I barely had time to register the warmth of Axel’s hands steadying me before the weight of everything hit me all at once.
The butcher. His hands. The way he touched me. The way he looked at me.
Axel’s sharply cut through my spiraling thoughts. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
The question broke something inside me.
I couldn’t hold it in. Here he was... the only man who truly cared about me.
This couldn’t have been a more perfect timing.
With a sob, I flung myself into his arms.
His body tensed in surprise, but he didn’t pull away. If anything, his arms tightened around me, caging me in a warmth that sent my nerves crumbling.
My hands gripped his jacket, my fingers twisting into the fabric as if I could burrow into him—disappear into the solid comfort of his chest.
My whole body trembled.
The fear, the rage, the sheer disgust of what had just happened came over me all at once.
The way his arms came around me, pulling me in, his grip strong, steady, and safe was all it took.
I wasn’t sure if it was fear or relief or just the sheer overwhelm of the last few minutes, but my body betrayed me.
I shook with every heavy breath as I clung to him like a lifeline.
Axel didn’t say anything at first. He just held me. His large hands firm were just there against my back, his heartbeat strong and accelerating beneath my ear.
I didn’t care that the workers were watching.
I didn’t care about the silence stretching through the butchery, the way the scent of raw meat mixed with the salt of my tears.
All I knew was that for the first time since stepping foot in this place, I wasn’t alone.
All the images came flooding into my mind; the butcher. His hands. The way he touched me. The way he looked at me. I could still feel the ghost of his fingers on my skin.
Axel’s voice was sharp, cutting through my spiraling thoughts. "Who made you cry? I’ll have their heads on a plate if I must. Just tell me and quit wailing like a damsel in distress!"
Oh, Axel, I want nothing more than to tell you right now, but I can’t summon enough courage to cover my shame.
However, soon enough, a furious voice roared from behind us, ruining the moment.
"Don’t let her leave!"
My body tensed and my fingers curled into Axel’s shirt deeper. His chest felt like the safest place in the world... safe enough to save me from this monster.
The bastard hadn’t even realized Axel was here.
His heavy footsteps thundered closer. Before we knew it, the butcher stomped into the main hall, his face still scrunched up in pain.
His one hand was still clutching his crotch. With wide eyes, "I said, don’t let her go!" He thundered.
The workers were frozen, their eyes shifting between me and the butcher with their hands stiff at their sides.
The oblivious butcher crossed his ankles in front of him. "Are you all deaf?! Grab her, you idiots—"
A worker swallowed hard and lifted a shaky finger.
Finally, the butcher looked up.
And his face drained of color.
Axel stood there, broad and immovable, his eyes burning with a kind of silent fury that could make the heart leap into the mouth.
I felt the moment he noticed my reaction—the way my body froze in his arms the second I saw the butcher.
Axel’s grip on me tightened.
He turned to me, silently gritting his teeth. "Why did you flinch?"
The command. The protectiveness in his tone, the sheer masculinity of it all...
It was so sudden and so hypnotizing that I couldn’t answer.
My throat locked up, and the words lodged somewhere between fascination, panic, and shame.
Axel exhaled harshly and, without hesitation, he broke the embrace.
His hands didn’t leave me, though.
One of them moved to my wrist, gripping it firmly—not roughly, but enough to anchor me. Enough to let me know that I had him.
Then, he turned to the rest of the room.
"What happened here? Who made her cry?" His voice was dangerously calm.
I respected the fact that he acknowledged I wasn’t in the right headspace to talk. He didn’t want to stress me into talking.
However, no one answered his question.
Axel’s fingers twitched. His other hand clenched into a fist. He inhaled slowly, his chest rising and falling with eerie control.
I could feel it. He was about to lose it. When he spoke, it was through gritted teeth.
"You have three seconds to talk before I break every single one of your fucking groins."
Dios mio. He was going to do that for me? For ME? A mere Omega?
I still couldn’t figure out or wrap my head around why Axel was so good to me. Was Juana right? Did he really like me? Maybe want me even?
Could Axel be the answer to my problems? Could he be the man in the pack, stupid enough to marry an Omega and save her from the clutches of her father and the entire pack?
Could he be my literal Prince Charming? The thought of it made the butterflies in my tummy sprawl to life.
I could almost hear the jolts of panic shooting through the workers at Axel’s warning. He wasn’t a Beta for no reason.
Only people with high-ranked wolves got into the Alpha council. Not to mention we all knew Axel had the Alpha wolf even if he renounced the position itself.
He wasn’t one to be trifled with. His strength could only be rivaled by those who had the Alpha wolves as well. Not by ordinary werewolves like these ones.
No one moved. None of them even breathed.
Axel’s jaw twitched. "One."
A few of the workers took an instinctive step back, hands moving protectively toward their lower halves.