"Eat, Elizabeth." he said, his eyes nodding to her plate as a sigh erupted from his throat as she firmly crossed her arms in response indicating that she was not inclined to do so.
"I'm not hungry." one of her arms quickly moving to push her plate further away from her on the table before immediately returning to its fold.
"Are we really going to do this?" he rolled his dark green eyes showing no hopes of lightening in the near future, as he leaned back in his seat feeling as if they had been here multiple times before, and having no desire to entertain its repetition.
"I'm not doing anything." she said back sharply.
"Obviously." he dead panned.
After a few moments of their quiet locked stares, their waiter arrived to the table. "Is there something wrong with your meal?" He looked back in-between the plates and between Jason and Elizabeth's demeanor, she holding a stiff posture and him a dark stare.
"My wife is on her period, it tends to make her emotional." he said staring her dead in the face and watching her cheeks redden in embarrassment at his blunt words. His dark eyes leaving her face to slowly trail over to the male who also looked uncomfortable himself. "You can box her food, as well as mine. I'll take the check."
"Of course." the waiter gave a rapid nod before grabbing the plates and quickly taking his leave, thankful to get away from the awkwardness between the two patrons.
"Take me home." she said behind her own gritted teeth in a low tone.
"I'd be delighted." he said his deep voice being laced with a hint of honesty, indicating that was what he wanted, but clearly knowing that was not what she meant.
"Your parents home." she clarified.
"Of course." he said not raising his eyes from his phone, clearly knowing there was no true reason she needed to clarify.
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The car ride was silent, neither one of them saying a word to one another, the only vitality present was Elizabeth's struggling attempt to remove his hand from hers. He had laced his fingers in her hand, and held a firm grip as she attempted to pull and pry her own from his hold, he showing no indications that he was even aware of her actions, his thumb smoothly rubbing over the back of her hand. She eventually gave up her efforts, having been down this road with Jason before, if he didn't want to release her hand, he wouldn't, and there was no point for her to continue to waste her energy fighting him on the matter.
Twenty minutes into the drive, long after her struggle against his hand had stopped and he benefitted from the soothing sensations provided from their skin to skin contact, his eyes started to lighten in the smallest flicker of a shade. He was still angry, and he was still hurt, but he did not want to continue down this path with her. His immediate response was to flair up, he had a hot flash temper and it did not mesh well with her smart ass mouth, which seemed to only get sharper with her time spent with his mother. However, he knew if they kept winding each other up, that it would only hurt them both further in the long run and so he was choosing to walk away from it.
"You have a doctors appointment in three days, to take labs and see where your hormone levels are." he said abruptly not looking at her. "I believe they have declined, but we will need to test just to confirm." his voice very blank, almost monotone. "At the appointment, we'll ask for you to be put on birth control. There is an injection you can administer in your bicep every three months to prevent unwanted pregnancy. I'll help you with the injections if you're unable to do it yourself." he slowly blinked. He knowing about the the various options only due to Amber being his long time side piece, and him ensuring he injected her himself on time every three months in order to maintain a carefree sexual relationship with her. Having learned from his mothers pregnancy resulting in him and not wanting his first born to be wasted on someone he did not love.
Elizabeth looked over to him, shock clearly worn on her face as if she was wondering had she heard him correctly. "What?" she feeling as if she must have been going crazy, and didn't hear him properly.
"It has minimum side effects. It's the best option." he said not even looking at her, no emotion registering on his face but a deep upset weighing heavy within the base of his chest, as he discussed birth control with his mate. He wanted her more than he wanted a child, even though he felt the immense pressure of needing to have his heir, there was no point in wanting her to get pregnant if it was only going to cause them to be miserable together.
"Thank you." she said quietly, her eyes softening as she was unable to say anything else. His adamancy on having a child was a huge point of contention between them, and it suddenly vanished in the quiet car ride, just as it seemed to vanish with all his outwardly displayed emotion.
He said nothing for the rest of the car ride, Elizabeth intrinsically knowing that he did not wish to engage in further conversation with her, choosing to mirror his thumbs rubbing with her own on his hand. When they eventually arrived outside of his parents home, he placed the car in park after releasing her hand, but made no motion to shut it off. Instead he kept his stare focused forward where he waited for her to get out.
"Are you not coming?" she said, picking up his lack of movement as she removed her seatbelt.
"No, I'm going home." he said back blankly.
"Jason, about earlier... I think we just had a misunderstanding, and we both said things in the moment that weren't helpful. But you don't have to leave.. I was just upset because you weren't listening to me." she said softly, trying to put water under the bridge.
"Well... I think it's apparent that I did listen. Now I need you to listen to me, and please get out of my car." he said not even bothering to look at her, a deeper tone becoming more apparent in his voice, but it not indicative of any specific emotion.
