Runaway Mate

Chapter 20

Axel

As soon as the lights had dimmed and basically thrown the room into complete darkness, everyone seized their conversation and there was a hushed silence. The excitement of everyone sitting around Axel was thick in the air. All eyes were staring towards the stage as the stage lights slowly faded on.

Axel groaned to himself again and quickly downed the rest of his drink, waiting for the torture to begin. He looked around wildly for their waitress to try and order another ten drinks in preparation for the performance he knew he was going to hate, but she had completely vanished and there was no sign of anyone behind the bar either. Axel couldn’t believe he was about to sit through this stage performance when he was still sober, he wanted to be ten times drunker when it began.

Leon really wasn’t helping either. For some reason, Axel could feel him pacing around in the depths of his mind; restless and anxious. He must hate the idea of having to sit through the lounge act that was about to begin too, he thought.

The curtains slowly parted and the music began to play, circling throughout the room. As soon as the music started, one of the performers began to sing. And it was a guy! Axel couldn’t believe his luck! He was hoping for it to at least be a girl performer, so he could be somewhat distracted; not that any girl could ever hold a candle to his beautiful mate. But a guy!?

He groaned again as the guy slowly came forward to the centre stage singing. He had a good voice and Axel somewhat recognised the song he was singing; he was sure some of the she-wolves in the pack house had been playing this exact song for a while now; but he knew this night was going to feel a whole lot longer as he had absolutely no interest in watching this guy sing and dance about, so what was the point?

Axel placed his empty tumbler on the table, after making sure there was not a single drop of whiskey left behind, and slowly rose from his seat. He was careful not to make too much noise and draw attention from the guy singing. He quickly glanced over at Oscar to tell him they were leaving, but he was far too absorbed watching the performance and his eyes seemed dazzled by the lights and sound. Axel felt a little guilty making them leave when his Beta was clearly enjoying himself; he decided to let him stay and leave by himself.

Axel quickly pulled out his credit card and put it on the table, before mind-linking Oscar.

‘Hey, I’m gonna head. You stay and enjoy yourself, tonight’s on me!’

He saw Oscar jump from the sudden voice in his head and then he tore his eyes away from the stage and looked over at Axel with a confused expression.

‘But we just got here!’ Oscar moaned over the link.

‘Yeah, but this is really not my thing.’ Axel shrugged, fully standing now. ‘You enjoy yourself, let your hair down.’ He turned to leave.

‘But…’ Oscar started to continue his complaining when something stopped him.

Axel froze with his back to the stage, his eyes widening to the size of saucers and Leon began to yip and howl excitedly in his mind. He inhaled deeply and breathed in the one scent he had longed to smell for years, winter berries and blossoms, it was like a drug and he wanted to inhale it deeper, right from the source.

Then he heard it, the most melodious voice he ever heard began to sing instead of the man. It was beautiful and just hearing it made Axel tremble from head to toe with excitement. He whipped back around to face the stage, his excitement at its peak at the very idea of catching a glimpse of the woman the voice belonged to. But there was no one there, the guy was still on stage and the female voice was still singing but she wasn’t there.

He looked around frantically, searching for the source of the voice and heavenly scent. Just as the music began to pick up, there was more movement behind the curtain and she appeared. Axel’s whole body coursed with electrical currents as he laid eyes on her, slowly advancing towards centre stage towards her duet partner.

She was wearing black heels, her legs were luscious and bare all the way up to her mid-thigh. Her torso was wrapped in a tight, black dress that left little to the imagination and easily flaunted the size of her breasts, as well as showing off her cleavage. Her hair was long and a dark, velvety red colour and she had it down, which helped accentuate her curvy body.

But when his eyes landed on her face he felt time freeze all around him, he could no longer even hear the lyrics she was singing. There was no one else in the room, or the planet; it was only the two of them as he looked into the eyes he was afraid he would never see again. He gazed longingly into her beautiful sapphires, never wanting to look away from them, as his wolf called out the one word that made his heart sing.

‘Mate!’

It was her, she was here! Her hair was longer and she had changed the colour again, but it was her! He inhaled her addicting scent again and it only confirmed that it was really her. She was right in front of him and he even had the honour of getting to hear her sing with her melodic voice.

