Chapter 61
Scarlett.
“That wasn’t your call to make!" I yelled, bumping into Jaxon’s side as I headed to the front door.
"Unbelievable," Jaxon spoke in a deep, stern voice, rubbing the back of his neck. He grasped my wrist before I could make it to the door, stopping me in my tracks.
"Let go of me," I gritted the words, eyeing his hand around my wrist.
"I did what any alpha mate would have done in my position. She deserved to die," Jaxon nonchalantly replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"You don’t get it, do you?" I monotonously asked, willing myself to calm down. The last time I checked, the man had walked away from me, but he was denying me the satisfaction of doing the same. I knew he could feel my anger through our bond, it stood out like a sore thumb.
"Don’t get smart with me,” he warned, staring straight into my eyes.
"What you did out there was fucking stupid and unnecessary." My voice rose an octave; my teeth rattling. We had lost a good chance because of my mate’s impatience and murderous wolf.
"What is wrong with you, Scarlett? She poisoned you! That teen was nothing but an impostor who deserved a fate far much worse than the death I gladly gave her." Jaxon chuckled bitterly, letting go of my hand.
“She was our only shot at capturing the person behind the poisoning." I pressed the tips of my right-hand fingers together. “Our only shot Jaxon,” I stressed, waving my hand in front of him.
"What are you talking about? She is the one who poisoned you. And by the way, I didn’t appreciate you keeping me in the dark about the whole issue." I knew sooner or later he would bring it up, and oh, how I was waiting for it to happen.
I laughed in mockery, throwing my head back. “How would I have told you when you weren’t talking to me?" He growled when he detected the sarcasm in my question.
“This again?" He pinched his nose and exhaled loudly.
"You left me at the bleachers talking to myself. You have been ignoring me like a plaque. So answer me, Jaxon; please enlighten me...How the hell should I have informed you that Avery was not who you thought she was when you chose to push me away?" I could feel my insides burning the more I talked. My chest hurt, and my wolf whimpered in pain.
"Oh, now it is my fault, isn’t it?" He rubbed his left eyebrow.
"It was your risky decisions that made me ignore you in the first place. Yes, you were kidnapped, but the fact remains that you had all it took to save yourself with a snap of your fingers. But you didn’t; you went as far as locking me out of your thoughts, allowing another man to see your naked body." I crossed my arms over my upper abdomen while watching him vent. The pain I felt in our bond as he spoke the last part was almost palpable.
"I told you I did it for you." I stepped forward, craning my neck to look at him. His alpha aura filled the entire living room; his wolf was on the surface. I could feel him, angry at my own for allowing another set of eyes to feed on what was his.
“There you go again! I didn’t tell you to go out there and do the findings yourself! I can never jeopardize your life because of a threat posed to the pack! You fucking know that you always, always come first." I hang my head, recollecting my thoughts. A silence stretched between us as we tried to pull our emotions into check.
“This must be a joke." I broke the silence.
"You have been ignoring me even when you knew how stressed I was. You relished in me constantly calling you while you gave excuses about how busy you were. You fucked me and left, not giving a damn about my feelings." I just let it all out.
“Scarlett,” he started, but I was quick to stop him with a stretch of my hand.
"No Jaxon. Tell me now which alpha mate knowingly ignores their mate, walks out on her after sex, and doesn’t give a flying fuck about the state of her mind after going through the hands of a maniac." By the sigh that he let out, I knew he had remembered the words he had used back at the bleachers.
"A selfish mate, a man who is supposed to be the leader of the entire pack." It felt good using his words against him. Given his brief shutting of his eyes, he could feel the same stab I felt when he said the exact words to me.
"I was angry, okay? That’s different though; I had a right to feel that way, and hell, I still feel like you should have involved me. It would have only taken you seconds to tell me your plan." He opened his eyes but avoided my orbs.
"I saw how stressed you were over the rogue invasion. After the death of that expectant she-wolf, I could see the constant battle you were in. Not to mention the rogues you were torturing weren’t cooperating. So when I woke up in that cabin, I swore to help you solve this. To bring peace to your mind, but... it seems all I get is rejection and dismissal." By the time I was done, my eyes were already burning.
I could feel my lips threatening to tremble as I shifted my gaze away from Jaxon, whose eyes had softened. My wolf whimpered again, yearning to be held by our mate. “I just wanted to make you happy and help protect the pack,” I whispered in a broken voice, stifling a cry.
"Baby, you didn’t have to." His voice softened, closing the distance between us. He placed his hands under my ass and lifted me up, my hands reflexively going around his neck.
"I shouldn’t have called you selfish. The thought of you getting hurt threatened to take away my sanity,” he explained, burying his face in my neck.
"I’m sorry for keeping you in the dark; I thought I was doing the right thing. Now that I see it, we are mates for a reason. To work together despite the hurdles thrown at our paths,” I breathed out, tightening my hold.
"Just read your thoughts, babe," Jaxon said. I enjoyed the warmth his body emanated; being in his arms had taken away a burden and paved the way for relief.
"What did you find?" I asked, knowing full well that he knew why I was mad about him killing Avery.
"You think that Avery was just a pawn in all this. Do you have anyone on your mind?" he asked. I smirked, breathing in his scent as I answered.
"As a matter of fact, I do."