“Meadow!” Axel growls.
“Two.”
I rush toward Beast, just as he raises his gun. It takes me only a second to realize he’s going to shoot Axel anyway, there’s something in his eyes. I lift my fist, and I punch him hard in the throat. He makes a gagging sound, and stumbles backward. I hit him again, cutting off his air supply. He falls to the ground, and wheezes, panting for air. Axel turns his gun on him, and shoots him in the leg.
“Why don’t you just kill me here and now?” Beast roars through heavy pants.
Axel takes my arm, and begins pulling me away. “Because you’re going to suffer first. I’ll be back for you, you fucking bastard.”
Axel pulls me again, and we run up the bank and towards the road. The wind whips against my skin, and I feel my body trembling with cold. We don’t say anything the entire way back to the compound; I don’t even know why Axel left Beast there. It just gives me more confirmation that he needs to make Beast pay, and shooting him like that, with no fight, isn’t the way he wants this to end.
That frightens me.
As soon as we step back into the compound, Axel turns to me, his eyes scanning my face.
“Where the hell did you learn to throat-punch?”
I meet his eyes dead on. “I’ve learned a lot. I’ve had a badass biker chasing me for over a year.”
For the first time in the years since darkness consumed Axel’s life, I see him smile.
And it’s beautiful.
~*~*~*~
I sleep for two solid days after that, exhausted both physically and mentally. I can’t function without rest, and Axel has given me what I need for showers, so I finally feel refreshed.
I wake on the morning of day three to the sun shining through and into my eyes. I groan and stretch, noticing that the pain in my leg has finally faded to nearly nothing. I peer around the empty room, and see the space beside me hasn’t been slept in.
Which means Axel hasn’t come back in here.
He’s been avoiding me once again, and I won’t lie and say I’m not frustrated by that. After what happened at the bridge the other night, I thought we might have broken some ice, but it turns out nothing has changed. He’s still as angry as he was before, but I will give it to him—he’s not snapping at me...as much. I close my eyes for a moment, knowing I should just leave, but also knowing that my heart isn’t going to allow that.
I can’t turn my back on him again.
I get out of the bed, stretching with a loud yawn. I ruffle about until I find a dress and some panties, and then I head out into the halls. It’s quiet, which is unusual. I don’t know where the guys are.
I run into Miranda when I step into the kitchen. She’s making herself some coffee. When she sees me, her eyes narrow and a scowl forms on her face.
“Well, well, I can’t believe you’re still hanging around.”
I put a hand on my hip, and lean against the counter. “What would you have me do? Go out and get shot?”
She shrugs, and chews on a fingernail. “I really don’t care what happens to you.”
“Look,” I say, walking over and taking a coffee cup. “I get it. I wouldn’t like me, either. You’re what he’s had for many years, and I’ve come in, and suddenly he’s not looking at you the same. That’s not my fault. I didn’t ask to be here any more than you want me here.”
She narrows her eyes, and studies me. Then, she sighs. “I’ve always known I came second to you. Not even I’m that stupid.”
“Axel doesn’t like me, Miranda.”
“Do you honestly believe that?”
I turn to her, my eyes wide. “Do you have any idea how he’s treated me in the past week?”
“Do you have any idea how he would have treated you if you were anyone else? Do you not think that if you weren’t important, that he wouldn’t have just shot you, instead of chasing you for over a year?”
I’d never thought of it like that. My heart flutters.
“He didn’t kill me because he’s known me since I was a young girl. It’s got nothing to do with caring, or anything else.”
She snorts. “If you say so, but I can tell you now, Axel looks at you like you’re something different.”
I shake my head. I can’t believe it...not after everything Axel has said and done.
“So you’re telling me he hasn’t fucked you then?”
I feel my cheeks heat, and she snorts. “Exactly.”
“That means nothing. Axel probably fucks half the women in this compound.”
“No,” she says, her eyes growing a touch sad. “I’m the only one.”
Really? She’s the only one?
“Why?”
She glances at the door for a second, before saying, “Because I let him fuck me the only way he knows how.”
“Restrained?” I say in a small, timid voice.
“Restrained, and fighting. It was good...for a while...I thought it was just a fetish, but I quickly realized that it ran far deeper. I started digging, I overheard things, and I figured it out. Axel was abused. I don’t know how, exactly, but when Beast took him for all those months, something bad happened. It fucked him up. Now, he needs to fuck women in a certain way to get off, it’s imbedded in his head. He won’t change who he is. I tried...I thought maybe I could be the one to save him, but then I heard him dreaming, and I knew there was only one person who could save Axel Wraithe.”