Accidental Surrogate

Fallout Ella I spin around to face my mate, my hands on my hips, ready to defend myself.

But he closes the distance in an instant, taking my face in his hands.

“Are you all right?” he growls, looking down into my face, his eyes quickly moving over my features. My mouth falls open a bit and I blink in surprise. “I’m fine, Dominic.” “Thank god,” he breathes, wrapping his arms around me and gathering me to him in a tight hug. “I mean, I’m mad as hell, Ella I can’t believe you did that, but -” “Dominic!” I protest, pulling back a little and frowning up at him. “How could I not have done that!?” “Are you seriously asking me how you could have not jumped out of the window and attacked a man under the explicit protection of a nation about to take us to war? How you could have just let the palace guards that we hired to protect our people handle it, like they were about to do?” I narrow my eyes at him, but…well. I also see his point.

Still. I stand by it – every moment of it.

“His life was mine to take,” I say, my voice more of a growl than I intended it to be. “Mine, Dominic. And no – I didn’t do it for vengeance, but he crossed a line tonight, trying to take Sarah and Jessica like he did. Would you have let him live, after he did that?” Sinclair’s mouth tightens into a thin line. “No,” he says, answering honestly. “I’d have had the guards shoot him, take the shot as soon as they safely could.” “His death was mine,” I repeat. “If someone was going to take it, I wanted the blood on my hands. And you, of all people, know why.” Sinclair steps back from me a second, looking down at the man’s blood quite literally all over me. And then he sighs, and shakes his head, and surprises me by starting to tug at my shirt.

“What?” I ask, confused.

“What, would you like to sleep in your blood-soaked clothing, Ella?” He asks, glaring at me a little. “You need a shower, and to get changed.” “Oh,” I reply, realizing that he’s helping me. And so I take a step back, raising my hands and letting my mate pull my shirt over my head.

“It’s not that I disagree with any of the things you did,” Sinclair says softly as he helps me strip. He pauses and glares at me when he sees the long cut along my side, but I roll my eyes before closing them and accessing my gift. It just takes a second – it’s a scratch, honestly and when I open my eyes I’m all healed up.

I twist so Sinclair can see the skin again smooth and healed. Satisfied, he nods and then moves to the shower, turning the water on so it’s nice and steamy, just how I like it.

“Like I was saying,” he picks up, turning to me again. “I’m not sad to see him go, just…” “I know,” I say, sighing and stepping into the shower as Sinclair strips his own tuxedo, now likewise stained with my uncle’s blood. “I’m…Queen now. I should have let someone else do it. Should not have…gotten my hands dirty, as it were.” Quickly, I soap myself down, doing best to keep my hair dry as Sinclair ducks into the closet to grab us both a fresh set of clothes. When he comes back, I’m nearly finished. I rinse myself off as I look at my mate a little guiltily.

quietly, my voice apologetic. “There may have been…press.” “I’m aware,” he says on a sigh as I turn off

a towel, looking at me with a blank face. “It will…be what it

know,” I sigh, glancing at the door as I towel off. “All the good press will we bought with Cora’s wedding…” He steps close to me then, wrapping an arm around my naked waist and again pulling me flush against him. ” We’ll handle it, Ella,” he murmurs, brushing his knuckles down the length of my cheek, and I smile

back now.” I laugh a little, looking up at him. ” That’s not what I asked.” Gently, Sinclair lowers his face, pressing his lips to mine. “We’ll figure it out,” he murmurs when he pulls away, just an inch. “Now,” he raises his head more and swats me on the ass, maybe a little harder than necessary, but it just makes me grin. “Get dressed. Let’s go…see what the hell our family thinks.” I stand on my toes and kiss him again,

in the soft clothing Sinclair brought in for me, twisting my hair up into a quick bun before stepping into some slippers. When I’m ready, I nod, and Sinclair and I together walk back into

side, a tablet in her hands. Roger stands next to her, Rafe asleep in his arms. Henry turns his chair towards us as we cross the

Cora says softly, shaking her head as

around at all of us, worried and confused. “We’ve been getting

support,” Roger says in an instant. “You did the right thing, Ella,” he says, locking eyes with me and nodding. “I mean, I personally wouldn’t have leapt from the window to do it?” He cocks his head to the side a little here, a smirk pulling at his lips. ” But Xander crossed the line – he was going to get taken out. It was just a

why am

shrugging a little. ” You’re…” “Human?” she says, raising

none of us say anything, because

end. Did I wish that that responsibility fell on

nod. “It’s going to be a long night.” “Have Sarah sent up too,” I call to him, and I wait to see him nod again before I kneel before Jessica, taking her hands. “We’re going to bring her here, and I’m going to heal her up, okay? And then the two

sweep through her, healing the few places on her scalp where Xander hurt

her hand. She looks anxiously at Cora, Roger, and Henry, and