Fated Love.

Together Again.

(Jaxson pov)

I hate the idea of her being alone in the house, no one else in there. I know I pushed her, I feel horrible that I did that. Goddess, please forgive me.

She was right. She had told me her boundaries, and I did ignore her, for that I do apologise. There is absolutely no excuse for my actions.

The first thing I noticed when I saw her again was that she had cut her hair. Her once long hair that reached her bum was now shoulder length. She looks exactly the same, a lot more tired but still the same, Arla. She didn't smile at me anymore, which killed me.

"You brought her back?" Tom questions walking in.

"Don't start Tom, you knew she had my son and never told me."

"She begged me not to, she wanted to do it herself, she cried to me begging me, she knew my role now and knew the responsibility that I had to you. She did show me all the calls and unanswered texts she sent you."

"You should've told me."

"The only reason you would've rang her back was to confirm you had a child. You didn't want to call her, I wasn't going to bend your arm to do so."

"I know I f****d up. She's my mate."

"Yeah, we all realised everyone with eyes realised."

He stares at me, not as an act of confrontation but as an act of confidence.

"I need her to forgive me."

"She sees the only reason she's back home is due to the mate bond and Francis. She does not believe you want her."

Of course I f*****g want her. I've loved her since we were kids. When I kissed her, I never expected her to kiss me back, and I never expected us to start a s****l relationship, I am elated that we did, but I had never expected it. She always made him smile. She was fierce, strong, stubborn, and so intelligent. When she was fourteen, she moved up into our training group as more experienced, and she had proved it time and time again. She bested my Gamma Alexander so many times. Her fighting skills were equal to mine. She wasn't as strong as me, but she definitely matched the skill. it was amazing to watch. Now she was the mother to my son, and that was amazing to watch, the way she cared for him, the way she smiled and giggled and encouraged him. From what I can tell, she is an amazing mom.

"Dude, why is she blowing up my phone saying she slapped you?"

"I asked her to kiss me."

"Glad she slapped you then."

with that, Tom turned and walked away. He was a lot taller than Arla, around 6'6, not quite my 6'8 but still very tall, she had red hair and he had dark blonde, she had green eyes like her father, he had more brown like his mom. I won't sleep tonight knowing she's so far.

'she won't reject us.' jace reassured me.

'I know she just needs time. Things will be okay.'

I run my hand through my hair and sigh.

I get up and rush to her house, I stand outside watching the house, seeing when lights turn off and where she would be. She looks out her window before shutting her blinds, making eye contact with me. I wave to her. She just shuts the blinds and turns the light off.

A few hours go by, and I hear Francis crying, I see her light turn on again and see a shadowed figure rush to his room. Call me in, please. I'm still here. It was as if she heard my begging, the door opened, and she called me over.

"You can sleep in his room, bond with him, I've settled him back down."

He looks at her, she's wearing his top, still absolutely huge on her, she notices and rolls her eyes.

"Don't start." she hid her giggle, but I could tell.

I step in, lock the door behind us, and walk upstairs.

"Don't wake him." she whispered before opening the door and letting me in. she then walks across the hall and shuts her door, I hear the lock click. I don't lock the door behind me, in case she wants to get to Francis. I know she probably isn't best pleased that I'm here. She has done it for Francis and me to bond, and for that, I am grateful.

The next morning, I wake up, and Francis has gone, I guess Arla got him. That is confirmed when I hear him and her giggling downstairs,

"Yeah baby, do we like this song?"

"mamam dance"

I hear him giggle loudly. I walk down and watch them dancing her, shaking him around while dancing with him in her arms.

She laughs loudly at him, giggling at her.

"Right lil man breakfast time, want some porridge or toast?"

"Tost."

"Toast it is." she giggles, placing him in his high chair.

"Good morning. Did we wake you?"

"No, this was an amazing way to wake up."

I watch as she puts a slice of bread into the toaster for Francis.

"Tom brought us some things over, help yourself to whatever is in the fridge."

I nod,

"mamam, hungy."

"I know, lil man, I can't make it cook quicker." she kisses his nose before turning to get his toast. She butters it, cuts it into slices, and places them on his tray. She cuts some fruit for him, and he helps himself.

Once he was done, Arla cleans him up and lets him out his high chair. He toddles round and gets into his toys. I watch him as he does, terrified he'll hurt himself.

"He'll be fine. He knows what he's doing." she reassures me.

I watch as she cleans up, wiping the sides from breadcrumbs.

"mamam, play."

"One second, sweetie."

She washes her hands and sits with him. Building a tower of blocks for him to knock and she feigns her upset to his knocking it, causing him to laugh.

I smile at sit close by, not wanting to intrude.

"So lil man, we are going to go play outside soon, so we need to get dressed. You two keep playing while I get some clothes for you."

"Yeah, mamam."

She kisses his head and gets up,

"Play with him."

I sit next to him and continue doing what Arla was. He quickly tires of this, so I find a new game for us to play. I find a small ball and roll it to him. He chuckles and rolls it back to me. I'm not saying much at all, and he's just blowing raspberries at me still. After a few minutes, Arla comes back down dressed in jeans and a top with some trainers on. She has a little outfit for Francis ready.

