Chapter Four

 

Axel had been wrong. Violet did not understand. When he’d explained the reason why he was late, he had thought she would be excited. Instead, her furrowed brow had only gone deeper.

“Why do we need a resistance force here in Bear Hollow? There’s already a group over in Gilt Hollow.”

“Right. But they could use some help. We can give their efforts a big boost, and hopefully end the Gilt Hollow regime that much quicker. This has to stop.”

Violet poured Axel a mug of coffee, then turned to check on the bacon she was frying. Axel was impressed at the breakfast she was cooking up for him. He hadn’t had bacon and eggs for a long time. The stuff was expensive, and even though Axel could afford it, he rarely bought it. He saved money as much as he could, since he never knew when a large chunk of change might come in handy. The economy in Bear Hollow wasn’t exactly great, and Axel figured it was better to have cash on hand to help his neighbors than it was to eat bacon for breakfast every morning. Besides, the last thing one wanted to do in Bear Hollow was advertise to the Gilt Hollow soldiers that you had a lot of money. As long as Axel only kept cheap, cold cereal in his pantry, any soldiers who raided his house would think he was just as poor as everyone else here.

And he didn’t keep a lot of money in his house. He wasn’t an idiot, and he knew that any money the soldiers found would be stolen. So most of his money was hidden deep in a cave in the forest—he jokingly referred to it as First Forest Bank.

Violet wasn’t rich, but she had splurged on an expensive breakfast for him. He breathed in deeply, savoring the smell of bacon and eggs but feeling uneasy as well. She was trying too hard to impress him. Hadn’t he made his message that he wasn’t interested in romance clear? Perhaps not. Perhaps he was an idiot when it came to women. Whisper seemed to have intuitively known what this breakfast was about. Even though she hadn’t said anything, her eyes had given her away.

Those eyes! Axel lost himself for a moment thinking about Whisper’s eyes. The deep emerald green color was the most beautiful he’d ever seen. You could drown in those eyes, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that Whisper was his longtime friend and his best friend’s younger sister, Axel might have done just that. But that would be too weird. Whisper was technically a coworker, and you didn’t want to work with your girlfriend, right? Besides, he was pretty sure his attraction to her was one-sided. She might act a little jealous now and then, but she’d never said or done anything to imply that she wanted to date him. And—

“Um, earth to Axel? Are you hearing anything I’m saying?”

Axel winced as Violet’s voice brought him back to the present moment. He’d been daydreaming about Whisper in the middle of Violet’s kitchen. Real smooth.

“Uh, sorry. It’s been a long day already. What were you saying?”

She gave him a funny look, then shook her head slightly and continued. “I was just saying that I don’t think there’s much we can do from over here. And it’s dangerous. All we’re going to do if we act out more is to make the Gilt Hollow soldiers even angrier than they already are.”

“Well, submitting to the soldiers and turning the other cheek isn’t exactly working anymore. Those guys are determined to cause trouble and kill shifters. It’s time to take action.”

Violet set a plate of food in front of Axel, then sat down across from him with another plate of her own. Axel noticed that she was wearing quite a bit of makeup, and her hair looked different, like she’d curled it or something. She was also wearing what were probably the nicest clothes she owned. Yup, she was definitely considering this as some sort of date. Or, at least as an opportunity to convince Axel that dating her was a good idea. Axel winced. He didn’t want to break Violet’s heart, but he’d made it pretty clear to her that he wasn’t interested in a relationship right now. Or, at least he thought he had. She didn’t seem to have gotten the message.

“Please tell me you’re not going to volunteer for the front lines of this resistance,” she said as she spread butter onto a piece of toast.

“Umm…”

She dropped her knife with a loud clang. “You already have, haven’t you?”

Axel felt a small rush of anger. Why did he feel like he needed to explain himself to this girl? She had no claim of ownership over him. This was his life, and he would live it the way he wanted to.

But when he met her eyes and saw how full of fear they were, his anger softened a bit.

