Chapter 23 - Cecelia
I can barely wrap my head around everything Dominic said in front of the council, but it all makes sense if I piece the puzzle together and look at the bigger picture.
Simon kidnapped me and planned to kill me to get to Dominic, all because he knew we were fated mates.
I felt it when Dominic came to rescue me, felt the way my baby responded to him as if calling out telepathically to its father. I didn't even know I was pregnant until I felt it, but there's still one thing that leaves me confused.
Dominic clearly didn't want me as his partner for the trials. He didn't want me when he rejected me after taking my virginity in the woods three years ago. But now he's just declared to the council that he will take me as his mate, and I don't know what to make of it.
Overwhelmed by all that has been revealed in a span of one night, my mind turns blank like a mechanism to keep me coping, keep me breathing and functioning—or nearly—as Dominic leads me toward the harbor.
My steps are robotic as I follow him, my body numb as he continues to hold my hand as he leads me toward my cabin.
I frown when we near the open door, seeing the scene of the crime he recounted to ex-Alpha Sirius. A shiver courses down my spine, slowing my steps and prompting Dominic to turn to me.
“I'm sorry I brought you back here,” he says gently. “I figured we needed to talk privately, and Mama and Donna are at my place.”
I nod tentatively, gulping down the lump forming in my throat that's full of the questions dangling on the tip of my tongue. Dominic continues to lead me forward, and I follow compliantly, desperately needing to figure out what all of this means.
As soon as we're inside and he releases my hand to close the door with a gentle thud, the break through the silence is what snaps me back to reality, and I suddenly find the courage to speak.
“Everything you said out there…did you mean it?” I ask, staring at the back of his head as he slowly turns around, shoulders slumped as his head hangs down.
“Yes,” he says with a firm nod, lifting his face and meeting my eyes with solemn conviction. “I meant every word I said. I want you as my mate. If you'll have me, of course.”
His last statement is as uncertain as I'm feeling. Hugging my arms over my chest, I tear my eyes away from him and look down, feeling as vulnerable as ever. “What choice do I have? It's like you said, we're fated mates, and it overrules free will. I don't have a choice, and neither do you.”
Dominic says as he slowly treads forward, resting his hands on my shoulders, his mere presence compelling me to look up to find the softness of his dark eyes, “If it were up to free will, I would still want you, Cecelia.”
“What about…” I pause when my lips quiver and my voice sounds too timid, too weak for my liking.
Clearing my throat and lifting my chin, I continue, “What about not wanting me as your partner for the trials? I heard your conversation with Sirius when you tried to change partners. I heard what you said about me.”
“How did you—”
“It doesn't matter!” I snap, slapping his arms off me and spinning around to give him my back, exasperated and breathing heavily because it's nearly impossible not to become consumed and intoxicated by his scent. I want to be angry with him right now.
“Simon played a voice recording of the conversation,” I reveal, shaking my head. “It's not important. What about the past, huh? You rejected me, Dominic! I didn't even know we were fated mates, but you rejected me!”
“I'm sorry,” Dominic whispers, sighing behind me as he reaches for my shoulder.
I shrug him off but turn to glare at him, noticing the sincerity in his eyes.
“I'm really sorry, Cecelia. I didn't mean to hurt you, and I know that what I did in the past was wrong.
I'm a coward, and I should have said this a long time ago. But what I did in the past was only because I'd been so hellbent on becoming the alpha that I didn't see beyond that.I saw them laugh at you, and I didn’t stop them. I even said something—something I’ll never forgive myself for.”
I gulp hard, clutching my chest tightly. “You don’t have to say it.”
“No, I do. Because you heard what I didn’t say that day. You heard my silence, and that was the one thing that made me feel the guiltiest I’ve ever felt.”
Dominic closes the distance between us in one stride, and this time, when he rests his hands on my shoulders, I don't recoil, realizing that this apology is all I ever wanted to hear from him.
Those words are like a remedy for my broken heart, piecing them back together and making me whole again, allowing me to see his pure soul through the gateway of his chocolate-brown eyes.
“I was stupid back then, behaving like a child,” Dominic continues.
“I joined the black ops squad and realized how wrong I was about you, but I was still in denial about it, thinking that I might become weak if I acknowledged the attraction I felt toward you.
That's what you are to me, Cecelia. You're my weakness.
But you're also my strength. It just took me so long to realize it.” He sighs, hanging his head shamefully.
“I just hope you can forgive me, and know that it's not just the fated mate bond that draws me to you.
It's you, as you are, who I want to be with for the rest of my life.” He meets my eyes again.
“I've fallen in love with you, Cecelia Morales.”
A moment of blissful silence stretches as I search his eyes for any indication that his words aren't true, but Dominic doesn't stop admitting his faults, becoming so vulnerable that it touches my heart.