"I'll change his diaper if you want to get him dressed. I'll sort a diaper bag?" She suggests.

"Are you sure?"

"Oh definitely, he can be a nightmare to get dressed." she laughs lightly.

I smile as she changes his diaper with an ease that I wish I could possess. she helps him up and helps him walk towards me. She cleans up the diaper and then starts packing a bag for us.

I feel her watching us as I try to pull his sock onto his foot. she laughs at my struggle, walks over, and shows me how to do it carefully.

"Told you. He doesn't have the presence to try to help."

I pull on his other sock, pull up his trousers, and pull his top over his head, gently guiding his arms through the holes.

"Your water here's sweet." she calls to him.

"mamam juice."

"You have a juice box in the bag for later."

he waddles over, grabs the water, and waddles back to me. He throws himself into my lap.

(Arlas pov)

I smile, watching Francis bond with Jaxson. It's amazing to think he has his dad finally. I place the diaper bag on the side and walk over.

"Can't play outside without shoes lil man."

"I'm sorry I didn't think of shoes." Jaxson rushed out.

"Nah, it's fine, don't apologise."

I put Francis his shoes on, and he jumped up.

"mamam, I jump!" He squeals.

"Oh my goodness, you did such a big jump!"

Jaxson stands up, and we all walk towards the door. Francis waddling next to Jaxson.

I freeze slightly, Jaxson hardly notices. Everyone out there will stare at me, judge me for having a baby without having a mate. I'm what parents warn their children about. I'm a disappointment to the pack, and everyone will know. I feel my heart start to race, I grab at my chest and rub it slightly. I've had these a few times. The doctor where Pops, is told me it's to do with anxiety. Being here must've triggered something.

"I-I can't, you go, I can't." I gasp for air still rubbing my chest.

Jaxson turns and looks at me,

"Arla, what's wrong?"

"I-I can't breath, my, my chest hurts." I gasp again.

"I'll take you to the doctors. Let's go."

"N-no I can't, I can't leave the house, you go."

"I'm not leaving without you."

"I'm not leaving. Take him, we already told him he's going out to play."

he stares at me, clearly worry etched on his face.

"Are you sure it's okay for me to leave you right now?"

I hand him the diaper bag.

"Yes. go."

He turns and walks out, still not sure about leaving. With the worry gone, for now, my chest pain lessens, I sit on the floor, my back pressed to the wall, I pull my legs to my chest, just staring at the floor.

"Arla!" El calls.

"In here!" Jaxson and Francis left two hours ago, and I still haven't moved, I'm sitting in the same position staring at the floor.

El walks in with a pram, Nate sleeping peacefully inside.

"What's wrong?" She asks.

"I can't leave the house. Everyone will judge me."

"Who cares what everyone else thinks?"

"I do, I know what parents say to young teens here, to have a baby without a mate is so heavily frowned upon. Francis will be ostracised, I don't want that for him."

"Well, you and Jaxson are mates, right?"

"Yes, but we didn't know that when Francis was born, he's two now, and Jaxson and I still haven't completed the mating process. So, as of right now, he's not even legitimised. I haven't even signed him as a child here. In this pack right now, he doesn't even exist."

"You might not of completed the process but he has claimed Francis right away, you should've seen him at the play area, that little boy is happy and Jaxson is like a fish to water being a dad to him, he's safe." she extends her hand to me, I grab it and stand up.

"Let's go look, shall we?" She suggests.

I nod my head and wipe my face, hiding the evidence of me crying. We walk slowly towards the play area, the two of us talking about random things, and I also make sure to keep my head down.

After a few minutes, I see jaxson playing with Francis, the two laughing loudly together.

"I told you, look at them, I don't think I've ever seen Jaxson as happy as he is right now."

He does seem happy, I silently agree.

"The entire time I was gone, all I would think about was how he'd react to him. I didn't know we were mates and I'd expect him to reject him, and kick us out of the pack, I was expecting to be a rogue with a baby, fending for myself and that any future mate would reject me."

"I understand that, I would've been terrified of that. But look at them and let all of those worries go. you don't need to worry about that anymore."

"I know." I sigh.

I notice Jaxson is listening. He's trying to look uninterested, but I know.

"Stop listening in." I whisper.

I see him smile and goes back to playing with Francis.

"You two clearly still have that connection. Your parents aren't back until tomorrow. You two have tonight, and Tom and I will take Francis for tonight."

"What?" I question.

"Have tonight, talk, f**k, argue I dont care, have tonight just the two of you again."

"Really second suggestion was f**k. That's what got us into this mess." I giggle at her.

"Yes, but you're together again, and you're mates, what could go wrong."

"You're so gross."

We laugh. A few minutes later, I noticed Nate stirring.

"Can I?" I ask.

"Yeah, of course Aunt Arla needs her snuggles."

I pick up the nearly one year old baby and snuggle him.

"Oh, to have a little one again, Francis is getting into everything now he's walking, well running."

