21.

FOUR WEEKS LATER

Jason P.O.V.

We now know the witches behind everything but, just like Darren, they had disappeared without a trace. With this disappearance, there were rumors of Darren gathering followers of people who agreed with him about us. And even though he was steadily gathering followers we were still unable to track him or his witches down. Normally I wouldn't worry, but the goddess's warning of war rang in my ears. Things between Madi and I were still strained. Between trying to find Darren and her trying to avoid me I was lucky to catch glimpses of her. Since her assault she had been having Dana teach her how to defend herself and from what I was told she had been ingesting small amounts of wolfsbane every day to build up a tolerance to it. I've never heard of someone doing this but I've heard of people with allergies doing this so I guess anything is possible Every morning around six I would stand at our bedroom window and watch her train in the backyard. Four weeks in she was getting really good and she seemed to be building her confidence back up. I had been giving her the time she needed but I was now growing frustrated and needed her by my side. I knew she was fine and I was given updates often but it wasn't the same as being with her. Her scent had long left her pillow and my wolf was increasingly pushing me to see her. The fact that we had completed part of the mate bond didn't help, and if she had marked me too it would be impossible to give her the space she asked for. All of these factors brought me to the decision that today I would join her outside as training with Dana was wrapping up.

At six forty-five I went down and grabbed a cold water from the fridge heading to the back yard. I passed my mom in the kitchen who had a twinkle of amusement in her eyes guessing what I was doing. She always seemed to be a step ahead of me. I shook my head as I leaned against the door frame watching Madi and Dana spar. I smiled as Madi landed a kick sending Dana down, she was getting good. Madi reached down her hand to help Dana up and her back stiffened as she felt my presence. She slowly turned around and looked from my feet all the way up to my face. It almost felt like she was running her hands up my body, making me smile.

Madi P.O.V.

I smiled victoriously as I finally managed to knock Dana on her ass. I held out a hand to help her up, and as I pulled her up a felt a presence behind me and my back stiffened. I felt the thrums of energy and knew it was Jason. I turned around slowly my eyes first meeting his feet and then traveling their way up his body before landing on his amused face and then his clear blue eyes.

He held out a water bottle, "Thirsty?"

My voice came out a little breathless from training and the surprise of seeing him, "Sure, thanks."

He tossed it to me and I caught it easily twisting off the lid and taking a sip, "Did you need something Jason?" I knew we hadn't seen each other much but it surprised me, him showing up.

Something flashed in his eyes before disappearing, "No just checking if you needed any help training."

I smiled lightly at him, "Actually we were just about done. I was going to go get a shower before I wake up the baby to eat."

"Well, we could do that together and spend some time with each other. I mean feed the baby of course."

My cheeks warmed at his smile knowing he knew exactly where my mind went. I wasn't ready for that yet but I couldn't help that my mind went there. Something was telling me that's exactly what he intended. I had been avoiding him for the last few weeks mostly because I just really didn't know how to approach him anymore. It felt very awkward after spending so much time apart. I had missed him of course but with the way I had left it, I didn't know how to be with him anymore.

I snapped out of my thoughts, "I don't know Jason maybe tomorrow."

I went to walk past him but he reached out and grabbed my wrist and I felt the tingles up my arm. I looked up at him and I could see the silent plea in his eyes, "Please?"

He said it so soft I almost didn't hear it. I felt myself soften as I looked into his pleading eyes and my defensives crumbled. "Ok, meet me in the nursery in about thirty minutes."

He smiled as he nodded and walked off. Dana shot me a look as we headed up to the nursery and I stuck my tongue out at her as she cracked a smile. I knew that if I ever wanted things to get better that Jason and I would have to start being around each other again. I checked to make sure Ari was still asleep before getting some clothes out of the dresser and jumping in the shower. I cleaned up as quickly as I could knowing that Jason was likely to show up at any moment. I heard Ari let out a small cry and rushed to get dressed and put a towel over my wet hair but when I came out Jason was already feeding her the bottle. Something had told me he would show up early.

I surprised Jason and myself as I walked over and laid a hand on his warm arm feeling the sparks travel up my hand and into my arm. Jason looked at me surprised and I stared back into his clear blue eyes. A smile slowly spread across his lips and I looked away blushing. The smile was still across his face as he sat in the rocking chair. I noticed Dana was gone and I went to look out the window at the backyard and then into the woods. I hadn't run in wolf form in a while and I was missing it. I tried three days after the attack but had to stop when I started having a panic attacks. Something about the dark and the forest caused a flashback. In hindsight, it was probably too soon but I think I'm ready now.

As I looked back over at Jason he had Ari over his shoulder, as she saw my face she laughed and suddenly she puked all over his shoulder. I let out a laugh as he froze. I covered my mouth to hide my laughter as he stood up slowly and turned to me. I saw a twinkle in his eyes as he looked at me and slowly set her down in her swing before wiping her mouth. She immediately started laughing and grabbing at the toys that were dangling, unbothered by the fact that she had just thrown up all over Jason's shoulder.

He looked back up at me with the same twinkle in his eyes, "You thought that was funny?"

I tried my best to compose my face failing epically, "Not at all."

He smiled as he walked towards me, "Oh yea? Come give me a hug."

"Don't you dare." I backed away slowly as he matched each one of my steps but still got closer as his stride was longer than mine.

Without warning, I whipped my towel off my head throwing it at him as I took off out the door running. I saw Dana standing outside the door with a grin as I ran. I let out a small gasp as I was stopped by the stairs and lifted in the air and thrown over a broad naked shoulder making my wet hair fall over my face and against his back. My cheeks warmed as I realized he had removed his shirt. His face was amused as he set me down in front of him sliding my body down his. My face got even hotter and I'm sure that's exactly what he wanted. My body was practically vibrating from the close physical contact with my mate.

His face suddenly hardened with anger ending the moment. "I'm so sorry I wasn't able to protect you."

Before I could think about it I cupped the side of his face as he looked at me surprised. "This was no one's fault, Jason. None of us had any way of knowing what was going on. I don't blame you. This was all Amanda's fault. If she had never tried to claim you as her mate then none of this would have ever happened. She was crazy and got what she deserved. There was no way for us to know Darren was her true mate and what his intentions were for our pack. We both trusted him."

His face softened as he turned his head and kissed the palm of my hand. I shivered at the contact, "Why don't we start slow? Start joining me and Dana in the morning when I'm training. I could use an outside perspective."

He cupped the side of my face just like I was doing to him and said, "I will protect you, you don't need to stress yourself with training like this."

I smiled at him, "I know you can, but I want to. I feel stronger and less afraid. It's making me stronger and I like it. I like knowing I can protect us all if I need to. You and I have never had anything in common other than the mate pull. This could be something we share and bond over."

He smiled at the thought, "Ok, I would like that."

" Alright, then I will see you first thing tomorrow at six a.m. Don't be late."

He smiled as he mock saluted me turning on his heels to walk off. I watched as he headed to his office. When he was out of sight I turned around to go back and grab Ari so I could go to the kitchen for my own breakfast. I couldn't wait for training in the morning, I had missed Jason more than I was willing to admit. On top of all of this, I knew my heat was coming soon and I needed to find a way to be comfortable with him again before it hit me. I just hoped spending more time with him would help.