He didn’t, and realistically I knew that even if Zh’alek was out there and took the bait, it wouldn’t be straight away.
If that first night was anything to go by, then the waiting was going to kill me.
Max arrived later that morning, taking a room in the pack house that he’d trade off with Jake.
“Have you heard from him?” Max asked, making himself at home at the kitchen table.
“Yeah, I spoke to him this morning,” Sasha answered. “He’s all right. Bored, I think.”
I wasn’t proud of the jealousy I felt over that. I’d told Axel I was going to avoid him.
I glared at my phone where it sat next to me on the worktop, screen blank, like it was mocking me.
Did keeping out of his way mean I couldn’t talk to him at all? I could text him, right?
I had a few things I wanted to say to him anyway.
Talis:Are you okay?
I stared at the screen as the three dots appeared and disappeared several times. Me texting had clearly surprised him.
Maybe I shouldn’t have done it.
Axel:I thought you didn’t want to talk to me for a while.
Talis: That was before you went and did something so incredibly stupid. What were you thinking?
Axel: I was thinking that I’ve had enough of letting Z dictate everything. I need it to end, Talis, and this was the only way I could think of drawing him out.
When he put it like that, I couldn’t blame him. If I’d had to put up with what he had over the last couple of months, I’d have done exactly the same, probably a lot sooner. That didn’t make it any easier to sit here when he was putting himself in danger. Especially with what had happened the last time I’d seen him.
If I closed my eyes, I could still feel his lips on mine. Still taste him on my tongue, and it was bittersweet. I didn’t regret kissing him, but it had reminded me of how fucking good it could be.
Talis: I don’t like the way we left things.
Fuck’s sake, what was I doing?
Before I could take it back, Axel replied.
Axel: Neither do I.
Hope flared, hot and dangerous, and my grip on my phone tightened.
Talis: What do you mean?
I held my breath. Every second I waited for him to answer felt like hours.
Axel: I can’t do this over text. I need to see you face to face. When this is over, I want you to come here so we can talk.
I rubbed a hand over my face, trying to calm my racing pulse and not get ahead of myself. But it could be days. Maybe a week or more before Zh’alek showed.
Talis: You need to give me something, Axel, please.
It took a long time for his message to appear, but when it did, it was the most amazing thing I’d ever seen.
Axel: I trust you.
I stared at the screen, heart in my throat as the weight of those three words sank in.
