Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by his Brother
Chapter 249: _ Master Beyond Everything

Chapter 249: _ Master Beyond Everything

~Luis’s Point Of View~

I am the master beyond everything, and all shall tremble before me.

And tremble they did—Luis Miguel’s friends, as I peeled back their flesh with a patience only vengeance could grant. There were three of them. Just three, when I needed four. Four to make María José proud.

I was poised to break them—force them to betray their leader and give me the main rat’s location when a delicious thought struck me.

Why not wait?

Let him stew in the agony of absence. Let him feel the phantom screams of his friends echo in his bones. Let fear rot him from the inside out.

I sought justice for María José, but who said I couldn’t enjoy myself while doing it? A fear-coated target serves the best killing euphoria.

Hence, Luis Miguel would live on borrowed time for now. Just enough to add more spice to his meat before Big Bad Daddy Luis came to have some.

.

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Six Days Ago~

I stood before them, poised in the flickering shadows of the woods. My slow breath filled the thick, cold air as their eyes, which were wide with terror, met mine. Pedro, Gonzalo, and Ruben. I didn’t care about their names. They were just bodies, just prey. But that night, they would be more than that.

They would be a message.

These fools had no idea who I really was until then. I had deceived them, told them we had something to hunt in the woods, and they had so stupidly followed me without question.

Why? Because I was Axel.

I let out a deep laugh, not because something was funny, but because it felt good, and the tension in the air was so thick that my laughter smashed into it.

The boys were already terrified, their bodies trembling, their hands bound, and their knees shaking. But it wasn’t enough. I wanted more. I needed them to understand the true power of their fear. I needed to watch it grow, spread like wildfire across their minds.

I approached the first of them, Pedro, my boots crunching the damp leaves beneath me. The sound was sharp in the quiet of the forest. He was the one closest, the one whose scent was the most pungent.

Sweat and fear. It was intoxicating.

"You’re scared, aren’t you?" I asked, not because I needed an answer. I already knew. They all were.

But sometimes, it was nice to hear the confirmation from their trembling lips. It made it all feel more real.

Pedro’s eyes darted to the ground. His breath hitched in his throat, but he didn’t answer. He knew. He could feel it.

Something wasn’t right with Beta Axel tonight.

I circled them slowly, savoring the moment. I felt Axel’s form in me like a second skin, but the rage coursing through me was all mine. I could almost taste their disbelief, knowing that they thought they were walking into the woods with Axel, their supposed friend.

How many times had they heard him preach about making things right? How many times had they looked up to him, listened to his empty promises of redemption?

I didn’t even need to ask them their names. I already knew. Pedro, Gonzalo, Ruben. It was useless to me. The only thing that mattered then was their pain. The way they begged for mercy, the way their minds broke under the weight of their own mistakes.

I stopped behind Pedro, my fingers trailing along the edge of my knife. The metal was cold, but the anticipation in the air made it burn. I could feel it humming in my palm, whispering promises of blood.

"Tell me," I murmured, the words dripping from my tongue like honey, "Do you know who I am?"

Pedro’s head jerked up, and his eyes widened further. He stumbled backward, and his voice started to quiver. "B-beta Axel?" he asked, his voice cracking like a broken twig.

A slow smile stretched across my face.

"You trust me, don’t you?" I murmured, stepping closer, so close I could feel his breath on my skin. "You think I’m here to help you. To fix things. To be your friend."

He tried to speak, but the words died in his throat as my hand gripped his jaw, forcing him to look me in the eye. His heartbeat accelerated beneath my palm, the pulse erratic. He knew something was wrong, but he couldn’t quite place it. He couldn’t put his finger on the truth just yet.

The truth that Axel, their precious beta, was just a mask.

I could have killed them in their sleep, quietly and swiftly. But no. That wouldn’t have been enough. Not for them. Not for María José.

They thought they were safe because they were finally starting to "redeem" themselves, but I didn’t care about redemption. I didn’t care that they were "better" now. I didn’t care about their pathetic attempts to make amends for the way they tormented her.

I only cared about making them feel what I felt. The burning need to destroy. To make them see the terror they’d inflicted. And for that, they had to suffer.

"You know, Pedro, I don’t give a damn about your redemption," I whispered, the blade of my knife grazing his cheek, and leaving a line of red in its wake.

Pedro shuddered as my words sank in. I could almost hear the gears turning in his head. The shock. The realization. He was starting to get it. He was starting to understand that Axel was never there to save them. Axel was never their friend.

I could almost taste the regret on his lips, his heart racing in fear. He was too late.

I looked over at the others, Gonzalo and Ruben. Their eyes flickered between me and the shadows, hoping for some kind of escape that they knew wouldn’t come. The despair in their eyes was like a feast for my soul. They were already dead, but they just didn’t know it yet.

I lifted the knife, my smile widening automatically.

"Gonzalo," I said, finally addressing him.

He flinched, his entire body trembling, and I felt the stirrings of something dark inside me. The thrill of the hunt. The satisfaction of knowing that their fear was mine to command.