I wasn’t prepared for Axel’s wrath.
Not even remotely.
One second, I was blinking up at him with parted lips in disbelief, and the next, he yanked off his top like so kind of seething god.
The maids gasped as those muscles flexed and rippled under the golden chandelier lights, and there was a faint thud from the far corner.
It was obvious that soone had clearly dropped a tray. I couldn’t even be embarrassed for the poor maid because I was too stunned to move.
Imagine her seeing Axel dragging out of a room where I was dressed in a towel.
As if that wasn’t enough, he shoved his jacket over my head with a grunt that sounded more like a suppressed growl, and winked at with those infuriatingly dark eyes.
"What are you doing?" I tried to protest through the thick cotton that slled entirely like him like I wouldn’t cherish the fabric for the rest of my life.
Axel didn’t answer. He simply grabbed my hand in his calloused grip, spun around raging like soone who could murder a man with a spoon, and stord forward like a bull in a silk hallway.
"Axel—Axel!" I hissed, trotting beside him, half blind and half choking on the scent of expensive fury. "Where are we going?!"
His grip tightened. "Ho."
Ho? That word stung in places I didn’t know still had nerve endings.
I didn’t have a ho, and if Axel ant ’his ho’, then that ant inside the packhouse’s mansion.
The main building of the mansion stood ahead like a forbidden temple. I dug my heels into the marbled pathway, tugging on his hand.
"Wait, is this okay?" I whispered, breath rising as though we were crossed into enemy territory. "I an... am I even allowed to be in there?"
I was no longer a De la Vega. People like don’t step into the Alpha’s mansion unless there was a special invite.
Maybe Axel’s was enough.
He didn’t stop walking. Not once or even to glance back at . He just held my hand in hand and led on.
"Wherever I am... you belong." He growled, voice cold enough to send goosebumps erupting all over .
My heart skipped a beat so much that I didn’t even know a tear had fallen until I tasted it on my lips.
God. Axel ant it.
He ant it.
We finally made it to the grand staircase. I barely lifted my foot when soone turned the corner, and the universe, as always, refused to let have a single peaceful mont.
"Axel!" ca the elegant voice of a woman I recognized from the many whispers and terrified bows she commanded.
His mother.
Luna Ana.
She looked every inch the noble matriarch in her tailored cream blouse and embroidered skirt. Her silver-streaked hair was pulled into a loose bun that sohow scread "I own you."
Her eyes sparkled when she saw him—and then they found and my throat ran dry.
This was Axel’s mother. The mother of the man I loved, and even though I had seen her a couple of tis before, I still felt self-conscious.
I dropped into a nervous half-curtsy, half-squat, and stamred, "Buenas noches, señora, disculpe, I didn’t an to..."
Her gaze snapped to my face, and she gasped loud enough to echo.
"Dios mío, niñ... what happened to you?"
"I—uh..." My tongue tangled. "I got into a small accident, señora, it’s nothing, I..."
"It’s not nothing." Axel’s voice bood like thunder, and I turned to see his jaw clenched so tightly it looked like it would snap.
His eyes were on his mother. Furious. Gleaming. Dangerous.
"Rosa did this to her," he spat.
Ana blinked. "Rosa?"
He stepped forward. "Yes. Rosa. The sa one you people want to marry. She laid hands on María José. Look at her. Look at her face."
The room went deathly still. A pin drop would’ve scread.
Ana’s expression turned horrific, her eyes bouncing between us with her lips parting in horror. "Dios santo..."
Axel didn’t wait for her approval, or her outrage, or even her pity.
He simply grabbed my hand again and dragged up the stairs like a vengeful beast on a mission, ignoring my attempts to speak, ignoring his mother’s protests, ignoring the maids gawking like they were watching a telenovela unfold in real ti.
"Señora, I’m fine!" I cried behind as she shouted sothing unintelligible in our wake.
But Axel didn’t stop once. Not even when we reached the double doors of his room. He kicked them open with such drama that would make one mistake him for an exiled prince reclaiming his castle.
He pulled inside, slamd the doors behind us, and turned on like I’d just insulted his grandmother’s tortilla recipe.
"Have you lost your mind?" he shouted.
I jumped, blinking as he paced the floor like a caged panther. "What the hell were you doing in a room with Álvaro? Álvaro, María José! Have you finally gone insane?!"
"I wasn’t with him like that!" I protested.
"Oh really?" he spun around. "If Teo hadn’t told they spotted you up ahead, if I hadn’t run like crazy all the way here, traced your scent to that fucking room, tell , what would have happened then, María José! TELL !"
He really did all of that for ? Despite how I’d sent him off rudely the last ti, accused him of sothing he might not know anything of, Axel still did all that.
I stepped toward him, hands raised and my heart hamring. "I was there to see you, Axel. Only you."
He barked out a disbelieving laugh and started unbuttoning his cuffs with such rage I thought he might rip the sleeves off. "Well, congratulations. You made it look like you were running around like so lost—so clueless..."
Oh, my Axel! I didn’t let him finish.
I yanked myself forward and wrapped my arms around his waist, burying my face into his bare chest before he could throw another verbal bomb at .
He froze. I could feel his pulse through his skin. His breath stuttered above .
"I ca to see you," I whispered. "I just... couldn’t wait anymore."
There was silence. The kind that carried tension like a violin string pulled taut. For a mont, I thought he would push away, scold again, throw more fire at . But instead, he let out a shuddering breath—and held back.
Tightly.
Reviews
All reviews (0)