SWNOVELS Chapter 20: Jaxon
“I have no doubt about that,”
He watched her reaction carefully as soon as those words left his words. He meant it. It wasn’t some sort of jokes because she could have killed him on that night. So, why didn’t she do it? Did she play with her victim for days before she decided to kill them? Was that what she was planning right now? How long before she decided to give him the same fate as his uncle?
His wolf was resurfacing again in his mind. It wanted to go to their mate, but Jaxon didn’t want that. Zia had done something terrible to his family. If she killed someone else who wasn’t in his pack, maybe Jaxon could forgive that. But, she killed a man who was his flesh and blood. He couldn’t just forgive her. No, never. What kind of Alpha would he be if he forgave the killer of his uncle just because she was his mate? Zia and her family didn’t only kill his uncle. They also caused the destruction of Hanson’s family. Lydia wasn’t going to get any better even if with Amanda’s help. The doctor might have to make Lydia delivered her baby earlier than schedule via surgery if her condition persisted. That would be the last resort if they were to save her baby.
“What else do you have mind?” Zia asked as they enjoyed their dinner.
Her eyes kept shifting from his hands to his face because his hands were holding the cutlery on the table. Just because the cutlery looked like it was made of silver, actually it wasn’t. Besides, this place was owned by one of his pack members. There was no silver cutlery in here.
“A friend of mine has an art gallery she had opened recently. I was planning to check it out.” Jaxon said as he continued, “Do you want to come with me to there?”
“Sure, I love art.”
“It’s not far from here, probably five minutes away if you don’t mind walking. Finding for parking is horrendous.”
Zia giggled, “Yeah, I can share the frustration. I don’t mind walking.”
He gave her a smile, but it wasn’t the smile he usually gave to her. Jaxon felt angry that he had come this far to dine with her. He wasn’t that kind of a guy who would break a girl’s heart. That was the truth. He never had a girlfriend. All the girls he had with was his one night stands. For an Alpha like him, he was too busy to have a relationship commitment. He was too committed to his pack more than his love life because he didn’t want to be one of those guys who would have to break up with their girlfriend after they found their mate. That was a very common case and it was kind of cruel if he had to think about it. He didn’t want to be like that.
Jaxon and Zia finished their dinner and dessert before they walked to Jaxon’s friend’s art gallery.
“What’s your friend’s arts all about?” Zia questioned as they were almost there.
Jaxon put his arm around her waist, “I haven’t seen her latest works yet, but she often draws about nature and animals.” he used his free hand to open the door, “After you.”
“Thank you,” she stepped into the art gallery.
He could hear her heart beat faintly for a second as she realized the kind of arts displayed in the gallery. The place was actually owned by Lydia, Hanson’s mate, as his gift for their wedding a few months back. Now, Lydia wasn’t able to run the gallery as usual. Jaxon had to ask Seth’s older sister, Maeve, to replace the owner for a while since she knew more about arts than anyone else in the pack besides Lydia. All the arts in the gallery were about werewolves which were something that Jaxon found very fascinating. Lydia really captured a beautiful moment in each of her art. It wasn’t just about her and Hanson, but they were also about the whole pack. Of course, many of her clients didn’t know that the arts were based on real people.
“Jaxon!” Maeve ran to him and hugged him tightly, “I thought you would be late.”
Jaxon patted her back, “We were having dinner at the restaurant nearby.” he glanced at Zia briefly, “This is Zia, my date. Zia, this is Maeve, the substitute owner of the gallery.” he introduced the two women.
“Wow, you are really beautiful!” Maeve exclaimed excitedly as she shook Zia’s hand.
“Thank you. You’re beautiful too,” she replied shyly.
“About time you two came here. I was about to introduce a new art to everyone.” Seth’s sister said as she led them to the west part of the gallery.
There was one big canvas covered with black fabric on the wall. Many people had gathered around as they waited patiently for the revelation. Jaxon stood close to Zia in the crowd while Maeve talked to her staffs about something. He could feel that Zia felt uncomfortable as she kept changing the way she stood. Jaxon wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer.
“Everyone, please gather around,” the substitute owner said. “I want to thank everyone who came here tonight. We were supposed to reveal this new masterpiece by the real owner Lydia Creighton,”
As soon as the last name slipped from Maeve’s mouth, Zia’s body tensed next to Jaxon. He kept his eyes fixed to the front.
“But, Mrs. Lydia Creighton is not feeling well lately so she wasn’t able to attend tonight’s event. She didn’t want to disappoint you all if she canceled the event so, she decided to let her masterpiece to be revealed without her.”
Maeve pulled the black fabric to reveal a big portrait of a woman and a big brown wolf. Their foreheads were pressed together. Jaxon knew that Lydia had drawn this for herself and Hanson. It wasn’t that hard to guess that the big brown wolf was Hanson.
“I got to go,” Zia said abruptly before she walked away quickly.
“Zia, wait,” Jaxon caught her wrist before he dragged her away from the crowd. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
“No-Nothing. I just have to go.”
Water started to pool in her big black eyes and Jaxon frowned. He didn’t mean to do it this way. He was supposed to make her cracked the truth out, but not crying.
“I’m sorry, Jaxon,” Zia pulled her wrist away from his grip before she left without looking back.