Chapter Five
The moment I'd looked up from washing my hands in the bathroom and seen Kelso standing behind me, I knew he was going to be dead by the end of the night. I'd resigned myself to his fate even before the long metal tube he was holding over his shoulder hit me in the side of the head.
Where I wasn't sure how I felt about the aspect of killing the man, he had kidnapped me twice and sold me to other beings, probably knowing it wasn't going to be kind, loving individuals on the other side of the transaction.
What bothered me most about the whole thing was that I didn't get to tell him that I'd moved on to someone who actually understood the value of love and was proud to have me at his side. Someone that didn't think loving me was controlling me with hits and kicks.
Axel would never hurt me. I smiled, rolling the ring around on my finger as I sat cross-legged in the middle of my bed.
I knew Axel was downstairs having a meeting with a few leap members and Harley, going over the events of the night. I was curious, but also not so curious to hear about how Kelso had been handled.
There was definitely no love lost there, but I'd never really been into gore, and something told me the blood I'd spotted on Axel's shirt as he'd patched up my head wound wasn't just mine and definitely wasn't his.
The door to my room creaked open, and Axel peeked in, a small smile touching his face when he saw me. His hair was wet, which told me he'd taken a shower and the T-shirt covering the one shoulder I could see looked to be a different one than the blood covered one from earlier.
"What are you doing up, sweetheart?" he asked quietly. "Do you mind if I come in?"
"Of course not," I answered chuckling softly before frowning when I noticed the hesitant way he eased into the room and then lingered by the door. "What's wrong, Axel?"
I felt the tension rising in my body. Had he changed his mind? I didn't think it was possible with mates, but he hadn't claimed me yet, and he'd had to deal with my awful ex. Was it possible that he was suddenly realizing just how pathetic I was?
"I'm so sorry, Edmond," he whispered, collapsing back against the door. "If I weren't broken, I would have known something was up before you'd been hurt."
"What?" I scrambled up from the bed, nearly falling to the ground when my foot got tangled in the comforter.
He caught me. Because, of course, he caught me. He would always catch me.
He tried to steady me, using my elbows to balance me and let me gain my footing, but that's not what I wanted. I didn't want my own footing. I wanted to share with him. I slung my arms over his shoulders and buried my face in his neck.
"How could you think that?" I whispered, pulling myself as close to him as I could get, my body shaking with the fear of losing him to his own doubts. "Do you think even a shifter with every bit of his olfactory senses could have smelled a human there that they'd never met before…in a huge group of humans with all the different smells from the vendors all around? Not even Thompsyn could have done it without knowing what the man smelled like first."
"Maybe not," he said, running his beard along the side of my head and giving me a hard squeeze before setting me back away from him. "But he wouldn't have had to sit completely helpless in a bathroom for nearly an hour while that man did God knows what to you because he was incapable of tracking you down!"
Frustration boiled inside me, and I clenched my fists at my sides. "And we both know, once he got me in the vehicle, only Thompsyn could have found me." I nearly stepped forward, needing to close the space between us, but not wanting him to step away from me again. I didn't think I could take that. Tears burned as they built in my eyes. "Are you going to blame yourself for not being born a chosen child with the ability to sniff anything out?"
"Edmond…"
"No," I growled, frustrated, a tear slipping out of the corner of my eye, followed by several more. I swallowed. "Are you using this as an excuse to get rid of me? Because if you don't want me now that you've seen the worst, then you need to tell me straight-up, not give me the it's not you, it's me speech."
It would absolutely gut me to hear him admit that he didn't want to be with me because of the taint of Kelso, but it that was the reason, I needed to know.
"But it is me."
"Okay." I wiped the tears off of my face, taking a deep breath in hopes of getting control. Crossing my arms over my chest, I stuck my tongue to the front of my teeth. "So," I said, once my lips quit quivering. "I guess you want me to move on with another man someday? A shifter that has a great sense of smell?" I tilted my head to the side, raising my eyebrows dramatically. "But then I'd probably get thrown aside for their mate when they found them." Bringing a hand up to my face, I tapped a finger against my lip as I looked up at the ceiling, full on asshole level being reached in my personality. "Or were you thinking more along the lines of a human?" I dropped my arm back in place with the other, crossing them in front of me. "But he wouldn't have any heightened senses, so that wouldn't really work would it?"
