The Beta's Young Warrior (Book 2 of Young Mate Series)

Chapter 10- Lizzie's POV

Axel pulled up to the elementary school and stopped the car, waiting for the rest of his kids to appear at the front entrance so that we could go home. He tapped on the steering wheel, nervously as if to stop some of the anxiety that he felt but couldn't.

I clenched my hand tighter into a fist and set my jaw while I looked away from him, not wanting to do anything stupid like grabbing his hand and comforting him when he didn't need to be comforted.

My wolf whined and laid her head down on her paws. She urged me to take his hand, to hold it, and offer him a small smile, but I stayed strong and didn't.

She didn't know what it was like to lose him for four years...

I couldn't do that again; I didn't know if I'd survive, not knowing if my mate would ever come back to me, even though a part of me knew that he would.

He would always come back.

"Hey, Papa?" Lisa asked from the back, and his tapping stopped so that he could pay attention to her. "When the others get into the car, are you going to tell us what is wrong?" She furrowed her brows and cooked her head while she studied him. "You aren't usually this nervous about something."

Axel bit back a chuckle and slowly nodded. "I'll tell you everything when everyone is in the car," he said and looked at her through the rearview mirror.

Lisa nodded with furrowed brows and cleared her throat. "Do you know, M- Liz?" she asked, turning her attention to me. "Is that why you are upset at him?"

I bit my lip and looked down, not responding. I wanted to say that she could call me "mom" or "mama" like she wanted to, but I couldn't speak; I couldn't speak without fully breaking down as the reality of the situation hit me.

Tears pricked behind my eyes, and my vision grew blurry. I didn't want him to leave me, to go wherever he was going with my father, but I knew that he didn't have a choice.

My wolf whined and urged me to grab my mate's hand, craving his affection and attention more than I did. She wanted me to stop acting so stubborn and to put him out of his misery, but I couldn't do that without feeling as if I had betrayed myself.

"Papa?" Lisa asked when I didn't answer her question.

Axel sighed and nodded. His gaze was on me, but I didn't look at him to meet it. "She does, Lis," he confirmed, his voice calm and collected with no trace of pain in it.

How dare he not feel the pain that I was feeling. How dare he.

'But he is,' Whisper said, her voice soft and sad. 'He is feeling pain and yours, too.'

I bit back a scoff and held back an eye roll. I did not believe her one bit, even if a part of me did because I couldn't.

He could suffer for all I cared. He could suffer more than me. It was his fault since he was the one leaving us and breaking his promise to us about us going to the beach and being a family together for once in public.

But all he was doing was following orders...

I quickly shut that thought down and shifted in my seat while I stared out the window waiting for the other kids to appear at the door and hop into the car like normal so that we could go home and I could get away from him.

I prayed that they would come soon because I was getting tired of being in the car with him, waiting around and doing nothing.

The whole car was filled with tension again, a tension that I didn't like but didn't do anything to break. It could stay like that for all I cared, even if a part of me wanted to turn around and stare at the male that I loved and needed.