Rejected by the Alpha, Claimed by his Brother
Chapter 254: _ Help Her Win

Chapter 254: _ Help Her Win

"Then let it consume you. And you will rise from its ashes anew. Do you trust me, Luis?"

Oh, Dios...

"I... I—Of course." I stuttered.

"Then trust this," he voice was turning cool and sharp like a blade across the throat.

"This is the only path. If Axel doesn’t marry her, she can’t move to the packhouse. And if she doesn’t move to the packhouse in five days..."

He paused and let his eyes gleamed wickedly.

"...you’ll lose everything."

A cold sweat bloomed across my back. My master never makes empty threats.

"What happens in five days?" I rasped.

He didn’t answer.

Instead, he paced slowly around me, his footsteps warping the floor. "There is a reason. One you will not regret. The girl must move in. She must marry him. And you—you will benefit from it most of all."

I tried to breathe. My chest rose and fell like a bellows choking on smoke. I couldn’t imagine María José saying ’I do’ to that pompous idiot or anybody else.

I wanted to smash any man who dared to lustfully look at her into pieces. I’d crush their skulls, blend it, mold itC, and give it out to children as chalk souvenirs.

Now, imagine the one who dared to marry her... just imagine what I’d do to the son of a bitch. Oh, Axel, I hate you.

You have it all, don’t you? The life that belonged to me in the first place. And now, my woman. The love of my life.

"But... why must it be this way?" I couldn’t help but ask.

My master’s smiled almost fondly. "Because fate is not a straight road, my son. Sometimes the serpent must coil around the fruit before the bite becomes sweet. In two years, when the curse lifts, when your shackles break, you will have everything. Her. Power. Blood. A throne soaked in moonlight."

My hands curled into fists.

"And in the meantime?" I asked bitterly. "I get to watch another man put his hands on her?"

"You get to protect her," he corrected. By orchestrating this marriage, you ensure she is within your reach. In the packhouse; Safe. Watched. Guided." He corrected me.

"And Axel?"

"Is a pawn," he said flatly. "Nothing more. But a necessary one."

I didn’t believe him. I didn’t want to believe him.

But my master had never lied. Twisted things, yes. Spoken in riddles. Swallowed truths whole and belched out chaos. But not lied.

"And what do I do?" I asked.

He turned toward me, smile widening.

"You go to María José and give her everything she needs to bring her sister down. Everything. Make her strong. Make her hungry. Make her desperate. You will be her guide. Her secret. Her shadow." He instructed.

He wanted me to help her destroy Rosa so that it could be her standing on that altar in four days and not her sister.

This was by far, the most herculean mission I had ever been subjected to. However, for a lifetime with her, I’d do more than I was even asked.

Who was best to bring Rosa down if not me? I knew every little dirty secret that lying serpent was hiding. I knew everything that could be used to take her down.

I had watched Rosa from the shadows, studied her movements, and knew her cruel and indecent routine like the back of my hand. Now, I just had to use that knowledge to help María José take her down.

I was particularly disgusted by her because I love innocent girls. Innocent daisies like my María José, not the manipulative, cunning women like Rosa who trampled on others to get what they wanted. María José, on the other hand, was a breath of fresh air, a ray of sunshine in the darkness I often found myself in.

"And then?" I further inquired.

His eyes glittered like knives. "And then, I will reveal all. Patience will earn you the world, Luis. I will give you the world if you look after her and thoroughly follow my orders."

I sucked in breath. This wasn’t just a command. It was a promise. Yet, that throbbing question wouldn’t stop gnawing at me.

Why was my master so invested in her? What was it about her?

"And if I disobey?" I asked in a hoarse voice.

He leaned down until his face was inches from mine. I could smell ash and roses and blood.

"Then the girl dies. The curse remains. And you, Luis... you go back to the chair. This time for real."

A silence fell between us. He straightened, dusting invisible lint from his jacket.

"Make your choice."

And then, just like that, he turned, the shadows clinging to him like desperate lovers, and vanished with a sound like a heartbeat stopping.

Just like that, he was gone.

I stood in the center of my shack, shaking, drenched in sweat. My legs buckled, and I sank into the wheelchair—not because I had to, but because I no longer had the strength to stand.

This was the price. This was the cost of love. To build a lie so that the truth could survive.

María José... forgive me.

I sat there, unmoving, until the trembling in my bones dulled into something manageable—something like rage held together by threadbare grace.

The Devil’s scent was still in the air; burnt roses and sulfur. It clung to the wooden beams, to the dust motes trembling in the candlelight, and most of all, to me. I ran a hand over my face.

What I felt was cold sweat. The kind of cold that didn’t come from fear, but from knowing too much.

I couldn’t go to María José like this and it sucks.

After all, Luis, the quiet cousin in the wheelchair, wasn’t supposed to move yet. Let alone crawl out of hell and stride into Santa Leticia like he owned the night.

The performance had to stay intact. My shackles were illusionary, yes, but illusions were the strongest chains of all when people believed in them.

Well, the night had just begun.