Mated To An Enemy

He lay on the bed, staring up at the stone ceiling.

“How do you like your room?” Axel asked from the door of the cell.

“It’s quite nice,” Granger replied, turning his head with a smile. “Thank you.”

Axel smiled back with cold eyes.

“There seems to be a lot of bustling around today. Something big must be happening,” Granger said, sitting up and tilting his head as he spoke. “Is it a party?”

“Yes,” Axel nodded. “A celebration.”

“Oh? For anyone I know?”

“It’s yours,” Axel said. “Tonight is the full moon. We are preparing for your going away party.”

Granger clenched his jaw but kept his gaze focused on Axel.

“How sweet,” he said through gritted teeth. “And here I thought you didn’t care anymore.”

“I care, Granger,” Axel said, a coldness seeping into his tone. “I care quite a lot about what happens to you.”

“I’m touched,” Granger smiled.

Axel opened the door to the cell, stepping inside.

“You seem different now,” Granger said._.

Axel closed the door.

“All puffed up and proud. Just because you’re Alpha. Well, junior alpha,” Granger chuckled. “Daddy still does most of the heavy lifting, right?”

Axel turned to face Granger.

“Why don’t you cover it anymore?” Granger asked, moving his hands over his face to indicate Axel’s scar. “It’s really distracting, very gross. I can barely look at you, honestly.”

“Are you having fun?” Axel asked.

“Kind of, yea,” Granger smiled.

“Good,” Axel replied, “I am glad that in these last moments of your life, you continue to prove how worthy you are of what’s to come.”

Granger’s smile fell as he clenched his jaw.

“You never thought I was good enough,” he growled.

Axel leaned down and met Granger’s eyes.

“You never were.”

Granger snarled and lunged for Axel when suddenly he felt a pressure against him, as though he were trying to move through a thick sludge pushing against his body.

He looked up at Axel, a slight glow around the eyes. His presence was pressing down on Granger, forcing him to his knees.

Granger’s insecurity and rage burned even hotter, and he fought back against Axel. But unlike the previous times with Wyatt, he couldn’t fight back. Even the look on Axel’s face had such a level of

calm that it only increased the panic Granger was starting to feel.

“You never deserved Ashleigh or our lost sister,” Axel said. “But there was a time that I thought you did.”

Granger clenched his jaw, unable to do anything else but kneel before Axel and listen.

“I considered you my brother,” he continued. “I trusted you. With my family, my sister, and our people. I was going to make you my Beta. The leader of the South.”

Axel lowered himself to sit eye to eye with Granger.

“And then you tried to kill me, you let monsters attack Winter, you killed Renee….” Axel took a deep breath. “I never knew you, did I?”

The pressure Granger was feeling lessened until it was gone entirely. He lifted his head to Axel, whose eyes had returned to normal.

‘Heh,’ Granger laughed to himself. ‘Junior alpha, barely able to hold his power.’

“The only one that ever mattered was her,” Granger spat. “The only person on this worthless planet I have ever cared about is Ashleigh!”

“Where did the monsters come from, Granger?” Axel asked.

Granger smiled.

Axel repeated his question.

“Why should I tell you?” Granger asked. “Will you let me go if I do?”

“No,” Axel replied immediately. “Honestly, I don’t care if you tell me. I’ll find out without you. But now, at least I can tell your father I gave you one last chance to be worthy of his concern.”

Granger scoffed and then smiled.

“Have Ashleigh come and ask. I’ll tell her,” he said.

Axel chuckled.

“You don’t exist to her anymore, Granger,” Axel said. “She’s not coming here. You won’t ever see her again.”

“I am part of her,” Granger growled. “I am her mate.”

“No,” Axel countered. “Caleb is.”

Granger snarled angrily.

“You can’t possibly understand what we have,” Granger said. “She feels me. She needs me just as much as I need her. But, you’ll see, she couldn’t kill me in the cave and won’t let me die today.”

Granger smiled to himself.

“I do understand, Granger,” Axel said quietly. “The need, the desire, the longing. I understand it well.”

Granger looked at Axel carefully.

“I have a secret, Granger…I have met my mate,” Axel smiled, tilting his head to the side. “And so have you.”

Granger swallowed, sensing the danger in Axel’s words.

“I found her again after you saw her last….”

Axel’s eyes swirled with darkness while the glow around them grew brighter. Granger tried to move back but found himself blocked by the bed.

“You remember her, right?” Axel asked. “My mate, Alice?”

Granger gasped as the oxygen was sucked out of his lungs. His eyes widened, and a deep panic spread over him like wildfire. He tried desperately to take in a breath, but he couldn’t. His eyes darted back and forth, and his body was utterly useless.

Axel stared at Granger, his eyes glowing brightly.

“You shattered her mind, Granger,” Axel said. “Left her writhing on the ground drowning in her own madness.”

The pressure was building in Granger’s chest, and the need for oxygen was getting more and more intense by the second.

“You had no idea that she would find me, that being together would help her mind settle. To quiet enough for her to survive what you did,” Axel continued. Then, his demeanor changed, and his tone grew sad. “She was fine, healing. She would have regained everything if we stayed together. She would have returned with me, and we would be happy.”

Granger’s entire body burned, ached, and begged for oxygen.

“But you had taken Ashleigh and all those children,” Axel growled. “So, my Alice exchanged herself to the devil to find you. I don’t know what will happen to her or if I’ll ever see her again.”

The hold on Granger was dropped, and he fell forward to his elbows, gasping and coughing frantically for air.

“I have somewhere more important I need to be,” Axel said as he stood up. “I will see you in just a few short hours.”

Axel turned to leave the room but then turned back once more.

“I just wanted you to know, Granger. That I will enjoy every moment you suffer,” Axel stated. “And I will not let you die before you feel every single ounce of agony you have put others through.”

Axel turned and left the cell.

Granger remained on the ground, taking in shallow breaths as his body recovered from the shock of Axel’s power.

He held himself and whispered the same words again and again.

“She feels me, she needs me, she won’t let me die.”

***

The morning had brought Galen and Caleb to Winter. They were quickly escorted to Fiona and informed of the schedule for the day and night.

The afternoon was filled with the final preparations.

It had been many years since the arena had been used. Even longer since it had been used for this purpose.

Corrine had seen to the cleanup and the assembling of the gallows herself. Ensuring there would be no mistakes, no complications, no interruptions.

When the moon finally rose in the sky, every eye in Winter turned to greet her. For one purpose or another.