Chapter Seven

 

Whisper tapped her foot impatiently and took another long sip of coffee. Across the table from her, her brother Oskar glanced at his watch.

“Where the hell is he?” Oskar asked.

Whisper shrugged. She wanted to make a sarcastic comment about the fact that maybe they should check Violet’s house, since odds were good that Axel had spent the night there. But she couldn’t quite bring herself to be that mean. She knew that one of the last things Axel would want to do was explain Violet to Oskar, so she kept her mouth shut. But with every minute that passed, her own anger grew more and more.

It was one thing for Axel to have a girlfriend. He had every right to date whomever he wanted, of course. But he needed to get his shit together and stop missing planned meetings if he wanted to take the lead on this whole resistance mission.

“Should I go check his house?” Oskar asked, glancing at his watch again as though he hadn’t already looked at it a dozen times in the last two minutes. The watch-checking was pretty much compulsive at this point. The two of them had been sitting in Axel’s bar nearly an hour, waiting for Axel to show up to help make the fairytassel sage poison.

“Maybe. Or maybe we should just start without him. I’m sure we can handle making the poison without his being here. The instructions Danny gave us are pretty clear.”

“Yeah but Danny wanted an extra person double-checking to make sure the work is done right. Of course, I’m supposed to be that extra person, not Axel. But in any case, we can’t just sit here for another hour waiting to see if he’ll show up. We should either go check on him or see if there’s another shifter available to help double-check things.”

“I think that—”

Whisper’s words died in her throat, cut off by the front door to the bar opening. A moment later Axel stumbled in, his hair mussed up and his clothes horribly wrinkled. Whisper wasn’t entirely sure, but she had a feeling those were the same clothes that he’d worn to bartend last night.

“Jesus. You look like shit. Are you sick or something?” Oskar asked.

Whisper knew better. Axel wasn’t sick, unless you counted lovesickness as an illness. She narrowed her eyes at him, and even though she didn’t say a word out loud, she knew he understood the accusation she was making perfectly well. Violet?

“It’s not what you think,” he insisted, holding Whisper’s gaze.

Whisper only glared back at him, and Oskar looked back and forth between them, clearly realizing that he was missing something.

“Um, anyone care to fill me in on what’s going on here?”

“No,” Whisper and Axel said in unison.

“Well then,” Oskar said. “Maybe we should just get down to business and start working on this poison?”

“Sounds like an excellent idea to me,” Axel said in a tired voice. Whisper kept glaring at him, but didn’t say anything. She wanted to give him a piece of her mind right then and there, but she was afraid that if her brother saw her so upset about Axel dating another woman, he would guess Whisper’s true feelings. And Whisper didn’t want to admit her true feelings to anyone, not even herself.

And so she settled angrily into the poison-making project. Axel seemed sullen as well, and didn’t say much. It fell to Oskar to lead the work, even though he was only supposed to be there as the extra set of eyes.

Whisper couldn’t bring herself to look at her brother or Axel. She focused as much as she could on making the poison, doing her best not to lose her temper. She just had to make it through the next few hours, and then she could go home and have time to cool off before she had to be back at the bar for work.

Making the poison turned out to be much easier than they had all thought, just like the search for fairytassel sage itself had gone much easier than planned. Whisper couldn’t help but think that everything had gone a little too well. The pessimistic part of her kept telling her that there was trouble ahead, but she didn’t voice her concerns aloud. Her brother and Axel would both just tell her that she was being silly and superstitious. Besides, she was so angry at Axel right now that she didn’t want to talk to him any more than absolutely necessary.

Mercifully, they finished making the poison ahead of schedule, despite the fact that they’d gotten a late start thanks to Axel’s tardiness.

“Well, good work team!” Oskar said in a little bit too jovial of a voice. “Who’s up for a celebratory beer? Don’t worry Axel, I’ll pay you for the round. I’m not trying to take advantage of the fact that we’re meeting in your bar.”

Whisper could tell that her brother was trying to smooth over the tension in the air. She appreciated his efforts, but she didn’t feel like sticking around and drinking with Axel right now. In a few hours, this bar would be full of shifters and Whisper would have to be here again, working beside Axel as though nothing had happened between them. She wanted some time to herself, away from him, before her work shift started tonight.

“I’m out,” Whisper said, already standing and gathering her things. “I’m exhausted and want to take a nap. You two boys enjoy your beer.”

Before Oskar or Axel could respond, Whisper darted toward the door. Unexpectedly, hot tears began filling her eyes. She cursed herself for being so emotional, and broke into a run as soon as the bar door had shut behind her. She was in such a rush to get away that she didn’t realize that the door opened again just a few moments after she left. So it caught her by surprise a moment later when a strong, familiar hand grabbed her arm and pulled her to a stop.

“Whisper, wait.”

She struggled to get away, but Axel wasn’t letting her go. He forced her to turn around and even though she tried her best to look down and hide the tears spilling down her cheeks, it was no use. He could clearly see how upset she was.