Slowly he lowered himself back onto his seat, never taking his eyes away from his breath-taking mate; he was terrified if he looked away she would disappear again and he would never get another chance to be with her. He trained his eyes on only her and waited for her to look back at him, to notice him and then he would run to her and hold her in his embrace and never, ever let her go again. He would protect her from anything and everything; no harm would ever befall her, never!

The male on stage began to sing alongside Axel’s mate, and then as the music picked up they began to dance with one another, twirling and spinning, hands touching and the guy even had the nerve to lift her at one point. Axel did not like that one bit! No one should be allowed to touch his mate, especially another male! How dare he touch what was his!

He let an angry growl escape his lips and gripped the edge of the table to stop him from launching himself onto the stage and ripping the cretin’s hands away from his mate. He felt Oscar nudge him nervously after his growl. He didn’t look his way and kept his eyes trained on his mate, but Axel got the message. He had to control himself and he had to keep Leon at bay as well; he could already feel his wolf scratching in his mind trying to fight for control so he could be reunited with his mate. But if Axel let him, Leon would not care about anything and would probably mark and mate her right on the stage and that would terrify her. He didn’t want her to be afraid of him anymore, he wanted to comfort her and see her smile when she saw him, so he knew he had to keep calm and under control; which was growing more and more difficult as he watched her dance elegantly across the stage with another man and he could still smell her mouth-watering scent surround him.

Before he managed to lose his sanity completely, the song began to slow down nearing the end. She slowly stepped away from her partner and forward towards the edge of the stage and looked straight at Axel. He felt his heart beat faster and louder as the blood rushed around his veins.

‘She’s looking at us!’ Leon squealed excitedly.

But Axel ignored him and was too busy staring right back at her, letting his emerald eyes convey how much he loved her already and how he was only looking at her. But she wasn’t reacting, she continued to sing the sad ending to their song and the lyrics were breaking his heart as he stared up at her.

Suddenly, he heard Oscar’s voice though the mind-link again.

‘Axel, she can’t see us! The stage lights are too powerful for her to see anyone; I think she can only see dark outlines of everyone!’

Of course! She was looking in his direction but she couldn’t actually see him, the damn stage lights would be blocking him out from her vision. He was a bit relieved, it gave him the upper hand and meant he could approach her when she finished before she spotted him and ran from him again.

Leon whimpered at the idea of their mate running from them again, but Axel assured him he wouldn’t let her get away this time and they would be together soon.

The lights faded with the music until the stage was plunged into darkness again and the customers within the bar cheered and clapped for the performers. Axel didn’t want it to end, he wanted to continue watching her sing and grace the stage before him. It felt like she was singing only for him; he had blocked out everyone else in the room.

Luckily, and logically, it was not the end of her performance. She continued to entertain him with her angelic voice as she sang and danced and Axel watched her, never taking his eyes from her like a lovesick pup. He didn’t like that her male partner was also still singing and dancing with her, but he chose to ignore him and concentrate on her instead. He wasn’t quite sure why, but the more he saw the partner the less threatened he felt by him, he knew he could easily rip the man to shreds, but there was something he couldn’t quite put his finger on that just told him that he was no threat to either Axel or his beautiful mate.

The hours flew by and before he knew it, they had performed their last duet and the curtains closed, making her vanish from sight. He instantly panicked, he was in such a daze from watching her that he had forgotten to run to her the moment her last song ended. He cursed and leapt from his chair, looking around for the stage door, hoping to see her leave from it.

The lounge was emptying and she still didn’t appear. He spotted what appeared to be the door backstage and instantly began to stride towards it. He heard Oscar call out something to him, but he was far too focused on his goal to pay any attention. He was about to reach for the handle when a humongous mass of muscles stepped in his way. The guy was taller and broader than Axel, he stood with his arms crossed and a stern expression plastered on his grim face.

‘Troll!’ Axel realised. He knew trolls were not to be taken lightly as they were extremely strong and powerful and once they started fighting, the only thing that generally stopped them was the death of their target. But this troll was standing between Axel and his mate! He didn’t give a flying f**k whether he was a troll or a demon, he was seeing his mate!

“Move!” He demanded, through gritted teeth, doing his best to stop Leon from bursting through and ripping the troll's head off.

“I don’t think so, Wolf!” The troll spat back at him, shaking his small head.

Axel could feel his eye twitch, as he tried to reign in his rage at being told no!

‘Rip his f*****g head off!’ Leon yelled inside his mind, and Axel was honestly tempted. But he didn’t think Nessa would appreciate walking out from behind the stage and ruining her heels in filthy troll’s blood.

