Chapter 70

(**Sebastion**)
*Week after returning from California*

We returned from Bodega Bay with a ton of baby gear. I can tell that Irina was torn about how she feels about the gifts. She looked happy about it before we left California, but once we returned to Redwood, she had a sour expression on her face while Finn had the helicopter unloaded. When I asked what was wrong with the gifts, she turned around and walked away from me.

It has been a week since we returned. Each time I try to get her to explain me what is wrong, she changes the subject or leaves the room. I am at my wit’s end on what to do. At night, when it is just us, she is all over me. Ripping my clothes off and taking me on every surface of our room. I have determined that her favorite place to have sex is in our bathroom. The shower stall specifically.

As much as I have enjoyed all her passionate attention, an actual conversation to understand her giving me the silent treatment would be perfect. Arianna told me what she thinks the problem is, and I wanted to dismiss it at first, but speculated about it. Irina is jealous of Rayne.

Thinking back, I can kind of understand how it can look from her viewpoint. When we first met, I called Rayne for confirmation about Treadstone, but I told Irina that Rayne was just an ally. An ally that I called for help on more than one occasion since then. Each time I called Rayne, it was for help with Irina’s cause, my cause now.

Staying for Rayne’s wedding was Irina’s idea, but looking back on it, I probably should have said no. The situation I just came home from was not my fault. I didn’t know part of my soul was still tied to Rayne. Breaking the mate bond was supposed to break the ties that bound our souls together.

The part that is bothering me with Irina right now is what I think made her go silent. It wasn’t the baby stuff that Rayne and Parker gave us. It was the bloodstains on my hands that night and how they got there. I had to press my hands between Rayne’s legs to stop the bleeding.

Is Irina pissed at me for touching Rayne like that? It wasn’t sexual at all. It was two save two lives. Had I not acted swiftly, Rayne would have lost her baby and potentially bleed to death before her wolf could have healed her.

Deciding it is time to sort this shit out, I leave my office to go find my mate. I follow her scent to our bedroom. When I open the door, my anger is defused at the sight of Irina curled up on our bed, fast asleep. With her pregnancy advancing, she has been more tired than usual.

Since Jace and Zasha will still be in school for the next two hours, I kick my shoes off, then slip into bed behind Irina. I pull her back against me gently, bury my nose in her neck, then fall asleep just breathing in her scent. I not sure how long I slept but when I woke up, Irina was no longer in my arms, nor was she in the bedroom with me.

Great, now I have to track her down again. This time, no matter what she is doing, we will have that conversation. I will not wait for her to decide she is done giving me the silent treatment. It is now.

*Arianna, do you have the kids with you?*

*Yes, Callie, Jace, and Zasha are with me at the pack house. We are all doing a movie night in the theater.*

*Is Irina with you?*

*No, she said she wanted to have some quiet time to repot some herbs.*

*Thank you. Let me know if Jace gets scared or panics.*

*Will do.*

I cut the link, then go downstairs to the little growth room where my mate is hiding out. There will be no peace and quiet for her until she tells me what the hell is going on. I open the door quietly, but Irina turns to me as if she was waiting for me, no matter how quiet I tried to be.

There is dirt smeared on her left cheek, but there is a fire in her eyes. Fire that is fueled by anger, jealousy, and resentment. I can feel it all coming through our bond. All that makes my heart constrict in pain. I made her feel that way.

“How about we end this silent treatment you are giving me right here and now.”

As an answer, Irina picks up a small plant pot, then throws it at the doorframe next to my head.

“Oh, so you want to throw things? Break things? I can do that.”

I walk into the room and grab one plant pot at random, raise it high above my head, then throw it on the ground. Then, one after another, I go down the row of shelves, throwing everything to the ground. Irina was screaming at me to stop the entire time. My anger at her gets the better of me and the next thing I know, I have destroyed all her plants. When I turn back to face her, the fire in her eyes is brighter than it was when I first came in here.

“Did that tantrum make you feel better?” Her voice is like ice despite the fire in her eyes.

“No, not at all but, now you are talking to me, so I have achieved my goal.”

In response to that statement, Irina turns to leave the room, but I rush forward to stop her. Spinning her around to face me, I pin her against the wall beside the door. Her eyes go wide in shock before she slaps me across the face.

“Let go of me. Now.”

“No. You have ignored me for a week.”

“I have not. We wake up together, eat meals together, and sleep in the same be together. We also have a lot of sex.”

I growl at her in frustration. “You know exactly what I am talking about, Irina. This silent treatment you have been giving me since we got home ends now. Talk to me, damn you.”

Letting her go, I step away from her.

“This anger, jealousy, and resentment you feel about Rayne needs to be talked about.”

“Fine, you want to talk about it, then we will. Right now. What do you want to know? Do you want to know how every time I hear you say her name, I get jealous? Every single time. That jealousy makes me angry. Angry at you for always calling her for help. Angry at myself for being jealous of Rayne when I know you don’t love her.”

“Every single time I have called Rayne for help, it was for you. She has allies all over the world that can literally do anything. You saw for yourself when we were at her wedding, a wedding you stayed for, by the way, that Parker is the man Rayne loves. Not me. Yes, I should have taken you home the night before, but I thought you wanted to stay.”

