Reclaiming Her Heart

Chapter 70 - At Odds

Adam

I really wanted to push back against her request for space. I did not want to be separated from her for that amount of time without any means of reaching her if something were to happen.

My wolf was also in an uproar. We can take our chances with her. She's weak. She will underestimate us, he snapped, wanting to fight her. To take our chances.

Yet, that was just one more way we would take advantage of her trust. I wasn't willing to do that. It would only drive her further away.

We need to be in the same territory as her. I don't care if we are locked in a dungeon—

I would care. And eventually, he would too.

—so long as we can be near her in case of an emergency. You need to handle this! he roared in my mind. I winced at his violence, baring my teeth back at him.

Oh, like how you handled the way we completely annihilated her boundaries!? I snapped back at him.

I'm not taking it back, he growled, hackles raised. He'd forced a mate's pact. Something that could only be made between to wolves who were bonded. It was something I had been made aware of, but had never been something we used before.

Maybe she was right. My wolf and I were at odds. It wasn't like us.

We'd had to become one shortly after I'd been turned. It was something turned wolves took years, possibly even lifetimes, to master. And I had done it within weeks. Since then, we hadn't been at odds. I hated this pull back. I hated how everything had gotten so messed up!

I did need time alone, to help my wolf and I face and overcome our fears once more. I prayed it would allow her time to come to terms with this new reality and we could start mending our bond.

Plopping my large dog rucksack on the bed, I took a final look around the room we had shared for the past few weeks. So many wonderful memories had been made here. So much progress too. My heart ached to go back to the time she looked at me with trust and adoration. I hated how the last memory here was tainted with pain and distrust. It hung bitterly on my heart.

"You're finished packing, good," she quipped, gliding into the room. An aloof air about her as she stopped several paces away from me. Behind her, Garret snuck in and leaned against the wall next to the door, a silent guard. It stung knowing she didn't trust to be alone with me right now.

Garret's expression was saddened and, at the same time, disappointed.

I noticed the absence of the necklace, and my heart panged with grief and guilt once more.

We really messed up for her to distance herself in such a way.

"Everyone else is packed and ready. They are doing the last minute things before we head out."

"For what it's worth, I am sorry. I should have been more ... Vigilant of my wolf." As I spoke, I took small tentative steps closer. I didn't want to part like this. At such odds with each other. It wasn't good or healthy. "I will see you in forty-eight hours—"

"Roughly two days," she corrected, her gaze dropping from mine. "I'm not going to commit to a specific time because I will be relying on Agamemnon and his pack."

"Jadea," I began warningly, taking another step closer. I didn't want to be separated for longer than was necessary.

Those sage green eyes clashed with mine defiantly. "Would you rather I leave you to oversee the others of our pack for the remainder of this plight?" she snapped threateningly.

"You wouldn't," I grumbled, my voice dropping dangerously low, my patience wearing thin at her threat.

She leaned in, her threat clear on her tongue, "Keep testing me."

My lips curled up in a snarl, vision red-hued as tensions rose between us. Behind her, Garret shifted, arms falling to his sides as he geared up to come to her defense. I was pissed. Pissed at her for standing firm on this. Pissed at Garret for butting into our problems. But mostly, I was pissed at myself.

This was going too far.

This wasn't how it was supposed to go at all.

This was all wrong.

At these thoughts, the fight slowly left my shoulders. My overbearing emotions calming as a debilitating sorrow took hold. "Okay," I relented, even as it stung my tongue.

"Okay, what?"

"I will wait for transportation," I groused, not reacting to the tone in her voice.

She nodded sharply once, as if satisfied by my response. "Jupiter is ready to take you—"

I snagged her arm before she could escape and pulled her into my embrace. Garret tensed, taking one purposeful step forward before he realized I wasn't going to do anything to harm her. I was simply holding her.

I hated how stiff she was, how she didn't instantly wrap herself around me. Burying my face in her shoulder, I breathed her in, praying she wouldn't break me like this.

Sighing, she eased her arms around me, coming to some kind of conclusion. I was too afraid to look into her mind, worried what I found there would shatter me. Her body softened. "We will get through this," she assured, her lips flirting with the sensitive skin below my ear. "It is going to take some time though," she continued, and I heard the deep heartbreak in her tone. It cut deeply, knowing I'd done that to her. "We are, after all, a mated and bonded pair. We will figure it out."

I didn't like how she said it, but there was nothing I could do about it right now. We were out of time.

"Come." She breathed, grabbing my hand. I barely had a chance to grab my pack before she was pulling me out of the house and into the clearing. It was a beautiful spring day, the sky clear and bright. So different from the storm raging within us.

Jupiter stepped forward, her guarded gaze flicking to mine briefly before turning to Jadea. "Agamemnon asked me to tell you once I return, we will all teleport to the new location."

"Thank you," Jadea responded before turning back to me. The indifference in her expression was what stung the most. "Enjoy your time with Aidan and Anika," she whispered weakly, her gaze betraying her inner turmoil.

Tugging on her hand, I pulled her off balance and caught her on my chest. "I'm not leaving without a kiss," I whispered against her temple.

Huffing, she quickly pecked me on the lips and tried to escape. Curling a hand around the nape of her neck, I slanted my lips over hers. It took a few heartbeats before she responded, kissing me back. I mistakenly thought this was a good omen, until I opened my eyes and saw the bitter tears staining her cheeks. Her icy gaze holding mine briefly before she abruptly broke away and turned her back on me. Immediately, Blade and Garret were there, engulfing her in their arms.

And just like that, hot and acrid jealousy tore through my chest—

Suddenly, I was ripped from the meadow and dropped into the clearing right before Ty's front porch. Jupiter's strong grip on my shoulder grounding me.

"Is it really that bad?" I snapped, turning to Jupiter, not intending to take out my frustrations on her. Around us, howls of the wolves patrolling around Ty's cabin sounded.

Her soft sigh said it all. "In the context you used the mate's pact... Yes."

Well, s**t!

"I'll be back in two days," she declared. And then she was gone. A heartbeat later, my children's excited screams filled the air, easing some of the hurt filling my chest.