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Chapter 5

Axton

Three weeks later

I can barely contain my wolf. He wants to drag Elena back here, mark, and punish her. It has been three weeks, and my wolf is becoming extremely restless. I am not sure how much longer I can hold him off from hunting her down.

This was never supposed to happen. We meant to find her at the club, get provocative photos I could use to blackmail her father or destroy him with if he didn’t agree to my demands. Instead, I learned his daughter was my mate, and Khan wanted her.

“You aren’t still pining over her, are you?” Eli, my Beta, asks me as he plops onto the lounge beside my feet.

Once again, I’ve lost track of time. How long have I been staring at the light fixture on the ceiling? Probably for some time because my eyes are aching. I watch Eli fix his cuff links, and I remember we are supposed to be meeting the developer across the city to go over plans.

“Axton!” Eli calls, snapping his fingers in front of my face. “Pull yourself together,” he snaps, and I sit up. “What about our plans? This was your idea all along. Find her. Take some scandalous pictures. Destroy her father, and get him off the council. You should be rejoicing that she rejected you,” he says, slapping my leg.

Khan snarls in my head at his words.

“It’s not that. I’m just pissed off that she beat me to it,” I growl, annoyed that she rejected me, and then instead of rejecting her back and accepting it, my damn wolf took control and decided we were keeping her. I shake my head at the memory. Now the bond is only severed on her side, not mine.

“You can’t go through with it, can you?” Eli says, sweeping his ash-blond hair from his eyes and watching me.

I exhale and press my lips in a line. If I do find and reject her, Khan will lose it and go on another killing spree. The last one was hard enough to cover up.

“It was fine until I realized she was my mate,” I mutter.

Eli rests his head back, staring up at the ceiling. “If you don’t want to do it, fine. But at least call her and stop moping about her. If you want her, go get her. I hold no judgment!”

I sigh.

“Seriously, bro, just call her. At least then you can decide to reject her or not.” He shrugs, standing up and heading for the door.

I watch him leave before pulling my phone from my pocket and scrolling through my contacts. I call the number I received after calling around while drunk the other night.

Hitting the call button, I listen to it ring a few times before her father answers. I pause, glancing at the screen, double-checking I didn’t call his number instead. Nope, it was definitely hers.

“I need to speak to Elena,” I tell him, trying to keep my tone light.

“Who is this?” Derrick demands.

I roll my eyes at his angry tone; this man is an insufferable prick.

“Alpha Axton, Derrick. Now, put your daughter on,” I snap at him.

“You have no reason to be calling my daughter. What do you want?” he demands. “Answer me. My daughter holds no rights over my pack. If you’re thinking of trying to get her to persuade me to change my mind, I can assure you my daughter hates you as much as I do.”

“Where is Elena, Derrick?” I ask, bored with him already.

“You stay the fuck away from my daughter!”

“No can do, Derrick. Elena is my mate. So, when my mate gets home, tell her to ring me,” I tell him before hanging up on him. I stare at my phone screen angrily, only to roll my eyes when I hear movement by the door.

“Are you done eavesdropping?” I ask Eli.

“Do you think that was wise talking to her father like that?” he questions, and I rub my eyes.

I have barely slept since she rejected me. In fact, I have hardly left the damn packhouse, worried Khan would hunt her down and start a war between our packs.

“If she doesn’t ring by tonight or come find me, we leak the video and the photos I sent you,” I tell him.

Khan growls in my head at the thought of others seeing her naked and vulnerable. “Do you want her back?” I ask Khan. My wolf continues to growl, and Eli watches me warily, feeling my aura rush out while I try to calm my wolf.

“You gave her a chance. If she doesn’t call back, we leak them, Khan. She will come back then. Elena will have nowhere else to go,” I tell him, and he stops snarling at me.

“Are you sure?” Eli asks.

I get to my feet, walk to the far corner of the room toward the bar, and grab a glass and bottle of whiskey. I hold the bottle up to Eli, and he nods, falling back onto the lounge. I grab another glass, pouring us both a drink.

“If she doesn’t ring, we go through with our original plans,” I tell him. She has one more chance to make up for her mistake, or I will make her regret rejecting me.

“You leak those photos, it will destroy her. I don’t think it is the winning move you think it is, Alpha,” Eli tells me, and I sip my drink, watching him over my glass.

“She had her chance,” I tell him, and he nods, pressing his lips in a line. I know her father, and I know he will banish her. No pack will dare take her in; Alpha Derrick is a prominent figure and owns the second-largest pack in this city.

This will be a significant blow to his reputation. One I know will have him removed from the council. Big enough to start a war if he is stupid enough to challenge me. But with that in mind, Elena will have nowhere else to go but to me or leave the city.

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