Axel growled, stepping closer and glaring down into my face. "Nobody else can have you."
"Oh, so you think I should just grow old alone, huh?" I rolled my eyes, wanting to punch something. "That's nice."
"No!" Axel grabbed my arms, giving a jerk that brought my body up against his. "You deserve someone who will love and cherish you. Who will protect you with their whole being."
"That would be you." I knew my eyes were pleading when they met his, but I couldn't be bothered to care. I needed him like breath. "Don't I deserve you?"
"Oh, sweetheart." He brought a hand up running the backs of his fingers down my cheek. "You deserve better than me, Edmond."
"But to me, there isn't anyone better," I whispered, dropping my hands and reaching out to grip his shirt. "I want you. But I want you to want me too."
"Of course I want you." He leaned down, resting his forehead against mine, letting his eyes fall closed. "More than I've ever wanted anything. But what if I fail you again?"
I tugged on his shirt, and he opened his eyes, pulling back slightly so he could see my face. "How did you fail me? You did exactly what you would have had to do even if your nose was like every other shifter's out there." Why was he having such a hard time grasping the logic behind it? "Once he stuck me in that car, you wouldn't have been able to track me. And you saved me, Axel. You got me out of there, and now I'm here, safe and sound."
I have no idea what he was going to say when he opened his mouth to respond, but honestly, I was sick of the bullshit. Tugging him hard by the shirt, I rocked up on my tiptoes, taking his mouth with mine.
When our lips touched, Axel sighed against my mouth, cupping the sides of my head and opening for my tongue as I pushed it inside, moaning at the feel of him. At the taste.
Jerking his head back, he panted down into my face, searching my eyes. "Are you sure about this, Edmond?" His voice was gruff and delicious and vibrated against all the sensitive spots on my body.
Catching my breath, I watched his dark eyes, smiling softly at the desperate need there that matched my own.
"I love you so much, Axel," I whispered, needing him to hear the truth in my words. Needing him to know how far gone I was. "If you left me now, I'd never survive."
His eyelids shut tight, and ripples of emotion ran across his forehead as he struggled for control. "Neither would I," he whispered back, dropping his forehead back to mine. "I'm still scared I'm going to fail you somehow, but I can't stand the thought of living without you."
"Then claim me, Axel. Make me yours forever."
He pulled back, stepping away. His gaze skittered over my body as he grabbed his shirt and ripped it up and over his head.
I didn't think what he was looking at was probably all that attractive considering I was still only wearing his jacket that he'd wrapped me in after finding me, my shirt missing and the jeans I'd worn to our date.
My shoes and socks were resting neatly by the door where Axel had placed them after taking them off of me and trying to convince me to lie down and go to sleep just before he'd went to talk to guys.
I didn't even want to know what my hair looked like at that moment. Probably sticking up everywhere in a wild mess.
"You look good in my jacket," he growled, shoving the athletic shorts he'd donned after his shower to the floor, leaving him standing in nothing but his underwear while I ogled him from head to toe.
"You look good in nothing, " I choked out, licking my lips. "No. You look fucking amazing."
Smirking, he pushed his underwear to the floor, kicking them aside.
Shit! He was delicious. Every inch of his body was made for my mouth. I wanted to taste him everywhere.
He prowled toward me, looking every inch the tiger. Backing me toward the bed with his body, he eased his jacket off my shoulders, tossing it on a chair in the corner. My legs hit the bed, and he grabbed my hips to steady me when I started to tip backward, growling softly when I basically collapsed forward against his chest our skin sliding together.
Easing back again, just enough to get his fingers on the fly of my pants, he undid the button and eased the zipper back, flattening his palm against my lower stomach and rubbing across, just above the band of my underwear until he got to my hip.
Using both hands, he slipped his fingers beneath the material at my hips, skimming his palms down my body as he lowered my jeans and underwear. Once they got past my ass, they fell to the floor easily.
"Climb up on the bed, Edmond," Axel said, leaning forward to nip at the lobe of my ear.
I spun doing as he said and getting back on the bed.
He growled and when I looked over my shoulder to see why, it was to find him staring hungrily at my ass, the tiger bleeding into his eyes.
"Stay just like that." He prowled around the side of the bed, getting the lube out of my nightstand, his eyes on my body the entire way and then back until he was standing behind me again, watching my ass intently.
