The Luna Queen's Rebirth (Ellie and Dominic) novel Chapter 399

Ellie’s POV

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I wasn’t sure why I said it. Maybe because my wolf made me. Or maybe because he had been nice enough to let me take his bed last night, freezing sleeping on the floor while I slept peacefully above him.

At least, I told myself these things because it was easier than the alternative.

Because it was easier than the truth.

Dominic looked up at the clinic behind me, at the apartment windows yellow with light, then back at me.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“It’s a mile walk to the hotel, isn’t it?” I said, pulling my cardigan tighter around myself. “You’re only wearing your suit jacket and loafers from the meeting. You’ll be a popsicle before you make it.”

He smiled wryly. “I’ll be fine.”

“Do you want to stay, or not?”

“I do,” Dominic said. The words came out quickly, almost with a sense of relief, as if he’d been waiting to say them for some time.

Nodding, I quickly turned away and led him back inside. The air was instantly warmer; the landlady had started a small fire in the woodstove before she had left, and the apartment was already cozy.

While Dominic settled down on the couch, I walked over to the kitchenette and began opening cupboards. There were enough pots, pans, and cooking utensils for one person to get by. No groceries yet, but there was some coffee and tea graciously provided by the landlady as a welcoming gift. 1

I pulled out the tea and put a kettle on the woodstove. Soon, the kettle was whistling, and I was placing two steaming cups of chamomile down on the coffee table. Dominic took one, thanking me, and blew on it.

I sat on the sofa next to him with a full cushion’s space between us. Silence fell for a few minutes, but surprisingly, it wasn’t uncomfortable. We both listened to the wind howling outside and the fire crackling in the woodstove.

Finally, Dominic looked around and said, “This is a nice place.”

I shrugged. “It’ll feel more like home once I unpack my things and settle in a bit.”

“I never asked for your support,” I said, smirking at him over my cup, but there was no heat in the words.

“I know. I’m offering it anyway.” He looked at me. “If you choose to stay, I could see you building a life/for yourself here, a real one, and that would make me happy. But if you choose to leave, move onto your next assignment or come home, that would make me happy as well. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy.”

A small, vindictive part of me, the part that used to scheme against Vivian and make intoxicating perfume, wanted to tell him that I didn’t care if he was happy or not, and that I’d make my own decisions regardless. But the sincerity in his words made the words die in my throat.

I looked at Dominic for a long moment. Really looked at him. He looked back, his face smooth, his eyes guarding something tender yet full of pain behind the mask of calm. He wanted me to make my own choices, even if it was destroying him. He wanted me to come home, but he wouldn’t say it.

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