The Mark of a Beta

twenty- three

Extra Wednesday update! Give me some love :)

Axel's POV

With the lights off and the luminescent crescent moon shining brightly through the blinds, I can clearly see my sleeping mate curled up on my chest. His dark lashes rest against his high cheekbones, and every breath he takes in through his nose makes a cute little sound. It's almost a snore, but not really. It's too soft to be considered that.

I can already tell that the way he's leaning on me will cause his hair to be lopsided when he wakes up. When a soft exhale of air escapes from between his lips, my eyes automatically latch onto his soft, plush lips.

My first instinct with Cooper is always to fuck him. Hard. But unfortunately for me, that's not all that Cooper wants. He wants to talk about feelings. He wants to get to know me. It's strange, because I can listen to him talk for hours and hours about himself, but the moment he turns the tables on me I immediately want to talk about anything else.

I've never been in a relationship before. Yes, I've had sexual encounters- plenty. I'm fairly confident that Cooper isn't a virgin as well. Logically, it makes sense. He's handsome, funny, and a horny teenager. I had my fair share of sex while in high school.

Do I still want to murder his fuck buddies? Hell yes. But I'm sure he feels the same way about my past relationships, if they can even be called that.

Before Cooper, my sex life consisted of all different types of wolves, in all colors, genders, and nationalities. I didn't give a fuck who it was as long as I got to dominate them. It was always at their place, and it never continued overnight.

They never meant anything to me. It was simply a means to an end. I have never had an attachment to the person I was fucking.

Looking at the curly-haired kid on my chest, I know this time is different. All kinds of feelings are tangled in the mangled mess that is my heart. Mushy things that I'm disgusted to know are from my own head.

It's all very strange.

I can't remember a time when I had an attachment to someone in this way. I care very strongly for Grayson, but he's my best friend. The kind of love I feel for him is monumentally different from the kind that is growing between me and my mate.

Because that's the direction things are headed in- love.

Just thinking about the lengths I went to earlier today to ensure his safety, the pleasure I took in ripping his attackers to pieces, should frighten the world. I'm falling over the edge, and the 16-year-old, defenseless boy laying on my chest is the only one who can save me.

~

16 hours earlier

Running is the easy part. I don't have to think about the carefully concealed feelings I keep locked away even from myself. I don't have to keep replaying the look on my mate's face as I walked away from him. His eyes swollen from tears. His shoulders hunched over like he's prey. Like-

My paws hit the ground with more force as I push my body past its limits. If I stop to think, I won't be able to control myself. I'm already struggling more and more these days.

It takes me under an hour to reach the Lunar pack territory. Along the way, I told Grayson to check on my mate and ensure he's doing okay. Grayson did lecture me about shirking my pack duties, but after I explained the situation to him and how I have to kill the men responsible for permanently injuring my mate, he agreed that I had his permission to leave.

Although, I don't care if I have his permission or not. When it comes to my mate, nobody can stop me from doing anything for him.

I reach the forest surrounding his high school after a few more minutes of running. When I came to Cooper's territory in the past, I noticed an error in their defensive patrolling. I noticed that the guards have four hour-long patrol shifts in a row before switching to the new guards. When the shift happens, there is a five-minute period where the guards are adjusting to their new positions. It is also the perfect time to sneak past their borders undetected.