“How can you defend him?” She frowned at me in confusion “He forced you and Jax to kill each other”
“Yes, he did” I nodded “But, he thought he was preventing another situation like Fenrir, he saw me as weaker, and was worried I’d betray them all”
“How could they think you’d betray anyone” She reached up and ran her fingers down the stubble on my jawline “You’re so honorable”
“I’m glad you think so” I smiled and took her hand and kissed it “But I wasn’t always, there was a time when I was jealous of Jax, and then after I lost in the fight, I was even more resentful. I don’t know if I’d have spared Jax if I’d been the one to win, and I’m glad I didn’t because I’ve gained so much having him by my side, and when I met Ezra, I got worse, that rage built inside me”
“So what changed?”
“Jax wouldn’t give up on me” I smiled “He kept backing me up, he kept proving that he didn’t think I was less than him, but of course, that just proved that I was. He’s a good man, and I’ll never let him down again, I’ll never let you down”
“I don’t want to let you both down either”
“You couldn’t” I kissed her hands again.
“Can I ask you something about Evet”
“Sure”
“Where’s her mother?” She asked “How did she meet Fenrir?”
“Oh” I laid down on my side “Her name was Kamaria, she showed up one day, she was some kind of ambassador or something. Jax and I were only fifteen, and we weren’t allowed in the council meetings yet, so I don’t know where she came from, I think she went to the prison one day with our father, and they met, and they ended up being mates”
“And your dad just let them be together?”
“No” I shook my head “They met in secret, and she broke him out”
“He got out once before?”
“Yep, for a month” I told her “My dad found them in the woods in one of the old cabins. They were both arrested, but she was already pregnant, and for some reason that dad still won’t explain, he let her go, she gave birth, and then when Evy was five, she was sent back here”
“What?” She gasped “She just gave her daughter away?”
“Apparently” I shrugged “Dad still won’t tell us why though”
“What happened to her mother?”
“She’s still alive” I answered “Evy goes and visits her around this time every year, not sure why she didn’t go this year though, although it’s probably due to this whole situation with Fenrir”
“It must have been so hard for her growing up without her mother”
“She had us” I pointed out “Was it hard for you?”
“Yes, but only because I thought she hated me, I hate that I believed Troy’s lies, I should have known not to trust him on anything”
“You were just a child” I kissed her hands again “Even with all the abuse, you had no reason to doubt him about your mother”
“I hated her my whole life” She said with a sadness that broke my heart “I feel so guilty, I wish I’d known her, Cody… I want to know my father. I know you and Jax are against it, but I missed the chance to get to know my mother. I want to know him, I want to know where I came from”
“If it’s what you need, then Jax and I will support you, we’ll always be there for you, we’re your family now”
“I love you Cody”
“I love you” I smiled and kissed her again.
MADELYN’S POV
I reached over to snuggle into Jaxson’s arms like every night, but my hands came up empty. I looked around the room, and saw that it was around 10pm. Koda was behind me snoring lightly. We must have fallen asleep after our talk, which made me smile. He’d wake up starving tomorrow from missing dinner and be grumpy all morning until he ate something.
I carefully extracted myself from my mate’s arms, and pulled on Jaxson’s robe to be covered in his scent. Where was he? Why wasn’t he in bed?
I went to the bathroom and washed out my mouth and my face to help get the sleep out of my eyes, and then I checked my head, thankfully I was fully healed. When I left the bathroom, I followed his scent into a sitting room, and found him sitting by a fire, drinking a glass of something that smelt like scotch.
“Hey” I greeted him as I walked in.
“What are you doing up?” He asked, but didn’t look away from the fire “You should go back to bed to rest”
I ignored him, and walked over to where he was sitting “Give it to me” I said, and reached down to take his drink.
He didn’t fight me on it, and I placed the glass on the coffee table before I climbed onto my mate’s lap, and straddled him.
“What’s wrong?” I asked as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“How’s your head?”
“All healed” I turned my head to show him, and he gently pushed my back so he could check.
“Good” He murmured and ran his hand from my hair to my throat, where he ran his fingers down my mate, before he pulled away “You should go back to bed”
“You should come with me”
“I’m not tired, now go, you need a rest”
“No” I argued and cupped his face “Now tell me what’s wrong”
He looked into my eyes for a moment before he exhaled “I hate that you got hurt again” He told me “I hate that I don’t know how to protect you, to help you”
“And you think you’ll figure that out at the bottom of a glass?” I asked with a smirk.
“No, but it helps me to forget what a f*cking failure I am”
“You’re not a failure” I pressed my forehead against his and closed my eyes “You don’t need to figure out everything on your own, we’re a team”
“That team better only include me, you and Cody”
“You don’t have to worry about Noland” I told him “I don’t want him, I was Cody, I want you”
“I can’t lose you”
“You won’t” I kissed him “I swear you won’t’
I kissed him once more, but he pushed me away “You should go back to bed, you need to rest”
“No” I shook my head and ran my hands down his chest “What I need is for you to touch me”
My fingers trembled with nervousness and excitement as I started moving them down his chest again to his belt, where I started to undo the buckle.
“Sweetheart, you need to rest”
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