Chapter 34: Chapter 34
Elara POV
Gabriela is out the door before I can react or ask more questions. Well, I’ll be damned. This was unexpected. She believes I am Kane and Axel’s true mate. That is ... oh, shit. That is not good.
I chew on my thumbnail, my knee bopping up and down as I think. What will she do when she learns about our deal? What if she tries to intervene and puts a stop to it? I need to plan my escape for real ... and fast, before I get in too deep.
I must see Braden, I decide, jumping up. He and I did not even have a chance to talk about my plan, or if he knew of places I could go once Kane and Axel set me free.
I dash through the entryway to the front door, praying to the goddess that I will not run into anyone on the way out, especially not Kane or Axel. But just as my hand touched the door handle and I breathed a sigh of relief, another hand clamped down on top of mine.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Axel growls in my ear, and the hair on the back of my neck stands up.
I yank my hand free from under his, swing around, and press my back against the door, facing him head-on.
“None of your business,” I reply adamantly.
“Actually, it’s very much my business.” His voice is low and dangerous. “I can’t have you running off to your little sidepiece again. Not when you’re needed here, with your actual mates.”
“Seriously,” I sigh theatrically and roll my eyes. “You two change your minds every fucking day! You don’t want me, you want Alice, then me again. You don’t care if I have a sidepiece, then you do. Do you care what I do or not? Do you need me or not? Are you down with this plan or not?”
“For fuck’s sake,” I throw my arms in the air. “Just pick an emotion and stick with it. ”
He slams his hands against the door, caging me in, and his wolf flashes in his eyes.
My heart stops, and I swallow.
“I’m going to teach you a lesson about respecting your mates,” he growls in my face.
Kane POV
I sigh contentedly as the hot water runs over my body, and I close my eyes. This shower is the first moment I have been alone in what feels like ages. My muscles finally start to relax when a rush of boiling rage surges through my veins.
What the fuck?
This is the most relaxed I have been in forever ... this must be Axel. Whatever he is dealing with, he must do it on his own. He is a big boy and can handle whatever it is, while I take ten minutes to myself.
I double over as another wave of fury jolts through my body.
Shit. Something was really getting to him.
Then suddenly, I feel another emotion. It is quieter, more distant, but churning in my stomach all the same.
Fear. Elara’s fear. Fuck.
Without another thought, I jump straight out of the shower, stopping only to sling a towel around my hips.
I follow my senses to the front door, where Axel and Elara are nose to nose, their anger like electricity crackling in the small space between them.
“I’d like to see you try,” Elara hisses at Axel.
If she had been scared before, she would not have been anymore. Right now, she is furious, her eyes blazing, and her long hair in loose, thick waves falling in a fiery halo around her face.
Damn, I like seeing this side of her. My cock twitches beneath the towel, and I shake my head as if to clear my mind.
“What’s got you both all riled up?” I ask, marching towards them.
Elara’s head whips toward me, and her brows furrow deeply.
Shit, even that is sexy.
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Elara glares at me. “But I thought I was your mate. Your brother here seems to think I’m more like your prisoner.”
I look from Amali’s blazing green eyes to Axel. I can sense his desperation, and I get it. We want her so badly, but we fucked it up when we chose Alice.
The air is thick with dark, heady scents. It is almost impossible to tell whether it is anger or desire ... or both.
“Listen, Elara, Axel and I don’t care where you’re going, but the person you’re meeting can’t be your so-called ‘sidepiece’."I force myself to smile.
I hate to admit it, but just mentioning this person drives Axel and me crazy.
“You two are ridiculous,” she pushes Axel away from her personal space. “No wonder I’m desperate to get out of here.”
Another strong, hot sting of rage flows through my veins like poison, but this time it is my own. I have accepted that she will always have something to say. That she will backchat me every chance she gets. But I cannot, and will not, accept that she does not want me.
I look at Axel, and we exchange a dark glance before looking at Elara again.
“Well,” I walk closer until our faces are only an inch apart. Her warm breath tickles my skin. “You didn’t seem that desperate to leave when we had you pinned to your bed.”
Her eyes sparkle with rage, and she turns red from her neck to her ears.
“You fucking ...”
My hand is around her throat before she can finish the sentence, and I can feel her pulse quickening under my touch.
“No ... more ... talking,” my lips graze her ear, and she shivers against me. “If you’re so desperate to get out of here, it is our duty as your alphas and mates to convince you otherwise and give you a reason to stay.”