“Move, now!” Axel tried again, this time with his Alpha tone.

“Not gonna happen!” The troll replied immediately, not the least bit affected by the Alpha command.

Axel let out a deep and very loud growl, which caught the attention of the remaining customers and servers. From his peripheral vision he saw their little pixie waitress reappear and make her way over; curious as to the commotion her customer was creating. He also felt Oscar approach and stand behind him, ready to back his Alpha in this fight.

“What’s going on here?” A new voice suddenly appeared, coming from the stage.

Axel turned to see who it was and watched as the guy who had been singing with his mate jumped off the stage; now dressed in different, more leisurely looking clothes. He had a confused expression as he approached them and when he was within reach, Axel caught hold of the singers' scent and his eyes widened.

‘He’s a wolf!’ Leon warned, growling furiously in his mind.

Their mate had been singing and dancing around with another wolf! His blood boiled even more as his fury rose, he was the only wolf who was supposed to touch her, he was the only creature allowed to touch her, period!

“This wolf is trying to get backstage!” The troll grunted to the singing wolf, who looked even more confused.

“Why?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I want to see her!” Axel seethed, how dare this mutt ask why!

“Who?” He had the audacity to ask.

‘Who else!?’ Leon huffed. ‘We want to see mate!’

“The girl who was singing with you!” He answered. He was careful not to mention that she was his mate. If this bozo went and warned her before Axel could get to her, she might run and he couldn’t risk losing her again.

“Siren?” He asked, as realisation began to dawn on his face. “Sorry, Siren doesn’t meet fans.” He apologised.

‘He thinks we’re some sort of groupie!’ Leon sounded aghast.

‘Well, we are kind of.’ Axel mused. ‘I am her biggest fan and I can’t wait to get to know her a lot more intimately!’ Leon howled in agreement, suddenly not minding being considered Nessa’s groupie.

“She’s not here anymore either, Siren’s already left.” The Wolf singer continued.

“What!?” Axel yelled. He’d missed his chance!

But she never left through the door. He had watched it carefully waiting for her. And then it dawned on him, they most likely had a backdoor so they could avoid crazy fans.

“Where does she live?” He asked. All three of them looked shocked that he would even ask that question, but Axel didn’t care. She was his mate and he had more right than anyone to know where Nessa was staying.

“I can’t tell you that!” The Wolf singer gasped, looking over to the troll for back up; who’s small eyes began to narrow at Axel.

“Tell me!” He demanded, he couldn’t let her slip through his fingers again!

“God, if you’re that obsessed why don’t you just come back tomorrow night!” The little pixie waitress finally chimed in to the conversation. Axel turned to look at her, she had her hands on her hips and looked extremely annoyed and irritated.

“Tomorrow?” He raised an eyebrow at her.

“Yah, Siren is gonna be singing in The Basement with Ziggy and Ursa tomorrow night and she tends to break the rules and dance with the crowd when she gets drunk enough!” The pixie shrugged, like this was the most casual thing to say to a stranger.

“Flit!” The Wolf singer scolded her for leaking the information.

“What!?” Flit the pixie scowled. “It’s better than him trying to fight Alphie and break the backstage door down! Or would you rather we all brawl with this wolf, Lunarr?”

The Wolf singer, Lunarr, didn’t answer and just narrowed his eyes at her.

Axel thought about what Flit had said and realised going to the place she told him about, 'The Basement', would probably be a better strategy than trying to tear the place down searching for her. He could surprise her and catch her off guard and keep an eye on her. The pixie said she’d be drunk and if she was drunk then she would be vulnerable and Axel couldn’t let anyone near her in that state! He had to protect her!

Although Leon whined at the idea of having to wait another twenty-four hours before he was reunited with his mate, he agreed it was the better plan. They would just have to stay strong for a bit longer.

Axel took a deep breath to calm himself and then turned to the pixie, Flit.

“Thank you, I will be back tomorrow.” He thanked her. She looked a bit taken aback but nodded in response.

He shot one last warning glare at Lunarr, hoping to put the fear in him before he turned on his heels and began to march towards the elevator.

In twenty-four hours he would have her, she would be in his arms safe and sound. They would have their mate and nothing was going to stop them! Though Axel knew the next twenty-four hours were going to be the longest he had ever experienced, the prize for his patience was totally worth it!