Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by his Brother Chapter 213: Power Couple

"Thank you, Axel. Really." I breathed.

He shook his head. "Don’t thank a man for trying to protect what’s his."

His.

Was I his?

Rosa would be... in just a matter of days.

"If you insist." I nodded solemnly regardless, already fighting the urge to wrap my hands around his neck and pull him in for another kiss as though kissing him was synonymous with oxygen.

However, that wasn’t what this conversation was all about, was it?

Axel’s jaw twitched again.

He was still waiting for to finish what I’d started before he went full Alpha mode and shoved into the back of a closet like a gently shaken soda can.

His eyes were a hurricane now—no, a wildfire held together only by his stupidly stubborn self-control. His arms were crossed, his chest rising and falling like he was trying not to rip a hole through the floor.

And there I stood. Fidgeting. Glaring at my bare feet like they were to bla for all this.

"I was saying sothing before, wasn’t I?" I asked softly, voice thick with the kind of guilt that makes your stomach do Olympic-level sorsaults. "Before... everything."

He didn’t say anything. Just lifted an eyebrow. He didn’t need words.

That one look scread: You better spit it out, or so help , I will turn into a full-grown werewolf in this room and chew this entire house down.

I nodded quickly, fumbling to catch my scattered thoughts. "Right. Yes. The guy. The one who—uh—talked to at the pigsty. His na is... Mateo."

Axel straightened up like I’d punched him. "Mateo?"

"Yeah." I winced. "According to him, he worked in your dad’s villa."

"And you believed that?"

"Well, at first, I did. I an, I didn’t exactly have ti to fact-check his resumé when I had pig poop on my shoes and my soul was halfway out of my body from the sll..."

"María."

I bit my lip. His voice was so low it sounded like thunder rumbling under a carpet.

"Sorry," I muttered. "I should’ve told you sooner, but the two tis I saw him, I was... kinda occupied. The first ti was when Don Diego made sleep out back with the pigs, and the second ti was when I was trying to hide from my vengeful sister: So no, I didn’t raise an alarm. He didn’t seem that suspicious at first too."

Axel narrowed his eyes. "Describe him."

Describe him. Those two words already told that if I didn’t have other explanations to show that the Mateo I t two hours ago was a different person, he might as well be regretting ever being born as a werewolf.

My brain flatlined as I tried to recall his physique. "Uh... brown hair. Taller than , but not by much. Talks like he knows things. Like personal things."

I was describing the Mateo who claid to be in love with .

Axel’s brows furrowed. "What kind of personal things?"

I fumbled again, trying to rember. "Well... he said you thought of like a younger sister. That I deserved better. That you were... playing , didn’t love . It sounded like he knew you. Like really knew you."

I went ahead to narrate every single thing Mateo told about Axel that night. Even about my mark.

Axel’s lips parted slightly. And then he froze.

"Axel?" I asked warily. "What is it?"

"I’ve never told anyone that," he said, squinting and counting his fingers like he was trying to figure sothing out.

"Which part?"

"Any of it," he said slowly, like each word was a weight pulling his mouth downward. "I’ve never told anyone that I see you like a younger sister. Or that I’m worried about you. Except..."

His voice trailed off.

My heart kicked up a notch. "Except who?"

A long silence followed.

Then: "Luis."

"Who?"

"Luis. You won’t know him, but he’s my cousin."

My brain glitched. "Wait—you have a cousin?"

Axel gave a look like I’d just asked if the water was wet. "Yes."

"You never told that."

He shrugged, suddenly uneasy. "I don’t... talk about him. He’s not exactly public knowledge. My father keeps him hidden."

"Why?"

"He’s sick. Disabled." Axel’s gaze dropped for the first ti. "He can’t walk. Can’t talk. He’s been that way since we were kids. I visit him when I can. He’s the only person I’ve ever talked to freely."

For so reason, learning about the existence of this Axel’s cousin sent a light chilly breeze caressing my skin. I almost hugged myself in an involuntary shiver as if the sudden chill had seeped into my bones.

