His Isolated Omega Luna

Chapter Twenty One

“You and I need to talk.”

“Gabriel,” Cassandra whispered quietly. “I’ll come with you. Just to talk but… please, don’t say anything else. Let’s just go.”

Cassandra started to tug on her brother's jacket in an attempt to steer him into the apartment before one of them decided to test out exactly why Axel had acquired his alpha status in the first place.

Axel was impulsive and defensive at the best of times, but when the safety of his potential mate had been threatened, he looked positively feral. If Cassandra hadn’t known how sensitive and affectionate Axel really was, she might genuinely have been scared for her life.

The omega imagined Axel could have possessed a very terrible presence indeed if he had accepted his role in society long ago and made the decision to take Cassandra’s virtue on that first night. Cassandra felt sick just thinking about it.

“Axel, please. Give us a few minutes...”

“Fine,” Axel spat out, pushing past Gabriel and knocking hard against his shoulder when he moved by him. Axel looked back at Cassandra, tender concern on his face when he lifted up one arm defiantly and prodded his index finger in their general direction. “But only ‘cause you asked, Cas," Axel added. “I don’t want to upset you.”

Cassandra exhaled a breath in relief when Axel moved away and propped his back up against the wall outside her own door so he could clearly see when they had closed themselves away in the apartment.

Axel had no intention of leaving until they were safely inside.

His heart was still beating wildly behind his ribs and he was struggling to stay away from Cassandra while she looked so desperate for comfort. His arms were folded defensively across his chest.

Gabriel could almost feel the burn of Axel’s searing gaze while he stared at him from under narrowed lids.

Cassandra had no idea how long Axel stayed in the corridor after she slid the key into the lock with trembling fingers and pushed the door open.

They both slipped inside and Axel tapped his fingers restlessly against his arm as he waited. He could feel the tense pull of rigid muscle under his skin, his mind running through potential scenarios in his head about what implications Gabriel’s unexpected, and definitely unwanted, arrival would have for his plan to capture Cassandra’s heart.

Axel had wanted to punch him right in the face for the way he immediately assumed his authority over his little sister as soon as they were together again.

He wondered if Lucas thought of him in the same way. He hoped not.

Everything Axel had read in those letters came flooding back and he found himself resenting this new threat even more. It wasn’t even what he gained from them that bothered him so much.

Gabriel was a rival alpha, but it was a different kind of bond and for the first time in his life, Axel felt lost and insecure.

Gabriel was a brother. Blood. He might not have been able or willing to offer Cassandra the same things as Axel but he was still something warm and familiar. He was safety, and her only link to family and a long forgotten past.

Axel believed in his heart Cassandra had begun to consider him as a mate and he hoped it wasn’t just the whispered promise of good breeding stock that was starting to sway her decision.

He wanted Cassandra to be with him just for him. To love him completely in her own right and consent to their bond as an equal. f**k status and rules and all the other meaningless crap, Axel would never ask for more. He would willingly wait for Cassandra to accept all of that.

Axel had sworn a vow to himself that he would only take her if he was certain Cassandra loved him in return. A girl like her didn't deserve anything less.

Axel growled low in his throat while he started to pace unceasingly outside Cassandra’s apartment. He would rather die than let Gabriel take his future mate away from him after so many years of searching.

***

I hurriedly locked the door behind us and gestured for my brother to go through to the other room.

I knew that my hands were still shaking when I dropped the key on the table and walked through to the kitchen.

I was watching my brother nervously over my shoulder while I started to search for a clean glass so I could offer him a drink of water at least.

“Was that him?” Gabriel asked suddenly, his voice low and compelling. “How long, Cassandra? How long have you known him?”

I looked away when I answered. I could never lie to Gabriel. “Not very long.”

The look of horrified dismay that met my admission was enough to make me defensive. “You don’t know him.” I objected.

Gabriel stared at me in surprise. I rarely spoke out of place and there was a strained edge to my voice that made Gabriel wonder if I was actually holding back a lot more emotion than was evident on my face.

“He’s a good man.” I added in a whisper.

“Cassandra,” Gabriel said firmly.

