AXEL,,,
"Don't make me take my anger out on you! Why would anyone be supporting themselves on me if they are about to die?! He should have called an ambulance if he was feeling this weak instead of stumbling to a damn pharmacy."
It was supposed to be a private thought, a sharp flicker of irritation surging through Axel's mind, but it explodes out of his mouth, furious and loud.
His voice cuts through the quiet of the store like a blade, brittle and raw as he struggles under the weight of the man who's just collapsed on him.
He tries to push the guy upright, cursing under his breath, his palms slipping against the leather jacket that feels far too warm for this heat.
His chest tightens as something familiar that he started feeling last night creep in again.. a sensation that coils at the base of his spine and climbs without mercy.
The same unbearable rush of heat that had wrecked him last night, the heat that had scrambled his thoughts, dulled his senses, and flooded his body with something unnatural returns with punishing force.
This time it's even more concentrated. It burns up the back of his neck and spreads beneath his skin like a wave of static, making every hair on his arms stand on end.
His fingers begin to sweat, gripping uselessly at the man's arms as his heart rate climbs sharply.
His breath shortens, shallow and uneven, while his head starts to feel heavy and fogged, as though the oxygen is thinning around him.
That strange familiar, animalistic... scent invades his awareness again. It digs under his skin and clouds his thoughts, overwhelming him with its intensity.
With effort, he manages to pull the man up and straighten him against the glass wall, trying to ignore the way his vision pulses at the edges.
As he struggles to keep him upright, his eyes catch the man's face, something about it rings too close to reignition.
A detail at the edge of memory itches at the back of his mind, refusing to come forward. His brain claws for recognition even as instinct screams at him that he's seen him before.
The man's head tilts slightly, his lashes fluttering for a second like he's trying to stay conscious.
There's a fresh reddish wound on his forehead, the kind that looks like it should sting like hell. His body trembles lightly, like it's fighting to stay grounded.
Then suddenly, right in front of Axel's eyes, the wound vanishes. It fades as though it was never there, skin knitting together with unnatural speed until his forehead is clean and untouched, not even a scar remaining.
Axel jerks back, hands slipping off the man's shoulders as if he's been burned.
His entire body recoils instinctively, breath catching in his throat. But before he can make sense of what he's seeing, the man lunges forward with renewed strength, grabbing Axel's arm and pulling him close again.
This time, his eyes are open.. alive and alert.
There's no sign of weakness anymore. The pallor is gone. His presence now feels more commanding than sick, more like a predator than a victim.
For a beat, Axel freezes. The man looks nothing like someone on the verge of collapsing now. Was he pretending to be sick?!
That sudden shift, how someone near death could recover that quickly makes Axel's chest tighten with dread.
He opens his mouth, then closes it again, too stunned to say anything. His eyes flick up despite himself, tracing over the stranger's face.
Grey eyes, sharp and unblinking, framed by long dark lashes and thick nicely shaped brows. His jawline is strong, masculine, and unmistakably defined.
His dark hair falls to his neck in a way that frames his features, unruly but perfectly good.
"Remember me?" the man asks, his voice rough from exhaustion, yet something else is tangled in it, an undercurrent of restrained anger, and a strange kind of relief that doesn't make sense.
Axel blinks, thrown completely off guard. "What?"
The man doesn't answer. Instead, he grabs Axel's wrist again, just like last night and pulls him forward with enough force that Axel stumbles to keep up.
Fenris's steps are sure now, every stride purposeful and confident, like he now knows what he's doing.
Axel's heart pounds harder in his chest, because just from the way this guy is dragging him with zero hesitation, he suddenly knows. He remembers... The realization crashes through him with sickening weight,,, this is the man from last night.
The one who had pulled him like he owned him. The one who had taken him home, the one who had looked so wealthy that had left him too stunned to resist.
Just from the man's expression... cold, unreadable, and fixed directly on him, he knows this isn't going to end well.
How did this man find him?
No one should've been able to.
No one knows that the so-called Dancing Fairy is actually a man. So then.. who is this man? How did he manage to know him?!
Who did he mess with last night?! Just what kind of man did he get himself tangled with?
Did he just make the same mistake all over again, letting himself get caught up with another dangerous, controlling, powerful man, someone he won't be able to run from, just like the one he's already trapped with?
The thought hits hard, like a weight slamming into his chest. He doesn't have the strength to do this again. He doesn't have the freedom to make another wrong move.
But judging from the look on that man's face, it might already be too late.
"Where are you taking me?! What do you mean, 'remember me'? I don't know what you're talking about!" he yells, trying to wrench his arm away.
But it's no use. The man doesn't respond, doesn't slow, doesn't even glance at him. Axel's words bounce off him like they mean nothing.
In seconds, he's shoved into the passenger seat of a sleek car, the door slamming shut beside him.
Axel's breath comes faster. He clutches the seat. Who am I fooling... Of course he knows it's me. There's no denying it.
"What have I done?" he mutters under his breath, panic crawling beneath his skin. When the man gets into the driver's seat, he blurts out, "Okay, fine! I'll return everything I took, I swear! I didn't mean to steal anything... I was just curious. They looked good, and I thought I could bring them back later. Look, the thing is, I'm a content creator, and I needed something expensive like the watch for my content. I just wanted to show off the trophy, that's all. I'm not a thief, I swear!"
There's still no response. Only the tension building like thunder in the air. The man's knuckles are bone-white against the steering wheel, fingers curled so tightly they might snap.
Then finally he snaps. "Why did you pretend to be a woman and let me get you in my bed?!" His voice erupts, deep and furious, bouncing off the car walls with startling volume.
Disgust twists his features as he turns to Axel, expression hard. The memory of what happened, of who he touched, burns like acid in his mind.
Axel flinches, heat flooding his face. "Okay! You can't blame me for anything that happened last night! I never asked you to take me home. I was just minding my own business. You're the one who dragged me there, remember? I didn't lie to you or pretend to be anything. I need to get out of here, it's too hot..."
He stops himself from speaking shifting uneasily.
Fenris's eyes stay on him, heavy with accusation, but somewhere inside, he knows this person is right. He did drag him home himself.
But even as that flicker of guilt passes through him, his gaze sharpens as Axel keeps shifting again and again in the seat, pulling at his sweater, his body glistening with sweat.
The air in the car grows thick, every breath Axel takes sounding more labored, more desperate. And worse, the way he's sighing, it sounds like someone growing in need.
"What's happening to me?" Axel breathes, fingers tugging at the hem of his sweater, pushing it up to cool his skin.
The sight hits Fenris like a blow to the chest. Heat races down his spine. He snaps his head away, forcing his eyes to the window, but it doesn't help.
His wolf stirs, snarling at the denial to look, clawing against the cage of his control.
"Put it down," Fenris growls, voice low and strained, trying to sound firm but failing.
Is he being affected by my pheromones? Is it triggering his heat?! Fenris thinks, struggling to keep himself steady. Then that only means he isn't human… he's an omega.
Then why has he been pretending this whole time? Pretending he couldn't feel their bond from the very beginning, even now?
Or is he just doing what he does best? Playing around. Seducing men. Toying with them like it means nothing?!