Chapter seven: Axel and Mia

Axel's POV

“Frank,” I warned, already feeling a migraine stretch across my skull, “you don’t want to do this.”

“Oh, but I do,” Frank hissed with a level of seriousness that was almost suicidal. “He called me Fraynik. I think everyone heard it.”

Alex wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, grinning so hard I nearly punched him myself.

“Come on, Fraynik, it was just a little name-calling. You’re not still upset about that ridiculous ceremony where they announced you as 'Fraynik of the Eastern Hills', are you? gods, I still have nightmares about it.”

Frank growled so loudly even the guards in the hallway flinched.

“Okay, stop.” I stepped between them, planting a hand on each chest. “Frank, you will not win. You know why? Because you never win. The last time you challenged Alex, he knocked you out with a left elbow while humming Baby Shark. The time before that, you threw your back out growl, and the time before that, he made you tap out with one arm. Don’t do this.”

Alex, still smiling, shoved my hand off gently and stepped back. “Oh, he wants it, Axel. And who am I to deny a Beta a proper beatdown for his pride?”

He turned toward the door, dramatically tossing the apple core into the bin. “Come find me in the North wing training yard, Fraynik,” he called over his shoulder. “Don’t be late.”

And then he was gone, humming to himself.

Frank, however, didn’t move. His chest was heaving so much…

“Calm down,” I muttered.

Frank grunted, then slowly let his posture drop back into something remotely human. His eyes flicked up to mine, still furious but less… angry.

“I just hate when he does that. Makes me look stupid.”

“Yeah, because to him, you are.” I replied dryly. “You’re just the unpaid entertainment.”

Frank sighed and finally moved to the corner table, pouring himself a glass of water and downing it in one gulp. He had a more serious look on his face.

“We need to visit Alphonso’s family. Same as we did with the others.”

I nodded. “I know.”

“He was a fool,” Frank added, “but he was loyal. Misguided, but loyal.”

“No shit, Frank,” I muttered under my breath, already tired of the conversation.

Frank watched me a moment longer, then muttered, “A woman who can put a smile on your face…”

I arched a brow, already knowing where this was going.

“…I can see why you want to keep her,” he finished with a smirk.

I blinked slowly. “That smile wasn’t because I liked her. She looked ridiculous with all that limp, silly curiosity… blue eyes… and scruffy as hell.”

Frank chuckled, but I wasn’t done. “It just… surprised me.”

The ‘smiling’ expression came out before I could stop it.

“It made me feel—”

“Vulnerable?” Frank offered.

“Exactly.”

He let the air settle a bit before asking, “So what do you think of her now?”

I looked down at the documents still left on the table, at the pen she’d used to sign the contract without hesitation. Her legs had been shattered before... that limp was real. But earlier… she’d almost stood straight.

“What do you think?” I asked him instead.

Frank ran a hand through his hair. “She’s pretty. I can’t lie, but there’s something off. I can’t place it yet. Her aura… it's not normal. She looks like an omega, but she healed too fast. Those legs that were broken suddenly turned into a limp? Also… the scent patrols didn’t pick her up. If she’s not a spy, she’s got the instincts of one.”

He turned to face me more fully. “If she could survive that kind of risk—living here, hiding under our noses, jumping from a tree that high and surviving? Then she’s strong-willed and dangerous. I don’t trust her, Alpha. You shouldn't.”

I nodded once.

“Keep your eyes on her discreetly. I want you to dig up everything you can. Records, rumors, reports, anything. Someone like her doesn’t just appear from nowhere.”

Frank gave a low grunt. “Copy that.”

“Oh,” I added, straightening and pulling my jacket over my shoulders, “and lest I forget… Alex is going to beat your ass and throw every ounce of his frustration into it. So just take it, yeah?”

Frank’s face dropped so fast I nearly laughed.

“I’ll win this time,” he muttered, already sounding defeated.

“Sure.” I turned away, hiding the grin twitching at the corner of my mouth. “Just don’t cry when he dislocates your shoulder again.”