I stared at the ground and waited in silence. I knew instinctively what it meant when Gabriel said my name like that.

I needed no other sign to show he was deliberately asserting his authority not only as my brother, but also as the alpha male of the family. It was the same tone he had used on the night he told me I had to run away and it made me feel unbelievably nauseous.

The submissive respect for Gabriel’s autocracy had been established many years ago and I knew that whatever he told me to do, I would have to obey without question.

I had no control over the way in which Gabriel could bend me to his will with just that one simple word.

“Yes, sir.”

“You must not allow any man to claim you. Why would I send you away, just to have you fall for someone like that?” I swallowed loudly, but kept my gaze fixed on the floor. I wanted to claw and scream, shout about all the wonderful things Axel had done for me in the short time we had known each other, but I couldn’t seem to speak at all.

“I've spent years trying to make sure you're safe,” Gabriel continued, his voice becoming louder and more venomous with every word that spilled from his mouth. “He’s not worthy.”

I flinched, wondering exactly what Gabriel could possibly mean by that. There was something else hidden in those three little words, yet I had no idea what he could be implying.

I wasn’t special. I even told Axel the same. I believed that in my heart, but Axel must have seen something bright shining in me too.

“I don’t understand,” I said suddenly. Gabriel seemed to hesitate, just for a moment. He shrugged and walked over to the window.

Axel had his back turned to me but I could see his shoulders pull together in a tense movement. Almost like he was making a deliberate effort to compose himself.

I couldn’t see Gabriel's face at all but imagined he was frowning hard while he pretended to study a world outside the glass.

***

Axel had really been trying to remember something from the letters that had been picking at the back of his mind while he paced up and down the corridor, waiting for them to come back out. Suddenly it came to him in an instant, and the fury rose up inside his chest until he could hold it in no longer.

The alpha marched over to Cassandra’s door and banged on it as hard as he could with both fists. As soon as Axel heard the key click in the lock, he forced his way into the apartment and words were falling from his lips before he had enough sense to stop them.

“You knew!” He blurted out, going straight to Cassandra’s side. She looked terrified. “You f*****g knew she was special, and you still sent her out there anyway. What the hell is wrong with you?!”

Gabriel’s eyes flashed with anger when Axel suddenly moved in, crowding against him. He could almost feel the heat from his body searing between them. Gabriel would be damned if he was going to justify his choices to someone Cassandra had only known for a few days, and who probably made most of his life decisions with his d**k.

“I sent her away to protect her from people like you!” Gabriel shouted back.

Cassandra began to shrink behind Axel and clutch at his jacket, peering at her brother from behind Axel’s shoulder with wide eyes. She was so frightened that Axel could feel hot bursts of anxious breath brush against his cheek.

Axel reached behind him and wrapped one arm firmly around Cassandra’s back and pulled her in close, stroking his fingertips up and down her arm to calm her down. Cassandra rubbed her face into the dip of Axel’s shoulder. He smelled wonderful. Strong and protective.

“I knew I should have come sooner. I feared this might happen after you called me.”

“You called him?” Axel asked in disbelief. Cassandra nodded.

“The other night... I was scared, Axel... I didn’t know what was happening to me and Gabriel was the only one I could turn to. He was just trying to help,” Cassandra said softly, hanging her head again.

“Help? Help how, Cas?” Axel asked, a sense of alarm pulling at every fiber of his body.

Gabriel stood up a little straighter and looked Axel up and down.

“To save her,” Gabriel stated, the coldness in his voice suggesting the decision was no longer up for debate. “To stop her from being taken and protect her from God only knows what fate she might be subjected to.”

Axel was staring at Cassandra in desperation. She was completely silent while she stood by his side, eyes cast to the ground. She looked so lost.

“I’ve come to do something I should have done a long time ago,” Gabriel said. He reached for Cassandra and circled her wrist with determined fingers.

Cassandra was dragged helplessly from Axel’s embrace, gasping at the sudden loss of his arm around her. Gabriel pulled her closer and played with Cassandra’s jacket where it was hanging open at the front.

“I’m taking you home.”