Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by his Brother
Chapter 213: _ Power Couple

Chapter 213: _ Power Couple

"Thank you, Axel. Really." I breathed.

He shook his head. "Don’t thank a man for trying to protect what’s his."

His.

Was I his?

Rosa would be... in just a matter of days.

"If you insist." I nodded solemnly regardless, already fighting the urge to wrap my hands around his neck and pull him in for another kiss as though kissing him was synonymous with oxygen.

However, that wasn’t what this conversation was all about, was it?

Axel’s jaw twitched again.

He was still waiting for me to finish what I’d started before he went full Alpha mode and shoved me into the back of a closet like a gently shaken soda can.

His eyes were a hurricane now—no, a wildfire held together only by his stupidly stubborn self-control. His arms were crossed, his chest rising and falling like he was trying not to rip a hole through the floor.

And there I stood. Fidgeting. Glaring at my bare feet like they were to blame for all this.

"I was saying something before, wasn’t I?" I asked softly, voice thick with the kind of guilt that makes your stomach do Olympic-level somersaults. "Before... everything."

He didn’t say anything. Just lifted an eyebrow. He didn’t need words.

That one look screamed: You better spit it out, or so help me, I will turn into a full-grown werewolf in this room and chew this entire house down.

I nodded quickly, fumbling to catch my scattered thoughts. "Right. Yes. The guy. The one who—uh—talked to me at the pigsty. His name is... Mateo."

Axel straightened up like I’d punched him. "Mateo?"

"Yeah." I winced. "According to him, he worked in your dad’s villa."

"And you believed that?"

"Well, at first, I did. I mean, I didn’t exactly have time to fact-check his resumé when I had pig poop on my shoes and my soul was halfway out of my body from the smell..."

"María."

I bit my lip. His voice was so low it sounded like thunder rumbling under a carpet.

"Sorry," I muttered. "I should’ve told you sooner, but the two times I saw him, I was... kinda occupied. The first time was when Don Diego made me sleep out back with the pigs, and the second time was when I was trying to hide from my vengeful sister: So no, I didn’t raise an alarm. He didn’t seem that suspicious at first too."

Axel narrowed his eyes. "Describe him."

Describe him. Those two words already told me that if I didn’t have other explanations to show that the Mateo I met two hours ago was a different person, he might as well be regretting ever being born as a werewolf.

My brain flatlined as I tried to recall his physique. "Uh... brown hair. Taller than me, but not by much. Talks like he knows things. Like personal things."

I was describing the Mateo who claimed to be in love with me.

Axel’s brows furrowed. "What kind of personal things?"

I fumbled again, trying to remember. "Well... he said you thought of me like a younger sister. That I deserved better. That you were... playing me, didn’t love me. It sounded like he knew you. Like really knew you."

I went ahead to narrate every single thing Mateo told me about Axel that night. Even about my mark.

Axel’s lips parted slightly. And then he froze.

"Axel?" I asked warily. "What is it?"

"I’ve never told anyone that," he said, squinting and counting his fingers like he was trying to figure something out.

"Which part?"

"Any of it," he said slowly, like each word was a weight pulling his mouth downward. "I’ve never told anyone that I see you like a younger sister. Or that I’m worried about you. Except..."

His voice trailed off.

My heart kicked up a notch. "Except who?"

A long silence followed.

Then: "Luis."

"Who?"

"Luis. You won’t know him, but he’s my cousin."

My brain glitched. "Wait—you have a cousin?"

Axel gave me a look like I’d just asked if the water was wet. "Yes."

"You never told me that."

He shrugged, suddenly uneasy. "I don’t... talk about him. He’s not exactly public knowledge. My father keeps him hidden."

"Why?"

"He’s sick. Disabled." Axel’s gaze dropped for the first time. "He can’t walk. Can’t talk. He’s been that way since we were kids. I visit him when I can. He’s the only person I’ve ever talked to freely."