Crawling up onto the end of the bed, he swooped down, pressing his nose the skin just behind my balls, taking a deep breath and growling, the rough vibrations going to my dick and making it jerk and leak as I whimpered.
He nipped at the flesh of one cheek before pulling away. I heard the click of the lube bottle when he opened it and a moment later, I felt a lubed finger run a long path along my ass crack before stopping at my entrance. He circled the puckered flesh before dipping the tip of his finger inside.
I moaned, wishing I could turn and look at him, but far too desperate to feel his hand on my body to complain about my position.
While he worked me open, I panted and moaned, almost embarrassed by the pathetic sounds leaving my throat as I gripped the blankets, rocking against his hand, needing more.
I whimpered, near tears when he eased his fingers out of my hole tapping my hip. "Roll over, sweetheart. I want to be looking you in the eyes when I claim you."
Wasting no time, I flopped to my back in the middle of the bed, spreading my legs wide and reaching for him while he slathered the lube on his dick. He pressed the head to my hole, his eyes finding mine just as he slowly eased inside my body.
The feel of him was exquisite bliss, and my toes curled as heat unfurled inside me and I keened, pushing my head back into the pillow. As soon as he was fully seated, he dropped on top of me, panting against the flesh of my neck, his beard rubbing erotically.
I fisted my hands in his hair, rolling my hips before I can even think to control my movements. We both groaned, and I did it again, jerking his mouth down against mine as I did it again and again.
I could feel my orgasm building, and I was desperate to reach it, forgetting the kiss to pant and whine against his mouth as he picked up my rhythm, slamming into my body as I rolled my hips up. Together, we pegged my prostate over and over, and before long I was spilling between us, throwing my head back and screaming at the headboard behind me.
I felt him tense, and he roared as hot seed spilled inside me.
Knowing what needed to happen next, I looked up at his face, tilting my head to the side and offering him my neck and shoulder. He leaned forward, growling against the skin before sinking his teeth into my flesh.
My reaction was immediate as a jolt shot down my spine, and my balls rolled. More of my cum shot out between us just as Axel filled me with more of his.
It was several long moments before I felt like I could move as Axel licked at the wound on my neck almost reverently.
I smiled, my eyes drifting shut as I lifted my hand off of his back, using my finger to spin the ring on my finger. "I love you, Axel."
I barely heard his, "I love you too, sweetheart," As my entire body went lax and I fell into a blissful sleep.
***
Walking out into the hallway, I frowned at the man standing outside the door directly across from mine, sniffing at the jam.
"Uh, Quinn?" He looked at me over his shoulder, a frown marring his handsome face. "What are you doing?"
He blinked, probably just realizing how strange it is to sniff someone's door. “Whose room is this?" he asked, touching the door gently. "I've been catching whiffs of this scent since I got here, but I thought I was crazy because it's never been strong enough to be substantial, but then I came up here to tell Axel I won't be heading back with you guys and here it is. Right here."
He seemed in awe as he turned back to the door like it was the key to everything.
Axel and I were leaving in the morning to go back to Tennessee. Axel and I had spent hours on video chat with Alpha Vance over the last few days going over all the different things we thought could benefit from a change for the streak and he had made it more than clear that he was ready to step down.
In fact, he'd said it more than once, and I got the impression he was trying to hint at something to Axel. My mate had looked conflicted when we finally hung up with the man and I'd dragged it out of him that he wasn't against stepping into the alpha role but wasn't sure how happy the streak would be to have someone with his deficiencies as alpha.
So, we were going back to Tennessee at Alpha Vance's request, and I had a feeling my mate was about to become the next alpha of his streak. And I had no doubt he would be excellent at it.
"That's Marshall's room," I answered Quinn, starting to worry a bit why the man seemed so preoccupied with the door.
"Marshall? I don't think I've met him. How have I not met him?" He smiled excitedly, making my stomach drop.
I didn't want to be the one to tell him, especially since I was pretty sure I knew exactly why he was so obsessed with the smell of that door.
I swallowed hard, biting my bottom lip before whispering. "He's been gone."
I saw the moment he realized what I meant, all the color draining from his face. "He's the missing chosen."
I nodded slowly, sending him a sympathetic look. "Yeah. Harley and Carter were going to head to Oregon tomorrow to check on him." I stepped forward, resting a hand on his shoulder and squeezing slightly. "Maybe you should go with them."
"I have to."