Chapter 101: Engagement Ring

Chapter 101: Engagement Ring

Elena

I felt the sun's rays beaming on my face, I turned away searching for Bernard's warmth but I didn't feel him lying beside me. I opened my eyes slowly and looked around the room, it was empty. I sat up in the bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. I reached for his phone on the side table to check the time but then I stopped when I felt something glistering on my finger, my ring finger to be exact.

I gasped looking at the large blue stone in the center of the ring which was encrusted with small diamonds all around. It was a sapphire, the same color as my eyes. I brought my left hand closer to my face, was this even real?

The door opened and Bernard walked in holding a tray of what smelled like bacon and eggs. When he saw me sitting on the bed, he pouted.

"You were meant to get up after I came with your food. Now you ruined it." I gasped at him.

Was he seriously talking about food right now? I had a large engagement ring on my finger and he was talking about bacon and eggs. I raised my hand in the air and waved it at him.

"What is it?" He walked in and placed the tray on the side table of the best. Then, he came to sit beside me and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek.

"Good morning, my love." He pressed a soft kiss on my lips.

This man couldn't be serious, did he not see the very expensive looking ring on my finger?

"Bernard?" I waved the ring in his face again.

"What is this?"

"It is an engagement ring." I rolled my eyes.

"I know but what is it doing to my finger?"

He kissed my cheek again and stood up from the bed. He pulled back the blanket from my legs and pulled me to stand in front of him. I craned my neck slightly upwards to stare into his gorgeous forest green eyes.

"Our love didn't have the smoothest starts, we had every obstacle in our way. I was dumb and stupid for a long time and I denied us and I tried to fight us but I was only fighting a losing battle. I have never loved anyone how I love you, Elena. You make everything sensible, I didn't know I had been missing you my whole life until I met you and now I never want to lose you." He took a breath.

"I want all the big things and all the little things with you. I want the early morning when you refuse to get out of bed and have to force you to get ready. I want the late nights of laughing and cuddling, I want the long kisses that make the whole world fade away. I want family, I want vacations. I want it all with you, I want to live with you, love you, and do live things with you."

At this point, the tears were welling in my eyes and blurring my vision. I blinked them away, focusing on him.

"I want all those things with you too."

He then took my hand into his and then carefully slid the ring off my finger. He dropped to one knee and I felt my whole chest swell. I couldn't hold back the waterfall that was now falling from my eyes.

"Elena Rosalie Williams, would you do me the incredible honor of marrying me?"

"Yes." I choked on against the thickness in my throat.

His face split into a huge smile and he placed the ring back onto my finger. He stood up from his position and took me into his arms and started twirling me around. Accepting each happiness and joy had never stopped increasing. When he finally puts me down, I capture his lips in a toe-curling kiss coated with love. I poured every emotion into that kiss, every single ounce of joy, happiness, and love I felt. I poured it all into one kiss.

Words were useless now because they couldn't correctly convey what I felt for this man. He was more than just my mate, he was more than the man I was set to marry. He was so much more than all of the titles he held. He is mine, he is wholly and fully mine as I am his. I am so in love with this man.

'l love you too.' I heard his voice echo through my mind.

I pulled away, breaking the kiss, I stared wide-eyed at him completely and utterly shocked. The marks had established our mind link. I hadn't used a mind link for so long, I wasn't sure how it worked but I just pushed the idea to the forefront of my mind and then pushed it outwardly hoping it would reach him.

'It is always and forever for us.' I replied.

We stared into each other's eyes with a mirroring expression, I couldn't hide the joy from my face even if I had tried.

"Always and forever." He leaned his forehead against mine.

"You heard me?"

"Loud and clear." He closed his and pulled me in tighter.

"I would stay like this forever with you if I could."

I closed my eyes and took some time just to feel him. His warmth, his energy, and just him. He was like a ray of sunshine in my darkness, he kept me breathing and going.

"It is you and me against it all, sweetheart." He pulled back and beamed down at me.

"We will tackle it all together."

He said those words and then I realized that there were very pressing issues that needed to be addressed. I knew Doris was meant to handle this but I couldn't just pretend that this wasn't happening. Bernard is my mate after all, and the Alpha of this Pack. He deserves to know if someone was trying to dethrone him, especially if that someone is his own Beta. I cleared my throat.

"I need to tell you something, Bernard." The smile slipped from his face.

"What is it?" I let out a shaky breath.

"I don't know exactly how you are going to react to this but I need you to promise that you will not do anything drastic. We need to be strategic about how we move forward from all of this."

"You are scaring me now, Elena." I braced myself for the truth.

"Doris, Nicholas's sister, came to me and told me that Nicholas is planning to take the Alpha position from you. He has been in contact with Richard and he is planning some type of hostile takeover. He wants to make a trade with Richard, he will help me procure the Alpha position and then he will get me."

The room was so silent that you could hear a literal pin drop. I don't know if he was furious, contemplating, or hurt. I saw all of these emotions flash behind his eyes. I slid my hands into his shoulder and squeezed them gently.

"Bernard, I need you to say something."

Then like something snapped in him, his cheek started to rise and fall frantically. I felt his claws begin to elongate and slowly dig into my skin. I winced in pain and had to stop myself from pushing him away from me. His wolf was trying to take over. His eyes morphed from their usually dark forest green to an almost luminescent type of green. His wolf was trying to push through and I needed him to hold him back. If his wolf gained full control, he would seek out Nicholas and that couldn't happen.

"Bernard." I cupped his face, forcing him to look at me.

"Look at me, I need you to calm down. I need you to focus on the sound of my voice, okay?"

He was huffing hard and I could tell he was trying to fight his wolf for control. I moved one hand from his face and moved it to his chest. I rested my palm right about his heart.

"Breath with me, Bernard." I repeated that chant with him and felt his heart rate slowly begin to calm down.

He blinked a few times, his wolf being pushed back slowly. He closed his eyes and then when he opened them, his eyes were back to their normal shades.

"There you are." I gave him a gentle smile.

He shook his head trying to rid himself of the little episode he had just experienced.

"I know you are angry right now and you feel betrayed but we need to tread carefully with this. We need to speak with Doris before we do anything because she is our little spy on the inside. And she will let us know what is going on, okay? I know you want to go and just full best on him but Nicholas is smart and calculated, we need to outsmart him. We also need to know what he has said to Richard." He looked a bit withdrawn but then he nodded.

"Fine, you are right but I don't want you anywhere near him."

"I won't."

"And why we were at it, I am going to need you to move in here with me fully. Now I know you are going to say you still need your independence but I just thin….."

"Okay," I answered without hesitation.

"What?"

"I said okay, I will move in with you."

"Just like that?" His lips turned into a smile.

"You aren't going to fight me or tell me I am wrong?" I shook my head.

"I have had my fun on my own and I am ready for this. I want you and I want us together." He kissed me quickly and then pulled away.

"It feels like I have been waiting years to hear you say this."

"Sorry, it took so long."

"It is okay, you are here now and we will have the rest of our lives together."

I love the sound of that.