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Chapter 86
~Valerie’s POV~
I didn’t say a word as Axel led me away. The hallway stretched behind us, filled with silence I didn’t try to fill.
My thoughts wouldn’t let me.
Ashton, Kai and that stupid fight.
What was I supposed to do? Rejecting them hadn’t worked. Avoiding them had only made things worse. And now, they were at each other’s throats like I was some prize to be fought over.
Solstice’s voice echoed in my head, "Maybe give them a chance, Vi."
Even Astra had softened lately. "You can’t keep pushing them away forever. You’ll break before they do." she had once said. "Give them a hance, get to know them all."
But how? How the fuck was I suppose to do that?
I sighed, dragging my fingers through my hair as I tried to shove away the overwhelming thoughts only to blink when Axel’s voice pulled me back to the present.
"We’re here."
I stopped walking and spoke absentmindedly. "Where?"
"Our house," he said simply.
I froze.
My eyes lifted to the familiar structure ahead—the Alpha Kings’ dorm. The last time I was here... it was when I had collapsed at the merchant’s house. Overwhelmed by their scents, my heat had surged, uncontrolled and humiliating as their aura became too much fo rme, that coupled with the poison, I collapsed.
But now...
My fingers flew to the thin chain around my neck. I touched the necklace beneath my uniform collar. It was still there, sttill suppressing my heat and protecting me.
I had forgotten to inform my Uncle to not make anotehr one, that had found mine but that would have pout many talks in my ear on safety as well as who saved me and the merchant who stole it.
There was just so much that would have happened. Nd when the thought of having a spare necklace just in case, crossed my mind, I threw the thought to the back of my mind.
Somehow, standing here before the house, I didn’t feel safe, not with the way Axel looked at me.
"Valerie," his voice broke through again. I could feel the concern edged in his tone. "Are you okay?"
I blinked, snapping out of it again. My eyes returned to the house. Then I shook my head.
He stepped closer. "Are you hurt?"
"Oh no. I... I just..." My voice cracked before I steadied it. "I’m not going in."
His brows furrowed instantly. "Why not?"
"I still have class."
Axel stepped in front of me, blocking the path with infuriating ease. "You need to rest. You look, tired."
Yeah I was tired. Tired of all their butting in and control.
He ocntinued, hoping to persuade me. "I’ll call in sick for you. No one will question it, not even Principal Whitmore."
My eyes narrowed and something in me snapped.
"It must be cute for you guys, right? To make decisions for people like we’re dolls you can move around, a chess piece to use as you wish. Do whatever you want and the world bends around you."
"Where’s that coming from?" Axel asked.
I hated how they looked down on their senior, particularly th principal and sometimes called her by her name as thoughts he was beneath them, just because they were princes.
"Valerie—"
"I am not a project. I’m not some wounded little girl who needs saving. And I would really, really like to be left alone. Okay?" I didnt give Axel a chance to respond and immediately added, "Thank you."
Having said my piece, I turned to leave but I didn’t get far.
Axel grabbed my wrist and yanked me back—hard—but not painfully. Just enough to throw me off balance. And the next thing I knew, my back hit the wall of the house, and his body was in front of mine, close... way too close.
"Axel—" I gasped.
His eyes weren’t soft anymore. They burned—hazel-green laced with gold, swirling with hunger and something darker, wicked.
He changed. His attitude flickered like some magic trick.
"Was that the same speech you gave Dristan," he murmured, voice silk and danger, "when his lips were busy memorizing yours?"
My heart slammed in my chest.
Wait what?
His hand skimmed my side, slowly and every where his finger tips touched my skin lit up like fire beneath his touch.
"Or maybe you said the same to Xade when he kissed you?" he whispered.
I froze.
How the hell did he—
My breath hitched. "Who told you about that?"
His lips curled into that infuriating smirk. "No one. You just did."
Shit. I fell into hsi trap. Axel wasn’t called the cocky seducer for nothing.
"I suspected Xade had done the same," Axel added, eyes gleaming. "But when I heard Dristan kissed you, well... everything clicked."
I muttered a curse under my breath. Xade that dollophead.
Axel pressed closer, his body warm and commanding, crowding me against the wall. I could feel the heat rolling off him, his scent wrapping around me like temptation itself—earthy and sharp, laced with spice.
"There was no way he wouldn’t have tried kissing you," he said softly. "I saw you and Xade that day when you returned with Dristan, from a distance. By the time I got close, you were gone."
My throat went dry. I couldn’t move.
Because his hand had moved from my waist up to my jaw, his thumb brushing along my cheek, so gently it made Astra purr in the back of my mind.
"No, no, don’t even think about it..." I warned her but she was already clawing forward, pacing inside me.
"Let him kiss us. Just once, Valerie. Don’t be stubborn."
"Shut up," I hissed internally, but my knees were already going weak.
"Not fair, Valerie," Axel murmured.
And then he leaned in.
His lips brushed mine—not enough to steal the breath from my lungs, but enough to set everything inside me on fire.
They were extremely soft, much more than Dristan’s. But that softness mixed with his smirk was dangerous yet it held a certain promise fo satisfaction and more.
"Give in," Astra purred within me.
The kiss deepened before I could pull away. His hand gripped my waist tighter, anchoring me to him as his mouth explored mine like he already owned it. Like he’d been waiting and now... he wasn’t asking for permission.
All it took was one second of weakness when I thought briefly to kiss back and Astra surged, my control on her, snapping.
She tried to take over.
My fingers fisted in his shirt as my mind scrambled, as the heat inside me melted the last of my resistance.
This wasn’t like with Dristan. This wasn’t like Xade. This was Axel—wicked, tempting, terrifying, cocky, Axel Zeno.
And he kissed like he knew what he was doing, like he knew exactly how to undo me and before I knew what was going on, I kissed him back with the same vigour and urgency.
Astra did and my mind swirled.
Axel’s lips moved against mine like he already owned the moment, like he’d been waiting for the right second to strike—and he had.
He kissed like sin and seduction and promises I wasn’t ready to believe. And gods help me... I kissed him back.