Page 9 of The Alpha's Stolen Mate

Quickly, I told him about how the four of us couldn't agree on the terms of the arranged marriage while also revealing my fears of the Alpha King being corrupt in some way.

Axel's eyes flashed with an emotion I couldn't read, and then he shrugged.

“Well, I looked Olivia up online, and at least she's hot. If your dad can cough up the cash, at least you’ll be married to a blonde bombshell. And you'll be Alpha,” Axel said with a hint of jealousy in his voice.

What the hell?

My body burned with an anger so intense it felt like someone had lit me on fire.

“I can't believe you just said that,” I told him through gritted teeth. “Comments like those just show you aren't ready to be engaged.”

Axel took a step back and raised his hands.

“Woah, calm down. I was just joking.”

You don't deserve Summer.

Sadly, that wasn't the first time that the thought had crossed my mind. But was I thinking it because I wanted Summer for myself? Did that mean that I didn't deserve her either?

“Are you coming to Joshua's party tonight?” Axel asked after a moment, probably trying to break the tension between us. “His parents are out of town, and he says he's going to raid their liquor cabinet.”

“Nah,” I answered, still seething about Axel's disrespect of Summer. “Why is he even having a party tonight? It's a Tuesday.”

“It's the last day of exams! We have to celebrate.”

“No, I'm good. I'll see you later. Good luck on your test,” I said and walked away from him, headed toward the science building.

Part of my mind was still fuming about what Axel had said. The other half was wondering if Summer was going to go to the party. She probably was, since Axel was going. I was bummed not to be in the same space as Summer. But, honestly, I was even more afraid of spending time with her. Who knew what could happen when alcohol was involved?

I might say something I could never take back.

Chapter Four: The Gold Sun

Summer POV

“You found a ring in the pocket of his jeans?” Scarlett asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

She stepped away from the mirror and turned toward me. Only her top lip had a smear of red lipstick on it. The application tube was lying on my messy vanity where she had put it down when I shocked her with my news.

“Yep,” I confirmed. “Last night I was over at Axel’s house helping him study for his history final. When he was getting us some water I, um, looked around a little.” My cheeks reddened.

“Nothing to be ashamed of.” Scarlett shrugged. “We all do it. I call it casually snooping. Sometimes I’ll look through Troy’s phone. Not because I don’t trust him, but I’m just curious. I found a really cute picture he took of me sleeping the other day.”

My friend had the same faraway look in her eyes that she always got when talking about her boyfriend, Troy.

I nodded in agreement and turned back to the other mirror in my room to continue straightening my hair. Guilt seeped into my stomach. When I had looked through Axel's pockets yesterday, it hadn't been just to casually snoop. For a couple of weeks, there had been a small voice in my mind telling me that Axel was hiding something from me. I'd tried my best to ignore the voice, but when it got too loud last night, I decided to look through Axel's room when the opportunity presented itself. When I found the engagement ring, a flood of emotions hit me. I didn't have any time to process them before Axel came back into the room.

Then, I met Gabriel on the stairs as I was leaving. He had a white towel wrapped around his waist, and his light brown hair was dripping from a shower, causing droplets of water to slide down his muscled chest. Of their own accord, my eyes had followed the water's descent as it ran down his toned stomach.

Gabriel apologized profusely, saying that he thought I had left already, or he would never have been walking around in a towel. Before I could assure him that it was all right, he rushed past me into the safety of his room.

The rest of the night, I wondered why Gabriel had avoided me ever since Axel and I started going out. Did he think I wasn't good enough for his brother? Or was it because of a different, far more embarrassing reason? Could he tell that I harbored secret feelings for him? Did he catch when my gaze lingered too long on his olive green eyes? Was it obvious I laughed a little too loudly when he made a joke? Or did he know about the fact that I was sometimes late for class because I was hoping to catch a glimpse of him walking down the school hallway?

The truth was, I've had feelings for Gabriel Boone for as long as I can remember. After he saved me from that Rogue wolf, I was going to ask him if he felt the same. But then Axel asked me out, and I said yes because I was confused and still had strong pain medication pumping through my system. And Gabriel started to avoid me after that.

For the past two years, I'd focused on my relationship with Axel. I tried to be the best girlfriend possible and be fully present in our relationship. But it was Gabriel who I thought about late at night when I couldn't sleep. Which was horrible of me. He was my boyfriend's best friend.

My stomach swooped when I realized that Axel could be myfiancé. Was that what I wanted? Finding that ring had shocked me to my very core. Was Axel ready to commit to me for the rest of his life? Sometimes it seemed like we were just going through the motions of a relationship. We never talked about the important things in life, like our deepest fears and our wildest dreams. Honestly, we didn’t really discuss the small things either. I couldn’t say what his favorite color was.

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