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For a split second, I looked forward to the title of being his, his mate and Luna, wife, the mother of his children. All because, for once, someone showed up for me when I’d lost all hope. Only for him to prove that he saw what everyone else did and that he never came for me.
His teeth dig into my neck, and a whimper escapes me as I turn it, giving him what he wants. I am done. He might as well take my will, too. Lexa screams at me not to submit to him, knowing I will lose our sons if we do, but I am tired of fighting.
“Say it, or I’ll make you,” Axton growls.
The vibration against my neck makes me shiver as his teeth break my delicate skin. Now he is just proving everything I’ve known to be correct.
All he sees me as is the forsaken Alpha’s daughter. All he sees is what Jake did, and I allowed, to save our sons, in the hope of saving my best friend.
He tried to take my sons, trying to steal the only identity I had left. One identity, one I didn’t realize I desired and longed for so much more: being a mother.
And now he is keeping me from them, stripping another title, a title I can’t live without because I have no fucking clue who I am without it. I have never been me, always lived to another’s expectation instead of my own, and I am now losing that last strip of myself, too.
“Elena…” Axton snarls as Lexa shoves forward, fighting for me when I refuse.
I scream and lash out against his hold. His grip tightens, and my will breaks further, unleashing a tidal wave of everything I’ve felt for months as he roars at her to stand down, forcing his aura over her, and she retreats under its pressure.
Chapter
Sixty-Five
Adam can only hold so much before the foundation begins to crack, before those cracks turn to holes, and eventually, everything floods out. This is my breaking point. I am so damn tired of trying to fill the cracks and plug the holes, tired of trying to hold the pressure in despite knowing it is a losing battle. My foundation didn’t crack. It burst fiercely, angrily, showing exactly how broken I am, showing me how far in over my head I am.
Too busy stopping everyone else from flowing away with the raging waters, not realizing by holding everything in, I was drowning myself because I was the anchor, the one at the bottom, claws dug deep into the earth and hanging on by my teeth.
Not anymore.
Now my flaws splay out for him to pick through further, showing him how weak I am, the facade of strength I’ve always displayed now long gone, and now he can truly see how ugly, tainted, dirty the floors at the bottom are. Axton’s grip falters, the heat of him seeping into me as he presses his body against mine.
“Shh, Elena. Please stop crying. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please look at me,” Axton whispers.
Yet the dam walls have already burst, and nothing he or Lexa says can calm me down. Nothing until it finally stops, until it has nothing else left, leaving nothing but a dry, barren wasteland.
“Elena…” His voice sounds laced with concern.
Yet I know Axton doesn’t care; he only cares for what I have that he wants to take.
Shame washes through me as the anger subsides, the tears stop, and I feel hollow, drained of everything. Yet when I give up, submitting to him, I notice his aura is no longer crushing because he isn’t using it now.
When I open my eyes, I find Khan peering down at me. Lexa whines in my head, having missed him. I missed Khan. Missed my mate.
“He came forward,” I sob, embarrassed at the fool I’ve made of myself.
“No, Axton gave him control,” Lexa murmurs.
Yet I don’t care because Khan is back, the one person who actually wants me. I wrap my arms around his neck in a chokehold, not wanting him to leave, not wanting to give him up just yet.
Even if he is mad, I would take his anger if he just let me hold him for a moment. Khan rolls onto his back, pulling me with him. He’s never had any issues manipulating Axton’s body. For once, I wish it belonged to Khan, but knowing he is in control right now is enough.
His fingers tangle in my hair, I listen to his heart beating and the purr thrumming from his chest, while absorbing their scent to calm me. Khan isn’t like Axton, not to me, anyway. Khan, I could never hate. My soul cries out for his. Some part of me believes it is just because Axton marked me and the flutters of the bond are slowly returning, but I know it is just Khan. Khan is good.
Lexa whines when I feel his rough touch change, his grip loosening as a hand slides up my back and the hand in my hair moves and grips the nape of my neck. I wait for Axton to shove me off, berate me, and demand his sons. He turns his face toward mine, pressing his lips to my cheek.
“Go.”
The word sounds strangled, and I am sure I must have heard him wrong.
“Go, Elena, go home,” he whispers.
