Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by his Brother Chapter 133: She Deserves The World

I sighed, shaking my head in dismay. "Alright, fine," I muttered, sitting up. "There’s only one way to settle this."

Hugo humd, amused. "Do tell, oh wise one."

"I’ll go see her," I said, ignoring his sarcasm. "That’s the only way I’ll know for sure. I’ll talk to her, spend so ti with her, and if I feel... sothing—" I paused, my chest tightening at the re thought of the possibility. "Then I’ll deal with it. And if not, then I can move on and prove everyone wrong."

Hugo rasped. "Oh, yes. I’m sure that’ll work out perfectly. You, the great Axel, sitting down and rationally analyzing your emotions like a scientist observing a bug under a microscope. What could possibly go wrong?"

I ignored him. "And besides," I added, "even if I don’t love her, I should at least make sure I’m not leading her on. If there’s even a chance that she’s waiting for , it’d be cruel to leave her hanging. She doesn’t deserve to have her feelings neglected. María José, she’s..."

I sniffed in dreamily, rembering her lavender and honeysuckle scent. "She’s heavenly. She’s angelic and she deserves the world."

There was a long silence. Then Hugo let out a low chuckle. "You know... for once, I actually like you."

I stretched my mouth to the side. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah," he mused. "You almost sounded mature just now. It was terrifying. Never do that again."

Motherfucker.

I scowled. "Oh, shut up."

"I’m serious. I had to double-check that you weren’t possessed. Imagine, Axel caring about soone’s feelings? Being considerate? Thinking about soone other than himself? What a ti to be alive."

I growled. "You’re pushing your luck, mutt."

"Oh no, I’m trembling," he mocked. "Truly, I fear for my life."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Remind again why I’m cursed to share a soul with you?"

"Because the Moon Goddess has an excellent sense of humor."

I flopped back onto my bed with a groan, staring at the ceiling. "I should’ve been born normal. No wolf, no destiny, no ddling mother, no... complicated feelings."

"Too late for that, genius."

I let out a long sigh. "I hate you."

"You’re repeating yourself. But don’t worry. You’ll have plenty of ti to hate more tomorrow when you inevitably embarrass yourself in front of María José."

I groaned louder. "Go to hell, Hugo."

"Sweet dreams, lovebird."

I took a little nap after, woke up, and spent the rest of the day playing video gas to shove the thoughts of María José that had plagued my mind aside.

*******

The next day, I woke up feeling oddly... determined.

That should’ve been my first red flag.

The second was the eerie silence coming from outside my door.

I sat up, stretched, and frowned. Why hadn’t my mother barged in to pester ? If she truly believed I was madly in love, she should’ve been hovering over my bed like a vulture, ready to drag by the ear to María José’s doorstep.

Even stranger, the house sounded unusually noisy.

I glanced at the clock. It was later than I usually woke up. Weird. Since I was vying for the Alpha position now, I needed to adjust my sleeping schedule.

Argh... I just wasn’t a morning person.

Shaking off the uneasy feeling of all the unusualities, I got dressed, brushing off the thought that maybe my mother had just been too busy plotting my wedding to annoy this morning.

However, whatever ideas Mom might have in her head for and María José would only die there; in her head.

There was no chance in hell that Father could ever consider such a bride for . Not that I wanted to get married anyway.

Hold on a second; I need to marry soone.

I wanted to beco the Alpha. Could I marry María José?

Argh! Only if she had a Luna wolf which I couldn’t tell if she had or not.

Hold up... what the fuck was I thinking about? I was a jerk. I shouldn’t wish myself for María José. She deserved better.

Right?

You know what? Fuck my thoughts. Let’s just get the day over with.

I had a plan: Eat, see Luis, and then find María José.

Simple.

I stepped out of my room, already halfway down the hall, when I caught the hushed voices of two maids whispering near the staircase.

They didn’t notice as they were too absorbed in their gossip.

"Did you hear about Don Diego’s estate?" one of them murmured with intrigue.

"Of course," the other whispered back. "They say it’s cursed. That the Moon Goddess cursed his bloodline for keeping an Oga daughter."

The first one humd, shaking her head. "They say an Oga like that brings ruin to her family."

Her friend arched closer and covered her mouth with a plan as if that would keep the sound out. As if this wasn’t a werewolf household and anyone could hear if they listened.

"Didn’t you hear? That’s why what happened happened."

It was so painfully appalling to see such low-ranked maids gossip about María José and talk shit about her. As if they could ever asure up to her level of elegance, grace, and status if they dedicated five lifetis to it.

Cursed? It reminded of Don Diego and damn Elder framing her for the pigs incident the other night.

That was all the fuel my anger needed.

Before I knew it, I was standing before them, my shadow looming over their small, oblivious figures.

"What happened?" I asked coldly.

They jumped. One gasped, clutching her chest, while the other paled. Yes, they should be scared for not only were they breaking the; no-gossiping rule of the mansion, they were also bad mouthing the woman I...

... the woman I... nothing.

Anyway, why not teach them a lesson? It was too bad I was too curious about whatever could be going on in the mansion right now that I might now have the ti to properly punish them.

Still, I’d give them the scare of their lives.

No María José’s slander would be tolerated.