Chapter Sixty-Five
I've stayed at Dash's for the past two days.
I can't bear to see Axe after what he did.
With how gentle he's been with me for the time we've been together, I seem to forget that he is a killer.
He's killed people. I feel sick; whether it's from the pregnancy, Joel's death, not eating, or realising I'm mated to an unpredictable man who holds all the power, I don't know.
There's a knock on the door and then it opens.
Ryleigh walks in with some fruit and water.
“You have to take care of your baby, Elora,” Ryleigh says gently, sitting on the side of the bed.
She's been looking after me. Dash hasn't come to see me but I don't have a problem with it.
I don't want to be around werewolves right now anyway.
Being around Ryleigh is refreshing. I slowly sit up and pop a few pieces of fruit in my mouth, knowing my biggest priority is looking after my baby right now.
“Are you going back to Axe's soon?” Ryleigh asks.
“The more I see of the werewolf world, the more I believe it's a curse,” I murmur.
“I can't imagine what you're feeling right now.” Ryleigh grabs my hand in hers in a comforting gesture.
The first night I stayed here, I told Ryleigh everything.
I could see she was scared by what I was saying since she's just a human, but she listened to all of it and comforted me afterwards.
I feel sorry for Ryleigh; a human trapped in the werewolf world.
Dash has marked her so she really did give up her human life for him.
I craved a human life for so long but then I fell in love with Axe.
But now, the violence of werewolves is really getting to me.
“I should get some sun.” I stand up, drinking the water first before we go outside.
“I'll come with you for a walk.”
Ryleigh and I walk slowly through the neighbourhood.
As people pass by, they stare at Ryleigh, which makes me roll my eyes.
She's a human. They need to get over it.
Her species is superior to our wretched species anyway.
I see a couple in the distance; Jayceon and his mate.
When they get closer, I see Jayceon has a bruised eye.
“Did Axe do that?” I ask.
“Obviously.” He glares at me.
“You didn't have to tell him I was at the prison.”
Jayceon scoffs and walks off, leaving his mate still standing here.
“Luna, thank you.” She gives me a small smile.
“For what?” I frown in confusion.
“Jayceon is on temporary leave. Apparently the alpha has promoted one of the soldiers to help out with the prison so I'll have Jayceon with me more.”
Is Jayceon still the warden? Did Axe make someone else take over?
“Oh. I'm sure Jayceon's blaming me for that.” I sigh.
“Jayceon has always been a pain in the ass. Don't worry about it. I'm thankful for whatever you did. Now I get to start my family. Jayceon might be pissed now, but I think this happened for a good reason.”
“Well at least someone's happy.” I force a smile.
She smiles then walks off. I probably should have asked for her name since I still don't know it but ah well.
“I think everyone's putting too much pressure on you,” Ryleigh says.
I sigh. “That's life.”
“We need to get away,” Ryleigh says.
“That's actually a good idea.”
“Vacation?” Ryleigh grins at me.
“Actually, yes. I want to be around humans for a while so I don't have to stress. My best friend lives in a city three hours away. It'd be good seeing her again.”
“Let's plan a weekend away. Does she live near a beach?”
“Yeah.” I chuckle.
“Perfect. Let's go back to mine and sort out the details. Are we inviting Olly?”
“Maybe we shouldn't. It's just she's such a positive person and loves werewolf life, I think I just need to be a downer around humans for a bit. Besides, Brian probably wouldn't let her go.”
“Will Axe let you go?” Ryleigh asks with a doubtful look.
“No, but I don't care what he thinks.”
Ryleigh and I go to her place and make plans.
I call Amelia and she's thrilled to have me come visit.
I finally have something to spend my savings on.
We agree to stay at a hotel on the beach.
Ryleigh and I are driving up Friday and leaving the following Monday since Amelia has university classes.
Amelia says she'll plan places we can go to have a good time since she knows the city.
“I probably should have asked Dash about this before I booked the hotel.” Ryleigh bites her lip.
“You're a human. Remember that Ryleigh. You don't owe him anything,” I remind her.
“How are you going to tell Axe?”
“I'll tell him I'm going on a vacation. If he gets angry, I'll tell him to get over it.”
“What if he doesn't let you go?”
“He just killed someone for no reason. If he makes a big deal about me going on a girls' weekend trip, I'll kick him so hard in the balls that hopefully he stops speaking for a while.”
“You definitely need a vacation,” Ryleigh comments. “I still think maybe we should ask Olly so she doesn't feel left out.”
“We already booked it, but okay.”
Ryleigh calls Olly but Olly says she can't come because it's Brian's birthday this weekend. While Ryleigh and I sit in the living room, Dash walks in.
“Dash, I gotta talk to you,” Ryleigh says.
“I guess I'll go home.” I sigh.
I walk next door and go inside, seeing the living room is no longer a mess.
The only furniture in here is pretty much the couches since everything else was destroyed.
Axe's scent floods through the house so I go upstairs.
He's in his room. Our room. He's just lying on the bed but he sits up when I come in. I go over to stand by the bed.
“Elora.” Axe reaches out for me and tries to pull me onto his lap.
“Don't Axe. I'm still pissed.” I pull away from him.
“Then why did you come home?” he asks.
“I can go back to Dash's if you want me to,” I bite back sassily.
“No, I want you here. Honey, I miss you. I don't like fighting with you.” His voice is soft.
He's back to his regular self. Yet three days ago, he killed someone. How can he switch between each persona so quickly? If I killed someone, I would never stop feeling depressed. Yet here he is, back to being sweet, despite full on raging a few days ago.
“I don't feel like talking right now. I'm going for a nap.” I walk towards the door.
“Wait, sleep in here.”
“No.”
“Why are you angry about Joel? You said you didn't want him.” Axe stands up.
“Are you serious? Just because I didn't want him doesn't mean I'm not allowed to be angry that you killed him.”
“It's better this way. Nothing will come between us,” Axe reasons.
“He never was between us,” I snap.
“Elora...”
“Don't Axe. Anything you say will just piss me off even more.
I'm going to relax so my baby doesn't stress the fuck out.
Since I don't plan on talking to you for the rest of the day, I'll tell you now.
Ryleigh and I are going on a girls' weekend trip.” I walk out of the room but hear his footsteps sound behind me.
“You're delusional if you think I'm letting you leave town.” He pulls my arm so I'm facing him.
“And you're delusional if you think I'm going to forgive you for being a monster,” I state, watching his face fall.