Rick POV
"Did you hear that?" I said to Vera as she gave me an awkward smile. "She doesn't want to be around Jaxon. I'm telling you, the best thing for us to do is to take her far away."
"We don't know yet, okay?" she replied. "Maybe she's just saying this because she has little issues with him. You know how the two of them act, right? Ever since they met each other, they've been acting like enemies, and it turns out that they knew each other before."
She tried to convince me, but all I could do was grill angrily because I knew that none of this makes any sense at all. And then I looked at Jaxon as he smirked. "It makes no sense separating two people from each other."
This was so obvious. He was clearly trying to manipulate me, and it would not work. I looked at Vera and then back at Aria and, unable to control myself, I yelled, "Everyone out!"
Vera looked at me in shock. "What do you mean by out? We are discussing something."
"I am saying out. Are you confused?" I questioned her as I clenched my hand into a fist. "Out. Everyone. I need to have a private discussion with Jaxon. It seems as though something is not right, and I'm going to make it right for him."
"Why try my best to not sound as harsh as I looked or even as annoyed as I seemed?" I thought.
Vera rushed to me as she held onto my hand. "No, don't fight. You two can be fighting all the time. I never expected this. I don't want to be in a family in a house where you guys fight all the time. Please, please. I beg you, Rick. Don't do this."
She begged as I felt even more angered. "I am not fighting with him. I am not going to fight him. Okay? I need to talk. You don't know anything about the war for... You don't know anything about us, about how we coexist, how we do things, and suddenly you think you are going to know everything. You can't just give me this one chance to talk to Jaxon. He knows what I am talking about. He knows what I want to find out. Please."
I pleaded with Vera as she nodded, holding onto Aria. She stepped out. I watched them walk out before turning back to Jaxon. As he took his seat and crossed his legs, looking at me, a wide smile plastered on his face.
"You know exactly what you are doing, right?" I said to him as I hurriedly slammed my hand on the table, bringing my face close to his as our gazes met. If we were clearly so angry, I just did not want to make things any worse. I had already promised Vera that I was not going to fight anything or anybody for any reason, and he would not make me break my promise to Vera. I love her too much to go against anything she says.
"You need to stay away from her daughter. You know the danger. You know what that means. Do you even know what they would talk about?" I questioned him, feeling a bit confused. "I... I married her mother, and you are dating her. You guys... What do you expect from us?"
He moved his face even closer to mine, and then, still smiling, he muttered, "Then you should leave her mother because you two are no mates. You just married her because you ended up falling in love. But my own case is different. If I leave her, even the Moon Goddess would not give me another mate. I will not leave her, and I will not make you leave everything for me. You know how difficult it was for me to get a mate. Finally, I have one, and you would not just let me be. Aren't you happy now that I found someone? I might just concentrate."
"You don't even know," he said to me as I felt even more pissed.
"It's not about that. It's not about you concentrating or not. It makes no sense. Nobody must hear about this. Please, please give this a second thought."
I said to him as he scoffed, standing up with both hands in his pockets as he stepped closer to the door. He then turned his head slightly to my side. "I am not giving up on anything, and I don't want to hear you threatening her to leave me again. Dad, you know what I can do, right? You know that I can turn things sideways. I can ruin everything for you, and Vera will end up leaving you. I don't want that for you. So please, for my sake, just let me be."
"Yes, I know what everyone mutters about these humans are dumb, and they don't know how our own world works. So for that, I would stay as low-key as I can. But I would not leave Aria for any reason," he reminded me.
Before I could say another word, he stormed out, leaving me alone in the dining room. I felt so frustrated as I sat down, running my hands through my hair. I felt so confused.
"There has to be another way. There has to be an alternative. It can't just be like this. We can't... We can't coexist like this. I can't watch him do anything with my wife's daughter. I know he has to seal the bond. I have to do something. Something has to be done. I can't watch this idly. It makes absolutely no sense. Anyone who hears this and knows that I did not do anything is going to make life even worse. None of the pack members must even find out about this, or else I might even lose my position as the Lycan Alpha."
I brought out my phone and dialed Mark's number, and he picked up instantly. I placed the phone to my ear. "I need you here now."