“Shit. Whisper, what’s wrong? I’m really sorry that I showed up late to the meeting, but this is an overreaction.”

“Is it?” Whisper gave free reign to her anger, raising her voice as she stuck her chin out defiantly. Better to appear angry than to let him see her continuing to cry. “Tell me it didn’t have something to do with her. Tell me.”

She crossed her arms as she waited for his reply. He shook his head, looking confused.

“I’ve told you a dozen times already that I don’t have any feelings for Violet. And quite honestly, even if I did, what’s the big deal? I’m a grown adult. Am I not allowed to have feelings for a woman?”

Whisper swallowed hard. He was right. She was being completely unreasonable. The only real explanation for her overreaction was that she herself had feelings for Axel and was hopelessly, helplessly jealous of any time he spent with Violet. But she couldn’t bring herself to tell him that. If she did, he would probably look at her with pity and give her some speech about how he valued her as a friend but that was all. Whisper couldn’t stand to hear that type of rejection, so she laid into him about being late instead.

“Of course you can have feelings for another woman! But you shouldn’t let that get in the way of our resistance mission. We’re supposed to be a team, and you’re not holding up your end of the rope. This is twice now that you’ve all but blown off a planned meeting. Nothing is more important right now than stopping Gilt Hollow. Nothing. Especially not some stupid fling you decided to start in the middle of all this mess.”

Axel held her gaze for several long seconds without saying anything. In his serious gray eyes, Whisper could see so much. She saw the boy who had been her friend, the snow leopard she had run with through the forest so many times, and the man she had suddenly, almost inexplicably realized she was in love with. She also saw deep concern, and that concern made her heart tighten up in her chest. She tried to lower her gaze, confused and unable to look him in the eye any longer. But he was having none of that. He reached for her chin and lifted it up so she was looking at him again.

“You’re wrong, Whis. There is something more important than stopping Gilt Hollow. And that’s my friendship with you.”

Whisper furrowed her brow. “What…what do you mean by that?”

Axel shrugged, letting his hand drop from her chin but still holding her gaze. “What good would it do me to defeat Gilt Hollow but to lose my best friend?”

Whisper snorted and rolled her eyes. “Oskar is your best friend.”

“He was. And I still consider him one of the people in this world I’m closest to. But if I’m really honest, you’ve eclipsed even him in my heart.”

Whisper found herself trembling, and she put her hands behind her back in hopes that Axel wouldn’t notice. “Oh, come on. Don’t be so dramatic.”

He let out a long sigh and looked heavenward before answering. “I’m not being dramatic. I’m just telling it the way it is. Look…now’s not the best time to be going crazy or starting new relationships, but…”

He trailed off, and Whisper’s heart pounded against her ribcage. The world around her seemed to blur as she looked at Axel with wide eyes. Was he really about to suggest that they start a relationship? No, that couldn’t possibly be. He had some weird thing going on with Violet, and besides, she’d always just been his “little sister” of sorts. But the way he was looking at her right now was anything but sisterly.

“But what?” she prompted.

He chewed his lip for a moment, then shook his head. “But nothing, really. I just…just wanted to say that I promise you, there’s nothing going on between Violet and me. She wishes there was. And she seems hell-bent on taking up as much of my time as possible, mostly with sob stories about her parents which I’m beginning to feel she’s exaggerated purely because she knows I have a soft spot in my heart for people who have lost their parents. But in any case, whatever she might want, I don’t want a relationship with her.”

Whisper let out a sigh as the blurry edges of the world around her slowly came back into focus. Axel wasn’t going to say he cared about her. Not today, and possibly not ever. But at least he seemed sincere about not caring for Violet either. At least she could take some comfort in that. Not that it should have mattered to her, but she could no longer deny that it did matter. The hard truth of it was that she was falling hard and fast for Axel, and even if she couldn’t have him right now, she couldn’t bear the thought of someone else having him. As long as he was single, there was still time. She could still fix this mess between them. She could still find a way to get them on the same page and show him that they could figure out a way to have a future together.

“Whisper? Are we cool?”

She let out another long sigh and looked up at him. She knew she should just leave things at that, but she couldn’t help herself. She had to ask him the question burning in her mind. “Just tell me one thing. Were you late to our meeting today because of Violet?”

He let out a long groan, and Whisper felt her heart sinking. She could already tell by his reaction that the answer was yes.

“Yes. But it’s not what you think.”

“What is it, then?”

“She showed up at my house just as I was leaving, sobbing and saying she didn’t see how she was supposed to carry on after losing both her parents and me.”

“She…lost you? Did she ever, um, have you?”

