赤裸裸的滑稽故事

Corrine glanced at Axel. He gave her a nod, letting her know that he was okay now.

“I will give you two some privacy,” Corrine smiled as she left the office.

Axel motioned to the couch, and Ashleigh came over to take a seat beside him.

“What did you want to talk about?” he asked.

Ashleigh couldn’t help but notice the shine in his eyes, the slight redness, and the puffing of his eyelids. Had he been crying?

“Are you alright?” she asked.

Axel furrowed his brows and then stood from the couch, moving to pour himself a glass of water.

“Just tired,” he said. “It was a long night.”

Ashleigh nodded and turned away.

“Speaking of last night,” she said. “Giving the flower to mom was an interesting choice.”

“What do you mean?” Axel asked, sipping from his glass. “The Alpha always gives the Luna the flower.”

“Yes, but the Alpha has always been mated to the Luna.”

“A technicality that doesn’t lessen the significance of the event, Lily was a mother to us all. I honored the best I could by giving the flower to my own mother, the Luna of Winter,” Axel sighed._.

He was tired of this topic, thinking about it would only make the dream come back into his mind and his fears rise to the surface.

“Is this what you wanted to talk about?” Axel asked.

“Axel,” Ashleigh said. “I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you to be honest with me.”

“Ok,” Axel said, sitting back down in the chair across from her. “What is it?”

Ashleigh took a deep breath and looked Axel in the eye.

“Do you have a mate?”

Her words fell over him like a bucket of ice water. He felt chilled, numb, and an ache through his bones told him there was danger in this moment.

Ashleigh watched his reaction, saw the momentary flash of panic and confusion, and in that, she got the confirmation she was looking for.

When Lily had let it slip that Axel had been mated, Ashleigh’s first thoughts were sisterly.

A pout, at having not heard it from him first. A laugh, at how he had so clearly broken the tradition he had given her a hard time about. A smile, knowing that it meant he had found the person that would make him whole.

And a camaraderie in the feeling that she and he were the only ones in their shared world that had any idea about this momentous event in his life.

But the way he looked at her, the flash of panic and anxiety left her feeling something entirely different.

She clenched her jaw, knowing he had hidden it from her. She swallowed, as anger over the way he had yelled at her rose in her throat. She pursed her lips, as she wondered what kind of person he would feel the need to hide from his family.

Suspicion grew in her heart as she suddenly wondered if she really was the only person that knew or the only one that didn’t.

“Yes,” Axel finally answered. “I do.”

They looked at each in complete silence.

Twenty-four hours ago, Ashleigh had been excited for this moment. To ask about the mystery woman in his life, to learn about her new sister. To share in the joy of having found the loves of their lives. So why did she feel so unsettled, so angry, so resentful?

“Finding your mate, it’s a happy thing,” Ashleigh said. However, her expression and tone did not match her words.

“It is,” Axel agreed.

“Then why not announce it to the pack?” Ashleigh asked. “Why give mom the flower instead of her?”

“How did you even find out?” Axel asked.

“Does it matter?”

“Yes, it does,” Axel said. “I need to know who told you. Because the people who know…. None of them would have betrayed me like that.”

Ashleigh raised her brows and nodded her head, chewing on her bottom lip as the words sunk in.

“Betrayed you? Wow,” she sighed. “I know we’ve had our differences, but my knowing that you have a mate, is a betrayal?”

“I didn’t mean it like that….” Axel sighed.

“How did you mean it, big brother?” Ashleigh asked as tears gathered and her jaw clenched. A tight knot formed in her belly.

Axel took a deep breath.

“My situation is complicated,” he said, looking away from her. “My mate is complicated.”

“I had a pretty complicated situation myself,” Ashleigh replied.

“It’s not the same,” he said.

“Then what is it?” she asked. “What is so complicated, that the Alpha of Winter is willing to cast aside all our sacred traditions to claim his mate but unwilling to take responsibility for her.”

“Watch yourself!” Axel growled. “You know nothing about us!”

“Whose fault is that?” she asked.

Axel stared angrily at his sister. He was tired of hiding the truth, tired of trying to protect her feelings and give her time to understand.

She had her mate. She had accepted and brought him into their lives regardless of how Axel or anyone else felt about it.

Why should he care? Why should he tiptoe around her while his heart ached and screamed for the woman he loved?

No more lies.

“My mate…” he began. “Is Alice of Spring.”

Ashleigh stood from the couch, taking slow deep breaths through her nose.

“There better be another Alice of Spring…” she growled through gritted teeth.

“As far as I know, there is only one,” he replied. “And she is my Luna.”

Ashleigh clenched her jaw. She looked away as she tried to process what he had said.

‘Enemy!’

‘Threat!’

‘Liar!’

The whispers scratched at the back of her mind. She closed her eyes, trying to push them away, to calm the anger and just speak with her brother.

“You have to reject her,” she said quietly.

“No.”

“Are you insane?” she asked.

“She is my mate. The Goddess chose her.”

“The Goddess also chose a fucking psychopath for Bell!” Ashleigh growled.

“It is not the same,” Axel growled.

‘He has been fooled.’

‘She has tricked him.’

“No, Bell was smart enough to recognize the monster she was mated to!” Ashleigh hollered, trying to push back the whispers.

“Alice is not who you think she is!” Axel shouted.

“You don’t know her like I do!” Ashleigh shouted back. “She helped Granger! They kidnapped me and tortured me!”

“No,” Axel shook his head. “She didn’t have a choice! He forced her to–”

“You knew?” Ashleigh interrupted. The hurt and betrayal she felt were plainly written on her face.