Filed To Story: Destined Bond with My Forbidden Alpha Novel (Alpha Alexander & Selene)
“Disrespectful,” Axel said, looking at Galen.
Galen looked away.
“Arrogant,” Axel continued, looking at Alexander.
Axel took a deep breath and sighed. He turned his back on the two men and walked toward Selene.
“Axel…” she called to him quietly.
He walked past her to the stairs, only shaking his head.
“Send them away,” he said. “You and Bell need to prepare for the rest of your guests. Mom has been working on this reception all day.”
Axel continued up the stairs without another word to Selene or Bell.
It was almost half an hour later that there was a knock at Axel’s door.
He sighed, not ready to have this conversation.
“I don’t want to talk, Selene,” he called.
“It’s not Selene,” Bell called back.
He unlocked the door and returned to his desk without looking at her.
Bell stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She sat down on his bed without a word.
“I brought you something,” Bell said cheerfully.
Axel turned in his chair, to see that Bell held out a Snickers.
He took the candy bar and tipped it in her direction.
“Thanks,” he said, setting it down on the desk.
“You really have given it up, haven’t you?” she asked.
“What?” he asked.
“Chocolate, candy, and anything remotely sugary was part of your obsession.”
“I wasn’t that bad,” Axel sighed.
“Axel, you have stashes hidden all around this house, even in some of the guard posts!” Bell laughed. “The amount of candy you have hidden around this place, it’s like you thought it would disappear one day.”
Axel didn’t respond. He just turned away..
Bell watched him thoughtfully.
“There’s something wrong,” she said. “Tell me what it is.”
He sighed.
“Because I’m not eating candy anymore?” he asked. “Weren’t you always the one telling me it was too much anyway?”
“Yea, but that’s not why you stopped. You’ve never listened to me before.”
“I always listen to you,” Axel replied quietly.
Bell smiled.
“Yea, you usually do,” she said. “But not about the candy.”
Axel sighed.
“Axel,” Bell called to him.
He turned, not quite looking at her.
“I know something is wrong,” she said. “Please, you have always been there for me. Let me be there for you.”
He turned back to his desk. Picking up the candy and picking at the wrapper.
“I can’t,” he said.
“Why not?” she asked.
He shrugged.
Bell sighed.
“Well,” she said as she got up from the bed. “If you change your mind… you know where I am.”
Bell approached the door.
“Do you know about ‘treatments?” he asked, setting the candy back down on the desk. “I mean, the kind with the tea.”
Bell turned back slowly.
“The tea?” she asked. “Are you talking about Bitter Night?”
Axel turned back to look up at her with furrowed brows.
Bell sat back down as she spoke.
“Bitter Night, it’s a plant that blooms only at night. When it does, it leaves a bitter smell in the air around it. But the petals can be ground down into a fine powder. In small doses, it is mixed with tea to alter memories.”
Axel nodded.
“How do you know so much about it?” Axel asked.
“In Autumn, it’s often used as a street drug,” she said. “A lot of people would rather forget the things they have to do to survive.”
“Then, have you ever met someone that had it forced on them?” Axel asked.
“Forced?” Bell asked. She thought about it. “Most people I saw were using it by choice. But I know it was used on some against their will. I only ever saw one or two like that. It was… difficult to witness.”
“Why? What happened to them?” Axel asked, leaning forward in his chair.
Bell noticed his interest, the concern in his eyes. There was more to his questions than he was letting on.
“Axel, what’s really going on?” she asked. “Why are you asking about this?”
He sat back again.
“I had a treatment,” he said after a silent moment.
“What? Why would you do that?” Bell asked, sitting forward. “It’s dangerous!”
“I didn’t know I had it,” he said. “I just found out a few days ago.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“I was ten.”
Bell gasped.
“It was at the first Blood Moon I had ever been to,” he said. “I met someone there, someone important. But there was someone else, and he didn’t like that we were friends. So, he made me drink the tea and forget about her.”
“Oh, Goddess…” Bell whispered.
“I met her again not long ago. I started getting these migraines when I thought about her. It got really bad a few days ago. Peter helped me figure out what was going on, and then he helped me remember.”
“That was so dangerous, Axel!” Bell shouted with concern. “Your memories were locked for so long! Your mind could have collapsed from the shock of it!”
“What was my alternative? Keep living with an empty space in my memory? With this feeling as though some part of me was missing. Like there was this empty space I needed to fill with fucking chocolate!?”
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?