Chapter 6 #2
Axar jumped as if he'd forgotten Franklin was there.
His wolf growled in his mind, but he tamped it down.
This was not the time to get snarly over their mate not being focused on them.
He'd turn forty-five soon, was the alpha of a pack of wolves.
He should be able to handle not being the center of someone's attention for a few minutes, for fuck's sake.
His mate should want to be near him at all times, but psychics and shifters were different. He had to be patient.
"Oh...eh...people often get uncomfortable, so we've learned to..." He waved a hand and winced.
Franklin wanted to kiss him. Instead, he cupped Axar's elbow only to have him hiss and jerk away.
"Sorry." He held his hands up. What the hell?
"It's okay, I...eh...hit it when I...eh..."
Franklin gently grabbed his hand and pushed up the sleeve. Axar tried to pull away, but a psychic only had a fraction of the strength a shifter did, and what he saw had his grip tighten involuntarily. It wasn't until Axar whined that he let up a little.
The entire arm was filled with bruises, scabs, and cuts. At first, Franklin's mind jumped to self-harm, and it might be what he was looking at, but the bruises...A person could do things to themselves to cause bruising, but was it common?
Ice filled his veins. "Axar?" He didn't know what to ask, so he turned his name into a question. Shit, could he leave him in a house filled with sharp objects?
"It's nothing."
Nothing? The room spun around him as he took in the old scars. This was not nothing. There were scars upon scars, rosy skin of newly healed injuries, and new bruises and wounds on top of them. "Did you do this?"
He winced. "I didn't want to, but.... When I don't do what she wants--"
Franklin snarled. She did this? His mother?
"It's okay."
Ghost or no, Franklin could understand why he made up an invisible friend if he had to live with this kind of abuse. "I'm gonna kill her."
"No!" Axar tugged to be let loose, and this time Franklin allowed it. He wouldn't force him to do anything, no matter how much he wanted to remove all his clothes to take in the damage. "I don't want her dead. I only want to...be away from Foolshope."
"Oh, honey, you can stay here for as long as you wish."
Axar's eyebrows shot up, but Franklin had to look away to compose himself.
"The bedroom is over here." This time, he didn't touch Axar.
He simply gestured forward. "Kitchen in here.
" He waved a hand at the open doorway where the kitchen was visible.
"Eat whatever you like." They walked a few more steps.
"My bedroom. Bathroom." He pointed at the door opposite his bedroom.
"And the last room down here is the guest room. "
Franklin opened the door. It wasn't big, but it had a bed and some closets. He frowned as he realized Axar had no luggage. "Will you be okay here?"
He needed to get back, see how Elvin was doing with the mother from hell.
"Will you lock the door?"
"The front door?"
"This door." Axar gestured at the bedroom door, and Franklin couldn't have stopped his eyes from widening had he wanted to.
"Lock it? How will you get to the bathroom if I lock it? Or did you want a key?"
Axar didn't reply, and his face was unreadable.
Was he afraid of Franklin doing something he didn't want to?
"I won't come in here unless you want me to.
You don't have to lock the door." Pain stabbed at him.
Being feared by your mate wasn't a good feeling, but Franklin tried to breathe through it.
He didn't know what Axar had been through in the past. Maybe trust didn't come easily.
He wasn't sure he could sense they were meant to be, so he couldn't blame Axar for being cautious.
"I'm allowed to leave the room?" Axar nodded as if he could get Franklin to give the answer he wanted.
Franklin snorted and moved closer, wanting to nuzzle him, but settled on stroking a lock of hair from his forehead.
"You're free to go wherever you want. There is food in the kitchen, and there are clean towels in the bathroom, should you want to shower.
I won't be home until after three in the morning, okay? "
Axar nodded.
It was a struggle to step back, but in the end, Franklin did. "I'll lock the front door, but if you want to go for a walk or something, there is a spare key underneath the doormat."
Interest sparked in Axar's eyes, but he didn't speak.
"Do you have a phone?" Franklin wanted his number.
Axar shook his head. "No, I've never had one."
Who didn't have a phone? Could you live without a phone these days? "Okay, we'll have to make do without for now." He didn't have a landline, so there was no way for Axar to call him at work. "We'll fix one tomorrow, okay? For now, we have to make the best of the situation."
Axar's eyes were wide as he nodded.
"See you later." Franklin reached out and caressed his neck. He wanted to bury his face there, inhale his scent, but he took a step back. Once he'd exited, he locked the front door and headed to his car.
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