"Have tonight. You might have a little one in a few months." El laughs loudly.

"Shut up." I laugh back.

I snuggle little Nate for a little longer than let him down to crawl.

"Are you going to take her up on her offer?" I hear Jaxson whisper over.

"I told you to stop listening in." I laugh lightly.

" Couldn't help it, so are you going to?"

"Do you want me to?"

"Please. We could have dinner."

"Erm El, I think I'd like to take you up on that offer. If it is still okay." I turn to her.

"Of course, pack him a little overnight bag, and I'll come for him at about six?"

"That's great. Thank you."

"mamam!" Francis pounces into my arms.

"Oh my lil man, did you have fun?"

"Ye mamam, fun!"

"Oh that's great." I hug him tightly.

"Juice?"

"In the bag."

He runs back to Jaxson and pulls at the bag.

"He seems to be taken with him already." Tom comes up behind us.

"Hi babe!" El seems excited to see him.

He pecks her on the lips.

"So Tom, my love, we are having Francis for tonight, going to let Jaxson and Arla a chance to talk or whatever."

"That's fine. Hit him if you have to. I loved hearing about that." He rubs my head.

Jaxson and Francis walk back over. Francis happily drinking his juice.

"She can hit me again, I do deserve it." Jaxson laughs.

I roll my eyes.

"I do believe it's dinner time for my lil man."

I stand up and take Francis,

"Let's go." I whisper.

Jaxson walks behind us.

"Did I say something?" He asks.

"Huh? No, I just know it's time for dinner."

Once back home, I let Francis go and play. Jaxson follows me to the kitchen.

"Are you okay?" He whispers.

"I'm okay. Don't worry."

"I can tell you've been crying."

"I'm fine."

He places his hand on my cheek, making us stare into each others eyes.

"Tell me again."

"I'm fine, I promise."

I see him move his head down, the two of us having our foreheads pressed against each other. I feel him tilt slightly, resisting his desire. Kiss me. Please.

"Tell me what you want." He whispers

"Kiss me." I whisper back.

He wastes no time bringing his lips to mine, my hands go round to the back of his neck, like they used to. His hands round my waist, pulling me closer. We don't stop till we hear Francis coming closer, I push Jaxson off and start dinner. Doing a small sandwich, fruit, and some carrots for him. I grab him a juice box again and sit him in his high chair.

I can feel Jaxson staring at me.

"There's a training session tomorrow, do you want to join us like old times?" He asks.

"I might do?"

He just nods at me, clearly not wanting to push. A few hours pass, and it is now five-thirty. I finished packing an overnight bag for Francis, and Jaxson just left to get something from the pack house.

"Mamam!" Francis yells out.

"I'm coming."

I rush back down to him. He's trying to build a tower, but it keeps falling over. I smile and walk into the kitchen to get him his favourite sippy cup.

it feels unnatural to me to have Francis stay out. He's my little boy, and I haven't ever slept away from him before. about thirty minutes later, Jaxson comes back.

Dinner was almost ready, just waiting on the cheese sauce for the creamy sauce for our chicken and broccoli pasta.

"Oh, it smells amazing in here." He calls through to me.

I had changed into my nice knee-length green dress, its sort of low cut revealing a little cleavage, I put on my black boots with a low heel. I had left my hair and face the way they were.

"You look beautiful."

"Thank you." I smile.

I mix the pasta, broccoli, and chicken into the sauce, then start cleaning around where I was.

"Do you need any help?" He asks from the door way.

"Er, I think I should be okay. Dinner won't be much longer." I smile again.

Once our dinner was served onto plates, we sat across from one another at the table. He stares at me, not saying anything.

"I have a question for you." I blurt.

"Go for it."

"Who have you been f*****g?"

"What?"

"When I saw you in the kitchen the other day, you had a smell to you that I recognised, you tend to smell different after s*x. So who was she?"

"You're asking this now?"

"Yes, I never slept with someone else. Even before I knew we were mates, I stayed faithful to the person I loved."

"It was some human girl in the next town."

"Wow, some human." I scoff lightly.

"It wasn't a relationship, though. It was just sex."

"Was she good?"

"No."

I nod and begin eating.

"That's it? Are we done talking?"

"I haven't another question."

He nods. So begins the awkward silence of our dinner. We don't talk until I begin washing the dishes.

"I have another question."

"Not about s*x I hope." He chuckles.

"No. About why you never messaged or called me back."

"I was mad at you for leaving. Even more mad that you stayed away."

I nod again.

"I didn't mean to stay away as long as I did. I had missed a period and figured I was pregnant, so I tried calling and texting, and I got nothing. After about a year, I just figured you wanted me to stay away."

He walks to me his hands on my waist.

"I hoped you would come back, I never messaged. I didn't want you to know how desperately I needed you, how every part of me wanted you. I didn't want you to see how weak I was."

"I wouldn't have seen it as you being weak." I whisper.

I lean up to him, needing to feel his kiss again. He gets what I want and happily gives it to me. He picks me up and places me on the counter, kissing me, his lips leave mine, and kiss down my neck to where he'd eventually leave his mark.