Marked by the Alphas

Chapter 28: Chapter 28

Axel POV

A sick feeling creeps up from the pit of my stomach and settles heavily in my chest.

Banish her?

Forever?

It will definitely appease Alice. But ... is that what I want? For Elara to leave?

A heavy silence descends upon us as Kane and I stare at her. I am lost for words. I cannot decide if I should fight her, support her or reason with her.

“I promise I’ll never come back if that’s what you’re worried about,” Elara says, confusing our hesitancy for mistrust. “I’ll disappear, like a vampire or witch or something.”

I know she is trying to reassure us, but based on the tension hanging in the air, it has the opposite effect. She looks closely at Kane and me, almost studying us, like she is waiting for some specific sign or answer.

“Okay, then,” Kane says behind me, and I develop an unknown urge to kick him in the nuts. How can he agree to this? She is our mate, and ... oh, yes, we chose Alice. We love and want Alice.

I nod at Elara, signalling my agreement.

“Okay,” she clears her throat, smiles, and turns around.

Blade howls and claws at me as she walks away.

Kane POV freewebnovel.cσ๓

“What the fuck just happened?” Axel whispers as we watch her walk away.

“Fuck if I know,” I growl, my anger brewing inside until I cannot contain it any longer.

“We should ...”

“I know,” I cut him off, ripping off my shirt and running outside with Axel on my heels.

This house is suffocating, and we need to blow off steam before our wolves break free and tear up the place. Hunter breaks free as soon as I cross the threshold of the mansion, and I shift, ripping the rest of my clothes to shreds. I concentrate on the fresh air and the wind in my fur as we run through the woods in the moonlight. The cool breeze ruffles my rich, black fur, carrying away the chaos and confusion.

This day was too much. Fighting with both our mates and being confronted by the Elders was not on the agenda. Of everything, fighting with Alice was the worst. For the simple reason that I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would lose myself like I did today.

I love her, for goddess’ sake! And she probably has done worse things than refusing to fulfil her Luna duties, but for some reason, it pushed me over the edge.

Axel’s grey wolf, Blade, runs beside me, and I push myself to go faster – an impromptu challenge like we always do since our first shift.

We keep running, pushing ourselves and our wolves to breaking point until we collapse in the meadow, panting for breath.

“Elara’s plan can actually work,” I finally communicate to Axel, breaking the silence.

Now that we have two mates, moments like this where we can openly talk will be fewer and farther between. Elara has already used our words against us. We cannot risk giving her more ammunition to get her way. Thank goddess, Alice cannot hear us, or we would really be fucked. She already gets her way with only batting her eyes at me.

“What happens to us when she leaves?” Axel asks, laying his head on his front paws.

“We’ll either live happily ever after with Alice, or feel the wrath of the Elders,” I reply, huffing.

Truth is, when Elara mentioned the word ‘banished’, a strange feeling of yearning began to well in my chest. It was like I already missed her, and she was not even close to leaving.

I thought if I shifted it might go away, but with Hunter at the helm, the feeling needled even deeper inside me. What the hell does that mean?

“We’re both drawn to her, Kane,” Axel answers, “And I think ... I think, I want her to stay.”

“How did things change so much so fast?” I ask desperately for an answer. “We risked everything to have Alice, and after one night, one night, everything is fucked up. We have not even claimed Elara, and she can mind-link with us, and I don’t want her to go.”

“Do you feel the same way about Alice?” Logas asks.

“No,” I admit with a sad whimper, and I know he feels the same. “And I don’t think I ever will now that I know what it feels like with Elara.”

Fuck.

We have gotten ourselves into deep shit fighting for a she-wolf neither of us actually want. This is a big fucking problem. freёwebnovel.com

“Go back to Elara,” Hunter paws at me. “Mate with her. Fuck her until she’s pregnant with our pups.”

His words are incredibly tempting, but I stay in the meadow. For now, Elara has found a way to get herself out of sleeping with us. However, that is the only thing I want. And so, what if she gets pregnant? She will be a better mother than Alice; that is painfully obvious.

“I hate that Alice manipulated us like this,” Axel says. “She fucked us over with that needy little girl act of hers.”

“We only have ourselves to thank for that,” I growl. “We insisted on having her as a mate, even though we knew how spoiled she is.”

“But we did the right thing by saving her,” Axel replies.

“I agree,” I huff. No one should be mated to Gregory and Lucas. But we should not be mated to Alice, either.

We need to be careful how we deal with her. She never turned her wrath on us before, but I know she has a jealous streak, and who knew what she would do if she found out we do not want her like we want Elara.

I look at Axel, and we lock eyes.

“We don’t have a choice,” he says with devastation in his voice.

“I know,” I exhale deeply. “We must get rid of Alice and make Elara our true mate.”