Chapter 46

I didn’t have a chance to respond to Jaxon because I passed out from tiredness. By the time I woke up, it was already the early hours of the morning. I felt so disoriented and confused and when I lifted a hand to my head, I didn’t feel the pounding headache that I expected to be there as a result of everything that happened.

I pulled myself out of bed and made my way into the bathroom. I carefully removed the bandage on my head and to my surprise, I was perfectly healed. There was no scarring or bruising and it was like nothing had happened. I felt relieved but I also felt bad because I knew that Kiara would still have her bruises. I took a long shower and when it was time to get dressed, I didn’t want to wear anything of mine so I put on a pair of biker shorts and paired it with one of Jaxon’s shirts.

I made my way out of the room and the first place I checked was Kiara’s. I met Jaxon there but to my shock, hel didn’t turn to me or heed my appearance, I tried to ignore the pang in my chest and instead focused on my daughter who was getting dressed. She smiled up at me and I managed to give her a wobbly smile as I took in her cheek. The swelling had gone down completely although it was still a little reddened and the cut on her head was no longer bleeding.

“You look beautiful,” I said to her and her smile widened incredibly.

She was wearing a pretty short white dress with yellow dandelions etched on it. Jaxon was braiding her hair in two and I watched as he took his time doing it. Once he was done, he ki*sed her forehead and stood to his feet. His eyes met mine finally and saw something flash beneath his lids but he hid it before I could analyze it. Without another word, he walked out of the room like I was nothing but a speck of dust on the wall.

“Jaxon,” I began as I reached out to him but he ignored me. I turned back to Kiara who was watching me carefully and I gave her a small smile. “Why don’t we go for breakfast?”

It was already seven a.m. so I figured breakfast would be ready. I made my way to the kitchen with Kiara clutched carefully by my side and on getting there, I saw Jael and Jared. They looked relieved to see me and as soon as I walked over to them, Jared smiled.

“I’m glad to see that you’re in one piece,” he said and his brother pinched him sharply making him jump. “I’m just saying. Anything could have happened.”

“What he meant to say,” Jael began with a sharp look at his b “Is that we are glad to see that you’re healthy and safe. We were worried about you.”

“I was more worried about whether or not the king was going to skin my hide.”

When I made my decision, I didn’t think about how everyone else was going to react to it. I was worried about my child and I acted impulsively. I forgot to even think about how Jaxon would have blamed them for my disappearance and how I could have jeopardized their careers.

“I’m sorry,” I said but Jared waved me off.

“What matters is that you are here now and according to the Alpha’s directives, we are not to let you out of our sight.”

I expected something like that so I just shrugged and introduced them to Kiara. She took an instant liking to Jael which seemed to piss Jared off because he tried and failed to get her attention.

By the time we got to the dining room, Aiden was already seated there with Jaxon. Jaxon muttered something to Aiden and stood to his feet. I knew he was avoiding me and I was determined to find out why but I decided to give him the semblance of space for the time being so I took a seat directly next to Aiden.

He lifted his eyes to me and muttered a small curse under his breath. “I don’t know why he’s avoiding you. You have to ask him that. You people don’t pay me enough to be your relationship counselor.”

“I just want to know why he’s acting so different,” I began slowly. “He was fine before I fell asleep yesterday. I have no idea why he is acting so weird today.”

A dark look crossed Aiden’s face and he sighed. “I think you should talk to Jaxon. After he left you, he went to your family. That might be why or it might be because it is a full moon tonight but I don’t know. Just talk to him, okay?”

Before I could say anything, Aiden stood to his feet and walked out. I rested my head on the table in frustration because I already knew that it was going to be a long day.

I tried to keep a brave face for Kiara and engaged her in everything possible. I wasn’t sure if Nadia was going to return today and I didn’t want to leave her unattended so I went in search of Aiden. He was talking with some of the guards when I found him and he dismissed them as soon as he realized I was searching for him.

I asked him to help me watch over Kiara and he agreed easily without any questions. If anything, he seemed relieved to have Kiara and practically ushered me away. I left before he changed his mind and went into the kitchen to bake brownies. I wasn’t sure what happened to the last set but I have a feeling Aiden ate them and I wanted to take something to Jaxon before I left.

It took me almost two hours to finish everything and by the time I was done, I made my way to his office. It was open and he wasn’t there but I refused to let it dissuade me so I sat in his chair and placed the tin of brownies on his desk and waited. I wasn’t sure how long I waited but soon, I drifted off to sleep.

By the time I woke up, it was a little dark and I felt myself being lifted out of the chair. I woke up to see Jaxon trying to lift me out of the chair but I put up a hand to stop him. I saw him debate it for a split second before resigning and allowing me to sit.

I “You shouldn’t be here,” he said simply and I raised a brow at him. “Don’t look at me like that, Freya.

You should be in the safety of the room. I am not the right person to be around right now.”

“Why not?” I asked. “Is it because you tortured Cressida? I don’t care about that. Is it because it is a full moon? I don’t care. You asked me to give you a chance and I did. That includes days like this.”

“I don’t want to say something to you that I am going to regret. Sometimes, I cannot control myself and I have been feeling very different lately. Please, Freya, don’t make me hurt you.”

I stood to my feet and stroked his jaw. “You’re hurting me right now by pushing me away.”

He closed his eyes and savored my touch but didn’t speak. When I tried to pull my hand away, he held it closer and pressed a ki*s to the centre of my palm. He finally opened his eyes and I could see the raw emotions in them. He was terrified of doing something wrong and he was terrified of pushing me away. I didn’t know how else to make him feel better and I was desperately thinking of what to do when an idea popped into my head.

“Come with me,” I said and he hesitated and opened his mouth to refute but I didn’t give him a chance. I grabbed his hand and started to pull him. “You can eat your brownies when we return.”

I could tell he was unsure of following but he stayed silent and allowed me lead him out of the room and out of the palace front doors. The guards looked us with confusion and shock but none of them said a word. I led Jaxon out of the palace and into the woods where the moon was hidden behind some clouds.

“What are we doing here, Freya?” he asked but I ignored him and pulled him deeper into the woods until I came across a lake.

I rememberediit from the last time I shifted and I hadn’t shifted in a long time so I figured it would be a good experience for us. He was watching with questions in his eyes but I ignored him and stripped off my clothes. I saw his eyes darken and he reached out for me but I pulled away from his grasp.

“Let’s make a deal,” I said slowly and I saw his interest pique. “I am going to shift and we will have a race. First person to go around and get back here wins.”

“What does the winner get?” he asked and I smirked.

“Anything they want, are you ready?”

He straightened, “I’ll give you a head start.”

I didn’t wait for any other words to leave his l*ps, I shifted and took off. I ran for about two minutes before I heard him take off. I pushed myself to go as fast as I could not because I cared about who won or not but just to make it more interesting. It didn’t matter who arrived there first, we both wanted the same thing but I wanted to be able to rub it in his face that I won.

I was fairly confident that I was going to win because of how far ahead I was. I had almost gotten back to the lake when I saw a blur of- fur?

I stopped in my tracks and stared ahead only to see who I assumed was Jaxon standing in front of the lake. The only problem was that- he had shifted.