Page 59 of Broken Souls

“Wait,” Axe calls. “I told Reeve's parents and they're angry that there was no trial.”

“There's no trial for something like that,” Dash says angrily.

“I know. Tell the soldiers to be on alert.”

“You think they're going to try something?” Dash frowns.

“I killed their son, so probably.” Axe runs his hand through his hair.

“I'll get the soldiers to keep an eye on them.” Dash leaves.

I go over and crawl onto the bed. When Axe grabs my hand I'm comfortable to move closer to him and rest my head on his chest.

“It sickens me. The crimes that have happened right under my nose,” Axe says sadly.

“You don't have to feel guilty. Axe, you were going through the most grief anyone has ever had to after the accident. No one blames you for not being there. You have to look at the bright side, the abuse might have already happened but you put a stop to it. You didn't just save me. You saved another girl from being hurt again.” I assert my words, making him look at me.

“Why do you think so highly of me?” His eyes are clouded with negativity.

“Why did you save me that night, Axe?” I ask the question I've been wondering since I met him.

“When I saw you on the ground, my heart stopped. It was like the accident all over again. All I could smell was blood. She was lying there motionless, just like you were. I couldn't have it happen again,” Axe tells me.

“I can't imagine the pain you've suffered.”

I have been through physical pain, but what Axe has gone through, I can't imagine the willpower he had to possess to come this far.

“You're my painkiller, Elora, and I will consume you till the day I die.” Axe stares intently into my eyes.

“I love you, Axe,” I confess. He needs to know how much he means to me. “You don't have to say it back. I know it's hard for you because you'll never love me the way you loved your mate but I just want you to know I'm not going anywhere.”

“Elora.” Tears well up in his eyes. “You are my salvation. I think that expresses a greater meaning than I love you.”

“I saved you?”

“More than you know.” His tears fall. Seeing him cry is incredibly painful to see. But each tear that falls from his eyes grips me, each tear stronger than the last; filling me with so much emotion, I almost can't bear it.

After our revelations, we lie in each other's embrace. Nothing else has to be spoken. I think we both realise in that moment that we would die for each other. We are each other's second chance. Each other's lifeline. Each other's angels.

***

It's Monday, so back to school. It will be interesting to see what the school is like now, given six people won't be there, Ember, Hannah, Mitchell, Kieryn, Reeve and Joel. I walk into the school and hear gossip straight away. The wolves obviously know where some of the students have disappeared to, but the humans are making up their own theories as to why six people have “dropped out” of school. Amelia meets me at my locker.

“Girly, how the hell are you going to graduate with all your absences?” she questions.

“Don't worry, I think you'll be happy to know I've finally got my personal life sorted,” I tell her, and she smiles.

“Congratulations, I knew you could pull it off on your own,” she praises.

I just nod since I can't mention Axe or the pack to her.

“You're not the only one who was absent. Those three losers haven't been to school in days.”

“Oh yeah?”

I have to act like I don't know. Sometimes I think it would be great for Amelia to know that I'm a werewolf but then I think rationally. She already has a hard life and to haunt her with a mystical world would only be more stress on her. Sometimes secrets are best.

“Yeah, my guess is their weird love triangle fell apart and one of them is probably dead,” Amelia says simply. I stare at her with amusement and she just shrugs her shoulders, making me laugh.