Mated To An Enemy

When Wyatt had come to Axel’s office, he was concerned about what exactly the strange man named Roman was after. He had a bad feeling, and the questions he asked seemed to lead directly to Bell’s removal from Autumn.

When he confirmed the man’s name as Roman, Axel had immediately tried reaching out to both Bell and Galen, but neither was answering their phone.

Wyatt left to check their home, while Axel decided to see if Roman was still in the same building that Wyatt had left him. Or at the very least in the same area. He couldn’t imagine this man would have simply accepted Wyatt’s dismissal and went.

As he got closer, he felt a shift in the air.

He recognized it as Caleb’s power, his presence. It was thick and strong. Axel knew that something must have happened. He hurried toward the source of energy.

Axel saw Caleb take the hit, a double fist to the side of his head that sent him crashing to the ground, likely stunned. Galen fell, having received a backhand as he tried to move toward Caleb.

He turned his attention back to the man that stood between both of his brothers.

Dark hair, well built, an angry smile. He lifted his chin as he turned to face Galen, lying on the ground. And at that moment, his eyes were visible. His burnt orange, flaming eyes.

Axel’s heart quickened as he took in a shaky breath. These were the eyes that haunted Axel’s lost memories.

‘You can play with me.’

His twisted smile, his dark voice.

The boy that had hunted and scarred him. The monster responsible for the small girl with the shattered jaw, for the nightmares that haunted Bell. Someone that even Alice feared. All one person. Roman.

A movement drew Axel’s attention. It was Ashleigh. She sprinted forward, throwing herself over Galen. Roman raised his arms, and Axel growled.

The power flowed out of him as his anger and frustration grew into a cold rage. This bastard had already stolen so much from himself and two of the most important women in his life. He wouldn’t let him touch Ashleigh.

He moved without thought or effort, instinct taking complete control of him. He grabbed Roman’s throat and slammed him into the tree.

“I didn’t know your name back then,” Axel snarled angrily, “but I do now.”

Roman’s eyes moved over Axel’s face.

“Hello, Roman,” Axel’s voice came out thick with rage. “Do you remember me?”

He let out a roar as he gripped Roman’s throat tightly and then threw him to the ground, standing over him as he stared down with the full force of his rage flowing out of him.

Axel grabbed hold of Roman, lifting him like a ragdoll and throwing him at another tree.

Roman slammed against the trunk with a sickening thud. He let out a groan and grabbed tightly to his ribs where he suspected he had a break or two.

The thick, burning cold poured over him, seeping into his skin, his mouth, his lungs.

This man was strong, powerful, and a genuine threat. Roman felt exhilarated.

He found his bearings in his elation. His vision cleared, and his senses returned. Looking up at the man that was stalking over to him, the thick scar, he recognized the boy. The silly child that thought they would be friends.

When Holden had approached Roman at the Blood Moon all those years ago, Roman had been annoyed. Tomas had hidden him away in a room, not wanting to let him too far out of his sight.

Tomas disapproved of Roman’s interests.

On the other hand, Holden had, from time to time, complimented Roman on his skill with the knife.

This boy had been a welcome surprise; a game of hide and seek, make it look like an attack, don’t get caught. Those were Holden’s instructions.

Alice had been an even greater surprise.

This boy had escaped Roman, but he had brought him Alice. So in a way, he was grateful to him. But he was also unfinished business.

Roman took a deep breath.

“I do remember you,” he said. “The way your tears mixed with the blood, thinning it, making it stream down your cheek.”

Axel stopped moving, growling low and steady.

“I’m surprised you managed to save the eye,” Roman grinned.

Axel snarled and charged forward, punching Roman hard in the gut and then again on his cheekbone.

Roman let out a groan and fell to the ground. He growled and pushed through the pain, rising to his feet and huffing.

“I should have killed you that day,” he said. “But we were interrupted.”

Axel clenched his jaw, his hazel eyes glowing brightly as the cold surrounded Roman.

It slipped into his throat, down into his lungs, making it hard to breathe.

Roman’s eyes widened, his body shook, and he was forced to his knees as his lungs burned with the cold and the need for air.

“Where is she?” Axel’s voice was low and dangerous. His eyes burned with the bright glow of cold in the air. His teeth clenched so tightly that his jaw began to ache.

Roman’s shaky hand claw at his throat and chest, searching desperately for an airway.

“Wh…who?” he choked out.

Axel stepped forward, leaning down so his face hovered above Roman. He snatched his throat, squeezing until Roman let out grunts of protest.

“Alice,” Axel hissed.

Roman stared back into the bright angry eyes of this man. He saw rage, he saw desperation, and he saw love.

The fire within the darkest depths of him roared to life, fighting back the cold in his chest, his lungs, and over his body.

This man loved…. Alice?

These people had hidden Bell, and now, this man thought he could take Alice?

Bitter chocolate and chili peppers. Only one person smelled of these things, and yet now that his mind was fighting back against the cold, against the irritation of these meddling fools, he could smell it. It was faint, but it was there all the same.

Roman’s will grew alongside the fire of his rage.

His eyes roamed over the man until they found something familiar. Poking out from behind his ear was a braid. A braid not just made of his golden hair but mixed with a soft brown curl.

The inferno grew until it consumed all of him. Melting away the final bits of frost and cold that held him in place, freeing him from the control of the small Alpha.

Roman roared as he rose to his feet, reaching out and grabbing the small braid, tearing it from Axel’s scalp with one hand as the other used all the force he could muster to punch Axel square in the chest.

Axel crashed to the ground, crying out as the braid was stolen, but having the wind knocked from his lungs on impact with the ground.

Roman did not bother to wait before immediately pouncing on him. He placed his knee to Axel’s throat and held the braid over him.

“Where did you get this?!” he hissed venomously. Angrier than he had been all day. His rage blazing in his eyes. “Who is Alice to you?!”