Axel snorted. “No. That’s the thing. Maybe I was an idiot and accidentally led her on when she spent the whole night at my house talking to me. But never once did I tell her there was anything between us. Never once did I touch her in a romantic way. I’ve told her from the beginning that this is strictly friendship. But she’s convinced somehow that we were dating and I’m now breaking up with her. It took me almost an hour to get her to calm down enough that I could leave her and get to this meeting without her following me. And trust me, no one wanted her anywhere near this poison-making meeting. She’s convinced that the resistance is a bad idea, and I wouldn’t have put it past her to try to sabotage our poison making efforts.”

“Wow. Really? That’s kind of crazy. Why would anyone try to sabotage the resistance?”

Axel shrugged. “She’s afraid that we’re only going to make the Gilt Hollow soldiers angrier. I guess I can see where her fear is coming from, but I don’t care how angry the soldiers get. I’m going to fight them down until Bear Hollow is free or I’m dead. I think you and I are on the same page about that.”

“Yeah, definitely.” Whisper shifted awkwardly from one foot to another. She was starting to calm down a bit now, and she felt foolish for the way she had cried and been upset about Violet. She looked back up at him and forced a bright smile on her face. “We’re definitely on the same page. So maybe we can both just forget about this whole Violet situation and concentrate on finishing our fairytassel sage mission?”

Axel nodded slowly. “I think that’s a good idea. So, are we cool?”

Whisper smiled, a bit more genuinely this time. “Yes. We’re cool.”

Axel smiled too then. “Good. And I really am sorry about being late. No matter what the reason, I know it inconvenienced both you and Oskar.”

“It’s okay. I know now you didn’t mean to.”

Axel shrugged. “Still. I’m sure it was annoying. But anyway, now that we’re good, will you come have a beer with your brother and me?”

Whisper was tempted, but she truly was tired. Besides, she didn’t feel like facing her brother with puffy red eyes from crying. Oskar would want an explanation. So she just shook her head. “If you don’t mind, I might go take a nap before work tonight. And no offense, but you look like maybe you should do the same.”

Axel laughed. “Fair enough. But I will have a quick beer with Oskar. He deserves a cold one after putting up with both of us today.”

Whisper nodded. “Alright. I’ll see you later tonight then.” She was already feeling better. She had acted like a crazy, jealous fool, but he’d been patient with her. That was a good sign. She needed to relax. They had been friends for so long, and this rough spot wasn’t going to change that.

“Come here, you,” Axel said, and pulled her into a big bear hug. He mussed up her hair, just like he used to when they were younger. Whisper used to hate it when he did that, because she would spend so much time trying to make her hair look good and then he would mess it all up in a few seconds. But today she didn’t care. She already looked like a tired mess anyway, but even if she hadn’t, she was just glad that everything between Axel and her was on good terms.

She closed her eyes for a moment, relishing how good his strong arms felt around her, and breathing in his woodsy scent. She disagreed with him about now not being a good time to start a relationship. She thought that now, more than ever, they could use love in their lives. But she wasn’t going to push things. After this mission was over, maybe she’d try to explore her new, deeper feelings a bit more. But right now, she needed to concentrate on getting the fairytassel sage poison over to Gilt Hollow and doing her part for the resistance. She had to remind herself that there would be plenty of time after the mission was over to talk to Axel.

As he finally broke off their hug, she gave him a brave smile. “I’ll see you later then.”

“Yup,” He mussed her hair once more. “Now go get some rest. I need you to be awake for bartending later.”

And then, to her utmost surprise and delight, he leaned forward and planted a kiss on the top her head. He meant it only as a friendly gesture, she was sure. But she still couldn’t help but feel a thrill at the fact that he had kissed her. She managed to maintain her composure, smiling demurely at him before turning to go. And that’s when she saw Violet.

“Uh-oh. We’re not alone, Axel.”

Violet was storming toward them, her face an angry, deep purple. Axel sighed, and gave Whisper a little push on the small of her back.

“Go ahead and go home. I’ll deal with her. But you probably don’t want to be around to witness this. It’s not going to be pretty.”

Whisper didn’t need to be told twice. She had no interest in seeing or talking to Violet right now, and she trusted Axel. He wouldn’t lie to her, and if he’d told her that he had no interest in Violet she believed him. So she broke into a run, getting as far away from Violet as she could as fast as she could. The last thing she wanted right now was to get tangled up in a cat fight.

As she ran, she heard Violet’s shrill voice, yelling at Axel and demanding that he tell her what he’d been up to, and why he’d been hugging and kissing Whisper. Whisper rolled her eyes, running even faster. That girl was impossible, but perhaps that wasn’t a bad thing. Whisper had no doubts now that Axel wasn’t interested in Violet. Axel would never be into someone so clingy and demanding.

Which meant he was still wide open and available, if only he could see what was right in front of him.

Whisper let out a long sigh. She was going to have to make sure that he saw. She had to get past all her timid mental hang ups and show him that the two of them could be pretty great together. And she had to hope that he would be willing to give the girl who’d always been like a little sister to him the chance to be so much more.