For some reason, learning about the existence of this Axel’s cousin sent a light chilly breeze caressing my skin. I almost hugged myself in an involuntary shiver as if the sudden chill had seeped into my bones.

I blinked at him. "And you think... Luis could have snitched up on you by selling out information to the witches?"

Axel’s nostrils flared. "No."

"Then what?"

He paused. Something electric snapped in the air between us. The silence was sharp now... like it had teeth.

"It wasn’t just that Mateo knew things he shouldn’t have. It’s what happened after. I slept over at Luis’s place a few days ago like I told you. But before I passed out... something happened."

My stomach curled in on itself. "What do you mean?"

He looked up at me, eyes glowing faintly with wolf light. "I was attacked."

I held my breath.

"One minute I was talking to Luis, venting like usual. The next, something or someone—came at me from behind. I didn’t even see them. I felt a blade slit my throat."

I gasped, hands flying to my mouth.

What did he just say?! Someone attempted to murder the Alpha’s son in his own PACK?!

My Axel?! What if he had died? Oh, Dios, no.

"It wasn’t deep enough to kill me," he added quickly, seeing the way my knees wobbled. "My Alpha wolf healed me. I’m strong, you know, María. But the next thing I knew, I’d been out for two whole days. Like, I fucking slept for TWO days. Me, María José."

He threw his hands in the air. "That’s not possible! It doesn’t happen like that, María José. I have the strongest wolf in the pack."

My thoughts were in a frenzy, whirling too fast to catch. I couldn’t even register any of his boastful words. All my brain seemed to process was the fact that Axel got attacked.

"Axel—oh my God... why didn’t you tell anyone?"

"I didn’t want to start a panic." His jaw clenched. "But now... I’m starting to think it wasn’t just a random attack."

"You think...?"

"What if it was the witch?" he said hoarsely. "What if she was already inside the pack, watching from the shadows?"

I shivered. His words were fire and ice, painting horrors in the corners of my mind. My fingers trembled.

"She could’ve been there," he said, pacing now. "She could’ve been listening when I spoke to Luis every time I visited. Learned what I thought. How I feel. Learned things about you and me. What if she stole my form—like she’s been stealing Mateo’s and used it to twist things?"

"Twist what things?"

His eyes found mine. "You, María. You."

And just like that, the air left the room.

"She could’ve used my face, my voice. Told you lies. Watched how you reacted. Planted things in your head. It wasn’t just manipulation—it was personal. Strategic. She wanted you to feel something."

My chest rose and fell rapidly, my hands knotting into fists at my sides. "Why would she target me like that?"

He stepped closer. "Because you’re vulnerable. And because you’re important. To me. And she knows it."

I couldn’t speak.

My heart was beating like it had picked up tap dancing as a hobby. My lungs were forgetting how to do their job. And Axel—he was standing there with raw panic lurking just beneath his skin, like he was one wrong move away from punching the wall to the moon.

Why would a witch want to turn me against Axel? Why would he or she want us apart? What did they stand to gain?

Was it me or did all of this not perfectly click? However, the only rational explanation for all of these shapeshifting was the work of a witch.

It was widely known that a small number of them, belonging to a family tree of pure-blood witches could shapeshift.

"But if it’s the witch..." I whispered. "That means she’s not just out there somewhere. She’s here. She’s close."

He nodded grimly. "Too close."

I touched my throat, imagining a blade. His blade. The one meant for Axel. The one that didn’t succeed but should’ve.

Oh, no. I was going to run insane.

"I swear, María, if she lays another finger on you like she did to me..."

"Axel," I interrupted, reaching out without thinking and grabbing his arm. "Stop. Don’t promise things you can’t keep."

His muscles jumped beneath my palm. "Watch me."

Despite everything; my fear, the twist in my gut, the horrible heat behind my eyes, I laughed.

Short and startled. "You’re an idiot."

An idiot.

I had just called Axel an idiot. Have we reached that level of informality already? Oh, but it felt so good.

He beamed at me. "But I’m your idiot."

And then I did something truly ridiculous.

I hugged him.

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