His Isolated Omega Luna

Chapter Thirty Seven

Axel watched Lucas make a hasty retreat down the corridor. He was going to pick up Gabriel, so they could leave together. Axel couldn’t shake the horrible feeling of unease coiling in the pit of his stomach. He gripped the edge of the doorway to stop himself shouting something he would probably regret.

Lucas looked back over his shoulder, just once.

Axel closed the door and flicked the lock back up so they wouldn’t be disturbed again, just in case he could persuade Cassandra to try something else while Axel had caught her in such an unexpectedly responsive mood.

He had no idea why Lucas and Gabriel would go back into town together. It must be something to do with Cassandra, but Axel was too distracted by the beautiful omega to give it much thought. He was still glowing inside from what they did earlier. Axel wasn’t complaining, but he wasn't really sure why Cas suddenly decided she wanted to be touched like that.

Despite all his efforts to reassure Cassandra there was nothing wrong with being a little different, she was still struggling to overcome many years of self-loathing and paralyzing fear. Maybe she was just so desperate for relief from all the seductive touches and tongue-tangling kisses they shared that day, she couldn’t fight it anymore.

Cassandra was starting to believe she could trust Axel completely to be gentle with her body and her heart.

Axel walked back through to the bedroom to see Cassandra curled up in the same position he left her in earlier. She was still naked, sighing deep satiated breaths into her pillow. Axel leaned up against the door, silently watching Cassandra’s chest rise and fall in peaceful slumber.

Axel took a precious moment to admire every flawless curve of that pale omega skin. His heart filled with something dangerously consuming and Axel never wanted anything as much as he wanted to keep Cassandra.

A smile graced his lips when Cassandra stirred, reaching out for her alpha in her sleep. Her eyes were still closed, but she was pawing aimlessly at the sheet next to her where Axel should have been.

Her fingers stretched out, but all she could feel was an empty space beside her. Cassandra’s eyes fluttered open and even in the dim light of the room, Axel could see a wash of perfect blue drowning his senses and pulling him in.

There was something so powerfully intoxicating about the way Cassandra could manage to say so much without even opening her mouth.

Axel was by her side in an instant. They were suddenly reaching desperately for each other. Cassandra wrapped herself around Axel and held him close. Axel kissed the top of Cassandra’s head and smoothed one hand over her back.

“You alright?” Axel asked quietly, caressing her softly.

“I’m fine,” the omega answered. Axel couldn’t see her face, but he felt her cheek twitch against his shoulder when she yawned and Cassandra closed her eyes again. “Thank you.”

Axel wasn’t sure if the thanks were for the s*x or just for asking how she was.

Newly acquired insecurities had started to eat away at him every time Axel doubted he was good enough to deserve Cassandra’s love. Gabriel’s thoughtless comment questioning his worth had been stuck in the back of his head ever since… maybe he should put that theory to the test and let Cassandra be the one to decide if it was true.

“Cas?” Axel asked hesitantly. “I know I’m not the best with words and stuff, and I don’t exactly wear my heart on my sleeve...”

Cassandra was waiting for Axel to finish, rapid pulse suddenly thumping against her. She didn’t have to wait very long.

“Well I didn’t. Not before I met you, anyway,” Axel laughed nervously, trying to work past the feeling of total helplessness whenever he thought about how seamlessly Cassandra had smashed all his carefully crafted defenses into tiny pieces and carved a special place in his heart. It could never be filled without her. “I just wanted to tell you how much you mean to me.”

Axel tilted Cassandra's face up towards him, the words tumbling out before he could put together a more beautiful sentence. Axel had to get out everything he longed to say since the moment they met. It all came rushing out anyway. Even though Axel knew it wasn’t really the way he would have liked to tell Cassandra he had fallen in love with her, the truth came from deep inside.

Cassandra just let Axel’s words flow over her, bathing her in hope and comfort. Her eyes started to mist over again, so Axel just held her tighter. “You know, the first time I saw you, I knew you were the one I would want to be with for always...” Axel tapped his fingers against Cassandra’s arm. “I know I’m not exactly everything you could hope for in a mate, but I’m willing to give myself to you completely, if you ask for it.”

Cassandra could feel Axel take a breath, holding it long after he finished pouring his heart out to the woman he wanted to claim forever. She never thought she would want to hear something like that, but it tempted her to abandon everything she once held dear and let Axel just smother her with love.

Every natural instinct was pulling at her conscience.

Cassandra never intended to accept the place society had tried to force on her. She had spent most of her life fighting it, but she needed Axel so much, not even bothering to deny it in her own head anymore. Every time that stupid little voice of reason popped into her thoughts, it just sounded hollow and disingenuous. Cassandra had never been touched like that before… and she wanted more.

“I want that Axel... really I do,” Cassandra started gently. Axel tensed when he suspected the other half of that sentence began with a ‘but’ and it wasn’t going to be something he wanted to hear. Axel had just bared his soul, but nothing happened. Cassandra didn’t seem able to speak at all when Axel was so close and warm.

“Cas, you can say anything to me. I won’t be mad.” Axel’s eyes were open and honest.

Cassandra knew how much he meant it.

“I think I’ve just spent so long running and hiding, I don’t know how to do anything else. Be anything else. I don’t really know who I am, or if I can ever be more than I am, if that makes any kind of sense,” she brushed the back of one hand across her shining eyes. “You deserve so much better, Axel. I’m so scared all I'll end up being to you is a terrible disappointment...” Cassandra admitted at last.

Axel quickly pushed himself up.

“Cas,” Axel stuttered, shuffling up the bed until he was sitting back and resting his ass on his heels. He had no idea Cassandra still felt like that. Axel had tried so hard to show her she didn’t have to be afraid anymore.

Axel was going to be her protector - the light that would lead her away from the darkness of her most terrifying nightmares and set her free. He couldn’t pretend he didn’t know what it was like to spend your whole life thinking you were worthless.

It stared back at him from the mirror every morning.

Axel felt his stomach twist in sympathy when he folded his arms around Cassandra, hugging his dearest so tightly she could hardly breathe. Axel was covering her face and hair with devoted kisses. “Don’t ever think that. You’re everything to me...” Axel whispered, between the gentle press of his lips against the skin of his perfect mate, making sure he was looking straight into those beautiful eyes. “…and you always will be.”