Alpha King's Missing Mate (Book 1 Of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 37

"Daniel!"

Daniel was still standing outside of Talia's apartment, staring at her door when he heard his name called. He turned to see James, Talia's mate, headed down the hallway towards him and smiled. "Hello, James."

"What are you doing here?" James stopped and bowed his head, then held out his hand for the alpha to shake.

"I came to see Matthew," Daniel shook James' hand. He'd gotten to know Talia's mate quite well in the last year and immensely liked the wolf. James was methodical and never acted out of anger. He didn't think Quinton used James to his full potential.

"I mean, what are you doing just standing here outside the door? Is Talia not home?" James asked, fishing out his keys.

"No, she's here. I..." he paused. "I guess you know Jenna is back."

James smiled and nodded. Daniel had informed him that Jenna was his mate once the two of them had gotten to know each other, and Daniel felt he could trust James.

"I just said goodbye to her," Daniel said.

James frowned as he pushed the door open, and walked in. "Permanently?"

"No." Daniel followed him back in. Talia stepped out of the bedroom, and her face lit up as she spotted James. She gave him a kiss, then handed Daniel Matthew. "Hey buddy," he said, cuddling the small pup.

"I'll give you the shortened condensed version," Talia said to James, as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. "Daniel, would you like to stay for dinner."

He smiled sadly, watching them. "Sure."

Talia studied him. "Is everything okay?"

He nodded. "It was hard to let her walk away."

"Well, at least you know you'll see her again," Talia smiled at him and headed for the kitchen.

***

Jenna wiped at the tears before getting out of the taxi. She was half tempted to get back in and have the driver take her back, but she would worry Tyler and Daniel might not even be there.

She headed up to the hotel room and slipped inside. Tyler was laying on the bed, watching tv.

"Oh good you're back. Where should we go to eat?" he asked as he stood up.

"How was your seminar?" Jenna asked as she sat down her purse.

"Pretty good. I learned quite a bit." He looked at her. "Jenna what's wrong?"

"I'm okay," she murmured.

"Jenna..."

"I.." she sighed. "I ran into Noelle's father."

Tyler frowned. "I thought you were at Talia's?"

"I was. They.. have become good friends," she said.

"Are they together?" Tyler asked, watching her face.

"No!" She exclaimed. "Not at all. But he is the godfather of her child, and he was in town on business and stopped by to see her and the baby."

"Did you tell him?" Tyler asked. "About Noelle?"

"No, but he wants to see me again. It was too short and I didn't really get the chance. But he lives in Pennsylvania," she said, brushing her hair back.

He nodded in surprise.

"Ty, we have this connection. I can't explain it," Jenna said. "I never wanted to leave him the first time I met him and have regretted it since. But I never thought I'd see him again."

Tyler stood and gave Jenna a hug. "If he hurts you, I'll kill him," he whispered.

Jenna smiled, knowing he was giving her his blessing. "Let's go eat."

***

Later that night, Jenna relaxed in the hotel bed staring at pictures of Noelle. She'd video chatted with her father a bit ago so she could see her daughter. She missed her little one something terrible. "Never again," she muttered to herself.  Never again would she be away from her for this long.

A text popped up on her screen from an unknown number and she opened it.

It was so good to reconnect with you today, Jenna. I can't wait to see you again.

She smiled and saved the number. She still couldn't believe they'd reconnected either, or that she was Daniel's mate. It made her feel better about their pup.  There wouldn't be another woman out there that Daniel belonged to who would be angry about Noelle.

But then she thought of what Talia had told her earlier. Daniel was the Alpha King. What would that mean for her? What would that mean for Noelle?  Would Daniel be disappointed to find out his firstborn was a female and not a male?

Jenna chewed on her lip over that one. She really had no idea how any of it worked, though she supposed she would be finding out.  She really couldn't remember Talia ever mentioning anything about werewolf royalty.

Her thoughts traveled back to the night at the diner. So the blond woman was Daniel's sister. That definitely made her feel better.

There's been no one since you.

Given that she was Daniel's mate, no, there wouldn't be.  Talia had told her that mates cheating on each other was extremely rare. Which meant Daniel had been thinking about her this entire time too. He'd missed her just as much, if not more than she'd missed him.

Jenna frowned, realizing that she hadn't texted Daniel back.

I'm so glad we got to reconnect too. I've regretted leaving you so much. I couldn't understand though why I missed you as much as I did.

She sat her phone down on her chest and sighed softly. She could hear Tyler's soft breathing, letting her know he was fast asleep.

It's because we're mates.  The bond won't let us forget each other. I should have told you when I met you, but I didn't know that you knew about werewolves, or that you'd be gone the next morning. Don't apologize for that. I know why you left, and I'm not angry with you. Im just happy to have you back in my life.

She smiled at his message. Well that explained why she could never get over him. Absence had definitely made her heart grown fonder. 

I'm happy to have you back in my life too, Daniel.   I can't wait to see you again.

Me too. It's getting late. Good night, Jenna. I'll text you in the morning.

She smiled.  Just being able to talk to him on a regular basis was going to be amazing. Her mind drifted back to earlier in Talia's apartment and the kisses they had exchanged. It was almost as though they had never parted.

She remembered back to that night. After Daniel had finished loving her, he'd pulled her close and held her against him, still brushing kisses over her face. She'd been buzzed and sleepy and oh so happy. She'd had no idea how short lived it would be, how she'd regret walking away for the next year of her life. She hadn't known then that Daniel was her destiny or that they had created a new life that night.

She realized in that moment that she didn't care that he was king. As long as she was with him, none of it mattered. Well, except Noelle. She was Jenna's first priority, and she knew she needed to let Daniel know about her as soon as possible. As long as Noelle was safe..

Goodnight Daniel. Til morning...