Chapter Seventy-Eight
I'm watching a show on my laptop while Cash is sleeping. The more time that passes, the more I can work around Cash by knowing his routine. Axe walks into the room and sits down beside me.
“Joel will be released today. He's healed,” Axe tells me. “How do you feel about that?”
“I'm fine,” I tell him. “Are you letting him say goodbye to his family?”
“The soldiers will take him home to see his family and then he'll be escorted off the land.”
“Okay.”
I don't really know what to say.
“I also wanted to release one of the men that were locked up from my father's reign. But once I mentioned it to my dad, he went off.”
“But you're the alpha. If you want to release him...”
“The man I want to release wasn't a violent offender. He was locked up for apparently fooling around with my mother.” Axe frowns.
“And what did Manson say?”
“I'm getting the feeling it was more than fooling around. I asked my mum and she went quiet. Maybe it was more of a love triangle.” Axe shakes his head as if ridding himself of the disturbing thought.
“So you're not letting him out?” I ask.
“I think my father would kill him if I did. Let's talk about something else. Where's Cash?”
“He's upstairs.”
“Sleeping?”
“He would be crying if he wasn't.” I chuckle.
I highly doubt Cash would be awake just lying in his cot. When he wakes up, he cries for me.
“Do you want to cook something for dinner together?” Axe asks.
“I don't know if we have anything worth cooking,” I tell him.
He walks over to the kitchen and looks into the fridge.
“I guess I'll go grocery shopping. Do you need anything?”
“Nappies.” I chuckle.
“Why do I feel like we spend all the money on nappies?” he says playfully.
“You could get some wine and we can have a relaxing night,” I suggest.
“We shouldn't be both drinking now that we have Cash.”
“We're werewolves. One bottle of wine isn't going to get us drunk.”
“Good point.” He chuckles. “I'll be back soon.” He gives me a kiss and then leaves the house.
I go back to watching my show. Joel is leaving today and not coming back. I'll never see him again. I don't know why but I want to say goodbye. If I went to see him Axe would get angry so I do something I haven't done before. I open a mind link with him.
'Joel, can you hear me?'
I wait for a response. When a minute passes, I think he's not going to reply, but he does.
'What, Elora?'
'You're being freed. I just thought I would say goodbye.'
'Then why not come see me in person?'
I don't know what to reply to that so I stay quiet for a while. Soon Axe walks in holding bags of groceries.
“That was quick,” I say.
“I don't stop by the cafe when I get groceries,” he teases.
“How do you know I do that?”
“The empty coffee cups and doughnut wrappers around the kitchen.” Axe chuckles. “By the way, Dash is babysitting for a bit because I need to take you somewhere after I pack these away.”
“Where?” I frown.
“You're okay with Joel leaving right?” Axe asks.
“Yeah.”
Where's he going with this?
“We're going to see him so you can accept his rejection. You said you didn't want to do it before because he was in a bad place. Well, he's going free now so you can finally put your bond with him to an end.”
“Oh, okay.” I frown, imagining how uncomfortable it's going to be for the three of us to be in the same room. I would prefer talking to Joel alone but I don't think Axe will let that happen.
“You're not fighting me on this.” Axe looks surprised.
“Axe, I love you. I only had a problem with accepting his rejection when I thought he was going to kill himself and it would have been my fault.”
“Good to know.”
“You already knew but you didn't actually listen.”
Cash starts crying, so I get up.
“I'll get him,” Axe says.
“No, it's okay. I need to feed him.”
I breastfeed Cash and then go downstairs, seeing Dash is here.
“You ready?” Axe asks.
“Sure.” I sigh, wanting to get this over with.
Dash comes over, takes Cash out of my arms and goes over to the couch. I follow Axe out the door and we walk to the prison. Levi lets us through and we go into an area I haven't been in before, the medical area.
“Axe.” I stop walking and grab his arm. Axe turns to me and frowns. “Don't you think you being here is going to be awkward?” I ask.
“So?”
“Axe, can't you wait outside the door?”
“I don't know why you're protecting him,” Axe growls but leans against the wall with his arms crossed. “Go ahead.”
I sigh, knowing he's pissed off again. Is it really so much for me to ask to be alone to accept the rejection? I knock on the door and slowly open it, then walk in. Joel is sitting on the bed. He's not in the bed; just sitting there on the edge.
“Joel,” I say softly.
“Was it your idea to free me?” he asks, not looking at me.
“More or less so. Jenna pressured me about it a few times.”
“Jenna? Why would she do that? She left me in the dirt.” His brows crease.
“She still cares.”
“Whatever. Just say what you want to say and go.”
“I... came to accept your rejection,” I mutter.
“What?” He looks up at me. His once gorgeous blue eyes are lifeless. “I rejected you. It's done.”
“No, I need to accept it for it to be done. I never knew I needed to at the time.”
“Then get on with it.” Joel stands up giving me a cold-blooded look. I take a deep breath.
“I, Elora Raines, accept your rejection, Joel Lewis.”
After I say it, nothing happens. There's no pain like there was when he rejected me. It's most likely because the bond was so weak.
“I hate you, Elora,” Joel admits.
“Why? You're free now. I made that happen.” I frown.
“You were mine and you never gave me a chance. I have to live my life without my mate.”
“Are you serious? You were the one who didn't give me a chance,” I say aggressively.
“I've had a lot of time to think being locked up. I made a mistake but I realise that. You made a mistake but you've stuck with it.”
“What mistake did I make?” I question.
“Being with the alpha. I thought you just did it to punish me. I thought he was just a rebound from me. But you stayed with him. That was your mistake. When Jenna left me, we could have given us a chance but you stayed true to him.”
“It doesn't matter now, does it?”
“No, I suppose it doesn't.”
“Answer me this. Did you reject me because you loved Jenna or because I was the crossbred?” I ask, wanting to know the true reason.
“It doesn't matter now, does it?” Joel repeats my words back to me scornfully.
“Whatever.” I go to turn around.
“Is the alpha standing outside that door right now?” Joel asks.
I look to the door, then to Joel.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Joel stalks over and smashes his lips against mine before I can react.