Chapter Eighteen
As I go sit at the lunch table with Amelia, her eyes are drawn to her phone.
“What's going on?” I ask.
“I created a Tinder.”
“Oh, cool. Met anybody?” I make conversation even though Tinder dating sounds lousy.
“Decided for sure that I want a sugar daddy. I'm eighteen. High school will be ending soon and I want someone I can rely on before I go to university.”
“As long as you know what you're doing, who am I to judge?” I shrug, then add, “Sorry I missed your birthday by the way.”
“No worries, I don't celebrate it. When are you going back to work?” Amelia asks.
“I'm thinking next week. I feel confident enough that I can do it.”
“Your persistence amazes me,” she says, her words gratifying me.
“Exams are coming up. You prepared?” I ask.
“Who is ever prepared for the exams that determine if you graduate?” Amelia asks rhetorically.
“Not me, that's for sure,” I answer anyway.
We carry on with lunch but I smell the citrus scent that's really pissing me off.
Turning my head, I see Joel and Jenna making out in the distance.
His head turns from her as if he can sense I'm staring, because his eyes lock on mine.
I stare back at my food and talk more to Amelia about her sugar daddy, and she even shows me photos of the possible ones she's thinking about.
***
Getting home from school, I close the backdoor behind me and sigh.
Good thing is I don't need keys to the house because Axe always leaves the backdoor unlocked.
I leave my bag downstairs and grab some juice, downing it before I make my way upstairs.
Passing by an open door, I see Axe sitting on the edge of his bed, crouched over something, his head hanging down.
His room is dark and modern, clearly not a homey feeling to the room.
I softly knock but he doesn't make any move to look at me.
“Axe.” I step into his room. “Are you alright?” I dare to get closer and see that's he's clutching a photo frame in his hands, a photo of him and his mate in it.
I sit beside him. Maybe he just needs someone else's presence for comfort even if we just sit here in silence.
His facial expression is stoic yet his eyes are full of emotional pain.
“I don't grasp the loss you felt when your mate passed but I understand being truly alone. My mate rejected me,” I admit to him when I can't take the deafening silence any longer.
Once the words are out of my mouth, I regret them because his head snaps to mine, his eyes going black with rage.
“What did you just say?” he demands.
“I...” I go speechless. His eyes are terrifying.
“Your mate rejected you?”
He stands up in an instant, making me jump. He paces around the room, anger radiating off him so that the room becomes unbreathable. I don't even make a move to leave, too nervous to.
“Every wolf wants its mate. I had my mate, who I loved more than anything, ripped from my fucking life. Yet your fucking mate had the audacity to reject you. No one rejects their mate. He should be killed.” The growls behind his words are keeping me frozen in place. I've never seen someone so mad.
“It's okay,” my quiet voice speaks up to try and calm him.
“IT'S NOT OKAY.” His fist goes through the wall, making a loud smash.
I stand up nervously, not sure how to go about being so close to someone so unhinged.
“Do you want me to go?” I ask.
“Who is he?” His voice is quieter now but deadly.
If I tell him my mate is Joel, I can't imagine what he will do. I shouldn't have mentioned the rejection. Axe is like a volcano, lava spitting out in small drizzles but I feel if I say my mate's name, that volcano is going to erupt and destroy anything in its path.
“Who is he?” he asks again, impatience in his voice.
“It doesn't matter. Don't hurt him, Axe, because it will hurt me too,” I murmur gently.
He pulls his fist from the wall, the drywall crunching and falling to the floor in little pieces, then he turns to me. It's true; if I saw Joel get hurt, it would distress my wolf. Axe comes to me, his expression softening. He reaches out and cradles my cheeks with both hands.
“You're just a young pup. You shouldn't be going through this.” His voice is heartbroken.
“I'm okay,” I assure him.
Despite how mad I saw him a minute ago and his deep breathing now, the way his hands are holding my face is truly soothing. I feel protected.
“You don't have to be strong for me.”
Axe wraps his arms around my back and pulls me into an embrace.
His words break through my barrier and I drop my head against his chest, a few tears falling.
We stay like this for a while, neither one of us making a move to let go.
I feel something, being in his arms. I don't know what.
But I like the feeling. His warm body comforts me enough, I almost doze off against his chest. He must sense this because he picks me up and rests me on the bed. His bed.