my meal by eating in front of me and instead waited to eat when I wasn't watching.
No one has ever been so considerate of me before.
Suddenly, Eros laughs this deep laugh that catches me off guard because of my slight grimace when he swallowed that first mouthful of bloody meat. Truthfully, I’ve never seen anyone eat raw meat as gracefully and eloquently as Eros had.
Here I am with steak sauce all over my lips and chin while he is looking impeccably perfect without a drop of blood anywhere on his face or clothes from his meal that looked way more messy than mine.
How does he do that?
“Are you okay?” He slowly cuts a chunk of that meat and puts it into his mouth, blue eyes shining with mirth and amusement deep in its depths.
He better not be poking fun at me.
“Mm-hm. I’ll get used to it," I managed to say.
Just as I bit down on a piece of asparagus, I am suddenly reminded that he’s kissed me with that mouth of his and it makes me slightly apprehensive now.