Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by his Brother
Chapter 222: _ HEALED!

Chapter 222: _ HEALED!

I looked at the wardrobe like I’d break it into many pieces. Still, I crossed the room and stepped inside. It smelled like cedar and the faintest trace of cologne. His cologne.

I nestled between coats with my heart pounding and awaiting. Being hidden in his wardrobe felt wrong and right all at once.

Wrong because no girl should have to hide in the shadows just to be close to someone she loves.

Right because I knew this was only temporary. Just a phase. Just the price we paid now to earn everything later.

The knock on the door came soft and polite.

Axel answered with the smooth voice of a man used to being obeyed. "Leave it on the bed."

The wardrobe door was cracked open just enough for me to glimpse the outline of two maids. One carried a fitted navy blue dress. The other placed a box on the nightstand which were probably shoes.

"Thank you," Axel said curtly.

They curtsied, glanced around as if wondering who the accessories were meant for, and left when they could find no one in sight.

Once the door clicked shut, I slipped out.

Axel watched me with interest. "You’ve got a future in espionage."

I rolled my eyes. "Don’t make me stab you with a hanger."

He laughed, walked over, and wrapped his arms around my waist. "You know, you look good in my wardrobe. Maybe I’ll keep you there."

"Pervert."

"Only for you."

I leaned my head against his chest again, just for a second. Just to memorize the warmth before I had to walk away. "I should go."

"I know."

"But I don’t want to."

"I know."

"But I will."

"Because you’re the best Luna this pack doesn’t know it has yet," he whispered.

I smiled. "And you’re the craziest Alpha-to-be I’ve ever met."

He grinned. "High praise."

I then turned toward the bed, eyeing the dress like it might sprout claws and mishandle me. It looked... expensive.

The navy blue fabric glinted under the room’s faint lighting, and even from a distance, I could tell it would fit like a glove.

Axel watched me with that maddening smirk of his, arms crossed over his broad chest like he’d just gifted me an entire kingdom instead of a dress.

"Go on," he said. "Try it."

"I’m not wearing that," I rolled my eyes, but I was already unbuttoning my shirt.

He chuckled. "That was fast."

"It’s been a while since I looked like a noble," I muttered, pulling the dress off the bed with reverence.

My fingers sank into the fabric... it was buttery smooth like water and silk had made a lovechild. "I used to wear things like this all the time, you know. When I was the daughter of the great Don Diego."

"You still are."

"No. Now I’m the pigsty princess and the wolfless Omega."

Axel walked over, plucked the dress from my hands, and held it up against me. "You are going to become my wife. You might as well start practicing how to look like one."

I raised an eyebrow. "You’re full of yourself."

"I’m full of you," he replied, so shamelessly and so smoothly that I nearly choked.

Still, I snatched the dress back and began slipping into it, grumbling under my breath like an old lady with hip problems.

Axel turned around like a gentleman, but I knew he was sneaking glances through the mirror. Pervert.

My pervert.

I wondered why he bothered turning anyway. Not after that shower session we had yesterday. Bet he was just trying to get on my nerves.

What a bully!

"I spent my whole life being prepared to become a Luna," I muttered as I wrestled with the zipper. "Grace classes. Etiquette. I was spoon-fed noble poise since I had teeth. This? This is easy."

"Then good," he said, still not turning around. "You’ll only need a few months of pretending before everything changes."

The zipper zipped up with a loud zzzzzt, and I caught a brief glimpse of my reflection in the mirror across the room. I blinked.

Oh.

That... that was me?

Axel turned and caught me mid-stare. His eyes drank me in like he was parched and I was a fountain.

"This is how you were designed to be, María," he said softly. "Worshipped. Adored and not humiliated."

Something punched me square in the heart. I was not going to cry. I was not going to cry. I was not going to cry.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen myself this way and to have a good-looking and sexy man whispering those sweet words to me was ethereal.

"You’re so sweet, mi Amor. Thank you." I murmured, voice heavy with emotions.

"Anything for my wife," he said with a grin so infuriatingly charming I wanted to slap and kiss him simultaneously.

I smoothed down the front of the dress and turned slowly. "Don’t you think this outfit will call attention to me?"

Axel shrugged. "Let them look."

I scoffed. "Well, nobody would care. I look ugly now. Nobody would even recognize me."

That made him freeze. His smile faltered like a bird crashing in the air. "Why won’t they?"

I tapped the side of my cheek, where the scar used to stretch from my temple down to my jaw. "Because of my scar. It makes me look..."

But my fingers touched smooth skin.

I froze.

"What...?"

I pressed harder, tracing the spot where the scar should’ve been. Where it had been. The gnarled flesh that had made Luis Miguel and his friends...

His friends...

Oh, my God. My poor friends. They were all gone. Just like that. I’d mourn them properly with Luis Miguel later.

For now, I needed to make the most of my time with Axel. And did my scar just disappear?!

"Axel," I breathed. "Axel... where’s my scar?"

He blinked. "Wait—you didn’t know?"

"Know what?"

"That when you felt your wolf again..." he walked over, cupping my cheek and turning it gently toward the light, "it healed you."

My mouth fell open. "You’re kidding."

"I wouldn’t dare."

I sprinted to the mirror, heels clacking on the wooden floor like a horse on a mission. I turned my face left, and right, then leaned so close my breath fogged the glass.

There it was—my cheek. My jawline. My entire face was unmarred and whole.

"Oh my God," I whispered. "Oh, Dios mío."