“I wanted to speak to you about this for so long, but when you told me you hated me, I knew I had to win over your trust again.
I always thought I never needed a mate, but I couldn't resist anymore.
I thought we'd come back, and I could do things the right way, court you, and ask if you'd accept me as your mate. Beg for your forgiveness.” He drops to his knees in front of me, pressing his forehead to my belly.
“Forgive me, Cecelia. I humble myself before you and ask for your forgiveness.
I want to do what's right, and for so long, I've been doing everything wrong. Just give me a chance. Please.”
Overwhelmed with emotions, tears spill from my eyes as I slowly sink to my knees and join him on the floor, reaching out to cup his cheek and staring deeply into his eyes.
“You—you love me?” I whisper the hesitant question, and he responds with a gentle nod.
“I've always loved you, Cecelia. I was simply blind to it all along.” He sniffs when his eyes fill with tears that lighten the dark brown orbs as he tears off the top buttons of his shirt, pulling one side away to reveal the tattoo of the woman that I'd recognized as newer than the others.
He points to it now, smiling sheepishly.
“I got this done while I was away. I was drunk and high on wolfsbane on a night out with my friends.
I mumbled a description of her to the artist, and back then, I didn't realize I was thinking about you.”
I reach out and touch the ink on his chest, feeling my nerve endings ignite from my fingertips as if confirming what he's saying.
“It was always you. Even when I tried to push you out of my mind, thinking it was the right thing to do, you were a faceless beauty haunting me at every turn.”
I gasp as I realize the weight of his admission that touches my heart. I was always afraid to ask him about the tattoo, thinking that it depicted another woman. Now, it serves to confirm his confessions, and I'm no longer afraid of how I feel.
“I love you, too, Dominic,” I confess as I lift my eyes to him. “I've always loved you, even when I hated you. I never really hated you.”
Dominic tenderly cradles my cheeks and stares deeply into my eyes. “Hatred can only come from a place of love, right?” he chuckles.
“Right…” I giggle in response, nuzzling into his chest as my heart explodes with the intensity of the love I have for him.
“Does this mean you'll give me another chance to do things right this time?” His eyes flit to my belly. “For us, and our baby?”
“Yes, Dominic,” I concede with a firm nod, my eyes full of emotion. “Of course I will!”
Dominic pulls me forward and kisses me with unwavering passion that has my toes curling and my heart fluttering with the feeling of bliss.
Declaring my love for him is like a weight lifted off my shoulders, and now that we've both recognized that we were always meant to be together, nothing is holding me back anymore.
I push at his shoulders, going down with him as our tongues continue a rhythmic dance.
His tongue plows the cavity of my mouth with skillful ministrations, his hands stroking and caressing all the right places that have me moaning into his breath as I instantly become soaking wet.
Parting my thighs further, I feel his rigid erection burning at my core, begging to be released when it throbs against me.
The hot, passionate kisses continue sporadically between taking breaths and undoing the rest of Dominic's shirt.
Placing my palms on his glorious abs, I'm about to travel my touch down toward his belt when an unexpected buzzing rings in my ears, and I'm able to hear Santo's voice coming through the mind link, connecting to Dominic.
“Alpha Dominic…we've locked Simon in the dungeon. There is something that needs your attention concerning your ceremony. Can we meet at the den?”
I break the sloppy kiss and pull my head back, and Dominic groans as he opens his eyes, twinkling with heady desire that's mixed with disappointment. I giggle knowingly as I lift myself off him.
“You heard that?” he asks with a frown.
“I did,” I relent with a sigh as Dominic gets off the floor and helps me to my feet. My knees are still weak from the passionate kiss we shared, so he steadies me with a lighthearted chuckle.
“I'm sorry,” he apologizes sincerely as I link my arms around his neck, standing on my tiptoes to reach his swollen lips.
“I understand you have to go, Alpha Dominic…” I purr as he pulls me closer with large hands gripping my rear to press me tightly to his hard frame.
“Keep saying my name like that, and I might just forget that I have a pack to serve,” he drawls as he lightly kisses my lips.
I pull away with a girlish giggle, not wanting him to neglect his duties because of me. I might be his weakness, but I'm also his strength, who should remind him that he has things to take care of.
“You should go, Dom,” I whisper as I stare into the only eyes I can lose myself in. “I'll be right here when you're done. Waiting.”
Dominic's lips curl into a warm smile. “No more waiting for me to do what's right, okay? That's gonna change from now on.”
I nod and draw him in for a kiss that lingers on my lips with a tingling sensation of promise even when I pull away. “Well, I'll be right here when you get back.”
“I won't be too long,” he says before pressing a chaste kiss on my lips and leaving.
But this time, even when he's gone, it doesn't feel like there's a gaping hole in my chest. I feel whole now, stronger than I've ever been, full of the promise of a hopeful future for the two of us.
Correction.
The three of us.