Axel just confessed his feelings to . He loved . What do I do with this?
Why was my heart shuddering so badly like it’d been forgotten in a deep freezer for days?
Why did my eyes sting like onion juice had been accidentally sared into it?
"I love you," he repeated, this ti with more certainty. "I’ve been such an idiot. I didn’t realize it at first. But maybe... maybe I started falling for you the mont Álvaro threw you out of that room during the Luna Gala. Or maybe it was later. I don’t know. All I know is... I’ve been drawn to you. Protective. Obsessed, even. And it wasn’t just guilt. It was never just guilt. I love you, María José."
Tears flooded my eyes again, but this ti they were different. Today, I didn’t shed tears from grief but joy. From the sharp, radiant joy of having soone you love say they love you back.
I surged forward, about to kiss him again...
... But I stopped. My lips were barely an inch from his when I rembered.
The wedding. Rosa. His fiancée.
I drew back, the reality of the cold and cruel world slamming back into .
Axel blinked, confused by the sudden shift in my deanor. "What—what’s wrong?"
I smiled sadly, stepping away and shaking my head. "It’s a pity."
"What is?"
"That despite all this love, despite what we feel, we can’t be together."
"Why not?" His voice was rough and so frustrated like he was tired of all of these back and forth and would wife up at this mont if he was pushed why further:
"You’re marrying Rosa in a few days."
He flinched like I’d slapped him. And in that mont, I hated how much I still loved him. I hated how much it hurt to do the right thing.
I stepped back again, trying to create distance before I lost all control. But Axel didn’t let go that easily.
His hand shot out, catching my wrist, and dragging back into his orbit. "Don’t walk away from ."
"Axel..." I began, but the words died when he stepped closer, crowding into my space with his eyes burning into mine.
"I ant every word. I love you. Not Rosa. Not anyone else. You and God help , María José, I’ll kill your sister if I have to. If that’s what it’ll take for to have you."
"Axel, no. We... we can’t do this!" I jolted backward when his hand slid up my thigh, pulling at the hem of my skirt.
The tension in the air had begun to crawl up my skin.
As if to retaliate, Axel caught my wrist again and yanked back with a force that sent my body crashing into his chest.
"We can do whatever I say we can do, María José," he growled, and his breath was hot against my cheek.
I sucked in a breath, panic and desire battling in my throat. "I’m your brother’s reject," I spat. "Do you even hear yourself right now? He didn’t want , Axel. What does that make to you?"
His nostrils flared. "I don’t care about Álvaro’s foolishness. It’s his loss for losing a woman like you."
"Okay," I said, shoving at his chest weakly. "I must confess. I’m not worried about him either. It’s Rosa... you’re getting engaged to my sister in a month!"
"Let remind you, María José—I don’t give a fuck about that either."
My heart beat faster, matching the fury of his own. He was holding like he’d burn everything down just to keep close.
No matter how hard I jerked, Axel wasn’t letting go.
And part of —so, so foolishly, didn’t want him to.
"I can’t do this," I whispered, voice breaking with my head violently shaking.
"Why not?" he snapped, like he couldn’t understand how we were even having this conversation.
"Because it’s wrong," I choked out. "Because it’ll ruin everything."
"No. They ruined everything the mont they treated you like you didn’t matter. Álvaro. Don Diego. Rosa. The entire damn world." He grabbed both my wrists now, pressing them gently above my head, trapping against the wall. "But not . I see you. And I’m not letting go, María José. Not again."
His forehead pressed to mine, and for a mont, neither of us moved. We breathe into each other’s faces, hearts racing, silence shivering with unspoken words.
"I want you," he confessed. "Even when I shouldn’t. Even when it’s selfish. Even when it hurts."
Oh, Axel. I want you too. It kills to know that you can never be mine. That you’re now betrothed to soone else and have a wedding on the way.
But I’ll never be able to hold him like this again. We would never have a mont like this again.
Tears burned in my eyes. "Then be selfish. Just for a mont."
He didn’t hesitate.
His mouth crashed into mine, and everything else; duty, fear, Rosa... dissolved into that kiss. His lips were desperate, rough, like he needed to breathe. I lted under him, into him, my hands wrapping around his neck as my soul tried to crawl inside his chest and stay there forever.
I want to stay there forever.
The wall scraped my back, and noises of the retiring packhouse bubbling outside, but none of it mattered. Not when he kissed like I was his only salvation.
When we finally broke apart, gasping, dazed, I rested my forehead against his.
"This won’t be easy," I said softly. "We’ll burn bridges."
"Then let them burn."
He pulled to his chest again, arms locking around like he was terrified I’d disappear. I won’t.
"I’ll choose you," he murmured, "every ti."
I closed my eyes, and for the first ti in my life, I believed him. But I also knew the storm ahead would be unlike anything we’d faced.
Because love... love didn’t co without consequences.
And in this pack, soone always pays the price.
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