The Alpha Queen's Mate (Book 5 of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 38

Pack business was irritating Nick in a way it never had before. He had been swamped under paperwork all evening and had ended up eating in his apartment alone. Alpha Elias had sent over the treaty for him to review. It had been annoyingly long, but it was his job to look it over along with one of the pack attorneys.

He hadn't slept well either. He wanted to be with Noelle, but he had to wait. It made him want to fly to Florida and beat the crap out of Alex Artino.

Daniel had linked him this morning and told him straight out that he was going to have some of his workload lightened. If you're going to be mated to my daughter, you're giving up some of these packs. Let others take some of the load, Nick. You work way too much.

He couldn't disagree with that, especially after what had just happened. He hadn't realized just how much the rejection had messed with Noelle, hadn't even thought about it, or that staying away from her wasn't really helping her either.

Being in her bedroom earlier had been completely overwhelming. Her scent had hit him like a ton of bricks, arousing him, and the sight of her bed had him visualizing her in it naked with him pounding into her. He knew she'd wanted him to kiss her. He'd wanted to desperately, but he was barely holding it together and knew he needed to get himself out of the situation. He hadn't realized that walking away would hurt her.

The Noelle he knew was a confident, sexy woman. Now, after Alex, she wasn't and that made him angry. But he knew he could help her gain her confidence back, he just needed to be more mindful of her. He wasn't used to having someone else to think about like this. He'd been alone for so long.

He'd sat next to her on the plane instead of his usual spot across from her and took her hand in his. She needed the reassurance more than she needed him to back off. He realized that now. She needed to know that he wanted her and he had no plans to reject her. Giving her space hadn't been the best move, but live and learn. He just wouldn't push it with her, or at least not yet. He'd have to live with what little she'd given him so far.

She seemed to welcome his touch though and that thrilled him. He'd never been through a rejection or knew anyone that had been rejected recently. They were very rare in the werewolf world, mostly because there were no second chances unless you were in his pack. Even then, he didn't think there was anyone in Regal Eclipse that had ever rejected their mate.

There were a handful that had lost their mates, including Caleb, Daniel's father. His mate had been murdered shortly after he'd found her. Caleb had spiraled after that, not that Nick had been around. He'd just heard the stories. It had taken quite awhile before Caleb would accept his second chance. Charlotte.

But this was different. Alex had done Noelle dirty, and left her hurting. Suddenly getting another mate so soon would be like whiplash, and he needed to reassure her that he did want her. Of course he wanted her. He spent most of the time he was around her thinking about sex, which wasn't at all helpful.

He wanted her like he'd never wanted a woman before, but he'd wait. She was worth it. None of the other stuff mattered to him. He didn't care about the title, or her power. He'd lived too long and worked too close to two Kings to be in awe of it, like most would be. It was just another day in paradise, and his paradise had just gotten so much better.

"So what's the treaty for?" Noelle suddenly asked him, interrupting his thoughts. Not that he minded. He liked her voice. He'd been mesmerized listening to her at the meeting yesterday, which he supposed was better than thinking about sex.

He hadn't told her about it, he realized. He needed to share. It was weird to have someone who would want to always know now. Before, he did his visits, wrote his reports, and that was that, unless something came up. For the most part, it was easy. He could practically do it in his sleep. But now, it would change, just like his life. The mundaneness of his existence had suddenly become much more interesting.