“Violet, I’ll be careful. We all will be. But we have to do this. And I’m not the kind of person who can just sit back while the town I love is destroyed. I have to do something to protect my people.”

Violet only sighed and dug into her eggs, nodding sullenly like a teenager who’d just been reprimanded. Axel was beginning to see why she was still single. She was objectively beautiful, yes. But she was also afraid of every little thing, and having any sort of relationship with her would have required constantly reassuring her that everything was fine. That could get really old really fast.

Still, she was a nice girl, and even though he should be angry that she had already ignored his comments that there was nothing between them, he was determined to let her down easy.

And she was determined not to let him do that.

After breakfast, which was pleasant enough after the initial strained conversation about the resistance, Axel stood and said he needed to get going, which was true.

“I’ve got to get to the bar and get it in reasonable shape for tonight. As reasonable as I can with all the damage the soldiers did last night, anyway. Thank you for breakfast. It was great.”

“Well, you saved my life. It was the least I could do.”

Axel laughed. “After a breakfast like that, I think I might owe you another life saving or two. It’s been forever since I’ve had bacon.”

Violet smiled. “I’m glad you like it. Are you sure you have to go so soon, though? I could make more coffee.”

“I’m sure. I appreciate the offer, but I really do need to head over to the bar. Are you coming by tonight? If you do then your first beer’s on the house.”

Axel realized as soon as the words were out of his mouth that the offer had been a mistake. He had only intended to be polite, but the gleam that appeared in Violet’s eyes told him that she had read far more meaning in the simple offer than just politeness. She took a step toward him and looked up at him through lowered eyelashes.

“I’d love to come by for a beer. What time does the bar close? Perhaps I could time things so that I finish up my beer just when you finish up work.”

Axel took a step backward. “Violet, look. I don’t want to mislead you. I think you’re a great friend, but that’s it. A friend. I’m not looking for a romance right now. I offered you a beer because you’re a friend, not because I want to imply that I want there to be something more between us.”

Violet’s face took on a hurt expression, and she frowned. “This is about Whisper, isn’t it? You’re not interested in me because of her.”

Axel’s jaw dropped. He and Violet weren’t that close, despite his comment about her being a “great friend.” He didn’t actually know Violet that well at all, and it was rather presumptuous of her to talk about what his relationship with Whisper might be. Still, the comment made Axel feel defensive, and he tried to explain himself.

“What? No. There’s nothing going on between Whisper and me. We’re just friends, and coworkers. We spend a lot of time together because we have to, and we’ve grown close because of that.”

Violet looked at him doubtfully, now with one eyebrow raised. “Then why do you two look at each other the way you do?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” And he really didn’t. Yes, Whisper and he flirted a bit here and there, but nothing outrageous. And to anyone that knew them, it was obviously just good fun.

Violet crossed her arms. “Well if it’s not Whisper, then what is it? Do you not think I’m pretty enough? Just be honest.”

Axel had never felt so bewildered. Why was Violet acting like this? Did all women do this? It had been a long time since he’d dated anyone, and he was clearly a bit rusty at the game. “You’re a beautiful woman, Violet, but you’re not for me. I’ve made that clear since the beginning. I’m happy to be your friend, but we have to leave it at that.” Don’t push me and make me tell you that you’re a coward.

Violet looked hurt for a moment, but then seemed to recover. She shrugged, and gave him a small smile. “Alright, then. I understand. We can be friends. I hope you enjoyed the breakfast. And truly, thanks for saving my life.”

Axel had been expecting her to protest again, and he was so caught off guard by the fact that she didn’t that he found himself speechless for a moment. “I…um…yeah. The breakfast was great. Thank you. And I was only doing my duty as a decent human being when I pulled you out of that bar.”

“Still. Thank you. I’ll let you get to work now. I know you’re busy.”

“Right. Well. See you around.”

Violet gave him a small wave as he left her place, but he couldn’t help but thinking that she had let him off too easy. There had been a glint of something mischievous in her eyes, and Axel had a feeling that he hadn’t heard the last of Violet yet.