I blinked at him. "And you think... Luis could have snitched up on you by selling out information to the witches?"

Axel’s nostrils flared. "No."

"Then what?"

He paused. Sothing electric snapped in the air between us. The silence was sharp now... like it had teeth.

"It wasn’t just that Mateo knew things he shouldn’t have. It’s what happened after. I slept over at Luis’s place a few days ago like I told you. But before I passed out... sothing happened."

My stomach curled in on itself. "What do you an?"

He looked up at , eyes glowing faintly with wolf light. "I was attacked."

I held my breath.

"One minute I was talking to Luis, venting like usual. The next, sothing or soone—ca at from behind. I didn’t even see them. I felt a blade slit my throat."

I gasped, hands flying to my mouth.

What did he just say?! Soone attempted to murder the Alpha’s son in his own PACK?!

My Axel?! What if he had died? Oh, Dios, no.

"It wasn’t deep enough to kill ," he added quickly, seeing the way my knees wobbled. "My Alpha wolf healed . I’m strong, you know, María. But the next thing I knew, I’d been out for two whole days. Like, I fucking slept for TWO days. , María José."

He threw his hands in the air. "That’s not possible! It doesn’t happen like that, María José. I have the strongest wolf in the pack."

My thoughts were in a frenzy, whirling too fast to catch. I couldn’t even register any of his boastful words. All my brain seed to process was the fact that Axel got attacked.

"Axel—oh my God... why didn’t you tell anyone?"

"I didn’t want to start a panic." His jaw clenched. "But now... I’m starting to think it wasn’t just a random attack."

"You think...?"

"What if it was the witch?" he said hoarsely. "What if she was already inside the pack, watching from the shadows?"

I shivered. His words were fire and ice, painting horrors in the corners of my mind. My fingers trembled.

"She could’ve been there," he said, pacing now. "She could’ve been listening when I spoke to Luis every ti I visited. Learned what I thought. How I feel. Learned things about you and . What if she stole my form—like she’s been stealing Mateo’s and used it to twist things?"

"Twist what things?"

His eyes found mine. "You, María. You."

And just like that, the air left the room.

"She could’ve used my face, my voice. Told you lies. Watched how you reacted. Planted things in your head. It wasn’t just manipulation—it was personal. Strategic. She wanted you to feel sothing."

My chest rose and fell rapidly, my hands knotting into fists at my sides. "Why would she target like that?"

He stepped closer. "Because you’re vulnerable. And because you’re important. To . And she knows it."

I couldn’t speak.

My heart was beating like it had picked up tap dancing as a hobby. My lungs were forgetting how to do their job. And Axel—he was standing there with raw panic lurking just beneath his skin, like he was one wrong move away from punching the wall to the moon.

Why would a witch want to turn against Axel? Why would he or she want us apart? What did they stand to gain?

Was it or did all of this not perfectly click? However, the only rational explanation for all of these shapeshifting was the work of a witch.

It was widely known that a small number of them, belonging to a family tree of pure-blood witches could shapeshift.

"But if it’s the witch..." I whispered. "That ans she’s not just out there sowhere. She’s here. She’s close."

He nodded grimly. "Too close."

I touched my throat, imagining a blade. His blade. The one ant for Axel. The one that didn’t succeed but should’ve.

Oh, no. I was going to run insane.

"I swear, María, if she lays another finger on you like she did to ..."

"Axel," I interrupted, reaching out without thinking and grabbing his arm. "Stop. Don’t promise things you can’t keep."

His muscles jumped beneath my palm. "Watch ."

Despite everything; my fear, the twist in my gut, the horrible heat behind my eyes, I laughed.

Short and startled. "You’re an idiot."

An idiot.

I had just called Axel an idiot. Have we reached that level of informality already? Oh, but it felt so good.

He bead at . "But I’m your idiot."

And then I did sothing truly ridiculous.

I hugged him.