"O-okay." she said opening the door, and slowly climbing out, popping her head back in before she closed the door. "Are you coming back in time for dinner?"
"We'll see. Goodbye, Elizabeth." he said drawing an end to the conversation and waiting for her to shut the door.
"Goodbye Jason." she said shutting the door, to which he promptly reversed and left the homes drive. She had one of her biggest concerns now properly handled with the promise of being placed on birth control, but she felt an extremely uncomfortable sensation at his newly adopted demeanor, or lack there of it, so to speak.
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He did not come for dinner, and he did not arrive for bed at night, nor did he show up in the morning to see her before starting his day at the pack house. He didn't answer her texts, he didn't play their game, all communication had stopped.
Elizabeth spent the next two days with a growing sulking demeanor, finding herself texting him with her random thoughts of the moment, no matter how minute or trivial they were. Occasionally, she would ask if he was coming to see her, knowing that he was not going to respond. She even tried to call him from time to time, but the phone would ring out the standard number of rings before heading to voicemail, each time further darkening her mood.
The tracphone that had been smuggled from the restaurant was shut off after a one worded text was sent back, no. Burrowing the device in the depths of the closet, telling herself she would need to dispose of it when able. She was emotionally conflicted at it's arrival, while she did miss Alex, her want to be away from Jason proved to be a very fleeting notion. Having a desperate want for his attention, and unable to bear the thought of no longer having it if she would be taken away. Finding the two full days of his complete absence emotionally isolating, which was a completely new sensation to her. She didn't want to go without him, she just longed for freedom of choice.
His parents did not involve themselves or pry, clearly knowing that they were at a discord and letting them handle it as it seemed to be a peaceful disagreement. However, they did try to soothe her with gentle suggestions citing that he was most likely busy and inundated with his duties, he was a busy alpha after all. These soft words would be met with small nods and frail smiles, as she shifted food about each plate, finding it difficult to fall and stay asleep at night.
The third night she spent alone, proved to be the hardest as a text message chimed on her phone, it being evident that it could be only from one person as she utilized her phone exclusively to talk with him.
At 11:37pm, his name popped up on the screen in a green box, the contents of the message not in direct response to any of her previous texts sent.
Drs apt at 9:30am, Ill pick you up at 9:00am.
And that was it. She texted him back in acknowledgement and wished him goodnight, but once again she received no response.
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She ended up getting about a total of three hours of sleep and they were not consistent, she drifted off only to wake up again tossing and turning in growing excitement as the hours dwindled down and got closer to his arrival. At around 6:00am, she gave up her pursuit of sleep and decided to shower and dress for the day. Sifting through all the clothes in the closet and finding herself unhappy with all the options.
Eventually, she settled for a white sundress that depicted an amenity of delicately designed sunflowers all across its fabric, its tones deep in golds, yellow, and light browns starkly contrasting the white background, her upper body held snugly as the skirt of it bloomed out at her waist descending to her knees. She then placed on the white sandals she seemed to be growing fond of, they providing her with about five more inches of height, still leaving Jason with a good seven inches over her. Her hair she straightened, and then pulled half of it back into a half pony tail, teasing the top of it to give it a light bump. The end result left her rather satisfied, her waiting out the last forty-five minutes behind a cup of tea, opting not to drink coffee as her heart was already beating out of her chest.
Her eyes holding excitement as she heard a car pull up the drive, immediately dropping the mug down on the counter top with a quick goodbye directed towards both of Jason's parents before she ran out the front door and immediately stopped after it closed.
"Aw, did you get all dolled up for me?" Mark laughed as he stood outside his rumbling blue truck. "You shouldn't have."
"Where's Jason?" she said her brows furrowing in confusion as she resumed her steps at a markedly slower pace.
"He got held up, he's going to try to get there before your lab results come back, but he wanted me to take you so you didn't miss the appointment." he said with a shrug, as he began to lead her around the truck, holding her hand to stabilize her as she climbed in.
"What's he doing?" she asked, obviously wondering what could be possibly be detaining him for the last two days that he had to make a last minute change to the plan.
"I'm not at liberty to say." Mark said with a small headshake, his fingers tapping at his phone, her eyes staring at the screen and peeping at the fact that he was letting Jason know he picked her up. She trying to garner more of the conversation on the screen but was stopped as he closed the screen immediately upon sending his message. "Alright, lets go beautiful." he said with a grin, as he shifted the truck in reverse and began to drive to the pack hospital.
Elizabeth's was unable to hide her clear disappointment as she crossed her legs, only to lean her body over using her elbow on the window sill so that her hand could support her heavy head, the fatigue slapping her clearly in the face with nothing no longer to keep her excitement.