After Axel had decided to go home to avoid what was to come, it greeted him. That thing he strongly wished not to see.
Axel lost count on how many times he cursed upon locking eyes with Rebecca. He felt like he had been struck with an unlucky arrow. The look on Rebecca’s face was something he was so familiar with.
Something he wanted to erased with his bare hands.
A sweet and innocent façade that he grew wary of.
Axel halted and put his left hand on his pocket to restrict himself. He threw the woman down on the stairs a cold stare. Now, what does she want with me?
“What are you doing here, Rebecca?” Axel’s tone was unwelcomed. It was the perfect kind of greeting for Rebecca’s likes.
“I wanted to talk to you.” Rebecca raised her brows.
“But before we get to that, can you help me walk?”
“And why would I do that?”
Rebecca, who’s had a hard time walking upstairs, trailed her eyes towards her back, as if leading the Alpha. Axel then immediately recognized the point. Rebecca indeed looked like she was having trouble.
But still…
“Then, you should’ve brought your Alpha with you.” Axel blatantly said.
“Would you have liked it if I did?” Rebecca tilted her head. “You hate him, don’t you?”
“If you know that, why did you still insist to leave here?”
"Aren’t we done with this discussion? You’ve already approved it.” Rebecca asserted.
“Only because I didn’t have any choice.” Axel chose not to deny the fact. “What did you do to make the Council like you? To make Ernesto like you?”
The Councils, or the Elders who had been helping Axel to manage the Kingdom and the Pack, used to dislike her. Not loathe. Just he knew that the Council didn’t like Rebecca as much as they did to Sophie, her new Luna.
“I didn’t do anything, Axel.” Rebecca’s tone was dipped with honey. “Maybe, they had just realized I was never the problem at all.”
Axel scrutinized Rebecca. Just over a year ago, she looked much beautiful to him. She used to be so charming, enticing, that a mere look can make him feel aroused. But giving her a fair amount of attention now, disgust him.
She was never the problem? Now, she just proved his theory. The announcement, the request to live here again, it wasn’t because she wanted to come back and give respect to the pack. It was because she wanted to slap him with the truth. That she was capable, and he wasn’t.
“You have truly lost your decency, Rebecca.” Axel forthrightly told Rebecca as he looked down on her.
“Looking at you now made me realize that our decision to break apart was the best decision. That you are never fit to be a Queen––“
“Best decision?” Rebecca chuckled bitterly, cutting off Axel’s words. “Best decision….”
The façade on Rebecca’s face had faltered. She knew it wouldn’t make any difference, anyway. The Alpha can read her thoroughly. He knew, and even if she faked it more, he still would have saw through her.
But they were in the same boat.
Being together for years made them know each other fully, including the faces that they both kept hidden. They had figure out each other to that extent.
“How can you say that….” Rebecca got her hands off the railing. “When you’re only using Sophie as a replacement?”
Axel’s jaw tightened. “I am not using her.”
“Do you remember when you also asked me to refurnish the Palace? When you would win me over by using material things to please me, whenever we fight…” Rebecca trailed off.
She wasn’t taking her eyes off him. “And when you took a break from the HQ because you wanted to copulate with Sophie? You wanted to impregnate her because you found out––“
Rebecca wanted to provoke Axel. She wanted to anger him. To hit him direct to his weakest point, where she would be able to inflict pain. Axel wasn’t a man with patience, so she wasn’t surprise when he felt his hand on her neck the next second. He strangled her, just like she predicted she would. And though his hand would probably leave a mark, the exchange was even greater.
His abilities didn’t change, nor rusted.
“G…guess, I was right.” Even in the dangerous situation Rebecca was in, she still tried to speak to further taunt him. “Did I get it right, Axel?”
The Alpha, who was still trying his very best not to squash Rebecca’s neck, tightened his grip on her, like it was a threat. He could easily kill her right this instant, but he would not. He was giving her mercy and he wanted to give her that.
The issue was, Rebecca didn’t seem to care. She even looked like she was satisfied by his reaction, and it angered her more. The way she convoyed this series of events exasperated him. She had planned everything and so far, things were going in her way.
Her reaction just now evinced that he fell for it.
He fell for it because she knew he would. Because she could see through him, even with barriers.
A knot lodged on Axel’s thick eyebrows the moment he read what was on the paper Jacob just brought in. It was a request paper by no other than his Luna, Sophie. An application paper for a guild. A medical guild.
Axel took a deep breathe. He tried to read what was in it over and over again, including the reason, the members, and the purpose. But despite the attempts, he still could not get it. Did Sophie ever tell him about this? They were just together this morning. Yesterday night, and the night before yesterday. This plan was behind his knowing. He had no idea Sophie was planning to establish a group!
What for? Medical Guild for what? Axel had enough number of high rank wolves with healing prowess to cover up for the Border. He had established enough groups with knowledge in medicine to sustain the health of his citizens. It was the first thing he prioritized after the war broke out between the Western Border and a certain pack.
Axel eyes reflected rage. The real color of his eyes turned visible. His claws were showing.
“I have no time for your stupid games, Rebecca.”
Axel growled as he further constricted his clasp on her. It was so that Rebecca’s face was slowly turning red. “Leave my affinity with Sophie alone. I will not repeat myself. The moment you push through with this petty scheme of yours, I will kill you along with your child.”