Doctor Dragon And Her Mate

Safe

Nina’s pov

My mind raced with various thoughts. Drake must have approached the house the previous night, and for the first time in a long time, I felt unsafe. When I heard about the possibility of his death years ago, I was relieved. My girls and I were finally free of him, but I guess peaceful days were over with his return. I just knew that he would make our lives a living hell.

A gentle tap on my shoulder forced me to avert my attention to the handsome young man sitting beside me on the couch. I tore my gaze away from the TV screen and looked at him.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Huh?”

“You are frowning and staring blankly at the TV. I can tell that you aren’t actually watching the show. You have been a little silent since you returned after tucking the girls in bed… is everything okay? I hope you aren’t too tired,” he said.

An archaic smile formed on my lips. I thought it was sweet how he gave me attention and noticed the change.

I sighed heavily, unsure if I should let him know about my concerns. Drake was my problem. Why should I dump it on him?

“I can feel your unrest, Nina,” he said. “I feel you are thinking about something very important.”

My lips parted. “You can feel?”

He nodded his head. “Yes. I marked you. That bonds us permanently and allows me to feel your emotions.”

I pursed my lips together. There was no point in lying to him, was there? Eventually, he would find out the truth and I didn’t want to complicate things between us.

“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “There is something that is worrying me.”

I shifted on the seat. Blake waited for me to share my thoughts, patiently. The show on the TV continued with no one giving it any attention, but I didn’t turn it off. I didn’t want my father to hear us, even by mistake.

“You know about Drake, right?” I said, giving him a glance. Staring at me intently, he nodded his head.

“He died, right?”

I let out a humourless chuckle. “We all thought he was dead, but now, I am pretty convinced that he isn’t.”

His relaxed demenour instantly got clouded with apprehension. “What?”

“Last night when I returned home, I found a note on the floor that someone must have slipped under the door. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but when I saw the handwriting I knew it was him.” I looked into his widened eyes. Of course, hearing about my former husband trying to keep in touch with me was the last thing he would have expected. Carefully studying his countenance, I said. “He apologised in the note and wants to get back together with me.”

My heart sank a little when I saw how hurt he looked. With a tiny frown wrinkling his face, he leaned against the sofa and closed his eyes. Heaving a massive breath, as though he accepted defeat, he nodded his head. But then, the creases on his forehead deepened as he gazed my way.

“How can you be so sure that it was him? If it really was him, where was he all this time? How come he was returning now with no news for over two years?”

“I just know that it is him. It can only be him. Who else would send me such a note? Besides Bree saw him last night. She was up and looking out of the window from her bedroom. She didn’t say it was him. She said she couldn’t see his face, but he approached the front door.”

“So he came to the house at night and left a note? If he really wanted to have a relationship, he should have come to meet you and the kids properly. I don’t like what he did.” He looked at me and stared at me intently for a while. He appeared to be reluctant to say what was on his mind, but then, he cleared his throat. “So what do you want to do? I understand that he is the girls’ father, and I would understand if you wanted him in their lives.”

I scoffed at his remark. “There is no way I would want him anywhere near them. He abused us day and night. That was the reason I left him. I am a little surprised that he actually considered getting back together. Before the war broke out, he made it clear that he didn’t want them in his life, but wasn’t going to make it easy for me to divorce him. And he did. The battle was messy and lengthy. Even when war broke out, the divorce wasn’t finalised. When we heard about the death, I was relieved because that meant the battle was over, and I was free.”

His eyebrows rose. “So technically you are still married to him?”

I grimaced. “Well, yes, I guess.”

The thought of still being married to him was unsettling, but unfortunately it was the truth. Our marriage would still be legally valid.

I glanced at him. His lips were pursed together when our eyes made contact.

“So… you don’t want to go back to him, right?” he said.

“Hell yes! He is the reason I was so f*****g fed up with everything for so long. I know people can change, but even if he did and became a better person, I don’t want to be in a relationship with him. Leaving an abusive spouse and going back is like putting the s**t back inside after you are done shitting.”

He snorted, loudly as he tried to hold his laughter back. A smile spread across my face. Joking about the situation somehow lightened my mood. “What? It is the truth. I don’t want him back.”

He laughed. It was the first time since we crossed paths I heard him laugh loudly. All I saw was his gloomy eyes, clouded with dejection as he forced a smile for the girls’ sake whenever he was around us. But now, his eyes sparkled, and I couldn’t help but admire them. They looked like two twinkling stars.

“Well, I am relieved to hear that. Maybe now I really do have a chance with you,” he said.

I chuckled. “Believe me. Drake is no competition. But I guess this means the battle for divorce will restart. Drake made it really hard for us, even back then,” I said with a sigh. It was hard and exhausting, and despite my determination to leave him, the process progressed at the slowest pace.

“Hmm, but now you have me to help you with it,” Blake winked at me. “So why were you so worried about it if you weren’t going to go back to him?”

I sighed. “Nobody knows Drake like I do. He is this charming man who would do everything right to capture your heart. If it weren’t for the pictures I clicked, no one would have believed that he was abusive. I am afraid that if he returns, he might try to harm us again. I am especially concerned about my girls. I can refuse to be with him, but then he will demand to see the girls. They are his daughters after all.” I looked at Blake. “I don’t want to put them in harm’s way. They were the main reason I found the courage to leave him. I was blindly in love with him back then, but the night I realised that he had hit Bree, I left. She was very young and might not remember anything, and Zoe was just an infant. So it will be easy for him to make them trust him.”

He nodded his head and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. A sigh escaped my lips when he pulled me closer, landing a gentle kiss on my forehead.

“Don’t worry, mate. I won’t let anything happen to them.”

My lips curled into a smile. I knew it wasn’t strange to feel safe in one’s soulmate’s embrace, but to me, it was a rather new feeling. It was partly because of the magical bond that paired us together and partly because I knew I could trust him.

At least my beast and my soul gave me the green light.

I shifted closer to him, getting cosy against his warmth. I closed my eyes, allowing the serenity to consume me. It was the first time I felt so protected in a long time. If I had obeyed my logic like I usually did, I would have called it a night and asked him to leave, but for some reason, I allowed my heart to lead me that night.

Holding me close to his chest, he leaned back so his back rested against the couch with me on top of him. He caressed my hair and kissed my forehead, whispering affirmations in my ear.

“You and the girls are safe. I promise.”

I smiled as I felt myself plunging into a deep slumber.

Yes, I was safe with him. And so were the girls.