Chapter 3

Chloe’s POV

When the haze cleared, a wave of dizziness washed over me.

The smell of blood was so pungent that it made me want to gag. I rushed to the water and shoved my wolf’s snout in to wash the blood from it.

Behind me, there was a low whine. I bared my canines, prepared to finish off the rogue that was still alive.

The whine was coming from the center of the bodies. The black wolf that had come to rescue me.

I let out a yip, bounding to him. My nose nudged his body and he let out another whine, stirring on the floor.

I started to roll his body into the water so I could wash off the blood from his fur. Or at least, attempt to. He refused to budge.

My paw slipped and hit him on the head. His eyes opened slowly and fixed on me. I took a step back, letting him drag himself to his feet.

He limped to the water and let himself tumble in. My heart caught in my throat when he did not resurface after the first few seconds.

Whether it was sheer panic or just my body no longer able to sustain my wolf form, I did not know but I shifted back to my human form, running to the stream.

“Hey,” I called out and entered the water after him. Holding my breath, I went under the water, searching for him.

Arms grabbed me from behind. I gasped and water flowed into my mouth. Instantly, I was pulled out of the water.

My chest heaved with my coughs as I tried to force the water out of my lungs.

“Breathe. You’re fine,” the person holding me said and my eyes widened.

I whirled around, uncaring for my nakedness. “What are you doing here?” I asked, my voice trembling with nerves. “Why…why would you risk yourself to save me?”

Axel tilted his head, studying my face. “Protecting pack members is my duty.”

My eyes flitted to the dead rogues. Even at my peak in my last life, I would not have been able to handle all of them at the same time.

Being naked alone with the man I’d once turned down for a binding arranged marriage filled me with embarrassment.

“Thank you,” I said curtly and was about to run out of the water when he stopped me with a question.

“Why did you reject me at the party?”

What kind of question was that? Or did he just assume every girl in the pack dreamed of marrying Alpha brothers?

My gaze flitted to him, trying to catch the expression on his face. It was blank on his incredibly handsome face.

“Is it because you have a feeling for Jax?”

I could not help the snort that fell from my lips at how ridiculous the statement sounded.

Before I came back to this world three days ago, the technically seventeen-year-old me might have still held some naive fantasies about Jax. But after ten years of a miserable marriage and endless betrayals, those illusions were long gone.

“It’s not easy to explain,” I muttered, running my hands through my shoulder-length hair.

“What do you mean?” Axel asked, swimming closer. A small hiss of pain fell from his lips as he moved.

I turned around, my eyes widening when I saw the blood seeping from his chest. Without second thoughts, I touched his chest where a deep gash was steadily bleeding out.

“What the hell? Aren’t you an Alpha? Why aren’t you healing?” I asked my questions in rapid fire..

“The rogues. Their blades had poison,” Axel explained. His hand closed over my wrist when my index grazed the wound. “I need someone to remove the poison before it can start to heal properly.”

The wound had a greenish liquid that was slowly seeping out.

I glanced at his face for permission and he nodded. When my finger touched the wound, his hand found my hip under the water, his fingers digging into the flesh.

Now, my heart was pounding for another completely different reason. He was a man standing less than a foot away from me with both of us completely naked.

All it took was one of us to move the wrong way for a mistake to happen.

No, Chloe, I snapped at myself. You can bitch about this. He saved you.

I finished removing the visible poison I could see and the wound slowly started to close.

He let go of me , putting distance between our bodies. Contrary to what I would have thought, he seemed unaffected by our lack of clothing.

“Marriage might never be a good choice for me,” I said, breaking eye contact with him.

Silence stretched between us as I waited for his response.

He flashed a slight smile. The cold eyes crinkled with amusement, long lashes casting soft shadows. The guarded Alpha aura that had rolled off him faded, and his tall frame radiated gentle warmth.

His body burned hot, drawing me unconsciously closer to him amid the frigid lake water.

“If I were you, I’d accept this engagement instead of half-heartedly obeying an Alpha’s order while letting my defiance show all over my face.”

My head snapped up.

“What we have will not be permanent. If you find your fated mate when you turn eighteen, I will let you leave without protest.”

I tried to find something wrong with the arrangement and came up short.

Deep down, I knew Axel was right.

The pack alliance was in a turbulent state back then, with every Alpha distrusting one another. Forming a marriage alliance with another pack was far from ideal right now.

Given how cautious Alpha Paulo always acted, the Beta’s daughters were among the top picks to become future Luna for him, especially since my bio father came from a special pack, and everyone knew that.

Even if I left the pack, I could hardly survive by myself with politics and public order in such chaos, not to mention how I would take care of my mother.

I figured that was why I had felt so lost about the future these past few days.

I grew annoyed at the thought. Was I going to be trapped in a rough fate all over again?

The second I lifted my head, my gaze locked onto Axel’s patient waiting eyes.

Right, this man wasn’t Jax.

He’d just stepped in to protect me and offered a flawless plan for a contractual marriage.

I studied the Alpha wolf standing before me.

Strands of his damp black curls fell across his forehead, while the rest rested softly at the nape of his neck. Moonlight draped over his frame, chiseled like a Greek statue.

Most importantly, Axel was the Alpha's first son.

Being with him would give me a kind of access and freedom that the daughter of a Beta could not ever have.

With the resources at his disposal, I could actually live my life for myself this time.

All I had to do was endure his presence for one year, and he would protect me from Alpha Paul’s punishment and make sure I live the life I’d been dreaming about.

If my fated mate were someone from outside the pack, I could easily leave Everdeen and all the crap behind with it.

“What is in it for you?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest while I knew I had already made the choice.

Hannah had complained to us more than once about Axel’s coldness and how he ignored her.

But I’d forgotten we should see someone with our own eyes, not through the biased words of a foolish heart.

A hint of amusement appeared on his face for a moment and vanished. “Do you care?”

No, I did not.

I bit on my lower lip. What did I have to lose?

“Okay…but I want it in writing…like a contract,” I said.

“As you wish, my little Luna,” He nodded. “I will give it to you when I come to pick you up from your home.”

He climbed out of the water first, heading into the forest. A moment later, he reappeared with a shirt and some shorts, laid them on the riverbank before heading back in the direction of the pack.

I slipped on the clothes and headed in the opposite direction to the outskirts where my family now lived.

Climbing back into my room through the window, I collapsed in my bed and fell asleep instantly.

Half-asleep, I dreamed again of Axel and me nakedly holding each other in the lake, and my wolf side grew restless at the scene.

Until a shrill scream from Hannah cut through my peaceful morning dream.