The Mark of a Beta

forty- three

I know I've been MIA but I'm back now! I was on break from school and spending time with family and friends and getting a much needed mental break.

News: So, sadly, this is the last official chapter of MOAB. There will be one epilogue posted after this (cooper's graduation among other things). There will be another big announcement after that epilogue is posted, so stay tuned for that! 

~

"What did you do?!" my mate angrily questions me. I figured Axel would be upset when I killed Brenden so quickly and semi-painlessly, but I won't handle having Brenden alive for longer. He almost killed my mate. He needs to be gone from this Earth so we can begin to move on with our lives.

Axel obviously has a drastically different opinion, but I try to explain where I was coming from anyways. "You can't hang on to what he did-"

"I can do whatever the fuck I want," Axel says in a rough voice. His nostrils flare as he steps closer to me, and even though he's only four inches taller, he seems to tower over me. I can feel how pissed he is. "You had no right."

"No right?" I scoff at him, glaring. Our bodies are so close, yet neither one of us makes a move to do anything more than stare angrily at the other. "Axel, you can't just endlessly torture anyone who hurts me. There will be consequences!"

"I can torture, maim, and kill anyone I want."

"Actually, you can't!"

The two of us are silent, both only feet away from a dead body hanging from chains. I shouldn't want to jump his bones, right? What a way to discover one of my kinks is murder... Justified murder, I guess. It sounds bad no matter how I phrase it in my head, but I don't feel as strange knowing that Axel likes my violent side.

I watch in slight horror and fascination as Axel reaches for the dagger protruding from Brenden's still chest and slides it out slowly. He studies the bloody blade, then places it back in the original lineup of weapons. Axel walks back to Brenden's body and presses his hands into the wound. I hear the ripping sound of flesh and look away before I do something terrible like vomit or some shit. It goes on for a minute or so, just the sound of wet thumps and tearing and Axel's violent snarls. I hear a final crack, and then Axel walks up behind me, grabs me by my bicep, and drags me towards the cell door.

"What the hell did you- What the fuck?! Oh my-" I gag as I stare at what used to be Brenden's body. It doesn't even resemble him anymore. For one, he doesn't have a head anymore. He also has claw marks up and down his chest and abdomen. His eyes are on the floor several feet from the detached head, and his heart is on the other side of the room.

"If anyone asks, I killed him."

Axel continues down the hall until we reach the stairs, then he leads us out of the cells. When we're finally in the full light of day, I realize that Axel's hands and forearms are covered in blood- as is my arm where he grips me to drag me alongside him. We walk past pack guards who all try their fucking hardest to ignore their Beta walking out of the prison with bloody hands and a shocked and slightly frightened mate in tow. I realize that he's trying to make it seem like he was the one who killed Brenden, even if this starts a whole other round of rumors on his ruthless nature.

He's taking the credit.

"Axel, I'm not going to let you-"

He turns quickly, too quickly for me to follow his movements. He faces me, both bloody hands grasping at my arms and squeezing them as he pulls me in close. "You can and you will." And then the fucker continues dragging me behind him. He walks at a faster pace than I am comfortable with, so I end up practically jogging behind him so my arm doesn't rip off.