Chapter Nineteen
Iwake up and see Axe lying beside me. He's lying on his back, one arm behind his head and he's staring up at the ceiling. I sit up and decide what I should say. Did he fall asleep beside me when I did?
“Um, I'm going to make dinner,” I say to excuse myself. I hop off the bed, seeing that the drywall on the floor still isn't cleaned up. When I reach the door, I turn to look at him. “Do you want me to call you when dinner's ready?”
“Can you leave me some leftovers? I've got a lot on my mind,” he says, his voice normal again, not angry or sad.
I leave the room and go to the kitchen. But I barely pay attention to what I'm doing, my subconscious seeming to control my cooking.
My mind is worrying about what Axe is thinking about.
Is he going to hunt down my mate? I can't open up to Axe anymore.
The way he reacted to my mate's rejection, I can't imagine how he would react to the years of abuse.
Even though he knows someone hurt me, I don't think he understands the severity of it.
I don't hear someone walk in until I see Dashiell in the kitchen.
“How are you, Elora?” he asks politely.
“I'm fine. Axe is upstairs if you want to see him. He's kind of in an off mood, though,” I let him know.
“He's always in a mood. I'm surprised you're tolerating him. Not many people do,” Dashiell says.
“He's a good person... just broken.” I continue moving around the kitchen.
“You might be the one to heal him,” Dashiell whispers, clearly to himself but I hear it.
“What do you mean?” I ask shakily.
Did Axe say something to him? Dashiell bites his lip, his brows creasing.
“Elora, he's been alone in this house for years. Now he's letting you stay here and even went after you when you left... I think you've tugged on something inside him…” Dashiell trails off.
“He's just protecting me,” I state, not wanting to consider the thought of Axe thinking of me in that way.
“Maybe.” Dashiell gives me a gentle smile before excusing himself.
Dinner takes a while since my mind is going crazy.
I try not to overthink and just focus on the food.
When I sit at the table, I find the food heavy to eat.
Time goes by and I'm glad that Axe didn't come down for dinner.
To see him after Dashiell's words... I just don't know what to think.
Could Axe really see me as a woman to… date…
open up to… I don't know what to call it. If he has feelings for me… shit.
After putting the food in the fridge, I go to my room and call Amelia. I tell her to distract me, so she dives into sugar daddy talk and then chats about studying.
***
I wake up and see my phone on my pillow.
Did I fall asleep on the phone? Since I didn't have a shower last night, I have a quick one then get ready for school.
When I go to the pantry for a snack, I sense Axe isn't in the house which surprises me since he's always here in the mornings.
Deciding not to ponder why he isn't here, I go to school.
The three monstrosities are out front, making me agitated.
I walk towards the entrance, but not without them commenting.
“Hey, crossbred.” Ember smirks.
I stick to Amelia's ignoring technique but they block the gate so I can't walk in. Dennis walks by and they let him past, then turn back to me and smirk.
“Ooh, even a human is ignoring you now. You just piss off everyone, don't you?” Ember looks smug.
“He must have figured out you're an outcast to humans too,” Mitchell sneers.
“Can you losers quit thinking you own the school? Seriously, get the fuck out of my way,” Joel says, annoyed, trying to walk past them but they block him too.
“What? Are you late running to your little girlfriend?” Mitchell says mockingly and his two hoes laugh.
“Do you really want to piss me off?” Joel's eyes go dark. This is my chance to side pass all of them but I'm interested in what Joel will do if they keep insulting him.
“What are you going to do about it? We all know you're the bitch in the relationship.” Mitchell keeps antagonising him. Joel growls but Mitchell doesn't back down. But when Joel grabs Mitchell by his shirt, he looks surprised.
“If we weren't at school, you'd be buried in the dirt,” Joel threatens.
“Try us,” Ember chimes in while Hannah steps beside Mitchell and crosses her arms.
“You're all pathetic. You can't fight on your own because you're weak. It explains why the only wolf you think you can pick on is the crossbred.” Joel lets Mitchell go.
But Mitchell’s eyes narrow and he grabs Joel's shoulder.
Joel instinctively punches Mitchell in the jaw.
A fight breaks out between them. My eyes are seeing the fight but my ears are ringing with Joel's words.
I feel like he just sliced through me by actually calling me the crossbred.
He knew I was still standing there, right?
Instead of sticking around to see what happens, I turn and walk back to my car.
I speed out of there and stop by a park to gather myself.
His words hurt me. I decide to go home. When I get back, Axe still isn't there.
I drop myself onto the couch and turn on the tv to drown out my thoughts.
Any slight chance I still gave Joel is gone now. I could get over him choosing Jenna over me, given how perfect she is. But I can't get past him insulting me with the crossbred word. He's the one person who shouldn't think of me like that. But he does.