Chapter 210
Dominic's POV
I spent the day doing what I always did.
My duties.
Meetings.
Reports.
Paperwork.
Decisions that affected the pack.
Everything an Alpha was expected to handle.
I even joined Marcus on his usual patrol route, claiming that my presence would help boost morale.
Marcus knew better.
I knew better.
The truth was, I needed the air.
I needed something that wasn't the suffocating weight of my own thoughts.
I did everything a good Alpha was supposed to do.
And somehow...
It still didn't feel like enough.
My pride had taken a serious hit.
I wouldn't deny that.
Last night had been an accident.
At least, on my part.
I hadn't planned for my parents to interfere.
I hadn't intended to trap Ellie in that room.
And I definitely hadn't intended to pull her closer in my sleep.
But it happened.
And the worst part?
It felt good.
So damn good.
For those few seconds after waking up, before everything fell apart, I had opened my eyes and found Ellie in my arms.
Her body was curled against mine.
Her face rested against my chest.
She was sleeping peacefully.
And for one brief moment...
Everything felt normal.
Like the distance between us didn't exist.
Like the anger.
The resentment.
The pain.
None of it mattered.
It felt natural.
More than that...
It felt right.
My wolf had been restless for days.
Constantly aware of her.
Constantly searching for the bond between us.
But holding her like that had calmed him completely.
For the first time in what felt like forever, everything inside me was quiet.
But moments don't last.
That's what makes them moments.
They are temporary.
Fragile.
Gone before you can fully appreciate them.
And in this case...
It ended painfully.
Before I was even completely awake, Ellie shoved me away.
Hard.
Then she looked at me like I was some kind of monster.
Like I had intentionally crossed a line.
She pointed at me, accusing me.
And I had been forced to grab a pillow just to hide the evidence of a completely normal bodily reaction.
Something that most husbands and wives would laugh about.
Morning wood wasn't supposed to be humiliating.
At worst, it was something embarrassing but funny.
At best, it could lead to a lazy morning together.
Warm sunlight.
Soft touches.
A moment shared between two people who loved each other.
But with Ellie...
It became another reason for her to hate me.
Another reason for her to look at me with suspicion.
And I hated that.
Because before our wedding...
Before everything changed...
I truly thought she loved me.
I thought the contract was just a technicality.
A formality.
Something required by tradition.
I thought underneath it all, there was something real between us.
I thought our wedding night would finally be the beginning of what we both wanted.
I wanted to take her to our suite.
I wanted to show her how much she meant to me.
I wanted her to know that she wasn't just my Luna.
She was my mate.
My partner.
The person I had chosen.
But then we exchanged vows.
And everything changed.
It was like someone had taken the warmth from her and replaced it with ice.
The love I thought I saw disappeared.
Vanished.
Leaving behind only anger.
Fear.
And hatred.
And the worst part?
She looked at me like I was the monster.
Even though she had been the one to drive a knife into me on our wedding day.
I didn't understand.
At first, I tried to explain it away.
I told myself she was traumatized.
That maybe the weight of everything had overwhelmed her.
Perhaps she was afraid of commitment.
That she simply needed time.
I could be patient.
I had always been patient with her.
But it had been a week.
And nothing had changed.
If anything, she seemed more determined to push me away.
Everything she did felt deliberate.
She embarrassed herself in public.
She refused to properly perform her Luna duties.
She caused problems during meetings.
She acted as though making my life difficult was her personal mission.
The gala was the perfect example.
The outfit.
The behavior.
The prawn incident.
Any other person would have been furious.
And maybe I should have been.
But somehow...
I couldn't bring myself to be.
The truth was, I could have overlooked the clothes.
The strange habits.
The studying.
The fact that she wandered around the house in oversized sweatpants with messy hair and dark circles beneath her eyes.
A small part of me actually found it endearing.
Because if that was what Ellie looked like when she was comfortable...
If she was finally letting herself be herself...
Then I would have accepted it.
I would have supported it.
I didn't need a perfect Luna.
I didn't need someone who acted like royalty every second of the day.
I just wanted Ellie.
The real Ellie.
The woman who laughed when she forgot herself.
The woman who challenged me.
The woman who made me feel alive.
But lately...
I wasn't seeing the woman I loved.
I was seeing someone who looked at me like I was her enemy.
And I had no idea how to fix it.