Page 25 of The Alpha's Stolen Mate

The right thing should have been to spend the night comforting my Mate after what she had just gone through and the next day I should have had a conversation with Axel, telling him about the Mating bond and warning him that if he ever treated Summer with disrespect again, there would be hell to pay.

But over this past month, I’d barely seen Axel. He’d been extremely secretive, and he was never home. The times I’d seen him, our parents were always around. It had never felt the right time to blurt out that my Mate was his ex-girlfriend.

“Come on, Gabriel. Open up,” Axel said through the door. “It’s graduation night! Joshua’s having another party. Just because you’re in an arranged marriage doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun.”

Disgust crawled over me. How could he be thinking about parties and girls right now? As far as he knew, the woman who he had been considering marrying a mere month ago was still lying in a hospital bed.

“If you don’t open up, I’m coming in! You’re going to that party tonight instead of being your usual boring self,” my brother called. “Just because you're Mom and Dad's golden boy, doesn't mean you can't have a little bit of fun.” There was an edge of bitterness in his voice.

Typical Axel. He had been MIA for a month, but when there was a big party, he would be the first one there and the last to leave. And he wanted to drag me with him.

“Hold on, Axel!” I shouted.

“I’m coming in there in five…four…” he began to count down, as if this were some sort of game.

When the knob to my door turned, my stomach fell to the floor.

I hadn’t locked the door.

Shit!

If Axel found Summer in here, he would know something was going on between us. Would he be vindictive enough to tell the Elders that Summer knowingly put the pack in danger? I’d like to think he wouldn’t, but I couldn’t say for certain. And I wasn’t going to take a gamble on Summer’s safety.

Axel’s words from one week ago ran through my head.

Don’t worry Gabriel, if someone were to stand in the way of your marriage to Olivia, I’d kill them myself.

Icy fear washed over me.

Would Axel actually kill her? Would the rage of finding his first serious girlfriend in my room and the fact that Summer and I had risked the arranged marriage deal that would protect our pack make him snap?

Would he actually hurt Summer? Attempt to kill her?

Axel’s insistent pounding on my door made my head ache.

“Three…” Axel said, dragging out the word.

There was a sour humor in his tone that made me sick to my stomach.

“Summer, you have to go.”

“But I have something really—"

I cut her off as my brother shouted “Three!” and the doorknob continued to turn.

Don’t worry Gabriel, if someone were to stand in the way of your marriage to Olivia, I’d kill them myself.

Kill them myself…

Alarm bells went off inside my head, and the only thought in my mind was to protect Summer. I had to get her out of my room no matter what.

All of this took me half of a second to decide. The knob was still turning slowly.

“There’s no time,” I whispered and grabbed her shoulders, looking deep into her eyes. “As your future Alpha, I’m ordering you to leave.”

“Gabriel, there's something I have to tell you. I don't give a shit about Axel finding me in here.”

There was a determined set to her jaw and I realized I had to do something drastic.

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