I started walking, but the silence behind me was a little too still. When I glanced back over my shoulder, Frank hadn’t moved. He was staring at the door Alex had walked through.

Then he smiled.

Okay, now I wasn’t sure if it was the rogue woman I should be worried about.

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Mia's POV

“Mate!” Tristan growled with excitement, his arms wrapping around me as we fell into the grass together.

“Tristan!” I laughed, squirming under him as he tickled my sides with his face so close that I could see tiny freckles of gold in his hazel eyes.

The sky above was unusually bright because the moon had tripled in size, and around us, the lanterns from the ceremony still floated in the air.

He kissed my lips again, hard and sudden, then pulled away. “We made it,” he whispered with a mischievous grin. “goddess, we actually made it, Mia.”

I was about to reply when his smile faltered. He touched his stomach and frowned like he’d eaten something bad, but the colour drained from his face too quickly.

“Tristan?” I sat up, reaching for him, but he was already staggering back.

“Mia…?” he croaked, blinking like he was suddenly drunk.

My eyes widened…

Then he collapsed.

“Tristan!” I screamed, lunging to catch him, but he hit the ground hard. Everything happened too fast. I was on my knees, trying to lift him, but his skin was burning… I didn't know what to do…

“Tristan, please. We've come too far… No!” His eyes rolled back, mouth twitching as foam gathered at the corner of his lips.

“Help!” I screamed. “Somebody help us!”

Figures appeared from nowhere, but their faces were all smeared… no one was helping…

“He’s poisoned,” A healer said flatly, after observing him.

“No, no he can’t be—”

“Step away, girl,” another voice snapped, but I didn’t know who said it.

Everything moved in waves… him being carried, my feet dragging, screams that didn’t sound like mine, and someone grabbing me to pull me back.

“He’s gone,” someone whispered.

“No!” I shoved past the faceless bodies, running down the hallway, unaware of my ceremonial mating gown slipping from one shoulder as I threw open the door to the infirmary.

Tristan was lying there. His eyes were closed and his lips were parted. A red mark stretched across his neck like something burned through his veins.

“Tristan!” I dropped beside him, shaking him hard. “Get up! You said you’d take me out of here! You promised! This isn’t funny!”

Suddenly, cold hands gripped me tight, dragging me away.

“She killed him.”

I turned, feeling the light leave me.

His mother was standing there, her face twisted in grief and hatred. “I told him. I warned him she was too perfect. Look at her! What kind of omega looks like that? She cursed him!”

I backed away. “I didn’t— mother… what are you talking about—?”

“Don’t call her Mother, you witch. You see, she’s always been strange,” His sister added. “She doesn’t even smell like a proper wolf.”

“She’s a beast. Half wolf, half human…”

“My cousin saw her talking to the moon once.”

Spit landed at my feet.

“Murderer.”

“No—no, I didn’t do anything...” I turned to my parents only to see fat tears gushing down their cheeks. “No one believes me?” I shouted. “I loved him! I—I loved him!”

They didn’t care. I was running again, this time through the woods, barefooted, and breathless. The moon followed me, taking me to the edge of the cliff that appeared before I even realized where I was.

My toes curled at the edge.

“Tristan,” I whispered. “I’m coming…”

And I fell.

____________________________________

“TRISTAN!” I screamed as my eyes snapped open.

I sat up so fast I thought my heart might rip open my chest. My skin was drenched in sweat, and the sheets tangled around my legs as I flailed back, trying to understand where I was, and what was happening.

With a shaky breath, I remembered whose room I was in. Alpha Axelair Desori’s... I was in his bed.

Just then, a slow, itching feeling crept up my neck.

Someone was watching me.

I turned and found Axel sitting across the room in an arm chair, arms folded. His posture was relaxed, but his dark eyes had been on me the whole time.

He just stared, and I had never felt smaller or more exposed in my entire life.

“Who is Tristan?” He asked coldly.

I hiccuped.