I’ve never seen Tyler this angry before. He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. I know he’s said some harsh things, but I’ve never seen him act this way towards his brother.
“Don’t you ever speak to her on my behalf again. I don’t care what you think about her, don’t put fucking words in my mouth. How dare you speak to our mate like that!” He roars, throwing Talon against the wooden shelves on the other side of the room. Talon gets up, shakes the wood pieces off, then reaches for Tyler, tackling him against the bedside table and smashing it.
“You weren’t there to see how he had his hands on her, how she leaned into his touch; she wants him. I couldn’t hear her thoughts because she’s blocking us out, but I know she does!” Talon growls and straddles his brother with his hands around his neck.
He shouts again, “She’s playing with us again, bro, making us look like fools in front of everyone!” Tyler’s face is going red as he clutches the hands that wrap around his neck; I panic.
I run for Talon and attempt to pull him off Tyler. “Talon, stop. Please! You’re hurting him!” I scream.
Talon shoves me in his rage and I hit the column of their large four-post bed. I hit the floor with a thud and look down at the blood droplets on their beige carpet beneath me. I touch my lip and flinch. I bit my lip. The silence in the room is immediately broken when the door is flung open and my very angry father and a livid looking Caspian enter the room. Out of nowhere Caspian picks up Talon and holds him up against the wall as if he weighs nothing.
My father picks up Tyler by the collar of his shirt forcing him to stand. Tyler looks despondent as he tries to push against my father to get to me, my father orders him to stop and he unwillingly does so. I turn my eyes to Talon, the rage in his entire body immediately dissipates when he looks down at me on the floor and his eyes meet my bleeding lip. His hand goes out as he tries to reach for me.
“If I ever see your hands on her again, I’ll rip you apart,” Caspian growls, full of dominance as he shoves Talon against the wall again. Talon is a little bigger than Caspian, but he allows Caspian to shove him without even fighting back. Caspian being an alpha, we all can feel the power in his voice.
Axel comes running in with tousled hair and boxer briefs, his artwork on full display. His eyes are sleepy, but it does nothing to hide his fury; I can feel it pulsing through him. He looks down to me before gently helping me up, his hand wrapping around the bruise on my waist causing me to hiss out in pain.
He loosens his hold and leads me out of the room. Before the door is slammed shut, I hear my father’s deathly growl followed by yelling.
****
“Uh uh… this way,” he says, pulling me in the direction of the staircase. My steps falter before I reluctantly following him. He leads me out of the pack house, past the car park and towards the trail that leads to the lake. Axel is still in his boxers but this doesn’t deter him.
We sit side by side for a few minutes with our feet hanging off the edge of the little wooden dock. The sun is a few hours from rising and it’s not a full moon so it’s dark tonight.
“He is just like them,” I whisper.
“What?” Axel asks softly.
“Talon. He is just like Drake, my ex, and Jax, my first mate.”
“What happened?” he asks gently in his still sleepy gruff voice.
“Drake was sweet and so so gentle when he wasn’t angry. He was drawn to me in a weird obsessive way and he became very possessive. I felt unloved for so long and craved affection like I needed it to breath, so when he started paying attention to me and showing me his love, I latched on. The first time he shoved me up against a door should have ended our relationship…but it didn’t. The night I came home and told him I’d kissed the twins and wanted to end things with him he...” I pause, wringing my hands together as the memory replays in my head of that horrible night. Axel lets out a winded sound and I whip my head to look at him.
“No! Stop that! Promise me that you won’t try to get in my head anymore and I’ll tell you everything.” I point my pinkie at him.
“Pinkie promise? Really, Angel?” He raises an eyebrow.
“Pinkie promises are the shit. No one fucks with a pinkie promise. Come here and give me your pinkie dammit,” I growl. He rolls his eyes but does as he’s told.
“Same goes for you; no trying to get into your head and no trying to get into mine.” I nod and kiss the skin between my thumb and index finger, making him do the same to his hand as we seal the deal.
“Okay.” I let out a deep breath. “So that night he tied me to the headboard of my bed with his belt.” I show him the little pink scarring around each of my wrists and he grimaces.