Chapter Sixty-Six
Axe and I have been avoiding each other all day.
I feel bad about calling him a monster but he legit killed someone for a stupid reason.
There's no reason to kill someone. Actually, when Axe killed Reeve, that was understandable.
Someone as evil as Reeve would have just continued hurting people so he had to be put a stop to.
But Joel, he never committed a crime. If we lived in the human world and this happened, the law would laugh if a girl tried to charge a guy for rejecting her.
But since it's werewolf life and Axe is the judge of it, what Joel did was considered a crime.
I love Axe but he's been acting way too domineering lately and I don't like it.
After I have a long steamy shower to help me relax, I go to my room to sleep. Sleep doesn't come easy. Everything is overwhelming me. Somehow I manage to doze off.
I wake up when I feel an arm wrap around my waist and a large hand press against my stomach.
“You're leaving me, aren't you?” Axe whispers. “This girls' trip is just a ruse for you to escape, isn't it?”
The fear in his voice slaps me in the face. He's scared. Maybe... maybe that's why he killed Joel. He's scared I'll leave him, for any possible reason.
“I'm not going to leave you. Why do you have to be like this?” I whisper.
“I lost her, Elora. I don't want to lose you, or my little one too.” He tightens his hold on my stomach.
“We have problems that we need to work through but I'm not leaving you. Ryleigh and I are just going to see Amelia for the weekend,” I assure him, keeping my voice quiet.
“You'll come back?” Axe whispers, sounding unsure of himself.
“Yes,” I whisper.
It seems neither one of us wants to disrupt the dark and silent atmosphere so we don't raise our voices above a whisper.
“Go back to sleep.” He presses a kiss to the back of my head then his warm presence leaves the bed.
“Where are you going?”
“For a run.”
“Are you going to call my babysitter?” I ask sulkily.
“Elora, I did...” He pauses. “No.” He sighs, not seeming to want to start a fight.
***
I'm at lunch with Ryleigh and Olly. I saw Axe this morning and it was fine but I can feel it's like we're walking on eggshells around each other.
“I'm surprised he's letting you go,” Ryleigh says.
“He didn't really say I could go. But I think he's too scared to stop me,” I say.
“I don't understand it.” Olly frowns.
“What?”
“The fighting between you and the alpha. With Brian, there is absolutely no conflict between us,” Olly says.
“Could it be because Olly is with her destined mate yet you're with a chosen mate? Does it work that way?” Ryleigh asks, confused.
“That makes sense. With mates I've seen, everything seems perfect. Maybe since you and the alpha chose each other and weren't destined, the tension just keeps building up because you don't have the mate bond to keep things hunky-dory,” Olly says.
“Yeah, probably.” I sigh. “So with both of you, there are no arguments between you and your mates?”
“Dash and I fight sometimes,” Ryleigh admits.
“Once again, no mate bond because you're human. Only Dash can feel it,” Olly claims. “To answer your question, no, Brian and I don't argue. We only got into a little bit of a heated debate when he ordered me to leave my pack to be with him but since then, everything's been perfect.”
“Is that why you're ditching us to spend the weekend with Brian?” Ryleigh teases.
“No, I can't leave him on his birthday,” Olly says.
“Because he's expecting a wild night of birthday sex?” Ryleigh continues to tease.
“Shut up,” Olly mumbles, her cheeks blushing.
Ryleigh laughs and I smile. It feels good to be around girlfriends and have light-hearted conversation, nice food and a peaceful atmosphere.
***
While I'm making dinner for myself, Carson calls.
“How's the baby?” I ask her.
“Tiring. Timothy took the baby for the day so I can have a break so I thought I'd call. How are things?”
“Well.” I sigh. “Axe and I have been fighting. There's too much drama here...”
“Why are you fighting?” Carson questions, and I can just imagine her frown.
“I don't want you to worry about the bullshit here. You should just focus on your baby, like what I should be doing.”
“I still want to know if something happens, Elora.”
“I know.”
“The only reason you're probably fighting is because you're pregnant. Things affect you more deeply with the hormones and mood swings.”
“Really? So you felt like everything was heightened when you were pregnant?” I ask, desperately wanting to know if the pregnancy is why I've been feeling the way I have.
“Definitely. Before I was pregnant, Timothy and I were always happy, but while I was pregnant, I would snap at him constantly.”
“Oh, I should definitely speak to a doctor about pregnancy changes.”
“It only gets worse.”
“Carson, I don't want to hear that.”
“I'm just saying, the further along you get, the more intense everything is.”
Axe walks in and sees me.
“Carson, I'll let you go. Axe just walked in and I have to get back to making dinner.” We say bye and hang up. “Where have you been?”
“With Lizzy and Creed.”
“What? Why?” I frown.
“I've been stressed and it's a good distraction working my hands to the bone building their shelter.”
“Oh.”
That's another thing for me to feel bad about. Axe is spending more time with my mum than I am.
“What were you and Carson talking about?”
“Pregnancy. Can you make an appointment with Dr Cindy before I forget?” I ask.
“Yeah, we can go see her tomorrow, before you go away for the weekend.”
“Um, can I go alone?” I ask.
“Why?” He looks hurt.
“I just want to talk to a woman about what's happening to my body and feelings. I'm not going for a scan or anything,” I tell him.
“Okay, if she does give you another ultrasound though, I want to be there, so call me,” Axe affirms.
“Thank you. Dinner won't be ready for a bit.”
I'm glad instead of fighting me on this, he's accepting that I want to see the doctor alone.
“I can help,” he offers, coming around to where the food is laid out on the bench.