“I did because I felt you needed closure with her. The jealousy is irrational, but it is still there. I can’t explain it, Sebastion.”

I close the distance between us, then drop to my knees at her feet. Looking up at her, all I can do is stare into her beautiful ice-blue eyes for a moment as she looks down at me. “From the day you walked into my office building, there has been one storm after another between us. Yes, I call her for help, but that is all it will ever be.”

“Her blood on your hands when I found you a week ago was hard to see. Knowing afterwards where that blood came from made me see red.”

“Are you actually angry with me because I touched her there? There were layers of clothing between my hand and her flesh. I smelled her blood, saw where it was coming from, and reacted immediately. Had I not done that, two lives would have been lost. I helped save her life and give her wolf time to heal the damage done. Please don’t tell me you are jealous and angry that I touched her there in a nonsexual way to save her life? Should I have let them both die to make you happy?”

Incredulous anger filled my voice as I speak. I stand up off my knees, take a step away from Irina, then just stare at the emotions that flow across her face. Her face and eyes tell me I am correct.

“You had your hand on her crotch. I know why and logically I understand what you did was the right thing to do. As a woman and a mother, I am not angry at you for what you did. I am thankful to you for the quick actions you took to save their lives.”

“But?”

“As your mate, Luna, and the mother of your unborn child, rationality flew out the window when my jealousy and hormones kicked in. I was wrong to react like that. For that, I will forever be ashamed of myself. Do you really think I would rather have Rayne and her baby die than have you save them?”

“You resent her for things that are not her fault. That isn’t alright, Irina. You know my history with her. You know everything that happened between the two of us. Which was literally nothing. We met once; I chose another woman. We met for a second time, and she had already chosen another man.”

Irina walks towards one table, leans down and picks up an empty plant pot, then she looks back up at me. The fire in her eyes has died down, but there is still pain in them. The next words I say will hurt her, too.

“If there was anyone in my life before we met you should resent, it is Gia.”

Irina reacted as if I slapped her. What I said is the truth. I don’t mean to hurt her, but she knows everything about my past. The woman who held my heart before I met Irina was Gia. Never Rayne. I know that I only went to claim Rayne because she was mine, not because I loved her.

“I know that Sebastion, but I can’t stop the emotions that go through me when Rayne is mentioned. I think I don’t feel that way about Gia because she is dead and can’t physically come between us.”

“Each time we talk about Gustav, I have felt the same way. He may be dead, but he came between us until Pavel told you the truth about your first mate.”

The second those words are out of my mouth, her eyes go wide. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because he is dead. It is time we stop letting three other people effect how we feel about each other. This relationship is between us, not them. I never loved Rayne and you know that. She never loved me either. Please don’t be jealous of someone who never had my heart. You have my heart.”

“I want you mind, body, and soul.”

Walking to her, I sink back to my knees, then look up at her again. “Irina, you had all of that the night you came to me for the first time.” I wrap my arms around her waist and press my lips to her belly. “You, Zasha, Jace, and this amazing baby of ours are my life. My entire world is right here with you three.”

“Sebastion, I know that. I feel that. Rationally, I believe it. Yet, the anger is still there, and I can’t seem to be able to control it. I am sorry for the way I have been treating you this week.”

“Then let’s promise from here on out that we will talk to each other about this kind of shit. Now more bottling it all up. We talk to each other.”

“I promise to do that if you promise to help me clean this mess up?”

Laughter rips from my mouth before I can stop it. “I am sorry about that.”

“Then I am also sorry for throwing a pot at you.”

I stand up, then pull her against me for a hug. Irina pressed her head to my chest and wraps her arms around my waist. We stand there just holding each other for a few minutes. The sounds of running feet and children giggling announces the arrival of Jace and Zasha moments before they rush into the room.

“Papa, can we stay with Callie in her room tonight? Uncle Flynn is going to build us all a fort.”

That works out perfectly with what I have to do later tonight. Monroe has helped the witches prepare to do the spell that will hopefully release Fiona from whatever Treadstone did to her. Once she is free from its grip, Monroe will take Fiona back to Canada, where the other survivors are recovering.

“You can stay with Callie, but behave, and if you need me for anything, let Flynn know and I will come.”

Jace gives me the brightest smile, then races off with Zasha trailing behind him. The two of them have become inseparable since Zasha arrived. Both have blossomed back into the children they were meant to be.

“Come my love, we should change, then go to the boathouse. The witches are ready, and Fiona is being moved to them now.”

“Do you think they can help her?”

“After meeting all three of them again, feeling their power for the first time, I am curious to know what they are capable of. They are all powerful witches, but together they are a formidable force to be reckoned with, from what Monroe says.”

“I think he has a thing for the one called Jazmine. He watches her like he wants to eat her up.”

That surprises me. “He told me she has a mate when I asked.”

“Maybe she does, but by the looks she gives him in return, maybe her mate doesn’t want her. There is pain in her eyes.”

“That is not our business. Come on, let’s go get this situation resolved so we can focus on the problems that are our business.”

“Vicktor.”