Free Web NovelChapter 36: Chapter 36
Elara POV
Kane and Axel jump away from me, scrambling off the bed as if my touch burns them.
“You need to get out of here,” Kane mind-links me.
A cold knot of dread settles in my stomach. Fucking cowards. A minute ago, they were ‘bleeding feelings’ for me, but the second they heard their precious Alice’s voice, they abandoned me like yesterday’s dirty underwear.
They exchange horrified glances, no doubt trying to figure out a way to get me out of sight like a dirty secret.
“Fucking assholes,” I glare at them, wrapping my arms around my chest, suddenly feeling very exposed.
I was their mate first, not Alice. Why do they have to make me feel like the side chick caught in the act?
“Elara, we ...”
“Save it,” I cut off Axel and pushed myself off the bed. The joy and desire I felt moments ago curdling into sour fury. “I get it. Do what you must.”
The look of relief on their faces is a dagger to the heart. Everything they told me was a bunch of bullshit. Talking about claiming me and not giving me up.
I imagine myself snatching up my clothes and strutting into the living room, looking Alice straight in the eye as I walk out. A sweet moment of revenge.
But then a lump forms in my throat. Obviously, I am good for a fuck, but not to be acknowledged as their mate. That title was reserved for Alice and Alice alone. How humiliating, and all I want now is to escape and erase all traces of everything that has ever happened between us. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
I turn away from them and shift, grabbing my clothes in my teeth and diving onto the roof from the window, then climbing down to the ground. Disappearing like smoke. As if I never were here to begin with.
Kane POV
“Alice is going to fucking know,” I tell Axel, pacing around the room.
I snatch up Axel’s boxers and toss them at him, pick up my towel and toss it into the laundry basket.
“It’s fine, just keep it together,” Axel reassures me.
“Things haven’t been fine with Alice in a long time,” I growl.
At least Elara understood the situation, just one more reason why she should be our Luna. She is levelheaded and reasonable.
Handling Alice is delicate, to say the least. Letting her down will not be easy, and now is not the time to do it.
What the fuck would I even say?
‘Surprise! You know the mate we told you not to worry about? Well, actually, we’re more bonded with her than we’ll ever be with you. And, oh yeah, if we don’t continue fucking her, we think we might literally die.’
Alice will take that super fucking well.
“We have to tell her eventually,” Axel says, fixing the blanket and pillows.
“She has a vindictive side, and you know it.” I open my cupboard and grab clean shorts. “She’ll run to the Elders faster than lightning, and we’ll be in even deeper shit.”
“But it will be so worth it,” Axel sighs. “To be with Elara.”
“It will be worth taking our time and being careful,” I reply. “Especially if we want to be with Elara.”
“Hello!” Alice knocks hard on the locked bedroom door. “What the hell are you two doing in there?”
I take a deep breath and unlock the door.
“Hi,” I force a smile as I gently guide her away from the bedroom to the living room, with Axel right behind me.
She studies us for a moment, taking in our semi-naked bodies and tousled hair.
“Sorry,” I shrug. I must get ahead of this before she comes to her own conclusions. “We just finished working out.”
“You have a gym downstairs, genius,” she scoffs, red in the face. “And you think I don’t know you and Axel’s ‘I-just-had-sex’ looks by heart?”
Fuck.
“Who do you have in there with you?” She plants her hands on her hips.
“No one,” Axel waves towards the empty bedroom. “Check for yourself.”
She peeks into the bedroom, and her nostrils flare. Goddess, the smell of sex must be all over us. I know she wants to believe us, and I hope that is enough to keep her off track.
“Something doesn’t smell right,” she narrows her eyes. “I know how ...”
“I need a drink,” I cut her off, closing the bedroom door before Alice could go inside. Elara might be gone, but her smell is still lingering in every corner of that room, and there is no way in hell I am giving Alice the chance to identify it. I made a stupid assumption when I thought she would not smell it because she is too fixated on herself. “Anyone else?”
“Make it a double,” Axel nods.
“Are you going to tell me what the hell is going on with you guys today?” Her nose wrinkles as she speaks, a sign that she is getting very pissed off. I used to think it was cute, but now I have zero patience for her short temper. And to be honest, mine was even shorter.
“The bigger question,” I move closer to Alice, forcing her to take several steps backwards. My voice is trembling with contempt. “Where the fuck were you last night?”
“Seriously, Alice.” Axel advances on her, too, his eyes flashing with rage. “Who do you think you are demanding who we’re with and what we’re doing? This is our house, and you’re our mate.”
My lips curl into a mischievous smile, and I can sense Alice’s resolve crumbling.
“Gabriela caught you sneaking back in this morning, so you sure as hell weren’t in this house,” I growl. “And we already know you weren’t with your parents, so don’t even try it.”
She bites her lip, and her eyes shift around the room, like she is looking for some other pathetic excuse for running off all night.
“W ... why does it matter where I was?” She tries to stand her ground, but she is shrinking under our collective rage. “It’s none of your business anyway.”
“You can’t be desperate to be our mate one second, and then sneak around behind our backs the next,” I snarl, welcoming Hunter to the surface, flexing my fists as my claws shoot out.
Alice backs away slowly, but I am moving closer and closer.
“You don’t want her,” Hunter prods at me, a devil on my shoulder. “Get her out of the way.”
“Axel,” my voice ice cold. “Grab her.”
“Kane, she gets it,” Axel shoots me a confused look. “What the fuck are you doing?”
“Just do what I say,” I wave him off.
“What the hell?” Alice protests wide-eyed when Axel takes her by the arm, and I can smell her fear growing.
“Take her to her quarters,” I command.
For a second, I thought he might refuse, and then we would have a whole other fight on our hands, but then he pulls her away and down the hall, stopping in front of her door.
“Get inside,” I order, and she hesitantly obeys.
I slam the door shut behind her and lock it. All doors to the she-wolves’ quarters have latches on the outside, something my father once told me was a remnant from the Great Wars.
I did not ask questions, and I sure as hell did not plan on ever using them. And yet, here I am, latching Alice’s door from the outside.
“What the fuck is this, Kane?” Axel growls, reaching to unlatch the door, but I swipe his hand away, my claws still extended.
“Until we can trust that you won’t sneak off again,” I call to Alice, “this is what we have to do.”
“You can’t, Kane!” She yells, beating with her fists against the door. “This is crazy!”
I turn to walk away, but Axel claps a heavy hand on my shoulder.
“You’re treading a very fine line here, Kane,” he warns.
“I’m doing this for us,” I shake him off. “I’m doing this for Elara.”
